Questions
November 10th, 2020
Bucs coach Bucco Bruce Arians.
Man, the Bucs have hit a bad streak when it appeared the top of the NFC mountain was just inches away.
In the three losses and one near-loss the Bucs have had this year, they looked awful. That is nearly half of their games. When the Bucs have won, aside from the Escape from New Jersey, they have looked sharp if not dangerous.
And while Lindsay Jones of The Athletic believes the Bucs are a playoff team, the seal-clubbing the Saints dealt Sunday night suggests the Bucs have real questions to answer.
Panic Tier: Playoff-worthy, with questions
Buccaneers: Yikes. No one had a worse Week 9 than the Bucs, who went into the weekend looking like the best team in the NFC and came out of it looking like a complete mess. Are the Bucs really as damaged as they appeared to be against the Saints? Certainly not, but they showed they are hardly a complete team.
Joe was spooked with that win over the Giants because the Bucs played so awful. And then came Sunday.
Joe has a very bad feeling that this season could go south in a hurry if the Bucs don’t right the pirate ship right away. Just look at the next four opponents (Carolina, Los Angeles, Kansas City and Minnesota).
The Stinking Panthers are playing smart, tough football. The Rams are no pushover as they battle for a playoff spot. The Chiefs are the defending Super Bowl champs. The Vikings have a strong ground game and quarterback Kirk “You Like That?” Cousins has owned the Bucs.
Yeah, that seal-clubbing was that bad.
Bucco Bruce Arians likes to talk about the character of his team, saying about his team after a bad loss, “We will find out about the character we have.”
For Joe this Sunday, the character of the biggest and brightest coaching staff is in question. Can they pull this roster together, shake off the cobwebs from the past two weeks, devise a smart gameplan, get their players to regain composure and thump the Stinking Panthers?
That’s what Joe will be looking for.
November 10th, 2020 at 3:41 pm
Coaches and a smart (adjustable) game plan says it all. We’ll see.
November 10th, 2020 at 3:42 pm
No excuses. They stunk. Sill, someone needs to ask why year after year, the Buccaneers get screwed with scheduled.
Green Bay had two weeks to prepare for the Buccaneers.
Then, LV had two weeks to prepare;
Then, NY had an extra 4 days to prepare.
Then New Orleans had an extra day.
No, Tampa was not going to win on Sunday night. But this is really not fair. Has any other NFL team had to give up so many days prep to the other side?
They looked exhausted and lethargic.
November 10th, 2020 at 3:44 pm
The only teams they’ve beaten that are any good are greenbay and the Raiders… Could argue they just had a couple good games. Even then I feel like the Raiders have looked more average recently
November 10th, 2020 at 3:49 pm
Hello Folks,
I am a lifetime Tom Brady fan. We have an alma mater in common. Thus, I have now become a Bucs fan. There are probably more of us than you know. Perhaps that is not a welcome thing, I don’t know.
But reading these posts is the most bizarre thing. The Bucs are 6-3 and now have Tom Brady, Rob G, AB and Leonard Fournette added to a roster that already had Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. This is an all-star crew in Tampa. As a one-time fan of the Lions (grew up there), I cannot imagine having that kind of talent on a Lions roster.
But most of you are just bitching and complaining about everything. Are you on drugs? Enjoy what you have. It’s a gift from God. The author of this blog has an edgy little chip on his shoulder for some reason too. Taking shots at Brady, AB, others… why?
November 10th, 2020 at 3:58 pm
since when does kirk cousins own us? that game happened in what 2015? we havent played kirk cousins since. that is a ridiculous narrative. matt ryan and drew brees have owned the bucs over the years. let’s forget about 2015 that was a long time ago.
November 10th, 2020 at 4:21 pm
LET’S FACE IT…
Teams have ADJUSTED to Todd Bowles’ schemes. There’s no other way to explain how our Defense has stunk it up in the past two games. Our Offense has its own issues with the OL, but on the Defensive side of things Bowles’ has not been effective.
I’ve said it all season… our WEAK SECONDARY is what will stop us from a deep playoff run. Bucs should have traded for a decent Vet corner to start opposite Carlton Davis while rotating the younger DBs for experience.
There’s just no way in hell that Jimmy Dean and Sean Murphy-Bed (where he falls asleep on plays) are going to be good enough to stop the top QBs in the league.
November 10th, 2020 at 4:41 pm
Our contenders for wildcard have to play each other and most of them won last week…
Seattle, Rams, Green Bay, Chicago, Arizona, SF
Two of those will win their division and they all play each other some twice.
We only have to have a better record than one of them.
We need a victory vs the Rams, Lions….one against Atlanta and a win against either the Panthers or Vikings & we have 10 wins which should get us in.
Everybody is asking “What happened to the Bucs?”…..I’m asking “What happened to the Saints?”…where has that been?
