Where’s Gronk?
September 20th, 2020
Future Hall of Fame tight end Rob Gronkowski has 11 yards receiving in two Bucs games.
Yes, he’s healthy.
Joe’s trying to find a silver lining.
Joe doesn’t want to believe Gronk is washed up and worn out, even though he’s looked that way in the passing game. Joe’s hoping the guy is just shaking off rust after a year out of football and diving into a new playbook.
Yeah, Joe’s making excuses, but sometimes excuses are flat out accurate.
For now, Gronk can still seal the edge in the run game, as he did on Ronald Jones’ touchdown in today’s victory. Joe’s not seeing issues with Gronk’s blocking, though he doesn’t look like the punishing animal he was years ago in New England.
On the upside, Gronk isn’t being overworked and taking all kinds of shots to his body over the middle of the field. On paper, he was a luxury signing for Tampa Bay, and so far he’s been a luxury/bonus kind of piece. The Bucs haven’t had to rely on him.
Will Bruce Arians, Bryon Leftwich and Tom Brady try to get Gronk more involved in the passing game, or will they just let it happen organically?
Joe’s sort of hoping the Bucs can win without Gronk being special. That would bode well for next year’s salary cap dilemmas, since Gronk is on a one-year contract. And yes, Joe believes the Bucs can win without Gronk looking like the Gronk of old.
September 20th, 2020 at 5:40 pm
Bless his heart…but the man has lost his quicks….sad to watch
September 20th, 2020 at 5:41 pm
Arians doesn’t use the TE, it’s really that simple.
Gronk ran the most routes of the TEs last week and basically got nothing. On the INT, Gronk was open and Brady just didn’t get the ball there.
What I don’t get is why you trade for Gronk when you just want another OT. Why spend the resources?
Or better yet, how about you mix up the offense some and tailor it to the talent on the team. That would make a lot more sense.
September 20th, 2020 at 5:42 pm
RETIRED………………..he’s getting a cool 10 million dollars for blocking this season.
Face it Joe………..he’s old and has lost it….just like his boy Brady.
It’s gonna be a long season if Bucco Brucie doesn’t figure out something for Old Man Brady and his weanie arm.
September 20th, 2020 at 5:45 pm
I thought he looked really slow today on a couple of seam routes. Very slow.
September 20th, 2020 at 5:45 pm
Where is this Weanie arm narrative coming from?
You guys are acting like he can’t hit the broadside of a barn with a football.
September 20th, 2020 at 5:47 pm
He’s done and pocketing a cool 10 million.
September 20th, 2020 at 5:49 pm
@ Chuckstutz
You ain’t seeing things…..he is slow….
He’s slower than Donovan Smith’s lazy azz chasing after a cheeseburger after being chucked from a McDonald’s drive thru
September 20th, 2020 at 5:50 pm
Haha, yeah man…he had a drop. But hey, you know what, defending his belt was a hard gig….go easy on the bro….yeah man.
GTFO!!! PUT UP OR SHUT UP GRONK!!! I EXPECT MORE!!!!!!
September 20th, 2020 at 5:50 pm
If Gronk is able to turn Howard into the stud that he should be then his one year contract is worth every penny!
Go Bucs!!!
September 20th, 2020 at 5:52 pm
Brady is done………..
Bucco Brucie better tighten up that offense and Tell Brady to take some steroids or something to strengthen his weanie arm.
ALL GAME LONG Brady’s throws were either behind the receivers or completey off target.
This team is a .500 team all season long if Brady continues to play like he did today.
September 20th, 2020 at 5:55 pm
@ No Risk It No Biscuit
Bruh……..you obviously haven’t seen OJ Howard’s play since he was drafted high in the first round.
This guy is your classic “has all the poential in the world” type of player but never will it be realized because he doesn’t mentally have it.
I’m tired of talking about OJ Howard’s potential. ………………he’s done too
September 20th, 2020 at 5:58 pm
So they have like 16-17 mil in 2 tight ends in brate and Gronk with that production? I don’t see all these guys on the roster all year
September 20th, 2020 at 6:01 pm
@TheBucsAnthem – you should change your name to JoeBucsTroll. Half of Brady’s incompletions today were drops. Did you even watch the game?
