Blowout Overblown?
November 17th, 2020
Podcast host still believes.
Even after a glorious win over the Stinking Panthers, the Saints Seal-Clubbing on national television in primetime left a taste in Joe’s mouth so nasty, it might take three Thanksgiving dinners and copious amounts of aged Canadian whiskey to wash out.
Speaking on the “Slow News Day” podcast hosted by Kevin Clark of The Ringer, naked home invader Ryen Russillo, formerly of BSPN, appeared on Clark’s podcast and explained how the Bucs’ blowout loss to the Saints is way overblown.
But Russillo is not discounting the Bucs playing in the Super Bowl at the Den of Depression come February.
“I’m not going to write off Tampa because they got blown out by the Saints,” Russillo said. “I’m not. I’m not. It was just an unbelievably ugly game that got uglier by the minute.
“And I still think Tampa, when you look at all the different factors of it, that’s still a really good team. A really good defensive team. And Brady was terrific against Carolina.”
So why does Russillo think the blowout was overblown? Russillo thinks games played in primetime, especially broadcast on a legacy network beamed from coast-to-coast, tend to blow up teams and players out of proportion.
So what is normally a rotten game or a good game by a player is totally out of whack when televised in primetime under the klieglights.
“It ends up becoming part of the Primetime Theory,” Russillo explained. “A long-working theory of mine: If you look bad in the Sunday night/Monday night slot game, and you are supposed to be good — like Tampa is — the perception around you [is] you are marked far too hard after that. Like there is nothing worse.
“I think [former Jets quarterback] Geno Smith had like a great game against the Saints on a Monday nighter for the Jets once. And it was like by the end of the broadcast, ‘Man, the Jets have found their guy.'”
This all sounds great until Russillo made Joe wonder about the guy. He is wearing a St. Louis Cardinals cap, admitting he’s wearing the cap because he is a Kyler Murray fan. Uuuhhhmmm…
Russillo does have an interesting point. Because the Bucs got their arses handed to them on a rusty platter on such a high-profile game with so much hype, is that loss blown out of proportion?
The only way to properly answer that question is to see how the Bucs handle the Rams and the Chiefs, their next two opponents.
November 17th, 2020 at 10:50 am
Amen!
November 17th, 2020 at 10:51 am
If Bucs and Saints both make playoffs, chances are Saints lose their 1st playoff game and Bucs won’t have to face them again.
November 17th, 2020 at 10:56 am
it is a week to week league. at this point does it matter what others think? does it ever matter. come january and if (when) we have a repeat against the saints, i can guarantee you it will not be a blow out and bucs will beat them.
November 17th, 2020 at 10:58 am
The Bucs are a good team who don’t play well against the Saints.
Some teams just don’t line up well against others.
That being said, it sure would be nice to exact some sweet revenge in the playoffs, should the Bucs and Saint’s meet again.
November 17th, 2020 at 11:00 am
Better learn to handle it… All playoff games are High Profile games.
November 17th, 2020 at 11:23 am
Totally agree. I think the answer to the question as to whether the Bucs are a good team (their record says they’re good) or a really good team, will be answered over the next two weeks. For playoff implications, the Rams game (NFC) is big. Get beat by the Chiefs, not as big a deal. We can always have another shot at them in the SB.
November 17th, 2020 at 11:23 am
We were hyped way too much as a SB contender……so the blowout was extra surprising……
For me, I’ve not subscribed to the SB hype, so I wasn’t as surprised……we will be well on our way to the playoffs (where anything can happen) if we can beat the Rams on MNF….
November 17th, 2020 at 11:25 am
It really is a shame right after Brees goes down we can’t play the saints anymore.
November 17th, 2020 at 11:26 am
The Saints have our number and they match up well against us. Seems like Donovan always plays poorly against these dudes. Brees/Payton have been together for over a decade. I still think that we should have split with them this year, but it is what it is. I’m nowhere near ready to complain about being 7-3. Let’s see how Payton does against us next year with a gimmick quarterback and Jeff George Jr..
November 17th, 2020 at 11:28 am
Hate to say it, I think the Bucs have a better chance against the Chiefs. The Rams defense is better than the Saints, who own the Bucs.
So this Rams game could end up being a baby seal clubbing instead of a regular seal clubbing.
November 17th, 2020 at 11:29 am
no…..it is a big deal……not because of primetime, but because they were ill prepared in their schemes, outcoached and failed to adjust.
it’s a blueprint on how to beat them until they face a similar team/scheme with different results.
November 17th, 2020 at 11:33 am
I dunno. To me the time of day is irrelevant as a viewer. Wasn’t about what broadcasters or rest of country was saying. Even if it was at 1pm et game.. when you lose that badly its cause for concern and still is for me. Makes me think… If we go against another team with a really strong pass rush will it get ugly again?
November 17th, 2020 at 11:33 am
Bears also got to Tom. I could be wrong..but think most of our wins were against teams with poor pass rush
November 17th, 2020 at 11:51 am
I’m sure the Panthers tried to emulate at least in part with the Saints did. They didn’t get it done because they’re an inferior team. The Rams will be a test for sure. But we’ve played them recently and done well with basically the same defense. We shall see on Monday.
November 17th, 2020 at 11:51 am
COMPLETELY DISAGREE
MNF is a prove it game. Point blank. If the Bucs win they prove the Saints game was a fluke. If they lose, the Bucs are pretenders.
This is an identical game to the Saints game. Great coach. Great defense. Good offense. Prime time.
Time to step up or step out.