November 10th, 2020 at 4:59 pm
Hipple- ‘Tis a Buc fans’ life!
6-3 and we’re talking playoffs in November instead of next year’s draft.
Even though every year I proclaim “16-DASH-0”, the reality is that this is football and rarely do we see domination. Even KC looked beatable Sunday.
We need to re-focus and continue to focus solely on the game at hand. The rest will take care of itself. This is not a Madden game!
Consider this: We have yet to see a “complete” game. Offensively, we haven’t even seen our best yet.
November 10th, 2020 at 5:03 pm
Joe- I know tomorrow is Veteran’s Day, but I would like to recognize on OUR birthday, and in advance, my Marine Corps brethren.
SEMPER FIDELIS!
Happy Birthday Jarheads!
November 10th, 2020 at 6:25 pm
The Bucs will likely play well this Sunday and probably win against the Panthers but then come yet another night game the following week…
Why they play so bad in night games is very odd!
November 10th, 2020 at 6:25 pm
I’m not too worried, maybe this team felt like they had arrived. The embarrassing loss should be a wake up call that we ain’t sh!+ yet. We got to earn everything and work extra off the field or this past Sunday will be the result.
I’m looking at this as wake up call 2.0 and it wouldn’t surprise me if we go through this again. We beat chiefs and then think we’re hot ish and then have a terrible game. They got to learn one way or another, better to do it now than in the playoffs.
November 10th, 2020 at 6:34 pm
One game at a time, please.
November 10th, 2020 at 7:01 pm
Calm yourself, Joe. It’s never as bad as it looks or as good as it seems.
November 10th, 2020 at 7:13 pm
BS is BS
That’s really all it is
November 10th, 2020 at 7:15 pm
BradyBucs … I think this is the story of the moment. Teams are onto Bowles’ scheme. He needs to level up. Teams are also onto BL. He needs to evolve the offense, as well.
What hasn’t been said is no matter the score one loss is only one loss. Rip off three or four wins and everyone will feel a lot better.
November 10th, 2020 at 7:32 pm
Hipple- as Bucs fans we’ve seen them lose in every way imaginable, not just once, almost ritualistically. Can’t beat back up QBs, can’t win as the favorite, kicking nightmares, never having a great offense, terrible on PT games there’s more but I don’t have all night😁. Hopefully they change the culture and turn this around. GO BUCS!!!
November 10th, 2020 at 7:52 pm
True buvfaninmi but he is a lions fan so he understands this as well.
November 10th, 2020 at 8:27 pm
they can’t coach!!! the o-line sucks against good fronts. btw brady and bruce are running competing offenses. take this as gospel, a struggle is underway for control of the offense and it shows on the field. this wasn’t a good match from the start. brady has been throwing slot te combo routes his entire career. now he’s being asked to look deep first. they should’ve used a variation of the ne system.
November 10th, 2020 at 8:38 pm
Bottom line is they are legit contenders. This is the best year since the Super Bowl season in 2002. Hello Hippie, welcome, BTW there are 2 people that author the blog, “the Joes,” I will say AB has played the fool so much. So for some it is open season. Casual Observer you are right on bro. And yes SlyPirate they have to adjust, and yes it was only 1 game, said those very things in a few other posts. Also ModHairKen very well said. So like you said Hippie maybe some people are on drugs lol GO BUCS!!!!!
November 10th, 2020 at 9:10 pm
Brady Bucs … “Teams have ADJUSTED to Todd Bowles’ schemes. There’s no other way to explain how our Defense has stunk it up in the past two games.”
While I agree that teams have adjusted to Todd Bowles’ defensive tactics, I think you could say the same about every DC … opponents adjust to what they’re seeing on film. Todd’s very good IMO at mixing it up & being creative. That’s not the problem that I’m seeing.
His schemes rely on an effective pass rush to work; and our pass rush hasn’t been as effective since Vea went down. You don’t lose a player of his talent in the center of the DLine & expect to replace him with 35-year-old pickups or by giving players like Nunez-Roches more time. Todd’s blitzes very much rely on the interior of the DLine really getting after it & opening lanes while still defending against the run. Vea, Suh & Gholston did that very effectively I thought, but things changed once Vea went out. Still, we’ve got to figure out some way to compensate for his loss. Mike Smith faced a similar dilemma IMO, and we all know how that turned out.
November 10th, 2020 at 11:05 pm
Where do posters like Boston Boy run off to after being so active for weeks?
November 10th, 2020 at 11:05 pm
Okay never mind.
November 11th, 2020 at 2:53 am
Belly up. Top down. Eye patches on both eyes. This team is toast.
November 12th, 2020 at 5:15 am
Bucsfanman Says:
“I would like to recognize on OUR birthday, and in advance, my Marine Corps brethren. SEMPER FIDELIS! Happy Birthday Jarheads!”
.
.
Belated returns, Brother.