Flipping The Numbers
November 22nd, 2020
Bucs coach Bucco Bruce Arians.
All you have to do is look at the numbers to understand how rotten the Bucs are playing in primetime games this season.
And no, the numbers are not 1-2.
The Bucs have played three of four primetime scheduled games this season, the most in franchise history. The fourth game is tomorrow night at the Den of Depression. (An additional night game was lost to the Raiders’ virus mess.)
The Bucs have played lousy in the three games. The one win was a big-time nailbiter, and it took a ref to pick up a flag on a two-point conversion attempt by Danny Dimes and the Giants for the Bucs to walk out of the New Jersey Swamplands with a win.
The Bears game was a joke and the Saints seal-clubbed the Bucs.
Jenna Laine of ESPN brings out the relevant numbers.
The Bucs “are averaging 15.6 points for and 27 points against in prime-time games, compared to 29.6 for and 22.6 against in the earlier slates.”
Think about that. The Bucs are averaging roughly half as much scoring in primetime games as they are in day games. That’s wacked-out, man.
Joe sure hopes Bucs coach Bucco Bruce Arians and his night practices do the trick.
If the Bucs have a half-arse showing Monday night and lose, maybe for next year Team Glazer can lobby for the Bucs not to have any primetime games?
If the Bucs lose Monday, they will likely be known throughout the nation as the Buffalo Bills in the Super Bowl. They lost so often it got to a point where fans across the country rooted for the Bills to lose the AFC title game because they knew how the Super Bowl would turn out.
It got so bad that NFL fans would have rather brushed their teeth with Draino than watch the Bills win the AFC title game.
November 22nd, 2020 at 8:09 am
j guess we should be grateful that the Raiders game was flexed to 4:30 instead of SNF….
November 22nd, 2020 at 8:45 am
Damn. Just damn.
Go Bucs
November 22nd, 2020 at 9:04 am
12 years of no playoffs and now we’re going to whine about prime time performance amidst a 7-3 record…. smh
November 22nd, 2020 at 9:21 am
Run the Ball, as Rex Ryan stated on BSPN Brady is 75-2 when his team runs the ball 35 or more times. Run Forest Run!!! GO BUCS!!!!
November 22nd, 2020 at 10:05 am
I have a sneaky suspicion that trend is going to end tomorrow night. I think that long run ROJO peeled off last week was a confidence booster, and the Bucs will do well running the ball this week. A balanced attack will win this game.
November 22nd, 2020 at 10:11 am
This team is winning 7 wins and 3 losses.. After years and years of losing you would think the tampa media would stop trying to find negative crap to write about..Lets be happy we have Tom Brady and all the national exposure we are getting now..We actually might get probowlers this year
November 22nd, 2020 at 10:17 am
@Richard, yes “fans” (fanatics) should be crazy happy so to speak, and I am pleased with their record (but I’m also a skeptic). Still, we’d expect media to take a more objective approach where able, and report ALL of what they see. Granted, we don’t need guys like Tom Jones who clearly didn’t like the Bucs despite living most of his life here, but we shouldn’t expect all roses either. I only have to go back to some talking heads who for years were such Winston fans, they refused to face the music on him–well after the fans and most of the public had cried to move on.
November 22nd, 2020 at 10:30 am
The 75-2 thing when running could be misleading. Teams run more when they are in control of the game and likely to win. So running 35 times a game, which is pretty high in today’s NFL basically just means the Patriots outmatched other teams early.
You run because you are up.
Under Jameis, the Bucs were 8-1 when they ran 35 times or more. And in the one loss, 0 interceptions.
November 22nd, 2020 at 11:42 am
I’ve always felt bad for Bills fans though Joe.
Come that close 4 times in a row…
I hope they finally win one, one day. I think every NFL fan should experience what it’s like for their team to win it all. It was great!
Go Bucs(All the way to the SB?)
November 22nd, 2020 at 3:15 pm
We are just past the halfway point of the season….six games left.
The real question is are we getting any better? Are we rounding into form just in time for the playoffs.
That happens frequently in the NFL. A team starts poorly gets it together and by the playoffs nobody wants to play them. If we’re in that category it’s all good.
If we’re in the Gruden category and only win two more games to go 9-7 there will be no joy in mudville. Yeah the Bucs normally have losing records and 9-7 is obviously better than last year’s 7-9 but with the massive changes this offseason and addition of HOF talent…the playoffs are essential and I’m expecting to win at least the opening round.
November 22nd, 2020 at 5:53 pm
I expected more improvement by now. Losing Vita really hurt. Now we’re missing Marpet. We might make the playoffs, but unless something really changes, we’re not playing in the SB. We’re too inconsistent.
November 22nd, 2020 at 11:47 pm
Run Rojo Forest Run!! If the Bucs can run the ball just some, it will open everything up for the Mr 6 rings. I expect a common sense approach. We will see what BA and BL doe to combat a legitimate pass rush. Hopefully they are not caught flat-footed again. I believe they will respond. Get the ball out quick and run the ball, with Tom taking dagger shots. Can the Defense step up and be competitive, we will see, because the secondary was a liability in the Saint game. If they do not pressure Goff, then they had better control the clock and just be a scoring machine like they did against the Cats in Charlotte. GO BUCS!!!! Run Rojo Forest Run!!!!!