Bruce Arians: Goals For Evans And Godwin Should Be 1,500 Yards Each
November 27th, 2019
Joe is old enough to remember the eye-popping and ridiculously good 1995 Lions offense.
Detroit had legendary Barry Sanders in his prime rushing for 1,500 yards. And No. 2 wide receiver Brett Perriman caught 108 balls for 1,488 yards while top-dog receiver Herman Moore hauled in 123 balls for 1,686 yards and 14 touchdowns.
How did they lose games? Bad defense and turnovers.
Sound familiar?
Those Lions finished 10-6 and lost in the Wild Card round 58-37 to the Eagles.
Could Bucs receivers Mike Evans (1,043 yards, 7 touchdowns this season) and Chris Godwin (1,071, 9 touchdowns) match what Perriman and Moore did 24 years ago?
Bruce Arians told Buccaneers Radio this week that both Evans and Godwin should have a very high bar for themselves for the remainder of the season.
“I think for them right now, goals for both of them should be at 1,500 [yards],” Arians said. “We’ve got a lot of football left and I could see both those guys having 100 each week.”
Arians added that Byron Leftwich is making life easier for Evans and Godwin’s versatility is a killer for defenses.
“Chris plays outside, he plays inside,” Arians said. “Byron’s doing a much better job of moving Mike around so people can’t say, ‘Ok. We’re double-teaming he’s on the back side and try to take him out of the game.'”
The head coach added that using a lot of four-receiver sets was effective freeing up Evans and Godwin against the Falcons, and more of that could be on the way.
November 27th, 2019 at 11:39 am
That goal can only be achieved if the QB stops turning the ball over.
November 27th, 2019 at 11:42 am
I’d be fine with both being around 1200 if it meant we could consistently run the ball and be more balanced.
November 27th, 2019 at 12:02 pm
Damn Joe
Next year at this rate you will be talking Godwin in the hall a fame already
November 27th, 2019 at 12:07 pm
I will be glad when we see this from our team. And Americas QB a 10-6 record
Show me that, show me wins a ton, not loses a ton, turnovers a ton. Don’t just say I just need to get better. I just need to learn from this. Actually do it.
We have a long way to go to catch that Lions team and we have the receivers, and a INT prone QB like they did. What we don’t have and few teams have, is a RB like #20.
November 27th, 2019 at 12:09 pm
If only we started Dean in the Giants Game ::sigh::
J. Licht please Draft a RT, DE, OG, DT, RB, WR
Using Best player available format for these positions.
Happy Turkey Day Bucs Fans!!
November 27th, 2019 at 12:12 pm
Lost in the second quote – (paraphrasing) “BL is doing a much better job now of moving Mike around so people can’t just doubleteam him”
–sounds like a papa bear proud of a young cub coming along
BUT — why wasn’t Papa bear already making sure this was happening, as it is something BA could have handled in real time???
Sounds like BA is content to let BL’s trial and error fall on ownership’s nickel.
November 27th, 2019 at 12:25 pm
The GOAL should be winning games! Who cares about stats? The entire franchise, city, fans and even web sites have a loser mentality. Every week people are bragging about Winston having a 300 yard passing game! But were not winning!
November 27th, 2019 at 12:25 pm
YOU won’t be great unless you demand greatness!!!!!!!
November 27th, 2019 at 12:35 pm
1500 for both with a 9-7 record is great….
1500 for both with a 5-11/6-10 record is awful….
GO BUCS!!!!!
November 27th, 2019 at 12:38 pm
Who the hell cares get your a** into the playoffs.
November 27th, 2019 at 12:44 pm
99
mistakes happen with growth….
the key is to learn from your mistakes as you grow….which is exactly what BL is doing….he’s learning from his mistakes and learning the strengths of his players when the bright lights come on….
BA wasnt always what he is today….he had to learn by trail and error too….
GO BUCS!!!!
November 27th, 2019 at 12:45 pm
H8
LOL…
I AGREE…
GO BUCS!!!!
November 27th, 2019 at 12:47 pm
I know no one wants to hear this, including me, but we also need to remember that this is still just the first year in this offense for every player. From strictly offensive production standpoint what they have done this far is very impressive considering it is only their first year in the system.
November 27th, 2019 at 12:57 pm
Playing for the playoffs doesn’t jive with 1500 each……
November 27th, 2019 at 1:00 pm
This is why we should not be afraid to replace Winston. Any backup QB can do as well or better with these two.
