Great Offense But Where’s The Pass Rush?
September 25th, 2021
Former Bucs guard Ian Beckles.
A former Bucs guard is loving how the Bucs’ offense is humming so early in the season.
What worries him is the pass rush has vanished.
Former Bucs guard and popular local sports radio personality Ian Beckles took to his podcast “In the Trenches” earlier this week to give an assessment of the Bucs as they fly out today to Los Angeles to face the Rams in what may be a preview of the NFC title game.
Beckles is loving the offense but he’s beginning to worry about no pass rush.
“I will say this: As a whole, defensively, we have to get a whole lot better if we think we going to win a Super Bowl,” Beckles said. “It’s going to get a whole lot harder than Matt Ryan and those Atlanta Falcons who don’t have a whole lot of firepower offensively.”
Beckles later spoke directly about the Bucs’ front line on defense.
“Other than Vita Vea getting a good push up the middle, we’re not getting a whole lot from Shaq Barrett,” Beckles said. “We’re not getting a whole lot from JPP on the outside. Joe Tryon? Not the guy yet. So we are getting a good push from [Ndamukong] Suh and Vita Vea and not much after that.”
Beckles had other thoughts about the Bucs:
Beckles was fully outraged at Ronald Jones ducking out of bounds and not picking up a first down.
“I don’t know about you, but to watch Ronald Jones step out of bounds on a first down run — on a first down run! — your go-to feature back stepped out of bounds! With about a yard, yard-and-a-half left. They went for it on fourth down by the way and made it. If they didn’t make that fourth down, sh!t was going to hit the fan, I’m just going to let you know. You know what feature running backs don’t do? They don’t step out of bounds a yard-and-a-half short of the stick. You don’t do it. At any time. … That drove me nuts!”
However, Beckles quickly calmed down saying, “But I saw a lot more better things.”
Beckles thinks O.J. Howard only needs to be a complementary tight end to make a big impact on the offense.
“Seeing O.J. Howard being a part of a regular offense is nice.”
Beckles added he only needs to make one or two explosive plays to impact the game, which he said is what Howard did previously.
Beckles had high praise for foot-rubbing, car-littering film guru Rob Gronkowski.
“Rob Gronkowski just may be our best football player. And I don’t just mean tight end. I’m watching Rob Gronkowski just housing people in the running game. And he’s always open. He’s always the guy you know you can go to in crucial situations.”
Beckles gave receiver Chris Godwin props for having a nose for contact.
“Chris Godwin is a very physical receiver. I like Godwin a lot. Big, big fan.”
Beckles doesn’t believe if the Bucs are at full-strength on offense, there is a defense that can stop them.
“I know this: If you are matching up against the Tampa Bay Bucs offensively, good luck. Who are you going to put your best corner on? Who are you going to put your worst corner on?”
Beckles is giving the Bucs’ secondary a pass.
“Defensive backfield? It’s all on the rush.”
Overall, Beckles gives the Bucs a thumbs-up.
“I don’t have a lot of complaints at this point.”
Enjoy today’s Ira Kaufman Podcast.
September 25th, 2021 at 8:11 am
Pete’s biting-off his toe nails b/c of this game. I say we just run & play action to control the clock. The defense can’t handle a shootout on the road
September 25th, 2021 at 8:22 am
Pass Rush , and 30 point average is why they won the Super Bowl, and that is how the will win another.
Brady and the Offense id fine…. BUT
Todd, please Dial; 1-800 Pass Rush
GO BUCS!!!!
September 25th, 2021 at 8:25 am
Where are the Bucs? We beat what seems to be a decent team on opening day. We beat a division opponent we should have beaten ultimately decisively by being well positioned defensively. Sunday will be a good litmus test. This isn’t a team with a lot of weaknesses we’re playing. And Bowles defense has been notoriously slow starting. The offense is humming and the defense really just needs to play a little bit better. Looking forward to the game.
September 25th, 2021 at 8:53 am
I rarely agree with everything Beckles says, but he’s spot on here. Like when Jameis continued to throw pick sixes in his 5th year I was through with him, the same happened to me with Rojo when he took that step out of bounds. That was such a puss move, and it was a DB. Run that guy over! Our pass rush has to take some pressure off the secondary. If they can’t get home Bowles has to come up with some better blitz packages. Right now the only blitz I’ve seen is White coming up the middle. Let’s mix it up. Bring David, a corner, a safety. Right now opposing offenses have been targeting White, not having to worry about any other Buc. Time to shake it up a bit.
September 25th, 2021 at 8:55 am
Who’s gonna’ cover that guy?……..Who’s that guy?……OJ Howard, of course…..you add him to Evans, Godwin & Gronk and OOPS!!!
Lets go OJ….have a great day in LA!!!
September 25th, 2021 at 9:36 am
I agree with Beckles on his Rojo take. I don’t agree that the defensive backs get a pass. There seems to be confusion back there, and the tackling has been poor at times.
September 25th, 2021 at 9:48 am
Hodad: You saw Carlton Davis tip the ball in the air, and Mike Edwards take it in for the TD, right? That was a blitz.
Bucs creating cap space by a Marpet restructure. Creating cap space for Richard Sherman, maybe? 🤔
September 25th, 2021 at 10:19 am
I am hoping for ROJO to run all over the Rams. ROJO plated at USC, and will have many many friends at this game.
A running game is essential for us to slow down their pass rush.
September 25th, 2021 at 10:24 am
“laster”?
September 25th, 2021 at 11:39 am
Vea hasnt gotten paid yet like barrett, other guys are old. Rams game will be true measure how bad these players want to repeat
September 25th, 2021 at 12:17 pm
Oxy: Remember the Bucs home game against New Orleans last year, when nothing went right? The Bucs still won the Super Bowl after that horrific loss. This is one game on the schedule.
September 25th, 2021 at 12:36 pm
Last week the defense had 3 int and 2 pix 6 what is the problem here–so many folks worried about our defense. The other team is getting the ball out fast–tighten up our coverage and perhaps that will give an extra second to get there.
September 25th, 2021 at 1:36 pm
Cannons, at least two of those INTs came off of batted passes. You certainly can’t rely on that every week. Secondary is still the weak point of this defense at least at this point in time.
September 25th, 2021 at 9:29 pm
Agreed Chris, I’m looking for RoJO to come out the gates like a man possessed.
September 26th, 2021 at 9:47 am
You know who stepped out of bounds on the regular Franco Harris, not saying ROjO is Franco, but it is what he did