Antonio Brown Illustrates Bucs’ Improvement
September 10th, 2021
Antonio Brown celebrates
Joe was a little surprised to hear sour Bucs fans in the wee hours and even still this morning.
The glass is way more than half full.
Every season is an evolution process. The great teams don’t play their best football in September.
The great coaches adjust and adapt and prepare a team to win each week but simultaneously prep for December and January.
Look at the Tampa Bay offense last night. Four turnovers and it still racked up 431 yards of total offense and 31 points.
Joe is riding high along with the Bucs on their nine-game winning streak. So what if there are issues to fix! The Bucs have the leadership, talent and work ethic to get it done.
Antonio Brown represents a great part of the Bucs’ improvement. The dude wasn’t even on the roster in the first half of last season. Now he’s 100 percent healthy and last night he was looking every bit as electric as he did in training camp. Against Dallas, Brown led the Bucs with 121 receiving yards and a touchdown on five catches.
Joe confidently states the Bucs are still figuring out how to use Brown and the best from him is yet to come, assuming he stays healthy and doesn’t hurl large objects near any people.
What a happy Friday this is. Joe suspects the Bucs offense will average around 34 points per game this season, which is going to make them nearly impossible to beat.
Enjoy it!
September 10th, 2021 at 11:14 am
Can he play DB?
September 10th, 2021 at 11:16 am
Good thing you have him. Evans is on his way to Brady’s doghouse. Trade his ass and get something.
September 10th, 2021 at 11:17 am
Put Mike Evans at DB. AB is WR1
September 10th, 2021 at 11:17 am
I agree that the best is yet to come from Brown.
Dallas is a better team than many realize.
September 10th, 2021 at 11:22 am
AB was consistently open compared to Evans
Last night TB12, Gronk, AB, Succop
what a dogfight it was!
came away with a W and a more clear picture of where are weaknesses and strengths lie
September 10th, 2021 at 11:22 am
Yea. Every since Ab came to town ME stocks has dropped as well as the passes thats thrown his way. I have a hunch that Brady last option in ME13 and AB first Godwin second. Trade ME13 for some corner help, a top corner. We need stop relying on Windield, whitehead, Davis, SMB and Dean. Those guys are way too inconsistent for years now
September 10th, 2021 at 11:23 am
Shut up Ben green.
September 10th, 2021 at 11:24 am
Godwin would’ve NEVER fumbled the ball if Mike Evans made more than a PISS POOR attempt to block on the screen pass. Had #13 blocked his guy, Godwin would’ve NEVER made the spin move to evade the defender and got discombobulated.
MIKE EVANS played like a BUM!!!!!!!!!
September 10th, 2021 at 11:26 am
Yes Joe its insane how fans are not enjoying this win. Fans seemed to be so conditioned to believe Dak would be rusty and this would be an easy win that anything other then a blowout is a dissapoinment. Totally unrealistic.
And I totally agree about late season football. Peaking in December and Janurary is what great team typically do.
We lefts tons of plays on the field last night and mad tons of mistakes. I for one am very excited to see this team get better throughout the year and sure looks like we can be dominate if we play mistake free football.
September 10th, 2021 at 11:27 am
And plus who doesnt enjoy a shootout victory? Freaks thats who.
September 10th, 2021 at 11:35 am
Evans had one bad game…let’s trade him.
Says no one at One Buc Place.
Thankfully.
September 10th, 2021 at 11:35 am
Pete
Exactly. And all this talk about what a great camp ME had.. blah blah blah. The only time he showed up in the game was when he was doing something bone headed
September 10th, 2021 at 11:36 am
Bucs gotta have the most fickle fans around. A win while needing improvement is a great win. Two point win means the same. Bucs 1-0.
September 10th, 2021 at 11:45 am
If Evans has plus coverage, which he did most of the evening, Brady is always going to go to the guy that’s single covered. It’s really not that hard. Evans will get his catches. Started slow last year too. Non-issue.
September 10th, 2021 at 11:46 am
The only guy Brady goes to consistently when he has plus coverage is Gronk. And we all know why. They know each other like the back of their hands.
September 10th, 2021 at 11:46 am
WOW at the ME hate.
I was the 1st to say trade him and sign AB last year…lol got crucified for it.
ME wants the ball, but he is a slant route and jump ball guy 90% of the time. TB doesn’t do jump balls.
