Marshon Lattimore In Mike Evans’ Head
September 14th, 2020
When Mike Evans was a young player with the Bucs, then-Stinking Panthers cornerback Josh Norman was absolutely in his head and it showed in Evans’ play.
Evans was so frustrated Norman totally baited Evans into penalties and once got Evans tossed from a game.
Saints defensive back Marshon Lattimore is just about the same way. Though Lattimore wasn’t trying to bait Evans three years ago when Lattimore got into a sideline hassle with Mr. Entertainment, America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, it was Evans, flying in to defend Jameis, who leveled Lattimore and got run from the game as a result.
Lattimore hasn’t gotten Evans launched from a game (yet), but damn if he isn’t in Evans’ head.
Evans had a brutal day yesterday in New Orleans and much if not all of that was due to Lattimore, as documented by Jenna Laine of ESPN.
Mike Evans had one reception Sunday and it came on a play starting at 2:46 of the fourth quarter. According to @NextGenStats, Marshon Lattimore lined up against Evans a team-high 29 times, and limited him to 0 receptions on two targets as the nearest defender.
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) September 14, 2020
When former Bucs offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Todd Monken came to town, then-coach Dirk Koetter gave Monken one directive: fix Mike Evans.
And Evans became an NFL star.
Could it be in the past year, with Monken gone, that Evans is doing something where he’s allowing Lattimore to screw with his head, resulting in poor games against the Saints? In 2019, Evans had a total of four catches for 69 yards against the Saints in two games.
Look, Joe is a huge fan of Evans. But let’s be honest here, Lattimore is not Deion Sanders. Is Lattimore using some sort of mind game to throw off Evans and turn him into a scatterbrain?
September 14th, 2020 at 12:13 am
As Brady said in the presser, those two huge PI calls moved the ball just as much as a catches do. That was 62 yards in penalties – not sure how a 3-63-1 line is a brutal day. It’s not a great day, but it’s not bad either, in particular when we didn’t even know if he’d play today.
September 14th, 2020 at 12:21 am
combination of things
1) saints have a great defense
2) Brady is new to Bucs and Evans wants it to go well
3) Lattimore is like a scab, breaks open at the worst time
4) Evans and Brady not on same page
5) Lattimore wants a war–he is pissed for his PI call
Joe obviously Evans is in Lattimores head and causing him problems too.
September 14th, 2020 at 12:21 am
What happens to the “good incompletions” that Tom brady throws lol.
September 14th, 2020 at 12:26 am
¿I wonder if Marshon Lattimore is in Donovan Smith’s head as well?
September 14th, 2020 at 12:42 am
If you want someone that struggled today, just look at our amazing special teams…
Kickoff returns…
Mike Edwards, 1 return, 0 yards, fumble.
Punt returns…
Jaydon Mickens, 1 return, 0 yards
(NO’s returner, 4 returns, 59 yards, 14.8 average)
Punting
Pinion, 5 kicks, 47.2 avg (yay!), 35.4 net (boooo)
FG kicking
Ryan Succop, 1/2 FGs, 50%, long of 38
Complete and total waste of a day by special teams who removed any chance of a comeback with that fumble on the kick return. Pitiful effort there.
September 14th, 2020 at 12:46 am
Also take into account that just 2 days ago looked like Evans wasn’t even going to play in this game and was definitely not 100% out there. Honestly I couldn’t believe he was even on the field as much as he was even just as a decoy. So I’m hoping in round 2 Evans is full go and also by then he and Brady I think will be in full sync that’s when will see these 2 in the real match up
September 14th, 2020 at 12:48 am
I wasn’t disappointed with the Bucs. The mistakes were costly but easily corrected. For their first game with little practice and time together, I thought did ok. I saw a lot of really good things on both sides of the ball. Opening day against the Saints I really didn’t expect to win. They got this game out of the way and I think they’ll get on a roll. Special teams really needs work though. Donavan missed a few plays but overall not bad for the O line. First game and they’ll get better. They all will. It’s coming and we just lost to the best team in the NFC. Now get after it and win the rest. Go Bucs!!!
September 14th, 2020 at 12:49 am
I really believe in this team. Light and Arians assembled a great cast. It’s coming.
September 14th, 2020 at 12:50 am
Yeah don’t think Evans was feeling right amd still had those big flags drawn. Disappointing though that when Evans plays saints (Lattimore) and Panthers (Bradbury) he seems to struggle those 4 games…
September 14th, 2020 at 12:52 am
Isn’t an offensive coordinator supposed to come up with ways to free him from that coverage or at the very least make sure to target him when he is not covered by Lattimore?
September 14th, 2020 at 1:33 am
Lattimore has been living rent-free since his rookie year. Mike gets frustrated getting shut down. I don’t know why someone hasn’t coached him how to use his body to shield cover corners. Mike doesn’t have 0 catches because he’s scatterbrained, it’s because he isn’t getting separation. The BS is a result of being frustrated.
