Play Of The Night
August 17th, 2019
Flattens Dolphins RB.
You didn’t see this much last year.
Yeah, it is preseason but after watching this play live at the Den of Depression, Joe’s football juices got flowing fast.
Check out how linebacker Kevin Minter just blew up Dolphins running back Myles Gaskin. Just ate him alive.
To Joe, this was the play of the game. Well, that was until kicker Matt Gay won the damn game.
If plays like this are what we can expect from the Bucs defense this fall, damn, this should be fun.
Kevin Minter just pulled a Jadeveon Clowney 😱😱 @Kmint_46 pic.twitter.com/bUHWiXWJla
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) August 17, 2019
August 17th, 2019 at 10:04 am
Even seeing the limited looks the D is throwing in the preaseason, I can’t tell where the pass rush is coming from. To me this is the biggest difference so far and I hope it ends up making all of our guys better. Really shows how lame and simplistic Mike Smith’s defense really was.
August 17th, 2019 at 10:06 am
Good morning joe,
I know you must be tired from yesterday’s excitement Joe is not tired. And that is Kevin Minter. –Joe but the picture of the buc you have posted up is not Kevin Minter #51, it’s the ghost of our first round pick #41. I thought minter had a really good game with that play and a really nice pass breakup as he played qB contain.
August 17th, 2019 at 10:08 am
Ummmm. Army that’s #45. Calm down
August 17th, 2019 at 10:09 am
“Kobe seen alot of all out blitzing and pressure yesterday
Like Kobe said, the defense best friend this year will be BAs offense. BAs offense must dictate games and be in the lead thru out the whole games. need our opponents to be always behind and 1 dimensional
if not, we will be burnt repeatedly because we are playing with FIRE”
Kobe Faker
August 17th, 2019 at 10:10 am
Nice hit, but unfortunately wasn’t defensive holding called on that play?
August 17th, 2019 at 10:26 am
Oh my bad that’s right he changes his ghostly number to #45. I hope I’m wrong but I would like to know that we did not spend another worthless 1st round pick on a player who doesn’t produce. It’s been embarrassing to watch players the Bucs have passed on over the years in the draft who become future hall of famers for the crap we have chosen over the years. Ie: Megatron, kuekley, a young Suh, Brees, Reggie Wayne, Adrian Peterson, Patrick Willis, a young Darrell Revis, Aaron Rodgers and the list goes on an on. Instead we chose players like Kenyatta walker, Gaines Adams (RIP), Cadillac Williams for example.
August 17th, 2019 at 11:12 am
That QB is SO glad that was a handoff.
August 17th, 2019 at 11:13 am
Dude has played like 3-4 series total and you are already all over him. Are you serious with that crap. Wait until game 8 before you call someone “ghost”
August 17th, 2019 at 11:23 am
Now imagine that as every other player on the team includimg lavonte david. Defense is gonna be fun this year. Bet on that.
August 17th, 2019 at 11:58 am
Bucs need to draft with the thought of making an SEC allstar team.
Tampa need to have that dirty south mentallity. When you play down here you dont play to win, we play to beat you and beat you some more. Go bucs, pound that rock 🎸
August 17th, 2019 at 12:03 pm
I rather have this attacking D and take my chances vs what we have seen the last 2 years
August 17th, 2019 at 12:14 pm
Wasn’t there a defensive holding penalty on that play that allowed him a free run?
August 17th, 2019 at 12:17 pm
I don’t think we can call a play where a defensive holding call made the whole thing possible and negated everything the play of the game. Instant DQ.
I’d prefer the pursuit of Whitehead taking down what initially looked like a sure TD in the flat and turning it into a TFL. That was flash!
August 17th, 2019 at 12:43 pm
I counted 3 INT opportunities from our defense last Night. 2 were dropped……1 was a bad drop.
We did convert one into a Turnover and it took points off the board.
Last week we had 2 fumble opportunities and 2 INT possibilities. One Turnover.
The potential for splash plays is very prevelant with this defense and very encouraging.
Factor in all the sack we had last night too. Those are big plays by themselfs but also have the highest chance of any play to turning into a Forced Fumble!!!!
I’m freaking loving this Todd Bowles defense.
You look at Dean picking one in the endzone and Mazie recovering a 4th quarter fumble gifting us a chance to win and it doesn’t get more game changing then that………This defense seems like it has the potential to be one of those memorable types that when you need a big play you don’t just hope for it…….You are kinda just waiting for it!!!!
GO BUCS!!!
August 17th, 2019 at 12:49 pm
Leighroy…..Great point about Whitehead. Nobody talking about him but he was absolutely flashing out there.