That said, I think TB picks who will get the balls before the game….trying to keep all those weapons happy has to be hard. ME showed up when he got the ball later last year and acted like a spoiled brat throwing stuff when he didn’t. Can’t trade the guy, he is money if he knows he’ll get the ball….but he doesn’t play 100 when he isn’t getting it.
September 10th, 2021 at 11:50 am
Fine bury your head in the sand on Evans. He’s had all off-season to get healthy, and he’s already obviously dealing with something. It’s a broken record with this guy. He’s in Brady’s doghouse. That’s a fact. I don’t know what his deal is, but if it doesn’t get fixed Brady will just shut his ass out
They have plenty without him anyway
September 10th, 2021 at 11:51 am
Some fans need to lighten up and give AB a break. He drops one ball, and fans want to get down on him. He is instrumental to the success of this offense. So glad we have him on this team. And if we lose Godwin next year, we better find a way to keep him here.
September 10th, 2021 at 11:56 am
You buffoons are so ridiculously funny. On an off night when Evans had no fumbles like ROJO and Godwin or easy drops like AB yet still gets 63 yards you say he is a problem and to trade him??? How do you blame him for Godwin’s lack of ball security while being tackled??? Did you not see what he did against the Rams last year while AB stood there and watched??? He made the greatest ever I WILL YOU CAN’T STOP ME td 3rd and 4th effort and didn’t fumble after being bashed over and over. I guess he’s at fault for Godwin’s, AB’s and Fournettes drops as well. Please, put down Pete’s meds and come back up for some air because you sound breathless!
September 10th, 2021 at 11:58 am
It will likely upset many fans here, but Antonio Brown may well elevate himself to unofficial WR1 status.
September 10th, 2021 at 11:58 am
Dudes remove your heads from your rear ends. Brady was going to Chris all night because the Cowboys could not guard him. One of the podcasts I listen too even said the Cowboys have issues covering slot recievers……..which is exactly what we saw, so yeah Brady is going to eat up a glaring weakness.
You even look at some of the big plays to AB and Chris was working the same side drawing safety coverage. Our gameplan ran through Chris last night. Had nothing to do with Mike.
If you really wanna break it down Chris had a bad drop and then a fumble the first 2 times we had a chance to put the game away. And yeah, he got away with a pushoff(part of the game) on the last drive…….if that gets called Chris for sure is the one getting called out today.
September 10th, 2021 at 12:00 pm
Correct DBBF99. The guy is almost impossible to cover. I know we like to think it is all homegrown talent plus Brady…but you take AB and Gronk off this team, and the Offense is about a third less lethal.
September 10th, 2021 at 12:03 pm
Wow ME hate? What actually makes him untouchable? The dude hasn’t beat another teams number 1 corner in ages. He gets shut out and gets a pass?
September 10th, 2021 at 12:03 pm
Wow, first game (which we won) and people want to trade ME? Must be the epidemic 😷😂
September 10th, 2021 at 12:07 pm
And then Mike Evans goes off against the Falcons….
September 10th, 2021 at 12:08 pm
What I got from last night was this. strategically on Dallas’s part..
1. Only run a token run game to keep the Bucs D honest, knowing that our D was not going to allow them to run.
2. Go to a quick passing game to the edge, forcing corners to take on blocks and make tackles. And after the D gets worn down failing to get home in the pass rush, throw some balls down field against our D.
3. And Defensively, don’t let Mike Evans beat you. And don’t let the running game get off.
September 10th, 2021 at 12:08 pm
This is the problem with the stats driven football world we live in. Stats don’t matter. What matters is wins and losses. Anybody griping about a nine game winning streak is an idiot.
September 10th, 2021 at 12:10 pm
They definitely need to work on cleaning up the tackling or lack of it I should say it was so awful
September 10th, 2021 at 12:12 pm
IMHO Gronk & AB were the two best receivers in the game. As far as the CB’s go, BA needs to wake up and realize Dean ia a below average CB & Bunting isn’t much better. The only decent CB is Davis. Godwin & Jones are way overrated.
September 10th, 2021 at 12:15 pm
It’s not ME hate, it’s disappointment.
I realize he isn’t in control of who TB throws to, other than getting open against against last years 29th ranked secondary. That lack of effort blocking on CG14 fumble is not cool, for a guy who had the best camp ever.