September 20th, 2020 at 6:01 pm
We need to stop wasting money on TE as Bruce just uses them to block. There are a lot of 1 year guys that won’t be here next year. Which is fine so we can free up money to extend Godwin, David and Fournette.
September 20th, 2020 at 6:03 pm
@ BucEmUp
Another so called “Bucs fan” that doesn’t know the game of football
Stick to playing madden kid and let real football fans comment
September 20th, 2020 at 6:03 pm
RELAX….
BL will expose defenses with GRONK when it’s time….
Obviously GRONK is still getting back into form…let him get his blocking right first…then his conditioning and timing with Brady will follow
BL IS WORKING MAGIC
GO BUCS
September 20th, 2020 at 6:04 pm
Too many targets and only ONE football. And as Rod reminds us BA is not a big TE guy. However Brady is and it’ll fun to watch to see how all that evolves.
September 20th, 2020 at 6:04 pm
Gronk and Brate, that’s about 14 million just chilling
September 20th, 2020 at 6:05 pm
He’s old that’s all.
September 20th, 2020 at 6:09 pm
@bucsanthem – Just calling you out because your comments about Brady’s passes being “behind receivers all game” literally makes no sense. I’m first to be critical too, you have to call it as you see it. But to do that you actually have to watch the game. Watch the film, son. I honestly bet you spent more time watching your fantasy matchup score than the Bucs game.
September 20th, 2020 at 6:10 pm
Honestly Anthem, there’s something seriously wrong with you. You know your comments are stupid and nonsensical. So you are literally on a Buccaneers fan site acting like a dick just to irritate people. We use to hang dopes like you on coat hooks by your underbritches. At least change your name to AssHat or ButtHole, or just PlainOldDick. That might give us a laugh as we skip over your drivel every 3-4 posts.
September 20th, 2020 at 6:12 pm
Hey TheBucsAnthem, you must be related to El Buco Dicko. You two should find another team to be “fans’ of. F’ing trolls.
September 20th, 2020 at 6:14 pm
Im going to give it a few more games, but I dont think Gronk is fully on board, other than lining his bank. And for the record, not one post on here from me for us to sign/trade for him. I was surprised and hope for the best but nope, nope, nothing from me……but we’ll see.
September 20th, 2020 at 6:15 pm
LOL……………..Haters are gonna hate!…………that’s cool
September 20th, 2020 at 6:16 pm
Roster sure looks better than 3 seasons ago. Gronk signing was , is questionable. None of these guys are in game shape yet, this is still preseason football. Let’s wait till week 4 or 5 before throw in the towel OR crown them champions.
September 20th, 2020 at 6:17 pm
Coulda used that money elsewhere. I never liked this signing.
September 20th, 2020 at 6:18 pm
Nobody here is telling the truth and that is GRONK is only here because of Brady
………..and the Bucs would have never brought him onboard if it wasn’t for Brady…………….so people gotta stop acting like it was a good idea from the beginning because it wasn’t.
GRONK is done.
September 20th, 2020 at 6:20 pm
Gronk has looked TERRIBLE so far.
He blocking IS to be concerned about if our run blocking hasn’t really improved.
Even, though, he was interfered with, he should have still made that catch today. He’s one of the best TEs ever (or was).
Gronk looks SLOW AS HELL. He has really lost a step. He looks like a big, lumbering lineman running a 5.8 second 40 time.
SPEAKING OF DROPS…
Scotty Miller has to make that early TD drop. I don’t care that he had to somewhat lay out for it… he didn’t have to full extend for it so it wasn’t that far out of a reach. If you’re a PROFESSIONAL WR, you make that catch.
And as for anyone saying Brady has a weak arm, he threw a few lasers today on quick outs and some over the middle with zip. His arm is fine. He did have some accuracy issues on a few throws, but Leftwich’s offense has him holding the ball longer than he’s used to and he’s under tremendous pressure so it’s hard to blame him. But his accuracy needs to be improve over what he showed at times today.
September 20th, 2020 at 7:07 pm
Gronk seems to be there to be a BBQ buddy for Brady…….I didn’t think it was a good signing….4th round pick & $10 million…..but, I’m hopeful that I”ll be wrong.