November 27th, 2019 at 1:02 pm
The head coach added that using a lot of four-receiver sets was effective freeing up Evans and Godwin against the Falcons, and more of that could be on the way….. AAHHHH ! DDUUHHH! TOOK LEFTWICH( GOMER PILE) 11 GAMES TO FIGURE THAT OUT ?? HMMM EINSTEIN……
November 27th, 2019 at 1:29 pm
813-
I’m not a BL hater. and all for growing, etc. But when you have a legendary offensive mind (2-time coach of year, super bowl champ) on the headset, fighting for wins and the playoffs, you can’t just let BL make mistakes (like in the saints game, where he didnt have a catch).
“doing a much better job” is implying that it was a “bad job” previously. I just don’t understand if BA is standing next to him, has the headset on, has veto or input into plays, why not step in and help out mid-game?
November 27th, 2019 at 1:42 pm
And surely for the Lions to put up huge numbers they were quarterbacked by legendary Hall of Fame caliber…… Ugh wait they were quarterbacked by the immortal Scott Mitchell. So I guess huge numbers by receivers isn’t a product of a high caliber quarterback after all
November 27th, 2019 at 2:30 pm
It’s hysterical how some think any schmuck could do the same thing at qb with these two. Godwin and Mike are studs, but do you think anyone outside of Jameis and maybe 2 other qbs make that 71 yard td throw to Godwin? Nope. Jameis has his faults, no one is denying that, but to say any qb could do this is so stupid and shortsighted, its comical.
November 27th, 2019 at 2:41 pm
99
imo, the saints game was ME13s fault…..
that wasnt the first time ME13 didnt show up vs the saints….
i dont think BA implied that BL was doing a “bad job”…it just wasnt good enough….
remember before he made these comments BL had us sitting in the top 10 in yards and points…..
but it is what it is….
we’re moving the ball and scoring points…..all we have to do now is play solid defense and generate a run game….
GO BUCS!!!!
November 27th, 2019 at 3:27 pm
It’s fun to watch if you don’t give a crap about the outcome.
November 27th, 2019 at 4:48 pm
Get a kick out of reading these receivers are so good that any QB would put up similar numbers.
Completely false……..Case in point is that Godwin is a top TD getter in the league. Now you go back and look at his 2 TDs this week and you tell me if them are throws just any ole QB could make? That answer would be no.
Not to defend Winston or say you can’t criticize. Don’t don’t insult our intelligence and make a bit of cents when you do it. Shhesh man.
November 27th, 2019 at 5:07 pm
Joes: you’re sure about the year? It’s a typo. It was 1985. I saw The Detroit Lions and Barry Sanders play the Yuks at Tampa Stadium. 31-7 at the half. It was a gorgeous day so drank beer and got a sun tan in the 2nd half.
November 27th, 2019 at 5:18 pm
Barry Sanders wasn’t drafted until 1989
November 27th, 2019 at 5:38 pm
Wasn’t Rodney Pete their QB in 95? Don’t even know how or why I even rember that.
November 27th, 2019 at 7:54 pm
FOR THOSE OF YOU “KEEPING SCORE AT HOME” AT NOT JUST WILLING TO TAKE JOE’S ‘WORD’ ON IT…
What he fails to mention is that the 1995 Detroit Lions had Scott Mitchell, who threw for over 4,300 yards to those WRs.
What this Joe (the obvious Jameis-Homer Joe) ‘conveniently’ fails to mention is this…
Scott Mitchell that year threw 32 TDs and only had 12 INTs.
So he had nearly HALF as many INTs that Winston has thrown this year… IN SIXTEEN GAMES. Winston still has 5 more games to add to his pathetic INT total for the season.
So NO… the 1995 Detroit Lions are NOT a fair comparison to this Tampa Bay Buccaneers team. Their QB was 100X better at production and protecting the football than one, Jameis Winston.
November 27th, 2019 at 8:01 pm
To reinforce my statistics quoted above ^^^
The Lions QB that year (Mitchell) threw INTs at a 2.1% rate of attempts.
Jameis Winston this year has thrown INTs at a 4.6% rate of attempts. So this isn’t even close! NOT BY A MILE!
