John Lynch Returns To Super Bowl
January 20th, 2020
Super Bowl-bound.
Bucs fans who remember when a jubilant John Lynch stood on the field of Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego on a late January Sunday evening some 17 years ago, waving a Bucs flag and hollering, “We did it Ronde! We’re world champs!” must have had a have a smile on their faces last night.
It’s not so much that Lynch, a fan favorite, is one win from being a champion again. Sure, Bucs fans want Lynch to succeed.
But Lynch, the current 49ers shot-caller, is likely making Bucs fans smile in how he built a winner in San Francisco.
The 49ers, long known as a team led by Hall of Fame quarterbacks, were retooled by Lynch in recent years to possess a bruising defense with a solid run game and a dependable quarterback from a small school in the east-central Illinois prairie that Joe happens to know very well.
And maybe, just maybe, Lynch’s project might be a Super Bowl champion.
While watching the 49ers take apart the Packers in the NFC title game last night, you couldn’t help but think of the old Bucs the way the 49ers play defense.
It was almost like Lynch channeled the ghost of Al Davis from across the San Francisco Bay. Davis famously coined the phrase, “A quarterback must go down and he must go down hard.” Lynch has built a ferocious defensive line.
Somewhere last night, Warren Sapp and Simeon Rice were nodding in approval.
The results speak for themselves. Future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers had no answers in the first half as the 49ers’ pass rush simply swallowed him up.
And once the 49ers had a comfortable lead, they ate the clock up with a dependable run game.
Joe hopes Bucs officials watched. Yes, the Bucs have a pass rush (finally!). And yes the Bucs have a strong defense. The Bucs had one of the best defenses in the league in the final month of the season. The Bucs also had the NFL’s best run defense — by far.
What key element is missing from the Bucs that the 49ers displayed last night? A run game.
For the folks who work within the walls of One Buc Palace, is it really too much to ask to have a reliable running back? And no, Joe does not call Peyton Barber or his bungling predecessor Doug Martin reliable backs.
The only thing those two guys were reliable about since the start of the 2016 season is a significant lack of production.
Joe is of the mind that the way the Bucs defense came on and the elite passing attack the Bucs possess, the lone missing link for the Bucs is a running back.
Please Bucs, resolve this issue and for the love of all that is just, do not bank on hope with inactivity. Attack this weak link as if your careers depended upon it.
And maybe, you could bask in the glory of being the first NFL team to play in a Super Bowl on your very own home turf a year from now.
January 20th, 2020 at 12:07 am
The big problem with that scenario Joe, is that you fail to factor in JayMiss and all of his issues.
Turnovers…….. the ultimate HASSLE!
January 20th, 2020 at 12:12 am
YES!… A bulldozer of a back and a competent qb can transform this team into possible winners this 2020 season… Hopefully they have a good plan in place to make it happen!
January 20th, 2020 at 12:25 am
What did Tennessee,KC(not as much but still enough) and SF due well…………..RUN THE BALL.
That is the reason both teams got as far as they did. Also their QBs did not turn the ball over. There were very few INTs in these playoffs.
Fix the game around the QB, Get a solid QB, Win Games. We are not that far off.
January 20th, 2020 at 12:29 am
Im happy for Mr Lynch and what he’s doing for his team….but man is that a sh-hole city….sorry, but i hope s-hole sanfran loses!
January 20th, 2020 at 12:29 am
Glad the Glazers hired Jason Lite instead of Hall of Fame Buccaneer John Lynch, Stanford graduate and dynasty building GM.
January 20th, 2020 at 12:33 am
Oh and Lynch knows you need a kicker. Not a fraud like the Bucs have with their Roberta Agauyo II.
Matt Gay — the difference between 7-9 and 10-6.
January 20th, 2020 at 12:37 am
Robbie Gould. yes sir!
January 20th, 2020 at 12:38 am
Weren’t the Bucs coming off a 9-7 season when the 49ers hired Lynch?
January 20th, 2020 at 12:57 am
I hope this traitor does t win another Super Bowl! He was a dirty mercenary when he played football and now he is a turncoat “executive” as well. If this fraud does get in the hall it will further water down the talent in there, and let’s all hope he doesn’t try to represent the Bucs. He probably won’t though being the traitor he is!
January 20th, 2020 at 1:01 am
Buc fans want Lynch to win the Super Bowl??? Are you kidding Joe? This fan doesn’t give a rats arse about ANY team except the Bucs. Lynch is the enemy now as far as I’m concerned.
