“We’re Too Soft”
October 7th, 2019
Coach calls out DBs.
Joe likes this here Bucco Bruce Arians. A man who tells it like it is even though it’s not pretty.
The Bucs pass defense in its last 10 quarters has been so bad former disgraced Bucs defensive coordinator Mike Smith is roaring as he takes another sip of his glass filled with Jim Beam on the rocks.
In six of those quarters, it was backup quarterbacks that sliced the Bucs pass defense up like a warm peach pie just out of the oven. Four of those quarters, Jared Goff made a case for Canton by roasting the Bucs for over 500 yards. And that was even with a ferocious pass rush!
Only a franchise record-setting scoring spree of 55 points got fans to ignore Goff’s thrashing.
Yesterday, the Bucs treated Saints star receiver Michael Thomas as if he had an Ebola virus. If you want to prevent Thomas from hurting you, it’s likely a good idea to have a corner in the same zip code.
When Arians was asked in his postgame presser about how teams have gone full-blown arena football on his secondary, Ariams groused that the Bucs had too many soft defensive backs.
“We still are too soft,” Arians said. “We’re too soft. I don’t know any other way to put it. We have some guys who are getting after it and we have some guys who are too soft.”
It almost sounds like Arians wants a housecleaning of his secondary. And the way it has been playing, Joe couldn’t blame him.
Joe is going to guess Arians was not referring to Carlton Davis, who twice yesterday Arians referred to Davis as the team’s best corner.
The Bucs must go shopping for a corner if this team is going to compete for a playoff run. So either Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht has roughly three weeks to find a decent corner that can help this defense, or it tells Joe the Bucs are more than content with sacrificing this season due to garbage secondary play.
And what a shame that would be! With this team flirting with a wild card chance and its first playoff appearance in 12 seasons, what kind of message is that going to send to fans? That the organization is OK p!ssing away a season hoping that somehow, bad defensive backs yet to prove they are NFL-caliber will overnight turn into solid defenders?
The Bucs have already lost two of the last four games because the secondary can’t cover, and did their best to flush a third. How many more games does this secondary have to throw away before someone gets a hint a move must be made if the Bucs are serious about competing for a wild card slot?
What is the holdup? People are waiting for the draft? Again?
October 7th, 2019 at 12:19 am
Joe, you hit the nail on the head! What is the plan here? Go into the draft with a mediocre pick and try again for a project corner who will take a few years? Pay Hargreaves for sitting back 10 yards off the line?
For me the answer is beyond obvious. Make an offer the Jaguars can’t refuse for Jalen Ramsey! You are getting a walking hall of famer at a position that is vital in today’s passing league. I don’t know about other bucs fans but I am sick of watching Michael Thomas catching uncontested balls while breaking records for catches in a game against us. Sick of watching Julio dominate us.
I just don’t understand bashing our head against the wall drafting average corner after average corner. Licht just give up and admit you can’t do it, trade for one who is already established himself as the best in the league, in his prime!
October 7th, 2019 at 12:24 am
Jags owner has already said he wants to keep Ramsey. Besides, there are competent corners o other teams that won’t cost such a ransom.
October 7th, 2019 at 12:26 am
Vernon Hargraves is an AVERAGE DB at best!!! He should not receive a high dollar 5th year contract. He is just not tht good!
October 7th, 2019 at 12:27 am
Hell no to Jalen Ramsey!
And a good draft party has been wildly more entertaining than 4 of these past 5 games.
October 7th, 2019 at 12:27 am
MJ Stewart might be salvageable as a Linebacker. VH3 needs to go. The rookies look like rookies. Davis is average with upside but he is a penalty machine.
So we have one NFL starting caliber CB and a bunch of rookies. Oh, and Ryan Smith.
October 7th, 2019 at 12:29 am
I hear Brent Grimes is available…
October 7th, 2019 at 1:42 am
Welp! At least snuggles work in the heat, unlike ice cream. So it’s a step in the right direction.