*AND* with Jameis Winston only 5 attempts away from LEADING THE NFL in passing attempts… Holy Crap does it make that 4.6% INT rate so much WORSE.
Jameis Winston is a TURD. Plain and simple. The stats don’t lie.
November 27th, 2019 at 8:11 pm
Bandit shut up and support our players. Your turning troll bro
November 27th, 2019 at 8:56 pm
JimmyJack,
LOL. You’re such a “casual fan” that goes along with any decision a team makes or whatever crappy player plays.
Sorry if I don’t blindly support every player, especially ones I don’t think are helping the team have success. Supporting MY TEAM (the Bucs) does not mean I need to support every player (or coach) that the team currently employs.
I like how you try and call me a “troll” or other names rather than to DEBATE or create any sort of counter-argument to what I posted. It’s because there’s nothing you can say to counteract FACTS.
November 27th, 2019 at 9:06 pm
Everyone loves Godwin and Evans,I guess they throw the ball to each other.The fan base here is truly not watching the game .To say that a backup elsewhere could do better than winston is foolish
November 27th, 2019 at 9:09 pm
Lamarcus, I hear ya but Joe is only reporting the facts now. This kid Godwin is a beast. Oh Lord, can you imagine. As soon as Defense Coord figures out just how they “may” contain Evans/Godwin then comes the ?
Is it Brate? Is it Howard? IDK
November 27th, 2019 at 9:10 pm
The Elephant in the Room is this. If this kind of talk keeps up from the HC and the Front Office the Bucs will certainly find creative PR reasons to tell us why they will resign JWinston even if we go 7-9 or 6-10.
So lets be real here. Should we accept Mediocrity and be satisfied in missing the playoffs year after year?
We heard for the last several years the Bucs ‘wanted to give Jameis help’ which seems an admission he had weaknesses and the flip side of that coin is an attitude that maybe we can just outscore the other team even though we have a sub-par Defense.
This is not how Great teams are built. Year in and Year out Playoff & Super Bowl teams have solid to very good defenses.
The 3 teams best positioned for the Super Bowl all have great defenses, Pats, Ravens & 49ers.
November 27th, 2019 at 9:10 pm
Willis can’t double cover everybody……………………….Give Willis a break
November 27th, 2019 at 9:13 pm
Mr. Pederson………………….I know right
November 27th, 2019 at 9:32 pm
Bandit. Yep I do support all the players on the team. Don’t mean I always like em. Don’t mean I got faith in some of them to get better. But I support. em none the less.
Just like Dirk Koetter I never liked that guy and had very little faith he would build a solid team. But I still supported him and hoped he would proove me wrong. Or a guy like Talking who I didn’t particularly like cause of he personal problems here. Didn’t think he was a good guy for the lockerroom but I still supported him and hoped he would fix his problems…………..I didn’t run around called them names like a child, instead I would voice my critism. And I most certainly did not let my dislike for them people effect my support of the team like you have.
Call it casual if you like I’ll consider it loyal. I won’t allow one person to infect my 💓 like you have. But just know when you hating on our players and hating on our team you resemble the actions more closer of a enemy fan or a troll then you do of a Buc fan.
November 27th, 2019 at 9:35 pm
And if you want a debate we can do that too. I can tell you all the good stuff Winston does you can say all the bad stuff. I didn’t got no problems with any of your critism……never will. I just don’t care for the namecalling of our players. It’s childish and as a fan I take it personally. That’s all.
November 27th, 2019 at 9:36 pm
Talib*** not talking
November 27th, 2019 at 9:55 pm
Scot pederson those are good points but I will say that I don’t think it’s fair to judge this regime based on the way the team was built before they got here. They will have their own direction and vision & I think it’s safe to say the coaching staff likely has a large role in personal moves.
Our last draft was dedicated primarily to defense & they let 2 of our biggest cornerstone pieces walk(McCoy&Kwon)…….While they called it a retool…..or reload, whatever…….It seems obvisous that they are pretty much rebuilding the that side of the ball. And they are installing an entirely different system then the Tampa 2 we have run for over 25 years.
We might be asking too much expecting big results in only 11 games
November 27th, 2019 at 10:18 pm
NDOG,
Good point. The question is how many more points can this offense be expected to score on avg?
Personally, I see too many opportunities to put points on the board wasted.
So I have to believe that this offense is capable of at least 10+ additional points per game.