If you wanna talk hate.. let’s talk about Jamel Dean.
September 10th, 2021 at 12:19 pm
You never wanna peak too early.
September 10th, 2021 at 12:22 pm
Hey lamarcus,
He kinda sorta is untouchable. Care to tell me how much dead money the bucs would be eating if he was traded to another team? I’ll wait for your response.
September 10th, 2021 at 12:28 pm
Evans is the reason Godwin had 14 targets. Evans is the reason why a.b. had single press coverage with no over the top help on his t.d. Evans gets the priority coverage, which allows the others to be open.
September 10th, 2021 at 12:32 pm
Because I am a Bucs homer and do not play FF seriously but just for free leagues, I had AB, Brady and Gronk starting. Lol, I was not picked to win any games by my post draft grades. Nice start this week.
September 10th, 2021 at 12:34 pm
A lot of Evans hate. I stay a fan of #13. As well as AB and recently now inconsistent Godwin.
September 10th, 2021 at 12:35 pm
Lol you people would send this team back to the cellar with your talent evaluations. Just stop it, it’s an embarrassment. Mike Evans will be a Buc for life, get used to it, even if you can’t appreciate what he does for our offense.
September 10th, 2021 at 12:38 pm
Let’s not forget, the opposing teams usually pairs Evens with their best CB. AB being the 3rd WR is going against the 3rd or slot CB.
September 10th, 2021 at 12:45 pm
I just can’t grasp how much of a nonsense this Evans hate is…ofc i think AB will be the 1# receiver in the between lines, but hating on Evans? come on…
September 10th, 2021 at 12:46 pm
You do realize that the reason AB & Godwin get open is that Mike is on the field…..
Trade Mike Evans?…..are you serious…..he is a total beast and a great possession receiver. Brady loves having him there…..
As for AB…you know what TBBF thinks……MAGA Make Antonio Great Again!!!
September 10th, 2021 at 12:46 pm
Last night’s game was tough to watch simply because I had gone in not preparing myself for it to be as hard fought as it was. Once I stepped back from the emotional roller coaster of it, there was a lot there to feel good about. The talent is there. Everything that made it a close game were things that can be cleaned up with getting out of the off-season fog and tightening up the execution. I’m bummed to have lost the money that I placed on the game because it wasn’t nearly the blow-out that I was expecting, but I think the team is going to clean those things up and we’ll get right against ATL
September 10th, 2021 at 12:47 pm
ROJO fumbles once and gets benched for the rest of the game. Lenny bobbles a pass for an interception and plays all night. No OJ. No Brate. Suh suffering from COVID after effects? DW invisible. Complacency, overconfidence? We won because Dallas can’t kick.
September 10th, 2021 at 12:47 pm
Are you telling me they rolled coverage his way all night? It’s just not true. When he knows he’s not the primary, he doesn’t give it his all. Brady won’t take that for long. If you deal him now you could get a decent corner in return. You have enough receivers.
September 10th, 2021 at 12:47 pm
Obviously, all is not lost. Well, except for maybe the secondary… what a bad group that is.
I’m sure 90% humidity and playing an entire game for the first time was pretty physically demanding. Apparently mentally demanding as well.
Next three games are dome , dome, NE so should be less arduous. Except for the competition.
September 10th, 2021 at 12:54 pm
To all the keyboard commanders out there
In a passing league
You don’t trade a future HOF WR receiver in his prime
For a CB!!! Get a grip
We will be fine
September 10th, 2021 at 12:56 pm
Oops.. ATL is at home.
September 10th, 2021 at 12:56 pm
Nano
A passing league requires DBs too.
September 10th, 2021 at 12:57 pm
Thank you @jimmyjack….lol…
Brady recognized the match up and exploited it….
CG dodged a bullet last night
GO BUCS
September 10th, 2021 at 1:03 pm
Ben green, YOU GOTTA BE KIDDIN’ ME!!! Trade Mike? You must have lost your marbles.
September 10th, 2021 at 1:09 pm
Ben green, Trade Mike? You musta lost ya damn marbles. Mike helps draw coverage so other guys can eat. Not to mention he’s our best WR.
It was an ugly win with a FEW flashes of greatness.
GO BUCS!!!
September 10th, 2021 at 1:10 pm
Mike Evans is already the most greatest reciever this town has ever saw. One day he will be putting on a gold jacket and when that day comes I want all you maroons to remember that you wanted him traded for a measly draft choice.