October 7th, 2019 at 1:44 am
Sad day in Bucville 😔
October 7th, 2019 at 2:01 am
Blaming the losses all on the secondary is ridiculous.
Bucs had no answer to Saints DLine pressure in 2nd half – did the play calling help any? Did Evans fight to get open? Were the Bucs simply outcoached?
The offense had no answers.
Is secondary too soft? Davis, Dean and J Evans may offer improvement when they are available.
The bottom line is M Thomas was fantastic and M Evans did nothing- Bucs will lose every time with that formula.
October 7th, 2019 at 2:23 am
If we can get a competent corner for our second round pick next year then I am all for it.
October 7th, 2019 at 2:36 am
Arians said in his weekly show that the key was to stop Kamara. I cringed when I heard this and the first thing I thought was What about Michael Thomas?
Poor game planning this week plain and simple.
October 7th, 2019 at 3:44 am
Alanbucsfan … Thank you, thank you, thank you. Good to see that someone GETS IT. But it’s fashionable in these parts to point the finger for all of our losses at our ‘budget defense’ while letting our ‘league’s most expensive offense’ off the hook.
We all knew that Hargreaves had no business being a starting outside corner. Duh, no news there (especially after he was eaten alive yesterday). And we all knew that MJ Stewart, while a good hitter, isn’t that good in coverage. And we all knew that Kevin Minter, while a great run-stopper, isn’t that great in coverage either (and yes, we saw that yesterday too). And we all knew that our rookies & 2nd-year guys back there lacked, oh ya, EXPERIENCE.
So without a pass rush, those guys got roasted by a quality offense. Duh. Teddy Bridgewater (over 75% completions) simply played pitch-and-catch all afternoon with Thomas (11 catches … 182 yds), Kamara (6 catches … 42 yds), Cook (4 catches … 41 yds), Hill (3 catches … 39 yds) & Ginn (2 catches … 35 yds). There was no ‘threading the needle’ required on Bridgewater’s part; he had plenty of time and his receivers were open most of the afternoon.
The Bucs’ defense was on the field for far too many downs against a quality offense. Our own offense stunk up the joint because they couldn’t control the line of scrimmage, and thus couldn’t sustain drives, and thus lost the TOP by a bunch. IMO the only way our young team can win is if we consistently win the TOP battle, win the turnover battle, and play COMPLIMENTARY FOOTBALL.
October 7th, 2019 at 5:38 am
“Lol
We are shopping for a corner?
We are in a nose dive
You Sheep have it backwards!
OTHER TEAMS are going to ask for our players.
They want Godwin and OJ Howard for draft picks
They don’t want 20 mill 1 trick money ME not overpaid Brate
Teams want to know if we are SELLING not buying before the trade deadline when we will be out of contention
LOL
BUNCH OF FANTASYLAND DREAMERS!”
Son of Kobe Faker
October 7th, 2019 at 5:56 am
Competing for a wild card spot ?? They way NFC West and north teams are playing forget about wild card, your best shot at making the playoffs was to win the decision.
October 7th, 2019 at 6:23 am
Gee, I thought that getting rid of Gerald McCoy would toughen the team. I mean, the knuckle dragging mouth breathers said so.
October 7th, 2019 at 6:26 am
Defense,
Complimentary football , as the team is currently constructed, is going to be problematic as often as not. Even if the team plays “complimentary ” football it’s going to be successful one week and not the next.
Complimentary football, in general, is great. But , once the season starts , the generalizations are no longer necessary. Wins and losses measure success.
-The results of this game , is there any surprises?
-Turnovers . Did they have an impact on the game?
– TOP. Flip the numbers does it swing the balance from a Loss to a Win?
Is it Srategic or Tactical failures that were seeing as fans?