January 20th, 2020 at 2:57 am
So happy for Lynch. A Bucs great. We should consider Barber as a future GM candidate.
January 20th, 2020 at 3:23 am
All these dopes saying the Bucs should have hired Lynch, they would have been calling for his head after losing for two years and saying the team has to be blown up and started over.
Anywho, I do wonder if Ronde might be the next ex-Buc to hit it big. He’s clearly got the mind for the job, he has an eye for talent… he’s someone I’d be keeping a close on eye on if I’m the Bucs.
Also I’d absolutely find out a way to work Brooks into the front office to see how he took to things.
Finally I’d bring in Sapp every once in awhile just to walk around the building and make sure people know Bucs history, how great that defense was, and generally to insult people – mainly higher ups. I’d film the entire thing and make a 300-part YouTube series out of it.
January 20th, 2020 at 3:25 am
“Buc believer Says:
January 20th, 2020 at 1:01 am
Buc fans want Lynch to win the Super Bowl??? Are you kidding Joe? This fan doesn’t give a rats arse about ANY team except the Bucs. Lynch is the enemy now as far as I’m concerned.”
Take your Flintstone vitamins and get to bed kiddo.
January 20th, 2020 at 3:27 am
Yes ,Joe
A solid run game can be used to eat up clock time , and even be a the key to an offense..But you glossed over the other key factor, a dependable QB .
January 20th, 2020 at 4:05 am
Sign a free agent running back that is above average and won’t break the bank. Draft another one this year, keep Rojo, and dump the others.
January 20th, 2020 at 4:20 am
Next year, RoJo should do a lot better, now that we are fixing our RT.
Also, if we could just get Donovan to actually run block instead of running in space, we should do better running to our left.
January 20th, 2020 at 4:24 am
What’s a run game? Did I say that right? Run game. I’ve heard of this mythical aspect of football but it continues to elude our Buccaneers for some reason.
January 20th, 2020 at 4:26 am
Jameis has BEEN a competent QB before, especially when he’s had a run game (one year). Check the facts. 9-7 and that’s without a defense most of the year.
January 20th, 2020 at 4:34 am
You nailed it Bob … A smothering defense, a solid run game AND a dependable QB. Someone who can make plays WITHOUT turning the ball over. Music to my ears.
Aaron Rodgers had an excellent game last night (31-of-39 for 326 yards & 2 TDs), BUT his 2 INTs hurt. Jimmy Garoppolo did very little (6-of-8 for 77 yards & 0 TDs), but he did ENOUGH to where the San Fran defense & running game did their thing. In the final analysis, BOTH teams had almost identical TOTAL YARDAGE … 358 for the Packers & 354 for the 49ers. They just got there different ways.
And as Bucs’ fans have seen far too many times, TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL was critical. Packers 3 TOs (2 INT, 1 fumble) to 49ers 0 TOs. Kansas City also looked good yesterday (their defense is very solid) and Mahomes is unreal. This Super Bowl SHOULD be a classic.
January 20th, 2020 at 4:55 am
SwampBuc … Robbie Gould finished the year strong (only 1 miss since mid-season), but he was pretty bad earlier in the season. Overall he was 23 FG Made out of 31 attempts … 74.2%. Our ROOKIE, Matt Gay, did better than that (27 FG Made out of 35 attempts … 77.1%).
Difference is that Gould has been kicking FGs for a LONG time & is one of the best at it (86.8% made for his 15-year career ranks way up there … #8 on the all-time list). San Fran didn’t give up on him earlier this season when he missed 3 FGs in the Cleveland game, and was 0-for-4 on the season from 50 yards or more. Had he played for the Bucs, they might very well have sent him packing.
January 20th, 2020 at 5:46 am
Joe, running game wasn’t the only “key element” S.F. added to get to where they are. The 49ers were the worst team in the league in 2018 in Turnover Differential at -25. They finished the season with a 4-12 record.
This season, they improved to a +4 Turnover Differential …for a monumental +29 swing year over year! (the biggest swing of any team in the league from 2018 – 2019!)
The Bucs were the 2nd worst T/O Diff team in the league last season….-18….and the 5th worst this season at -13. Turnovers lose games!
Lynch and the 49ers figured this out. Waiting for Licht and Arians to catch up! 30 INTs a season ain’t going to get us there, that’s for sure.