September 20th, 2020 at 7:17 pm
I saw plenty of perfectly thrown balls by Brady….so I have no idea wtf you’re talking about Anthem…but hey that’s just me and a few others.
You’re done.
September 20th, 2020 at 7:23 pm
All 3 of our TEs need to be used more. With Godwin out I expected a big play or 2 from our TEs but they were nowhere to be found.
September 20th, 2020 at 7:24 pm
He’s toast!
September 20th, 2020 at 7:26 pm
It absolutely kills me how these te’s aren’t being used for nothing more than blocking. I was hoping things would be different this year but nope!
I’m just not sold on this offense right now. They make me very nervous.
September 20th, 2020 at 7:27 pm
Gronkowski took a year off. Geez, give him some time to get into playing shape. He’s spending a ton of time helping Wirfs and it’s working. Meanwhile, the run blocking is getting his body reacclimated to the game. We don’t need him to be a receiver yet. Just relax. 31-17 is a really good result. We ended up stomping a team we should’ve stomped, in week two no less, which is already an improvement over last year.
September 20th, 2020 at 8:05 pm
Anthem NDOG
Whine all you want. It’s not gonna bring Winston back lol.
September 20th, 2020 at 8:08 pm
Brady should have had over 300 yards. 8 drops when Brady put on the money. Shady needs to go. Guy is a washed up bum.
September 20th, 2020 at 8:09 pm
about ready to name OJ howard ASJ 2.0
now with less production!
September 20th, 2020 at 8:17 pm
TheBucsAnthem’s personal life is in shambles. Only way he feels powerful is to talk down on people. We’ve seen many people like that. Sad. Before you say anything BucsAnthem, I already know you’ll try to defend yourself and say something else that doesn’t make sense. We know you more than you know. Prove me right…GoBucs!
September 20th, 2020 at 8:25 pm
TheBucsAnthem Says:
September 20th, 2020 at 5:52 pm
Brady is done………..
Bucco Brucie better tighten up that offense and Tell Brady to take some steroids or something to strengthen his weanie arm.
ALL GAME LONG Brady’s throws were either behind the receivers or completey off target.
This team is a .500 team all season long if Brady continues to play like he did today.
______________
OMG. Are you so freaking pathetic that you copy and pasted your own drivel to use from ro post? “Weanie arm”? Geezus, dude. Grow up. I’m not sure if you’re six or 66 and suffering from dementia.
September 20th, 2020 at 8:46 pm
Publicity stunt. Where the hell are OJ and Brate? Why do we even have TEs? Hopefully they all will get more involved in the passing game. Throw it too Brate instead of the helmet bounce kid.
September 20th, 2020 at 8:59 pm
“ALL GAME LONG Brady’s throws were either behind the receivers or completey off target.”
You’re retarded son. Passes were on the money all game. 10 passes right in the hands dropped, including 3 touchdowns. Wr not use to the ball being there that precise and in stride. Only going to get better as they get rythym and timing down, but you need some lasik if that’s what you saw
September 20th, 2020 at 9:01 pm
Gronk made the block that sprung the back fot the killing td run.
September 20th, 2020 at 9:02 pm
Buc fans, it’s only the second game. We can’t show the entire playbook. We still have a long way to go. Don’t wanna give up too much…Looks like Mike and Tom are on same page now.
September 20th, 2020 at 9:14 pm
Ivan – When you go back and watch his tape, and just watch Gronk, he doesn’t look slow to my eye. He’s getting a step on LBs but just isn’t getting the ball thrown his way. Again, Arians doesn’t use the TE much, they’re normally 3rd or 4th or even 5th options. One thing that people aren’t talking about is that I don’t think Brady really knows the offense that great (yet). I think most people expected him to come in and master it almost immediately. But this is the first time since, what, the 90s that he’s had to relearn everything, including all his teammates?
Once Brady has mastered the offense, or at least got close to doing so, he’ll go through his reads quicker and get to those 3rd and 4th and even 5th options, and that’s when we’ll Brady getting Gronk the ball. Might not be until midseason however. But today Brady tried to force the ball to Gronk once, and Gronk was open, but Brady was under pressure and threw a bad pass.