Another guy that stood out to me was Gholston. Not sure what to make of that since I seen him stand out before only to fizzle by the next game. Was still fun to watch though.
August 17th, 2019 at 12:52 pm
Oh to add to my 12:43 post we had more then a couple batted balls last night………Do that enough times and your starting a Pick6 conversation.
August 17th, 2019 at 1:13 pm
Minter has looked very good in the preseason so far. Definitely encouraging.
August 17th, 2019 at 1:18 pm
Minter and Buccanon have definitely brought with them a swagger that hasn’t been present here in awhile. After Ryan’s pass breakup to end a drive he clearly got up looking for Demone to flex with in celebration. That ish is infectious. Top 5 defense this season. Like Kevin Minter said.
August 17th, 2019 at 1:23 pm
I absolutely love Buccanon’s aggression. He got hit with a personal foul but I’ll take it long as he remains extra aggressive. Kobe you silly if you honestly think this D has to play all season with the lead in order to be effective. Blasphemy I tell you. Too many Dogs on this D now for. And I have strong feeling there is a defensive card yet to be played. One that will make the entire league say “woah what’s going on down there”. Just wait on it.
August 17th, 2019 at 1:42 pm
You can’t watch that clip just once, it’s kind of like eating one piece of popcorn….
August 17th, 2019 at 2:08 pm
Awesome tackle … now let’s trade for the real Jadeveon Clowney and really make some noise!
August 17th, 2019 at 2:15 pm
The bigger story here is that our new D-coordinator is showing us he can make chicken salad, whereas our old one only made only chicken spit. Beyond the Xs and Os, there are legacy players that look reborn. Minter is one of them. Bond too. Look, I know Big Ben was out in Game 1 and that the Fins are marginal, at best, but there are lots of encouraging signs out of these first two games. A healthy Vea and JPP might’ve made them- dare I say- formidable. They might still be. Guys are flying around. They’re in the vicinity of the football and the look to be having fun.
August 17th, 2019 at 2:29 pm
Hey, that was reminiscent of RoJo on most of his carries last season. How do you avoid that?
August 17th, 2019 at 2:36 pm
It is cool to watch…but that will happen rarely against starters.
Incidentally, I was thinking…last week, Leftwich ran 3 times at the goal line. This week he did it with a different RB.
I wonder if he is trying to find a smash-mouth guy for short yardage situations? Preseason is the time to test these things.
August 17th, 2019 at 3:41 pm
This defence is so much better. It lets players play and do what they do best. Most the time anyways you still have to play in the confines of the scheme though.
August 17th, 2019 at 4:26 pm
Yeah, there was def holding called which allowed Minter to run through….still nice to see though.
August 17th, 2019 at 5:40 pm
“Nos
The KEY TO OUR 2019 DEFENSE IS
STOPPING THE RUN
Kobe believes this will be our weakness
If we allow our opponent to be effective running early downs our total defense will breakdown
Bowles defense needs to be in 3rd and long situations for this defense to compete to win
This formula of explosive offense and scoring to hide the faults of the defense is very familiar in the new NFL normal the teams are in with the salary cap and FA ala the KC Chiefs of last year
2019 season
ITS ALL ABOUT THE REDZONE SCORING”
Kobe Faker
August 17th, 2019 at 6:55 pm
How can the “play of the game “ be a defensive hold????!!!! The left tackle bear hugged two dolphins offensive lineman in order to open the gap for Minter. Someone must be board to report this garbage.
August 17th, 2019 at 8:43 pm
The jerkoffs at WFLA didn’t show the replay, but the refs claimed the call was that the defensive lineman pulled gap open for Minter to run through. It’s very difficult to see on the TV angle, so it’s hard to know if that’s correct, or was just another made up call by the refs. But likely it was the correct call as no one ever gets that big of a gap.
August 18th, 2019 at 12:19 am
But we cant have pass rush w/o DE’s…right Joe’s? lol….you see, i saw this coming the whole time with Boweles, which is why i wanted White so bad!
August 18th, 2019 at 5:12 pm
It’s sloppy and irresponsible reporting to point out the awesomeness play that was in fact aided and abetted by a penalty that let the gap get so open for him in the first place. I’m sick of the criticism nationally that we have a fanbase full of morons, but honestly part of the problem is you guys. Your website is like the blind leading the blind, Joe. Do better. Don’t glorify plays that happened because somebody else got a penalty on it and it ended up being a negated play. That’s like middle school newsletter reporting.
Ira, I love your work. But you are associated with this clownshow now. Please coach these “professionals” up!! Sooo, a great play, a play representative of a positive change, culturally and schematically, can’t be celebrated because it may or may not have been a real penalty? Got it. Obviously, Joe’s “play of the night” is one man’s opinion.–Joe