Shame….shame…shame
September 10th, 2021 at 1:10 pm
Trade Mike Evans? Bucs fans are so astute! I believe last year at this time most of the same morons were predicting 5-11. Evans is dealing with a physical issue. You could see him wincing a lot last night. I hardly think he’s In Brady’s doghouse.
September 10th, 2021 at 1:11 pm
I can see this slowly building. AB will realize his worth to the Bucs. He will have leverage and then reveal the jackass that he is.
September 10th, 2021 at 2:21 pm
BA worked to improve that secondary.
September 10th, 2021 at 2:22 pm
All of these guys worth is based on having single coverage against the #2-#4 corner on a team. If teams start deeming cg or ab a bigger threat and put their #1 on them, Mike will feast. Brady is the king of not forcing the ball when there are better matches. And if not for 2 amazing and lucky tipped passes, he has a 4 catch 70 or so yard game.
September 10th, 2021 at 2:22 pm
What’s annoying is now all the people who are going to say Brown is going to be the teams leading WR. I was saying that back in March, and saying that is why the Bucs need to resign him when most people here were saying to let him walk, we didn’t need him.
I still think, by the end of the year, Evans will have the yards and TDs, but AB will have the receptions – and a ton of production. But, if the offense is as good as it can be, it’s possible you could be looking at three 1000 yards receivers. It’s unlikely because Brady spreads the ball around so much, but not out of the question. Even with Brady spreading the ball around, if he’s up around 5500 yards, there will be a lot of balls to go around.
September 10th, 2021 at 2:27 pm
Yes, completely agree. -3 on turnovers, >100 yds in penalties, gave up 450 yds and still won. Lots to clean up, as Brady said. But so often over the years, the Bucs were the team that played pretty well and still managed to lose these games. I feel good.
September 10th, 2021 at 2:36 pm
It looked like to me that evans got a neck stinger when he was tackled and we did not throw it his way much after that.. It was a good nail bitter game and win, Our guys will learn from this and everything will be fine.. Hang in there folks do not panic yet..lol
September 10th, 2021 at 2:47 pm
Man reading some of the earlier posts I wonder how I missed out when Joe was passing out the drugs!
September 10th, 2021 at 2:51 pm
If you told me a year ago I would be saying this I’d laugh at your face, but I freaking LOVE AB. I love his game. I love his work ethic. I love how his work ethic is contagious and I love how he likes teaching his work ethic and styles to the other guys. But there will always be that nagging worry that he will do something stupid.
September 10th, 2021 at 2:55 pm
“The great teams don’t play their best football in September.”
A couple great examples of this are the Colts with Manning and The Eagles with Andy Reid. They were always hot as could be September through December. They played their best ball in the fall, not in the winter.
September 10th, 2021 at 2:57 pm
Aside from the one fumble trying like H.ll to make it into the end zone AB was one of the bright spots on offense. Gronk was the man as usual. Aside from the big catch on the last drive Godwin much like Evans did not have a big night. Bucs still do not have an effective run game against a stout defense. Same for Dallas. Both teams could not move the ball on the ground. And where was our famous pass rush? Mickens made some very good kick returns. Got to give the Dallas defense some credit. They pushed the Bucs to the edge of the cliff.
September 10th, 2021 at 3:10 pm
ME will be in the Hall of Fame. Brady went to him three times on the winning TD drive. That says a lot about what TB thinks of ME.
September 10th, 2021 at 3:18 pm
AB, love the dude…. he was fantastic… so glad we got him ….
September 10th, 2021 at 3:19 pm
Bill
It was Godwin.
September 10th, 2021 at 3:20 pm
I thought this was a Bucs fan site. Damn! One game and people are ready to dump the Buc’s all-time No. 1 receiver. Two of the passes Evans didn’t catch were tipped balls. He was double covered most of the game, which is why AB and CG got thrown to so much. When opponents start double teaming those guys, Evans will get more one-on-ones and start stacking up the yards. Evans is not the reason we nearly lost the game. Turnovers, penalties, and poor pass defense is what made it a close game. So please STFU re trading Evans, and Pete, he is not a BUM. You, of all people, should know that.
September 10th, 2021 at 3:24 pm
Glad to get you annoyed Rod Munch, you made my day.