In the meantime Leftwich could just run plays to highlight the TE, like last week in NO when OJ got the TD. That was a designed play to get the ball to OJ. If they’re worried about Gronk, then just scheme some plays for him. So far I haven’t really seen that.
September 20th, 2020 at 9:33 pm
The INT was on Gronk. He needs to get his head around coming out of his break. The ball was catch-able. He looks slower and rusty in the pass game.
September 20th, 2020 at 10:02 pm
Considering Tom throws picks when he targets him…maybe it’s best he not be that involved.
September 20th, 2020 at 10:21 pm
Another Jameis stare to him by Brady over the middle resulting in an interception. That sh!t needs to stop immediately Tom.
September 20th, 2020 at 10:23 pm
I don’t see how anyone can call any player a bust with NO offseason workouts and a shortened training camp…especially for new guys like Brady, Gronk and draft picks.
I look for week-to-week improvement, and this week’s O and D performance were much better than week 1.
I expect next week’s performance to be better than this week’s.
September 20th, 2020 at 10:46 pm
In a bad game the Brady led offense put up 24 points on a very good defense something Mr 5000 couldn’t even do and our defense held Brees under 200 yards and Nawleans under 300. Take away the pick6 and the score was 27-24. Today wasn’t great but no where near as bad as some are trying to make it out to be. I expected a struggle coming out but there’s improvement already. Some of you Buc fans are pathetic, all you do is whine
September 20th, 2020 at 11:01 pm
That INT was not on Gronk, it was on Brady.
He had about 3 or 4 bad passes today, and that was one of them.
September 20th, 2020 at 11:06 pm
DavidBigBucsFan99 Says:
September 20th, 2020 at 10:46 pm
In a bad game the Brady led offense put up 24 points on a very good defense something Mr 5000 couldn’t even do and our defense held Brees under 200 yards and Nawleans under 300. Take away the pick6 and the score was 27-24.
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Lol what? You don’t get to just take away pick-6s like that.
And Jameis stat line from week 5 last year at New Orleans last year was 2 TDs and 0 INTs, with the Bucs scoring 24 points total.
Where do some of you guys come up with this stuff?
September 20th, 2020 at 11:44 pm
Yeah, anyone saying that INT was on Gronk literally has no idea what they’re watching and should probably stick to commenting on soccer and the WNBA.
Brady was getting heavy pressure and just threw a poor pass — Gronk was open.
September 21st, 2020 at 6:50 am
Leftwich doesn’t know how to use Tight Ends. Some of the passing plays to RBs would have worked a lot better if a TE was used like a Brate,
September 21st, 2020 at 9:34 am
LMAO
You ppl give it time. It’s only the second game!!!
They’re all still getting adjusted to reach other (players)
If anything that entire offensive line needs to stay healthy and strong for the WHOLE season. Defense, needs to get stronger and also stay healthy. And once they all adjust , watch out NFL!!!
September 21st, 2020 at 2:41 pm
Admittedly, Brady isn’t as smooth in the pocket with the Bucs but made clutch throws yesterday that were just thrown to the wrong guys. Scotty Miller showed he isn’t reliable as an end zone target. Such a beautiful pattern, he’s got his defender beat and he tries to catch it with his arms. The throw had zip, if thats Evans or Godwin they easily catch that ball.
The scramble drill where Brady rolled out and threw a perfect ace to McCoy who unexpectedly didn’t catch it.
The one on the sidelines to the so-called “track star” showed why just because you have speed, you aren’t a football player.
Brady played a “B” game yesterday, had those 3 guys made the plays on the ball, its an “A” as he would have thrown 3 TDs instead of one.
His performance as New Orleans was a “C”. We just need some “A” games here on out.
September 21st, 2020 at 4:33 pm
If you take away the G.R.K.O.S.and the K. (ONWI) Look a little closer and wino is in his name. Get him outta here!!!
September 24th, 2020 at 4:17 pm
Patience is a virtue. The Bucs are 1-1. Looking good and getting better. Lighten up. Have a lil fun.