January 20th, 2020 at 6:12 am
Alaskan, you’re playing unfair. Bucs running game in 2016 was nothing to write home about (1616 yards on 453 attempts for 3.6 YPR). AND we only had 8 rushing TDs on the season. But if you listen to past articles here, we had a winning season because of the 5-game winning streak because our defense played exceptionally well in that stretch (aka, called a ‘fluke’ as I remember).
To his credit, Jameis had what I think was his best year in 2016. Started all 16 games, threw for 4,090 yards, 28 TDs against 18 INTs (1.56 TD/INT ratio). He passed 567 times and our ratio of pass-run ratio was 57% pass to 43% run. That’s a very solid ratio IMO. This past year it was 61% pass to 39% run … too lopsided IMO.
IF Jameis could average 1 INT/game (instead of his recent almost 2 INT/game), throw for his 2016 numbers with a 55% pass – 45% run ratio Bucs could make the playoffs. Watching Mahomes & the Chiefs’ offense yesterday dismantle the Titans made me realize that this Bucs’ offense needs some significant ‘enhancements’ to get to that same level however.
January 20th, 2020 at 6:31 am
we all have a soft spot for juan lynch 🙂
but that doesn’t mean i ever routed for denver…
and i’m not supporting the 9ers either…
just juan lynch and only juan lynch…
i might ever prefer juan lynch over julio licht 🙂
January 20th, 2020 at 6:46 am
Rod I don’t want to take away what you have been munching on… if YOU want to root for a different team just because your man crush is the GM that’s your prerogative. As for me the ONLY team I will ever root for is the Bucs. THAT is called being loyal.
January 20th, 2020 at 6:47 am
Don’t forget about the LiTiRilla.
January 20th, 2020 at 6:56 am
For the less gifted football analysts among us. Yes… a top notch run D does matter.. just ask the GB Packers. And BTW…AR had an uncharacteristically like Jameis game… 2 TD passes, 2 Ints., over three hundred yards and 31 of 39 pass attempts. Yeah…that wasn’t a winning formula for the Packers either.
And BTW…John Lynch knows that…you think?
January 20th, 2020 at 7:35 am
John Lynch took over a 2-14 football team and two years later the team goes 13-3. Meanwhile, we’re in year six of the Backstabbin’ Jason Licht reign of terror and Unreasonable Joe blames Lovie Smith for the team going 7-9 5 years later.
January 20th, 2020 at 7:39 am
Why didn’t the Glazers give this guy a shot. Someone should seriously ask them.
January 20th, 2020 at 7:45 am
Sorry D…we have put a huge amount of resources in developing a QB the last five years.
January 20th, 2020 at 7:48 am
I’ll tell you where I’m leaning now…if we are just throwing thoughts out our backside…If Jameis demands more than 25mil, sign Rivers for less, and draft a QB in the first few rounds.
January 20th, 2020 at 7:50 am
And BTW…for those that think Rivers doesn’t have a deep ball anymore, ask Billicheat…he said Rivers still has an excellent deep ball…this year. Of course, the cheat could be lying. But Arians would know.
January 20th, 2020 at 7:53 am
It shows what kind of GM you are when you do unprecedented things such as wasting a 2nd and 5th rounders on kickers, passing on all good running backs just because, and drafting a MLB instead of building up the defensive line. Sometimes I wonder why does Jason Licht still has a job.
January 20th, 2020 at 7:57 am
Newsflash…the Defensive line, as it stood at the end of the year, was just fine…two premier pass rushers, and a top run D.
Licht has had some bad drafts and the last one a good one… and some good and bad FA signings. But let’s face it… Arians coaching staff is the first one in over a decade that could actually develop a player.
January 20th, 2020 at 8:02 am
I hope the Bucs officials and fans took notice to what a GM that is competent can do. The 49ers were a joke and 3 yrs later are in the Super Bowl. It doesn’t take 6 yrs to produce a winning product. I also hope folks see that you don’t have to have a top 5 pick to get a top tier QB. The Chiefs had Smith, they still swung for an upgrade at QB. The Niners made a gutsy play for Garapollo….it paid off. The Titans benched their #1 pick for a journey man, they made it to the AFC championship.
The Bucs…..they gave a losing GM an extension and continue to kill coaching careers with their hope for Winston. At some point change something in the formula because Licht and Winston aren’t getting it done.
January 20th, 2020 at 8:21 am
Well said D-Rome. Why is Licht still here?
