Growing Worse
October 28th, 2019
“Smitty has to be smiling.”
Here is the brutal truth: The Bucs, at this point in the season, are worse (with a few exceptions) than last year under former Bucs coach Dirk Koetter.
It stinks to write that but let’s take a look.
* The passing game is clearly worse under Byron Leftwich than Koetter.
* America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, seems to be getting worse. Right now Joe doesn’t give a flip who was or wasn’t running routes yesterday. You follow up a five-pick game with a four-turnover game? Jameis has never done that before.
* The pass defense is atrocious. And that is with Vernon Hargreaves, who Koetter and disgraced former Bucs defensive coordinator Mike Smith didn’t have the final 15 games of last season. Also, they had disinterested Brent Grimes starting. To the best of Joe’s knowledge, the current corners have a desire to win; Grimes had mentally checked out until his final game because he didn’t want to go out remembered like that.
* Tight ends, which the Bucs have two of the best in the NFL, are nearly afterthoughts. Koetter found a way not just to incorporate O.J. Howard and Cam Brate into the offense, but almost make them as important as Mike Evans.
* Evans is not having a great year, though he is still racking up big numbers and could be closer to his usual greatness if the Bucs used him right. For Evans not to have a target in the fourth quarter yesterday is unacceptable. Team Glazer should have a sitdown with Leftwich this morning and demand a sober answer why this happened and a true assurance that stunt will never happen again. Joe is convinced Evans misses former Bucs assistant coach Todd Monken, who worked closely in developing Evans into the elite weapon he is.
What is better under Bucco Bruce Arians?
* Pass rush (thank God!) but the two guys doing the rushing are unlikely to be with the Bucs next year. Jason Pierre-Paul’s contract is up (after he reworked his deal recently). Shaq Barrett and his 10 sacks are likely gone too. He is repped by oily Drew Rosenhaus. You think Rosenhaus is not going to let Barrett test the market and hit the lottery?
* Scoring points (not a trivial factoid.).
* Run defense is elite. That’s a good thing but it doesn’t help a whole lot when you have the league’s best run defense in a passing league.
Right now it sure seems like the Bucs are barreling to a four-win season. Maybe. Which could put the Bucs into a top-five pick.
With the usual heavy-panting of teams trying to find a quarterback and the draft top-heavy with quarterbacks, might the Bucs be blessed with Chase Young falling in their laps?
But the way this organization treats pass rushers, the Bucs would likely pass and draft a safety. And Joe is willing to bet $50 if Chase Young is on the board somehow when the Bucs pick, this team will draft a safety. Joe’s serious.
Then again, #ItsABucsLife.
October 28th, 2019 at 9:25 am
Pass me Derrick Sharp’s stick please….
October 28th, 2019 at 9:26 am
Good teams improve as the season goes on.
Look what the Bucs do.
They get worse.
October 28th, 2019 at 9:28 am
WE JUST NEED A BETTER,SMARTER,MOBILE QB THAT LISTENS TO HIS COACHES INSTEAD OF DOING WHAT HE WANTS.
October 28th, 2019 at 9:32 am
I guess it was a bad idea keeping Licht so he could get Arains. We were sold the talent was there, and better coaching would make them all stars. Licht is on his third coach, his sixth year, five losing seasons, high picks including Jameis #1 over all in 2015 to be the franchise, and we’re still not sure. That Jason Licht has survived, is like Jason in the horror movies does.
October 28th, 2019 at 9:33 am
Why would we do that? we need a quarterback
October 28th, 2019 at 9:34 am
QB is such an important position you need to keep drafting it until you get it right. Winston is clearly not the answer.
October 28th, 2019 at 9:37 am
lol there’s an article from 2017 Tampa Bay Times entitled “From 2-5 to the playoffs? Bucs wouldn’t be the first”
2017. Yep.
October 28th, 2019 at 9:39 am
I’ve been saying it for weeks now
….Byron Leftwich is literally running and calling a highschool offense
It’s: Simple, Plain, and with a few gadget plays.
THAT’S IT!!!!
Atleast Koetter was trying to be creative, but Leftwich doesn’t even try.
October 28th, 2019 at 9:41 am
You follow up a five-pick game with a four-pick game? Jameis has never done that before.
