More Than Just One-Game-At-A-Time Talk At One Buc Palace
December 16th, 2020
Lots of coaches, including ex-Bucs head coaches, adopt a weekly one-game-season mentality and insist every player and staff member buy into that line of thinking.
It’s annoying, especially when coaches play the same game with media.
Bucco Bruce Arians, however, is not one of those guys.
During a chat with WFLA-TV sports chief Dan Lucas this week, Arians admitted that for weeks he’s been talking to his team about the postseason.
“You know the big picture, we started talking about the big picture three weeks ago and where we stand,” Arians said. “And [Sunday] was a huge game because of the tiebreaker with Minnesota.”
Arians added that he’ll continue to address the team on “the big picture” but the daily goals remain and the work ethic is one day at a time.
Joe is glad Arians is being more open than most coaches. It feels like the healthy approach. Players use social media and watch NFL Network, and they talk, so most have good idea of where the team stands when it comes to the postseason. It might as well be addressed by Arians so he can get players on the same page and quash any misinformation going around.
December 16th, 2020 at 11:35 am
Exactly. Focus on the Falcons. Good grief; they are 2 of the next 3 games. Better study their films even more closely than usual.
December 16th, 2020 at 11:41 am
It’s just human nature to think about the overall picture (playoffs) which is also the overall goal. But the primary focus must be on the upcoming game….
December 16th, 2020 at 11:54 am
I’ll take this to another level. OPAAT (One play at a time) should be written on every pregame football whiteboard. YOUR personal best effort on YOUR ASSIGNMENT on the first play! Then, after that play is over, YOUR personal best effort on YOUR assignment on THAT SPECIFIC play, and so on. The team that compartmentalizes and does that the best wins. Do not think that you have to go hard for 65 to 90 plays… just focus on one at a time! Further, if that isn’t a microcosm of life I don’t know what is!
December 16th, 2020 at 12:13 pm
Yeah I hate that stupid jock speak religion. Good for BA!
December 16th, 2020 at 12:22 pm
If he were looking past the team at hand to a future opponent then no bueno. This is obviously different
December 16th, 2020 at 12:38 pm
The Vikings game was masterful. Minnesota had long, time-consuming drives. The pass rush was excellent. The pass protection for TB was outstanding. McCoy had some big runs. TB completed one long pass and had a PI on a Hail Mary.
Was it perfect? No. That’s because Minnesota played well, too. Too many 2nd and 3rd and long.
But a great game. Why? Because they won.
December 16th, 2020 at 12:44 pm
Well said ^
December 16th, 2020 at 12:50 pm
I’m outraged – the 1954 coaches handbook says you only talk about one game at a time! How dare anyone go against the handbook!
December 16th, 2020 at 1:19 pm
I never thought of it as a “big picture” kind of thing. I always thought of it as “don’t get ahead of your skis” kind of thing. Like everything, this topic has some nuance in it. I think in this situation going “big picture” is the right thing to do. This kind of talk in Nov/Dec is unheard of and brand new for a lot of these guys and it could benefit them to know the big picture.
December 16th, 2020 at 1:23 pm
You know the more Arians talks, the more you can see why he wears out his welcome.
Some coaches are too transparent and too forthcoming.
If the greats say less then why wouldn’t the mediocre or the status quo do the same???
Until this guy and the staff starts out-coaching other staffs, he should be quiet!
December 16th, 2020 at 3:52 pm
He needs to talk to his staff about not getting outcoached in the postseason
December 16th, 2020 at 9:20 pm
1st rule of playoff club. You don’t talk about playoffs…..