January 20th, 2020 at 8:23 am
Absolutely correct guys!! We are just missing a dominant running game from being a top 10 team. If we go oline the first 2 picks and can steal Najee Harris or a similar build RB in the 3rd or 4th we can turn it around fast!!! The way 49ers just lined up and ran the ball right down the Packers’ throat is so empowering to the defense, it’s just out demoralizing. We have great blocking receivers and we could quickly become a force if we address our oline.
You guys may hate me for saying what I’m about to say but here goes… we simply do not have an intelligent vocal leader on our team. Listen to Mahomes on the sidelines or Jimmy G or Sherman, we lack that type of leadership. Jameis is somewhat developing it but his bonehead plays water down his message. Lavonte is a hype machine and he’s very underrated but listen to what he’s really saying, no clear message just bark bark. That’s all we’re missing, we need an intelligent over-my-dead-body attitude. That Louisville OT is a behemoth and would really give us an attitude.
Take notes Bucs, build them trenches and bring home the Lombardi.
January 20th, 2020 at 8:24 am
Lynch was successful because he surrounded himself with bronco / Shanahan’s not ignorant garbage like dungy the clown and his failed coaching shrub…. lynch’s best years were in denver. He knows you cant win with incompetent feel good stories like dungy the clown and his failed associates….
I was wrong about lynch. I thought he’d hire a bunch of dungy the clown losers .. he did the right thing by distancing himself from the failed dungy the clown regime connections and sticking with winners like the weasly Shanahan’s over the ignorant feel good stories….
January 20th, 2020 at 8:35 am
Run game. Commit to the run. Did you see the holes those guys were running through. JL built the trenches. That’s John Lynch not Jason Licht. Then he went and got a coach he could grow with, that took a good offense to the SB, a coach that had super resource as a father (because Kyle grew up on the sideline). He did what Tony Dungy did, stayed consistent, Congrats JL47, HOF next
January 20th, 2020 at 8:53 am
One more thing….49ers win, Lynch has earned his place in the Hall of Fame. As much as I enjoyed him as a Bucs fan, I have never felt he was a HOF safety. He was an all time great for the Bucs, but to be categorized with the best ever seemed like a stretch. His contributions to the game as a player, commentator and now GM, will make him deserving if the 49ers win it all.
January 20th, 2020 at 8:53 am
Hope your taking notes on how to build a championship team Jason Licht! Niners invested 3 premium first round picks and traded for Dee Ford. You build the defense from front to back!!!! And look at that Oline! Both the niners running backs are not exactly all-pro and they were killing it all year because of the Oline!
January 20th, 2020 at 8:54 am
Line of scrimmage matters! Build the d-line
January 20th, 2020 at 8:56 am
Lynch, an all time favorite, congrats. I remember Shanahan was an intern back in the day under Gruden. To bad the Glazers didn’t team them up in Tampa. Lynch a first time GM with no front office experience, has taken his team to the SB in three years? He built the trenches, traded for a competent QB brought in the right FA’s, turned a loser into a powerhouse. Licht used a high second rounder on a kicker, and drafted another one last year with his fifth pick. His won loss record is dismal, and he got extended. It’s a Bucs life.
January 20th, 2020 at 9:03 am
”The 49ers, long known as a team led by Hall of Fame quarterbacks, were retooled by Lynch in recent years to possess a bruising defense with a solid run game and a dependable quarterback”
Mostert 220 yards 4 TDS – Solid? Just solid? I’d settle for half that myself!
January 20th, 2020 at 9:05 am
Joe, don’t forget to mention the 9ers’ retooled OL.
January 20th, 2020 at 9:17 am
Some of these comments in regards to TOs and running game once again shows how CLUELESS you really are. Especially this one below which actually proves everything I have been saying yet he doesn’t he realize he helped make my point!
Aaron Rodgers had an excellent game last night (31-of-39 for 326 yards & 2 TDs), BUT his 2 INTs hurt. Jimmy Garoppolo did very little (6-of-8 for 77 yards & 0 TDs), but he did ENOUGH to where the San Fran defense & running game did their thing. In the final analysis, BOTH teams had almost identical TOTAL YARDAGE … 358 for the Packers & 354 for the 49ers. They just got there different ways.
January 20th, 2020 at 9:26 am
17 years go……The last playoff win. Pretty sad.