Thats crack for you, another post for the crowd who dont really watch the games. Really winston had a 4 pick game? Really the offense is worse? Maybe that’s because your counting yards which koetter racked up yards between the 20’s and didnt score points at all, this team you were just bragging a couple weeks ago was led the NFC in points and would be better if not for the defense. Like BA said write whatever you want even if it’s wrong no one will care because they feed into the nonsense that comes out of here
October 28th, 2019 at 9:43 am
No hope for chase young….lol…
With 3 games to go JW will magically turn the corner and win 2 of the last 3 knocking us out the top3….we end up with the 5th overall pick again….chase gets drafted #3, we franchise JW because of his 3game stretch ignoring the first 13 games and we draft a CB at #5…second round we draft a safety….3rd round we draft a WR….4th round we draft a TE…5th round we draft a LB….LOL…
GO BUCS
October 28th, 2019 at 9:46 am
…….just look at the play calling selections the past few weeks…
…..hell, just look at the whole season.
Then the last play of the game sums it all up…..a run up the middle……WOW….didn’t see that one coming!?!?!?!?!?!
Where are the bunch formations?
Where are the dual TE or RB sets?
Where are the rolling out bootlegs?
Playactions?
HELLO CLUELESS BYRON LEFTWICH……ALL HIGH SCHOOL COACHES ARE SCREAMING AT YOU RIGHT NOW TO GIVE THEM THEIR PLAYBOOKS BACK!!!!
October 28th, 2019 at 9:46 am
I disagree….
Dirks head will be the first 1 to roll….
I don’t even think freeman has had a 100yard game this year….matty ice barely looks better than JW right now….
The thing that’s killing this offense is poor execution by the QB….
GO BUCS
October 28th, 2019 at 9:48 am
I’m rooting for anyone who is on my team. That aside I’m not talking about Winston because listen we all can gripe about him if receivers are not running the right rout an the receiver gos right instead of left then that’s not on Winston again not saying Winston isn’t the prob but it seems like the prob is our OC. How does ME13 not get targeted at all in the 4th still in man coverage. Sorry if I’m Winston an BL is telling me to throw the ball to #19 An #44 I’m not listening an I’m giving the ball to #12 an #13 over anyone else. I’m tired of the experiment with BL. GIVE THE BALL TO OUR PLAYMAKERS ITS NOT THAT DIFFICULT. CHANGE THE OC AN MAYBE WINSTON DOES BETTER
October 28th, 2019 at 9:48 am
I am leaving for the dentist in a few minutes….I’ll decline Novocaine and still feel better…
October 28th, 2019 at 9:50 am
…..and what I was saying on the boards yesterday about “You’re witnessing 1996 offense from Tony Dungy”
…..and the infamous comment from Warren Sapp when he said a High School offense is more predictable than this….
1st down: RUN
2nd down: RUN
3rd down: PASS
4th PUNT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
……….YAH……that’ll get ya far in this league ask how old Bucs Players felt about their team’s offense before Gruden took over.
October 28th, 2019 at 9:52 am
Joe, you could’ve stopped after your first 2 points …
* “The passing game is clearly worse under Byron Leftwich than Koetter.”
* “America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, seems to be getting worse.”
BOTH of those are almost exclusively on Leftwich. And on Arians if he lets this sh1t show continue. (I’d include Licht in there but that’s a given).
October 28th, 2019 at 9:54 am
Ugh.
Winston effect?
Is it possible that he can make everyone around him worse at football?
It kind of feels that way.
It also feels that we can be instantly better the moment we move on from him.
October 28th, 2019 at 9:55 am
They are also worse at this point of the season than they were under Lovie’s last year. Everyone blamed Gerald McCoy for the Bucs losing ways. Now that he’s gone there are only a few people left to blame from that team but one other constant that has been here for over five years.
Jason Licht.
He should be fired by the end of the year. There is no way that man can be allowed to draft another QB. General Managers have one shot to get that right and if they draft a bust then they should go.