October 7th, 2019 at 6:47 am
Why dont out corners press at the line? Not just play up on the line…..but jam/ hit the wr within the allowed 5 yards to throw off the timing of the route? One of the saints tds in the redzone would have stopped that play immediately and caused Bridgewater to leave the pocket. I understand the risks involved but whem your getting gashed as bad as they are and within 15 yards of the endzone why wouldnt you play the corners more aggressively?
October 7th, 2019 at 6:51 am
What happened to all of the blitzes and screens we were running the first few weeks?
October 7th, 2019 at 6:54 am
You’re going to have to give something up on offense and possibly the d-line to get the corner they need which is Peterson or Ramsey. This team is going to have to realize the formula for them to win is a ridiculous defense and stout running game. You get a legit shut down corner and slide Hargreaves to the slot, keep Davis where he is and now you have a lights out defense that will suffocate offenses, create opportunites with TOs/sacks, and possibly score. That’s the Buc ball we know. Next year go into the draft to score some o-linemen and by yr three of Arians we should be competing for division titles.
Or…..we can keep letting Licht stick with what has never worked, stacking the offense and hoping Winston morphs into Mahomes.
October 7th, 2019 at 6:54 am
During the 2019 Buccaneers Pre-Season, Bucs Head Coach Bruce Arians told the entire world “ THE BUCS PASS DEFENSE HAS BEEN FIXED 🤡❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️“ Based on the first 5 weeks of the 2019 NFL Regular Season, Mr. “No Biscuit’s” statement has been proven to be a complete lie. Folks, I love the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, been a fan since 1976 (The 0-26 John McKay Years). But even a blind man can see this coming 🤡❗️I will say this, The Bucs do have some very young talented players on the backend of the defense. Rookie S Mike Edwards will be very good, but he’s going through his growing pains. 2nd Yr Corner Carlton Davis is a keeper. Other than that ❓The problem is the Bucs have No Pass Rush of any kind other than S. Barrett. Like the great Ira Kaufman has said in the past “No Pass Russ = Big Problems for your D.!”
October 7th, 2019 at 6:57 am
Clean House,
I like your answer .
Poor game plan.
Now move to the next game.
Question , how confident are you in the team to prepare a better plan this week than last?
October 7th, 2019 at 7:00 am
Patrick Peterson
Cardinals in rebuild mode. Get the man. He knows the system
October 7th, 2019 at 7:05 am
Bobby,
The players you mention are on teams that would have a preference for draft picks over trading players. A deal to aquire one of those guys could be made with just draft capital.
October 7th, 2019 at 7:25 am
Bucemup,
I mean no disrespect but what is it about press coverage that has you so fixated? I mean it’s been what 2 years plus of the same post over and over again.
There’s been zero growth in your opinion or knowledge during this time period despite multiple opportunities for you to show some growth. I have to think that it’s an idea bordering on obsession with you at this point.
Just a suggestion, instead of the same post again is it possible for you to explain why a switch to all press coverage is the best option for next week and moving forward? I’m asking a lot on this one , if it’s possible to answer, but. .if you can’t it’s understandable, could explain why you were positive this off season, (and the previous two prior), that the team would switch to press?
Why haven’t they.
October 7th, 2019 at 7:42 am
Good on him for saying it three times and calling them out but he sounds surprised. It’s not new. It’s as routine as the Pats winning 12+ games.
October 7th, 2019 at 8:10 am
D1 … COMPLIMENTARY FOOTBALL is much more than just the offense feeding off of turnovers provided by the defense. For example, TOP is a good measure of complimentary football IMO. So are turnovers (actually turnover differential). Sack differential is another, as well as QB pressures & TFLs.
Saints were a very good example yesterday. They owned the TOP 33:27 to 26:33. That’s BIG … their offense was on the field for almost 7 minutes MORE than our offense. That’s about 25% MORE than the Bucs’ offense was on the field, and guess what, they ended up scoring roughly 25% more points. Advantage Saints’ offense. Part of the reason was because our own defense was often ineffective in stopping them. But another part of the reason is that our offense couldn’t sustain drives. THAT’s a killer … to our defense, because it results in less rest between series, more time for them on the field, and most probably fewer points scored by our own offense.
