“Not Good Enough”
October 8th, 2020
Defense needs to step up.
Ian Beckles has high standards.
When the Bucs obtained park-violating, home-invading, NFLPA-ignoring Bucs quarterback Tom Brady and foot-rubbing, car-littering tight end Rob Gronkowski, and drafted right tackle Tristan Wirfs, the Bucs made no secret they are gunning for the Super Bowl immediately.
So Beckles, a former Bucs guard and current popular local sports radio personality, expects the Bucs to play like a Super Bowl contender.
And while Beckles was happy with a win last week, he took to his podcast, “In the Trenches,” and said the way the Bucs won was not that of a playoff team.
“A good win. Every win is good,” Beckles said. “Not good enough to be a playoff-caliber team. But, in the midst of us getting better, and taking steps to get better, we are winning. And that is important. There are still a lot of ways to get better. There’s no doubt about that.”
In particular, Beckles thought the Bucs defense took an ugly and unacceptable step back.
“That wasn’t a gem, by any means, to let a rookie quarterback come into your house and be very, very comfortable,” Beckles said. “You have to be better than that defensively. Giving up 31 points is too much to give up, against anybody.
“Way too many big plays, people. In a division where you have to stop Michael Thomas and Julio Jones, you don’t want to put that out there on film.
“They are ironing out stuff. They are getting where they need to be. They are getting better.”
Other observations by Beckles:
* The Bucs leading the NFL in first-quarter “leads to victories.”
* The Chargers calling a read-option with seconds left in the first half inside their own-10 was a gift from the football gods. “What teams do in the last two minutes of a half are huge in every single game. So that definitely hurt the Chargers.”
* Strong defense in the third quarter. “I liked how they came out in the second half and kicked some @ss. They have been quiet in the second half. … Defensively, they bucked (Buc’ed?) down in the fourth quarter which was nice.”
* Beckles showed his old school Big Ten roots and thought offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich is not used to having a good running game, which led to him pulling the ball out of Ronald Jones’ hands. “They ran the ball substantially better. I would like to see Ronald Jones get 25-30 carries. If you are carrying the ball 20 times for 100 and some yards, that’s over five yards a carry. I want you get to get more carries. That makes sense. When you put the ball in the air, bad things happen. Run the football for 5.6 yards a carry, good things happen.
* “It was good to see Ke’Shawn Vaughn out there. I know who he is now. That’s good.”
* “As a whole, the offense played explosive.”
* On the loss of tight end O.J. Howard: “Um, you can sit here and trip and cry over it. But I really don’t know [what] we are losing, other than a good-looking athlete. I know he caught a couple of balls [Sunday] but it is never enough with O.J. Howard. It’s never enough.”
* Then Beckles spoke as if he thought Howard has been unfairly criticized. “We brought Rob Gronkowski in here to be the man. … He’s caught nine balls. And we crucified O.J. Howard for not catching the ball. … Not good enough. Not good enough. OK, you are blocking. But if you want blocking, we’ll just put an extra offensive lineman out there. We need Rob Gronkowski to be more. We need Cameron Brate at $7 million to be more. “
* On Brate: “He has to put his big boy pants on now. One target, one catch, one touchdown. There’s a reason he’s not playing, we just don’t know it. It’s either you are not good enough or you are too soft to block. Or else you would put him in there. He’s a great target.”
* Beckles nearly wet his pants with love over how the Bucs’ offensive line played. “The offensive line to me, needs a game ball. …That is as clean of a pocket as I have seen in Tampa Bay in years. I have not seen a quarterback that comfortable in years. … Jameis Winston has to be watching that game saying, ‘You have got to be kidding me. Mah! Where the hell was that the previous five years?'”
* Questionable route-running ability for Justin Watson.
* Loves Tristian Wirfs and thinks he may be the Bucs’ best draft pick in franchise history on the offensive line. “Tristan Wirfs, I watched him a little more than I have watched him in the past. And I’m going to say this: I’m not sure I have seen a rookie in a long, long time look that good. I have not seen a rookie look that comfortable and that at-home on the offensive line in a long time for the Buccaneers, maybe ever. If you didn’t tell me Tristan Wirfs is a rookie, I couldn’t know. There is no way. He sets beautifully. He is a big, strong anchor. In the run game he does great rolling his hips. And he competes. And he has been playing against some pretty darn good football players. And we haven’t heard his name. … Tristan Wirfs is playing his @ss off. Good for you. Good for Jason Licht.”