October 28th, 2019 at 9:57 am
I’m sick of losing
October 28th, 2019 at 9:58 am
Matt Schaub threw for almost 500 yards yesterday against seattle in koetters offense, the falcons defense is garbage. Koetter runs circles around leftwich, who has no business being an NFL OC; licht and the galzers bought the stale biscuits golf cart bag of stale goods. A new GM who has a focus on building a team with koetter as OC and bowels as the DC; the bucs are a playoff team. But licht has no clue and now leftwich forgot about TEs and mike evans in teh 4th quarter
October 28th, 2019 at 10:00 am
We need a defense > A Quarterback
It’s not even close if you disagree you don’t know football sorry
Good luck finding a QB that needs to score 30 points a game just to go 8-8
October 28th, 2019 at 10:01 am
Roster is full of talent , GM is a genius guess BA is not QB whisper after all. Time to bring in a new coach. Maybe by his 10th coach Jamies will finally reach his POTENTIAL!!! Right JW apologist.
October 28th, 2019 at 10:04 am
This team NEEDS Chase Young. And it NEEDS at least 2 starting caliber offensive linemen. Yes, the team does need a QB as well, but it will NOT succeed without first rebuilding the trenches.
October 28th, 2019 at 10:06 am
“Winning is nice and fun but,
Its not that important
Dont worry be happy”
Glaser boys
October 28th, 2019 at 10:07 am
I miss koetter´s offense……I ve said it several times……..
October 28th, 2019 at 10:08 am
I’m gonna say it again … I predicted a 1 or 2 win season … lmao
October 28th, 2019 at 10:09 am
Didn’t the NFL award Tampa with a team back in the mid 70’s? When is the NFL going to deliver on that promise? Still waiting……
October 28th, 2019 at 10:12 am
When you have a QB (like Garoffolo) who doesn’t turn the ball over or play idiotically, it instills confidence in your team.
When you have a QB that gives the opponent 2 td’s in 1st half, well , figure it out if you can…
October 28th, 2019 at 10:14 am
we are not drafting a rookie qb to start from scratch again…
luck…
even freeman…with a whisperer/ball tugger in his corner 🙂
(freeman would be a real stretch tho)
October 28th, 2019 at 10:18 am
omg…
i would so take jaquizz rogers over dare ogen-noballsie right now
October 28th, 2019 at 10:21 am
sure would like to be the fly on the wall @ OBP
October 28th, 2019 at 10:22 am
As stated above look how lynch built the niners. He did it from the inside out and concentrated on defense. A great defense, he followed the Sam Wyche blueprint to a tee. Follow what sam wyche did in the ealy 90s building this squad. Fire licht hire sam wyche as the GM and let him build a winner…or hire someone from the saints front office, if wyche is not up for it. This team needs chase young round 1, then starting OL from real colleges not hobart. The bucs need a real RB go get one in FA.
October 28th, 2019 at 10:23 am
a real issue is we might have the worst receive corps in the league past #1 & #2…
our #3 – #6 are completely non existent…
might as well dump justin watson also if he is buried so far behind perriman, miller, and darbot…
where the hell is justin watson…
does he even lift bro??
October 28th, 2019 at 10:23 am
seriously…does watson even lift bro ?
October 28th, 2019 at 10:24 am
Son of Kobe Faker,
What does your dad think about all of this?
October 28th, 2019 at 10:26 am
At this point I think it’s fair to say that Dirk Koetter did a much better job than BS artist BA and his enormous staff of has beens and wannabes.
If this team match’s Koetter standard of 5-11, I’ll be shocked.
Dreadful roster that is cap strapped doesn’t speak well of Licht either
And BA says Licht was main reason he came here?
Enough said.
Peace, out…..
October 28th, 2019 at 10:32 am
You guys need to stop insulting High School Offenses, several in this area have better play calling than the bucs: Lakeland, Armwood, IMG…
October 28th, 2019 at 10:36 am
The only two guys who can actually rush the passer will most likely be gone next year. Licht is a genius.
October 28th, 2019 at 10:36 am
Top 5 pick!! We can get another tight end or LSU linebacker… maybe we’ll use the pick on a #3 receiver or nickel corner….
October 28th, 2019 at 10:37 am
Whatever it takes to stop the run, right???
October 28th, 2019 at 10:43 am
If the Glazers let Jason Licht draft ANOTHER top ten pick Bucs are in trouble for years to come.