November 28th, 2019 at 2:00 am
“Joe is old enough to remember the eye-popping and ridiculously good 1995 Lions offense.”
I’m old enough to remember the eye-popping and ridiculously bad 1976 Bucs offense– and that goes for essentially every year since then. Ah, those 6-3 games of the late 90’s. Strange after all these years watching a team that can put points on the board.
November 28th, 2019 at 2:56 am
JimmyJack,
I *did* support Jameis Winston for his first two years. Then I realized he just wasn’t going to be a great NFL QB. He was a great athlete at FSU, even though he had some turnover issues there as well, but I was okay with drafting him as the #1 overall pick and supported him and TRULY hoped he would turn out to be the next, great elite QB in the NFL.
Then once that was obviously not going to happen… I still held out hope in his 2nd season (and half of the 3rd) that even, though, he clearly wasn’t “elite” like a Top 5-7 NFL QB, I still supported him and hoped he’d at least be ‘above average’ and could protect the football and help ‘manage’ games to get us more wins, similar to a Brad Johnson.
But then didn’t happen. So I realized, over TWO YEARS AGO, that Winston wasn’t going to be a great NFL QB and we could do better…
Now… TWO YEARS LATER… when he could have proved me wrong and surprised me (and others) with major improvements…
It didn’t happen.
He’s now in YEAR #5. FIVE. FIVE LONG YEARS. And he still hasn’t improved his turnover problems and his accuracy ups and downs, nor has he cured his bad-decision making that makes you scratch your head at times (like the jump pass INT to Dare last weekend).
I gave him more than a fair chance. It’s now been 5 years with no major improvements. STILL leads the league in turnovers. STILL hasn’t got us anywhere near the playoffs again. STILL is super streaky and inconsistent.
It’s been FIVE YEARS.
I truly believe it’s time for Winston to go and for the Bucs to move on. If that makes me a “troll” or someone that doesn’t support the team… well, then that makes ZERO sense at all.
November 28th, 2019 at 2:58 am
JimmyJack,
As far as my ‘you failed to debate me with a reply’ mention… I meant in regards to the DATA I POSTED. i.e. about the Lions QB and he not being the turnover problem (like our QB) so I stated it’s not a fair comparison that Joe made. THAT’S the issue in this post thread. Any criticism of Winston, especially specific criticism about a certain part of his game or stats etc. doesn’t mean someone has to counter it with a full “list of positives about Jameis” to counter someone’s point. The whole key to a discuss is to discuss SOMETHING SPECIFIC if another person is mentioning it as something based on stats or worth discussing.
November 28th, 2019 at 3:01 am
Not a blind bucs fans,
“To say that a backup elsewhere could do better than winston is foolish”
Oh yeah? You mean like Ryan Fitzpatrick? Who is starting now for the Dolphins again but was literally benched this season and was a BACKUP… yet he had 4 games of over 400+ yards with the Bucs last year and 3 games alone with 4+ TD passes.
Tell us again how some backup QBs elsewhere can’t do better than Winston with this Offense. The odds are very good THEY COULD.
November 28th, 2019 at 4:08 am
Bucs Bandit,
I believe the term you’re looking for is “system QB”. It’s amazing how many times that term gets throw out around JBF, but never once is it mentioned in the same sentence with Jameis Winston.
I mention this because there’s a few posters who, on one hand deride the offense scheme and claim that it’s better to throw short passes and ditch this outdated system and on the other hand, the same people are going to point to the yards passing and air yards per attempt and given the season, TD’S. Never heard anything about the system is in part responsible for the results. Lots of blaming the system for INT’s but never credit for the 4000yds passing.
Also, nothing is said about the offense now ranked 20th in avg rushing yds/per game. Unless the league has axed some teams, this means no longer are we bottom 5 in the league. That means something to someone.
November 28th, 2019 at 8:09 am
Holy crap- 12 teams have worse rushing stats than we do?
November 28th, 2019 at 12:03 pm
@D1,
Well said!
I mean, when you have a journeyman QB like Fitzpatrick put up, arguably, some bigger numbers (at least in certain games) with 400+ yards and 4 TDs… anyone that’s honest knows that it’s not because of Jameis.
November 28th, 2019 at 12:33 pm
how do you guys even know that they would put up the numbers without winston maybe winston is the reason for godwin success or even evans success with all of the opportunity he gives them