The Saints defense had 6 sacks to 0 sacks for our defense. The Saints defense had 8 QB Hits to 3 QB Hits for our defense. The Saints’ defense had 8 TFLs to 0 TFLs for our defense. The Saints defense forced our offense to punt 6 times, and we ran out of downs once … they shut us down on 7 series all together (out of our 11 drives). The Bucs’ defense forced the Saints offense to punt 3 times, had 1 INT and stopped them on downs twice (to include end-of-game). Advantage overall: Saints defense. (Special teams play was essentially equal; no misses either side).
All of that IMO D1 qualifies as COMPLIMENTARY FOOTBALL. Offense feeding off defense, and defense feeding off offense. Saints did that yesterday very, very well. Our Bucs? Not so much. And it was reflected in the score.
October 7th, 2019 at 8:17 am
Alanbucsfan Says:
October 7th, 2019 at 2:01 am
Blaming the losses all on the secondary is ridiculous.
Bucs had no answer to Saints DLine pressure in 2nd half – did the play calling help any? Did Evans fight to get open? Were the Bucs simply outcoached?
The offense had no answers.
Is secondary too soft? Davis, Dean and J Evans may offer improvement when they are available.
The bottom line is M Thomas was fantastic and M Evans did nothing- Bucs will lose every time with that formula.
**************************************************************
BINGO!!!!!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!!!
October 7th, 2019 at 8:26 am
“Cardinals in a rebuild? LOL
They will be calling what Gump wants for Godwin and OJ for additional 2nd and 3rd round picks for Gump to draft more cornerbacks with”
Son of Kobe Faker
October 7th, 2019 at 8:53 am
How can BA complain about the secondary being too soft when he spent half of this year’s draft capital on DBs that HE picked?!?!?!?!?!
October 7th, 2019 at 10:37 am
A soft player will always be a soft player. Its time to do something to help the secondary.Calling guys that are soft out is just lip service.Find a serviceable corner before the deadline .This team could be at the least 3-2 or 4-1.
October 7th, 2019 at 10:50 am
VH3 – the softest of the soft
SMB – he’s soft alright, but you picked him BA!
Carlton – not soft but average
MJ – not soft but slooooow
Put Jamel Dean in there!
October 7th, 2019 at 11:42 am
I don’t always agree with Bird but when I do……………He is right………….because I am right………………Get Patrick Peterson!
Bucs need a #1 corner to battle teams #1 wr. We are at a distinct disadvantage when teams #1 are matched up against our DB’s. The gap in talent at this position is as while as the Grand Canyon.
October 7th, 2019 at 11:43 am
*wide
October 7th, 2019 at 12:35 pm
Just think about this:
Vernon Hargreaves is as bad as EJ Biggers
Oh, and our d-line had absolutely NO PRESSURE yesterday.
#ItsABucsLife #SameOleBucs #GlazersDontCare #NFLGamesAreRigged
October 7th, 2019 at 12:45 pm
Go get Peterson for draft picks.
October 7th, 2019 at 2:41 pm
The Licht is on and nobodys home!
October 7th, 2019 at 3:16 pm
Defense rules,
First, thank you for a detailed reply. I have a greater understanding of how you arrive at your conclusions.
It also confirmed what I suspected. You define complimentary football as a set of variables. To what end I don’t understand.
October 7th, 2019 at 11:11 pm
We need a $12 MM cornerback way more than we need a $25 MM quarterback. Just sayin.
October 8th, 2019 at 10:59 am
please go get jalen ramsey. or partick peterson…… and send VH3 away. THE END
October 8th, 2019 at 11:14 am
The reason we lost this game was plain and simple. We lost the battle in the trenches on both sides of the line.