October 28th, 2019 at 10:56 am
They will have to get better in London… British fans unlike American’s have heart and passion. They will not accept and embrace the losing the way Tampa has
October 28th, 2019 at 11:00 am
Said it prior to the season Arians would not match or beat Koetter’s first year win total
So much for the coaching improvements all the media wrote about
October 28th, 2019 at 11:03 am
Licht, and every single person below him, needs to be terminated. This includes the entire coaching staff. You can’t let this continue. Look at the Bucs as a whole. What exactly do we have to build around? This team has no identity. We need to start over with someone in charge that has a philosophy that is proven to work in this league.
October 28th, 2019 at 11:15 am
Licht has got to go since he will just pi$$ our draft picks into the wind if he is drafting. Shaq is legit and I would make him an offer he can’t refuse or franchise him and let him prove it again. We need a qb but not necessarily in the first round. Best pass rusher available like we should have done this year instead of taking Eugene Marve Jr..
October 28th, 2019 at 11:23 am
The roster is built with too many holes…..its not coaching, IMO never was. The team simply doesn’t have the talent. We have an avg 0-line with an middle/bottom tier QB and mediocre running game. Our d-line is solid but theres lack of experience every where else on the defense. Kicking game is bizarre….we have a kicker that we dont trust from 28 yds but have no problem letting him loose from 50 yds. Good luck with all that. If the talent isn’t there, there’s no amount of coaching that will mask it.
October 28th, 2019 at 11:34 am
Was this article ghost-written by Ryan Fitzpatrick? 😉 Losing with Fitz was soooooo much more fun that this poop-fest.
Listen, Bruce has done a terrible job, terrible… but he can sure as hell drive a mean golf cart and rock the Kangal. I mean he’s the coolest coach in football, right?
I can’t believe we’re really at the point where the whole of OBP needs to be fumigated… but we are….I just don’t see ownership dropping up tp + $10M a year x4 yrs on Bruce (+staff) and Jason’s (+staff) buyouts.
October 28th, 2019 at 11:45 am
All True. Sad, But All True
October 28th, 2019 at 12:26 pm
It seems mathematically impossible for a NFL franchise to suck for this long.
October 28th, 2019 at 1:22 pm
This organization has a losing culture from the top to the bottom and from the bottom to the top. They simply do no know how to win games, and for that matter I don’t think they care. That type of bad mojo comes from ownership and management, and if it comes from the locker room, ownership and management are responsible for allowing it to continue. This franchise will never get any better as long as the Glazier family owns it. Mark my words.
October 28th, 2019 at 1:23 pm
This organization has a losing culture from the top to the bottom and from the bottom to the top. They simply do no know how to win games, and for that matter I don’t think they care. That type of bad mojo comes from ownership and management, and if it comes from the locker room, ownership and management are responsible for allowing it to continue. This franchise will never get any better as long as the Glazier family owns it. Mark my words.
October 28th, 2019 at 1:37 pm
This is what I said all off season. You don’t lose some good players, replace them with lesser players, do nothing really in free agency and get magically better. All those overly optimistic posters thinking a coaching change was all that was needed to take a 5-11 team to the playoffs were chasing fools gold. Realistic fans knew this was going to be bad real quick. My prediction was 3-13. When we got to 2-2 I thought maybe 6 wins was possible. Now I think I can comfortably say 3-13 is likely. They need to dump anyone of value now to start the rebuild after the season ends. If Arians doesn’t want to be a part of it no worries. The team is going nowhere for the next 5 years while retooling so find another Raheem to coach and another McCown to QB for a couple of years. Load up on top 5 picks for the next few years then try to find a QB in the draft once the team is built around him. I DO NOT WANT A ROOKIE QB DRAFTED WITH OUR #1 NEXT YEAR. He would fail so let’s just suffer through a rebuild and do it the right way. I really hope Licht will be fired and have no part in this team’s future.
October 28th, 2019 at 3:52 pm
My vote is for BA to take over game day play calling and let Leftwich gameplan and the title OC. BL seems to lack the feel or flow of the game.
October 28th, 2019 at 4:20 pm
TDTB
We agree. But all the draft picks in the world won’t matter if Gump is picking.
October 28th, 2019 at 8:49 pm
2 wins, 3 max. The only team the Bucs night beat is Arizona.