BTW, most of the mistakes that were made were fundamental mistakes, I can’t believe the coaches aren’t getting through to the players. This is not the first time these guys have played pro football, apart from the rookies who for the most part were solid.
September 14th, 2020 at 2:39 am
I don’t want to make excuses for Mike (but I guess I am anyway), but there is no way that he was 100% for this game being that he was doubtful on Friday. He didn’t play well but those two penalties that Mike drew against Lattimore helped us out. Maybe they are in each other’s heads?
September 14th, 2020 at 5:17 am
and the ghost of winston seems to be hanging around brady’s locker
September 14th, 2020 at 6:23 am
Delusional intelligence, no, marshawn Latimore is not in DSmith’s head because it’s preoccupied with thin air from the Rocky Mountains.
September 14th, 2020 at 6:37 am
I watched other games yesterday. The Bucs were just BRUTAL compared to other teams who also had no off season/preseason and with coaching staffs. Let’s stop with the excuses.
September 14th, 2020 at 7:21 am
My thoughts also Scotty, nothing but excuses. No mention of the Gronk anywhere.
September 14th, 2020 at 7:36 am
Evans is mentally weak. Always has been. Always will be. And he’s slow for an NFL receiver. He should put on 20 lbs and switch to TE. Wait, he’s too soft for that. Just follow Jameis.
September 14th, 2020 at 7:53 am
And these are the kind of comments you get when you get a bunch of bandwagon fans pretending to be Bucs fans. Brady pretty much didn’t target Evans most of the game which always happens when we play Saints, it’s not like lattimore is playing on an island with no help. They take him away just like Shaq is always a non factor, are we gonna write one up about who’s in Shaq head? Continuity win and that makes sense. Every year saints make this coaching staff look like they have no game plan
September 14th, 2020 at 8:48 am
Evans wasn’t even supposed to play… so you’re saying that despite him playing at 80-90% on a gimpy hamstring, scoring a TD and getting two HUGE DPI calls, Evans was a failure?
Typical not-as-insightful Joe stuff. Right up there with not seeing how good our young CBs are and pining for a veteran space waster.
Evans played. He played more than i thought he would. And he had two HUGE plays from interference. He was a threat. He kept Lattimorr occupied so Godwin and Miller could face lesser players in coverage. I’m not wasting any more of my time trying to help the blind see.
September 14th, 2020 at 9:52 am
Obviously if you saw the Game you could see Marshon Lattimore in Mike Evan’s head. Thought Evans had more self-control. Lattimore won the coverage before the snap.
September 14th, 2020 at 9:57 am
Mike scored a late TD and ppl on here saying he didnt have a catch. It was a pretty tough catch and he got both feet down.
Anyway, it was game one against one of our hardest teams of the season. We’ll be fine. Tom didn’t look sharp, the offense didn’t look sharp but it’s okay we’ll get there.
Defense was solid. Bowles called a good game. Round 2 will be different. Most teams aren’t calling all those trick plays. Saints were scared.
September 14th, 2020 at 10:31 am
It’s pathetic they way he just folds against Lattimire, who isn’t even that special of a DB.
Of course he was only targeted 3 or 4 times the whole game right? So not a lot of opportunities, especially if he’s still healing his hammy.
Overall the Bucs looked sloppy, unprepared, and far less hungry than their opponent. Dumb penalties and turnovers throughout. Sound familiar?
Don’t worry we can still #BlameJameis
September 14th, 2020 at 11:51 am
Evans was a No Show in NO again. Lattimore gets in his head so easily.
Hey MIke, the way to shut him up is to catch the ball, not knock off his helmet.
September 14th, 2020 at 2:38 pm
There was a discussion about why Mike Evans isn’t mentioned in the top WRs in the league and this is what I said before to that discussion – he gets shutdown by the same CBs every time. Michael Thomas and Julio Jones may get shutdown from time to time, but I’ve never heard of a CB who has consistently shut them down.
Mike is a way above average WR, but he is not elite level yet. We need the other weapons because Mike Evans is not DHop. That’s just something we have to accept.
September 15th, 2020 at 8:43 am
Styles make fights. Sometimes ppl and teams just have your number. Sometimes it just can’t be explained.
I think Lattimore just matches up well with Evans. It is was it is. Having said that, Evans drew some huge penalties against Lattimore… I think in this game, they nullified each other.
The Bucs ultimately loss because of self inflicted mistakes. You will never beat a team as good as the Saints with that many bone headed plays.
As far as the Brady picks, the first one I can live with. It was nothing more than one player seeing something different from another player. Mike read the coverage one way and Brady another. According to Arians, Mike read it correctly( even though originally he said Brady read it correctly), it happens, not a big deal.
The second one concerns me and was Winston like. The throw was late and thrown to the inside shoulder. Two absolute no-no’s on an out route… I expect Winston to do that, not Brady. That was a horrible throw…