January 20th, 2020 at 9:46 am
For those calling for Lichts head….frankly, I’m non-plused with his performance. But it must be looked at in the reality of who made the decisions and the coaching environment. Lovie had complete control during the Smith years regarding personnel. We canned some quality players and brought in some stiffs. He and Koetter failed to develop any of our draft picks… it was frankly a bad joke. Now we have a head coach who is basically calling the shots and developing players….how refreshing. Licht was instrumental in bringing in Arians and Bowles. I trust these guys are better in identifying and developing talent than we have had here in decades. And when Arians and Bowles are gone, find it likely that Licht may be as well.
To talk about canning Licht to improve our draft and FA selection would do nothing but cause a rift between Arians and the other powers that be. And why would any talented GM come in having to defer to Arians and Bowles? Just look at what is happening at the organizational level folks…it is clear as glass.
January 20th, 2020 at 10:17 am
Barry or Deion Sanders vs Broderick Thomas
Calvin Johnson/Joe Thomas vs Gaines Adams ( R.I.P )
Brett Farve vs a bitter Jeff Garcia
John Lynch vs Jason Bright Licht
Another for the Dept of “what could have been”.
Good for Lynch and for the 49ers. I prefer an Andy Reid title however.
January 20th, 2020 at 10:32 am
@Tye
“YES!… A bulldozer of a back and a competent qb can transform this team”
Amen! Preach it brother
@Mark2001
Thanks for providing some perspective on Licht. He’s made mistakes…he’s hit some home runs with a few singles and doubles mixed in. That pretty much is true for ALL NFL GM’s. Your point that he wasn’t truly making all these decisions just means it’s almost impossible to TRULY judge. Just like at QB I trust BA’s judgement…Licht is only here as long as BA signs off on him.
Here is a PREDICTION. I do not know which team will win the big game….I believe it will be a great game and is certainly a compelling matchup.
MY PREDICTION…whichever team wins posters here will rush in with their “confirmation bias”. If it’s SF…see…great D, running game, and a “game manager” QB is the way to go.
If it’s KC..we’ll hear..GREAT QB with decent running made great by the best QB in the league right now..and a decent defense can win the day.
My take will remain the same as it’s always been. Its ONE freaking game that will not validate either approach but rather illustrate that there is more than one way to win in the NFL.
January 20th, 2020 at 10:33 am
Congrats to Lynch, who also finally made the Hall of Fame!
Congrats to Kwon too.
It doesn’t surprise me that certain elements turn this into a hate opportunity.
Joe, if we didn’t need a right tackle so badly, I’d back you on the RB in the first round. You’ve been wanting one for…well…over a decade. I agree we need a RB, but if the trenches don’t comefirst, no RB will succeed here.
I also think Rojo can be that guy if we get great run blocking.
Would love to see Carl run block for him.
January 20th, 2020 at 10:36 am
stpetebucsfan, you are right, of course.
I do think KC is the closest to what Arians is trying to build though. Vertical offense. Solid Defense.
January 20th, 2020 at 11:43 am
Bonzai
Agree that BA is wanting to duplicate the KC plan not the SF style.
I love bombs away football. Ironically JW “could” have been the ultimate QB in this style. Sadly he still after five years doesn’t seem to know when to hurl those bombs and when to store them for another series.
I feel JW’s pain in this…it’s a pretty fine line to walk.
January 20th, 2020 at 11:55 am
They along with the Chiefs have had the easiest path to a super bowl maybe ever.
January 20th, 2020 at 11:56 am
What did Lynch do right in San Fran? The exact thing that many of us have been begging and pleading to see from our Bucs for years:
– Built up nasty, powerful lines on offense and defense
– Has a super creative, modern offensive playcaller.
It’s almost like football is won and lost in the trenches… Just look at the difference in our defense once our entire d-line was healthy this year. But hey wtfdik?
January 20th, 2020 at 3:30 pm
Lynch= Simple Blueprint
Licht= Simpleton Blowhard
January 20th, 2020 at 4:17 pm
Boy and to think Bucs let Jon Robinson and Lynch go and instead kept incompetent Licht as their GM.
January 20th, 2020 at 8:10 pm
It’s actually 17 years exactly to the day that Lynch won NFCCG with Bucs and 49ers.
January 20th, 2020 at 8:12 pm
Congrats to Kwon?
That person must not have watched. He didn’t even play. SF realized his backup is just as good.
Check your sheet.
January 21st, 2020 at 5:58 am
hm…
January 21st, 2020 at 7:17 pm
Keeping this defense together versus salary cap.
Let’s see how Licht fares with this puzzle