November 17th, 2020 at 11:57 am
You can believe the Rams will go all out tp pressure Brady. The Bucs hung 55 on them last year with Jameis. They do not want the master going off on them and hanging at least a 45 spot on them. Because we all know it could happen. The Bucs will play well in this game. They are steadily building for the playoff run. Man it is fun for the Bucs to be relevant and actually be a real contender for a championship. A serious reality check will happen when hurricane Ma-home boy shows up the next week when the Chiefs roll into town. The Chiefs are definitely the measuring stick in the NFL. Again the Rams should be a tough game, but the Bucs will play well. GO BUCS!!!!
November 17th, 2020 at 12:02 pm
Ok, football kittens, tattoo this quote by a famous Big Time coach to the inside of your eyelids:
“Nothing is as good or as bad as it seems.”
Win or Lose, big or small, he would say this first thing before every Monday film review.
November 17th, 2020 at 12:05 pm
Agree with Augsut 1976: Rams game plan: throw the kitchen sink at Brady, force him off his spot, and make him beat you.
This could look like The Saints, Part Deux.
The ONLY way to beat Brady is to make him uncomfortable. This game will be won or lost by the Bucs OL, end of story. Marpet return is critical.
November 17th, 2020 at 12:17 pm
NEED to have some sort of run game against this d. If they are able to come after the qb without getting hurt by the run game it will be a long game.
Also need to get pressure on Goff and take away his short passes. If he has to think while pressured, he will make mistakes. He is terrible under pressure, but super accurate when he has a clean pocket.
The rams are very similar to the saints, with a worse qb and rb. If we use the same game plan against them as the saints, we will lose.
November 17th, 2020 at 12:26 pm
Nahhh 2 losses to a divisional opponent is not overblown. One maybe but not 2. Saints own the Bucs. Sean Payton is a better coach than Arians. As you guys will see now that Brees is down. Watch Payton coach Jameis. saints will still be good.
The truth hurts
November 17th, 2020 at 12:31 pm
Unlike the Saints, the Rams don’t have the Bucs’ playbook and inside info.
November 17th, 2020 at 12:46 pm
Exactly!
November 17th, 2020 at 12:54 pm
That’s probably accurate. His worst games seem to come against the Saints, or a team that has a speed rusher at right defensive end.
November 17th, 2020 at 1:33 pm
The Saints game was really rough. Most of that game I felt like they knew exactly what the Bucs were trying to do before it even happened. I am glad it’s gone and over with. Tampa hasn’t been strong in prime time this year, but this Rams game is a must win to stay at the top of the wild card hunt & hopefully help people forget what happened against the Saints.
November 17th, 2020 at 1:43 pm
The night game aspect aside, the Saints likely had the help of the Bucs former qb help to prep them to play the Bucs… take that element out and the Bucs are 7-1..
Monday night is the chance for the bucs to overcome the night game dilemma and prove they are contenders…
As for the Saints I believe they will struggle the rest of the season (2-5) become 1 dimensional with their run game..
Bucs win the division and TB12 holds the TD record of course!
November 17th, 2020 at 1:43 pm
Oline and Rojo are the keys to this game offensively. If we can establish a good run game we’ll be fine. I was at the game last year our defense did a great job of confusing Goff and making him panic in the pocket. Tight man coverage don’t try to get cute on defense and we should be fine.
If we look bad in this game then this team won’t make a run in the playoffs. In our Super Bowl run we had to get past the”can’t play in the cold” “can’t get pass the Eagles” humps now it’s time to get pass the “can’t play in prime time” hump and this team will start believing. We’ve got great Vets on this team but the larger amount of players have been Bucs since day 1 and they just haven’t had a great mentality. Time for them to learn how to win in prime time.
November 17th, 2020 at 2:00 pm
There is something to be said for peaking at the right time. Though you cant sit there with a straight face and say we can beat the Saints.
But we will see how it shakes out. Maybe we dont play the Saints again. Alls I know is if we get them again we cannot win if we cant block them.
November 17th, 2020 at 3:05 pm
The Bucs demolished a weakened Carolina team that didn’t have their #1 weapon and still hung tough for 2 1/2 quarters. They are the best team money can buy and were supposed to. In no way does beating a bad team make up for getting embarrassed by the Saints. Was the Bucs loss to the Saints overblown? I don’t think so, it was a billed as a battle between two teams contending for the division, and they were embarrassed. Until the Bucs can beat a team of the Saints caliber as convincing as they beat us, I am a skeptic. Beating up on lesser opponents does not replace losing to quality teams.
November 17th, 2020 at 3:09 pm
What is needed is someone to guard Brady in the backfield for when Smith gets owned. The bigger the better.
November 17th, 2020 at 7:09 pm
Tune it all up To a 11-5 finish
The playoffs is what TB, Suh etc are keying on, the volume is going to increase ten fold come the tourney – let’s not over react week to week
November 17th, 2020 at 8:40 pm
Honestly, I don’t buy what he is saying but it is overblown. As bad as the score and game looked, they were a couple plays on defense and a couple plays on offense from being in a game that goes down to the wire.
They didn’t make any of the plays and they had some mistakes that all compounded and made everything look much worse.
The offense is simple, they must block to allow a running game to develop.
And stick with the running game !!
On defense there needs to be pressure to help the young secondary out. The secondary still makes way too many mistakes
November 17th, 2020 at 9:20 pm
ClwJB Says:
November 17th, 2020 at 7:09 pm
Tune it all up To a 11-5 finish
The playoffs is what TB, Suh etc are keying on, the volume is going to increase ten fold come the tourney – let’s not over react week to week
Exactly the way I am looking at it, they are building for the playoffs. GO BUCS!!!