The Roadblock To The Super Bowl
November 11th, 2020
Breakdown on Bucs.
A former NFL suit and a guy who scratched the backs of some legendary NFL figures has a simple message for Bucs fans.
After watching the seal-clubbing the Saints performed on the Bucs on Sunday night, the Bucs need to find a way to solve one problem and one problem only. And if this problem is not solved, former NFL general manager Michael Lombardi said, Bucs fans can forget about playing in a Super Bowl at the Den of Depression in February.
Talking on his podcast “GM Shuffle,” Lombardi’s message to Bucs fans is that the Bucs must find a way to keep traffic away from park-violating, home-invading, NFLPA-ignoring, down-forgetting Bucs quarterback Tom Brady.
If the team doesn’t, any playoff appearance by the Bucs this winter will be very short.
“This is two weeks in a row now,” Lombardi said of Brady’s struggles. “The Giants pressured him and he didn’t play well against the Giants. The Saints pressured him in a kind of a similar way: Push the pocket back and keep Brady in front of you. You know he is not going to move. He’s going to be in one spot.”
But Lombardi, who once fetched coffee for Bill Walsh, Al Davis and Bill Belicheat, said there is one telltale sign of Brady moving in the pocket that is a dead giveaway he is struggling and that Brady does not like. Lombardi, who worked on the Patriots’ coaching staff in recent years, said Brady does not like moving from right to left. And when a defense forces him to do that, they’ve got him.
Dating back to training camp, Joe has noticed at times Brady will roll out right to buy time and complete a pass. But Lombardi is right. Joe can’t remember Brady doing much moving to his left at all.
“This is Bruce’s dilemma,” Lombardi said of Bucs coach Bucco Bruce Arians getting his o-line to be more consistent. Arians “wasn’t behind 21-0, he was behind 7-0 and they couldn’t get first downs.”
And that was because the Saints pressured Brady so much.
Yeah, it is easy to say the Bucs can find a way to give Brady time to throw. It’s much harder to put into practice when the opposing defense is focused on smothering Brady.
November 11th, 2020 at 8:05 am
Leave Gronk in to block and throw to mike Evans?
November 11th, 2020 at 8:23 am
Get the ball out quick, and what about having Tom move like Peter King saw him doing in Training camp. Peter King highlighted that because he was not used to seeing Tom move around so much. Tom has won 6 rings, take the handcuffs off of him. Let him do what he is comfortable doing. He has won more than any QB in the history of the game, and many many of those wins came with less talented offenses. The game of football is not rocket science. GO BUCS!!!!
November 11th, 2020 at 9:00 am
Bucfanforever Says:
November 11th, 2020 at 8:05 am
Leave Gronk in to block and throw to mike Evans?
i agree but gronk whiffed on some blocks too….
the past 2games gronk has been whiffing on blocks and dropping passes….
GO BUCS!!!!!
November 11th, 2020 at 9:12 am
this is not he tom brady of old.
this is not the offense that tom brady played in for almost 20 yrs
this is not the head coach brady played with (both good/bad)
this is the offense of a stubborn inflexible man
where is the playing to a players strength we’ve HEARD so much about?
where is the putting your players in a position to succeed ?
where are the in-game adjustments ?
they take pride in doing THEIR game, we do what WE DO we’re not changing MAKE THEM STOP US.
that mentality will get you killed.
and guess what, they have.
it’s the HEAD COACHES mentality that needs to change.
November 11th, 2020 at 9:20 am
The remedy to this problem is very simple…….Play 2 Left Tackles….
November 11th, 2020 at 9:28 am
No love for Joe???? 🙁 Joe’s been writing often about how he saw Brady roll out several times in training camp.
November 11th, 2020 at 9:33 am
Lombardi says nothing Bucs fans don’t already know too well. I was terrified that missing Marpet and having Jordon go against Wirfs would be a nightmare. 100% accurate. The biggest thing we confirmed is that Marpet has obviously been bailing out D. Smith on the left side…forever.
November 11th, 2020 at 9:54 am
The Bucs are playing guys on the O line like Haeg who they overpaid instead of younger guys. Stinnie or Bailey who they released would have been a better option.
November 11th, 2020 at 10:23 am
The “roadblock” to the SB is the Saints.
Bucs will most likely have to go through NO to get to the SB.
No way this team can beat the Saints.
November 11th, 2020 at 10:42 am
Roy T. Buford,
Your statement makes absolute no sense.
November 11th, 2020 at 10:44 am
Jameis played behind the offensive line and it was much worse. Why make excuses for the goat.
November 11th, 2020 at 11:01 am
The biggest thing we confirmed is that Marpet has obviously been bailing out D. Smith on the left side…forever.
marpet got slapped around week1 and vs the giants too….lol…
GO BUCS!!!!
November 11th, 2020 at 11:17 am
The saints and other teams seem to do quite well with the short, quick, passing game. But rarely see the Bucs do the same. Why is that? Is it simply due to different defensive strategies? Or is there something wrong with the coaching?
– Or both? – Just a casual observer.