As always, Beckles welcomes feedback and encourages listeners to submit Bucs questions by e-mailing him at IanBeckles@RadioInfluence.com.
Buccaneers legend Derrick Brooks grabs a cigar and hangs out with some guy in a red shirt to talk Bucs-Bears on TAMPA TWO. All the fun is presented by The Identity Tampa Bay and Joe.
October 8th, 2020 at 1:09 pm
Wirfs pass sets were a minor concern coming out of college, so it’s awesome to see how well he is doing now! That really was the only knock on him, if there were any. He is just a phenomenal athlete and has really added balance on the line, so you don’t know where we’re going to run it. Could be left, right or up the middle.
October 8th, 2020 at 1:19 pm
Ummm did he not see the offensive line against the rams last year that was a beauty.
October 8th, 2020 at 1:26 pm
So I bet he believes KC is a Super Bowl championship team even though they seemingly have struggled against several teams this season. There’s always a double standard when it comes to the Bucs, especially coming from a former Buc player. Guess he needs to feel relevant.
October 8th, 2020 at 1:29 pm
@Ian Beckles, spot on brother. 💯 And this is nice place to be with more positives than negatives and feeling like we at least have a shot to win each week. Go Bucs!!!
October 8th, 2020 at 1:47 pm
C’mon.
One team has street cred (just won a Super Bowl).
The other team has no street cred (haven’t won a playoff game in 18 years).
October 8th, 2020 at 1:50 pm
Love the comments about Wirfs. I don’t always agree with what Beckles says, (I only know what i see on JBF), but I have to trust him with the O line. Might be Licht’s best pick ever. To be fair, he only has a short history of good picks. Lots of forgettable ones in the early years of his tenure.
Comedy gold what he said about JW.
October 8th, 2020 at 2:28 pm
has beckles ever played for a playoff team?…..
beckles wouldnt know a playoff team unless he was getting beat by one….
GO BUCS!!!!!!
October 8th, 2020 at 3:07 pm
Don’t forget SCOTTY!!!
October 8th, 2020 at 3:48 pm
Wirfs had my favorite play of the game. He did a legit Sumo wrestling move where he stepped back, swiped the d-lineman’s hands, and the dude fell flat on his face. Great pick!
October 8th, 2020 at 3:49 pm
It is the defensive coaches that need to step up. Blitzes still need to happen but not total sellout blitzes. Foles is a dink and dunker, but he can make a defense pay for blitzing.
Consider it good practice for next week. Rodgers is a killer.
October 8th, 2020 at 3:53 pm
I am pretty sure I remember him saying our Super Bowl team was hot garbage too……
October 8th, 2020 at 4:27 pm
Man, I hate to say it. But I agree with most everything Beckles said in this article.
And I think the D must play better tonight to win, because the Bears D will definitely be better than the Chargers was.
October 8th, 2020 at 4:41 pm
mark2001 Says:
October 8th, 2020 at 4:27 pm
Man, I hate to say it. But I agree with most everything Beckles said in this article.
_______________________
Same.
But he has been spot on with his takes lately. There’s more than a few people around here who should listen to what he has to say about the run game and the o-line.
October 8th, 2020 at 5:23 pm
Playoff teams win. Period. That’s it. Even when they don’t win pretty they win.
Q: How many playoff teams has Ian Beckles played for?
A: 0
Beckles played from 1990-1998. His teams had LOSING records in all 8 seasons. Forget the playoff banter, Beckles doesn’t even know what .500 looks like.
(He even played college ball for Indiana University, so his losing streak is long!)
I’m literally done reading any article quoting this clown.
October 8th, 2020 at 5:42 pm
D only gave up 24 Beckles. Tighten up that film study. Good teams find a way to win, period.
October 8th, 2020 at 5:55 pm
Wirfs is already the third best tackle in the history of our franchise behind Gruber and Donovan, which speaks to how sad we are at drafting them. I think that he’ll surpass Donovan soon and Gruber eventually if he stays healthy.
October 8th, 2020 at 6:19 pm
Sly, not to sly really! This article was spot on and you are basically the only one calling it garbage. Many of the greatest coaches and analysts were mediocre at best players. So predictable that one dolt per article will try to act like they are smarter than everyone else. Since you never played pro football why on earth should we care what you opinion is on the matter anyway.
October 8th, 2020 at 8:30 pm
But Wirfs is a stud check the vide link attached. He took Bosas lunch money just about all day and Bosa looks like a kid compared to Tristen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6o1iA23R6A