Getting back to Evans, I wonder if he’s nursing an injury. One of the announcers mentioned it in passing as he might have been caught wincing at something on the sideline.
September 10th, 2021 at 3:41 pm
All you ME13 haters are effing crazy. He’s an irreplaceable part of the team. Dude regularly gives his body up for a block. Total team guy. Superior talent. Go eff yourselves. Find another team. You make me sick.
September 10th, 2021 at 3:49 pm
Man some of the stupidity in the comments here would rival what goes down in the MCoJ every day… lol
And LOL at thinking Evans is injured, or in the dog house, b/c of 1 sub-par game. Just LOL.
September 10th, 2021 at 3:54 pm
@Buddha – Brady only target Evans once on that last drive, and it was incomplete.
September 10th, 2021 at 5:14 pm
@Joe: I hope that there will be an article about the vast improvement of the Bucs special teams.
September 10th, 2021 at 5:36 pm
Whichever poster said Brady decides pregame who gets the ball is an absolute clown and knows nothing about football. Go home clown.
September 10th, 2021 at 5:39 pm
Cowboys did their homework on Evans. Same thing what we did with Tyreek and Kelce. But there’s no way they can guard all our receiving corps. We are going to be fine
September 10th, 2021 at 5:48 pm
Chill people! There’s a simple answer to ME’s absence last night…I started him on my fantasy team.
September 10th, 2021 at 5:52 pm
Are y’all crazy or something? Take away that last fumble n get the touchdown instead n TB covers
September 10th, 2021 at 6:26 pm
Brown looks like he’s at least close to his old form, which is freaking awesome. Nothing wrong with Evans folks and to suggest otherwise is just plain silly. Now about our pathetic secondary that was torched by a slightly above average qb…
September 10th, 2021 at 6:39 pm
PassingThru – who are you again?
September 10th, 2021 at 6:40 pm
Hope you Evans haters own up to what you said here later on.
September 10th, 2021 at 6:44 pm
unbelievable – Evans didn’t have a subpar game, it’s just in an offense this loaded, Brady is going to throw it to the guy who is open, and that is the easiest play. Since Evans is outside, and is still the focus of defenses, he’s going to be the one getting the most attention — and why force the ball if other guys are running wide open (or getting themselves wide open like AB).
Evans will be fine. As teams realize that AB isn’t washed up, they’re going to crap themselves trying to figure out how to defend us and they’ll start rolling coverage to AB or Godwin, and as they do so, Evans then becomes the easy open pass. So on and so forth.
But Mike will get his yards, there’s no way the Bucs aren’t going to do everything possible to make sure he extends that record. But Brady isn’t Winston and isn’t going to throw jumpballs and 50/50 balls, and frankly, those catches are why Evans gets paid the huge money. Rarely is Evans ‘wide open’ but you throw him the ball anyways because he’s Mike Evans. But with Brady, he’s not even going to risk that when AB, Godwin and Gronk are all open. But again, the defenses will change, Evans will not be the focus, and that’s when he’ll have his 180 yards, 2 TD games.
September 10th, 2021 at 8:28 pm
It is funny to see a lot of online coach here! If you guys are good, you can apply for the coach job somewhere. Opponent coaches are smarter than these online coach. They know who they should use their No CB and which receiver should get more help. Without ME, AB might get double coverage yesterday!
September 10th, 2021 at 9:14 pm
I told my wife last week that AB will have one of his HOF type seasons this year, and game 1 was the beginning of it. He is the best receiver on the team. This guy had 6 straight 100 catch seasons, and possibly again this year. Mike played like Mike plays, he will be fine. He will be targeted more in some games and less then others. Brady goes to the open man.
GO BUCS!!!!
September 10th, 2021 at 11:40 pm
Casuals overthink things.
No turnovers = Buc blowout.
Half the penalties = Bucs blowout.
It was slop that made the game close.
“It’s as simple as that.”
September 11th, 2021 at 1:07 am
Joes
Simple request, and moderate me if you like.
This site was proclaiming that anything short of a slaughter would be a disgrace. No not those exact words. Give the opponents some respect. Telling us some team sucks that we should have lost to – what does that say? C’mon man.
September 12th, 2021 at 4:45 am
Thought it was a lot closer than I figured it to be,,Ba were was the safety help to help with Cooper,you put that man on a island with no help