The Morning After
October 4th, 2021
(Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com.)
Happy Victory Monday!
Last night’s Bucs win was like looking at a bowl full of homemade applesauce. Looks like vomit but tastes so damn good. That was last night’s win over the Belicheats. Ugly, ugly win but damn isn’t it sweet?
So let’s get rolling here.
Lavonte David the Hero
What else can Joe say about Bucs great Lavonte David that hasn’t been written? Well, he added another highlight to what should be his Hall of Fame career.
When he was able to disengage and sky quick enough to disrupt the Belicheats’ final pass of the night on third down forcing Nick Folk to attempt a 56-yard field goal in the rain, well, isn’t that what we have come to expect from David?
David is a graybeard among NFL linebackers. He may have slipped a tiny bit. Just a hair. But he’s still a dominant linebacker who rarely gets caught out of position.
David may not be quite as quick but the guy still covers real estate in a hurry.
We can talk about Tom Brady and Playoff Lenny and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka all day and it wouldn’t be wrong. But it was old man David who iced the win for the Bucs last night.
Mad props to David.
What Happened To Chris Godwin?
This is not a critique of Chris Godwin, who Joe loves. It is just a fair question. What happened to Godwin last night?
Godwin was targeted a grand total of five times and had three catches. Virtually all of them (three targets and two catches) came in the final minute of the first half when the Bucs went to a hurry-up offense.
It seemed really, really odd to have Godwin virtually invisible for much of the game.
Did Patriots defensive coordinator Steve Belichick do that good of a job taking out Godwin that he was never open?
Joe Cannot Crucify The Secondary
Joe got Twitters throughout the second half from folks outraged by how Mac Jones was able to complete passes at will. What do people expect?
Name a team playing a 33-year old cornerback who has had three practices since last season and a guy who sounds like he was named after a bottle of cologne, Pierre Desir? Any team that does that is going to get roasted by the pass.
And this was even with the Bucs getting a pass rush.
So Joe cannot kill the guys on the field for the Bucs. Dudes are backups for a reason. And when they are forced to try to play like starters, well, the result was last night.
Carlton Davis Injury
Though it sure looked like he blew a hamstring, the Bucs deemed Carlton Davis to have a quad injury. Bucs Super Bowl-winning coach Bucco Bruce Arians seemed very glum about the initial diagnosis suggesting Davis might be out “a while.”
Bucs fans on social media are screaming about why Davis was playing special teams. Simple. He’s also a special teams player. Davis has played on special teams every season he’s been in the league, including 78 special teams snaps in 16 games last year.
You may be aware the Bucs had a bunch of injuries and many of those guys also played special teams, including Jamel Dean. Someone has to play special teams.
Arians said Davis was on the field for fake punt coverage as the Bucs expected the Belicheats to run a lot of trick, gadget plays, which they did.
Joe cannot kill the Bucs for playing a guy on special teams who has always played special teams. That seems a terrible example of rearview mirror logic. Joe never once heard anyone complain about Davis playing special teams before.
Davis is a football player. Football players sometimes get hurt. It’s the law of the NFL. That’s really all there is to it.
Trade Coming?
Joe almost wonders if Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht is going to try to make a trade now that the Bucs are down their top three corners. Joe doesn’t care who you are, you lose your top three corners and your defense is going to be hurting. Badly.
(And no, save your “Trade O.J. Howard” trade concoctions. He’s untradeable now. And with Gronk being out who knows how long, the Bucs are going to need their tight ends even if many fans want one of them to get out of town permanently.)
Last night we saw the Bucs (finally) get pressure on the quarterback. And still Mac Jones lit up the secondary.
Joe doesn’t know how this team is going to contend for a playoff spot, much less the division title playing old man Richard Sherman, Ross Cockrell and the bottle of cologne, Pierre Desir.
The Hype
How much was NBC hyping this game? On Friday, “The Today Show” broadcast from Gilette Stadium. Joe is willing to bet $5 that witchy Savannah Guthrie has no clue who Lavonte David is. If you said his name to her, she likely would think he’s a fashion designer for plus-size women’s beach attire. If that wasn’t enough, “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt” broadcast live from Gilette Stadium.
Joe was comforted to learn there are no other crises currently in America so NBC News could devote its news division’s full attention to pimp the Bucs-Belicheats game.
October 4th, 2021 at 5:28 am
I don’t even know who we’d trade at this point. As much as I hate to say it and compare, I think our best options for trades would be giving up some picks. One, we’re playing for right now. With contracts and cap, it’s all or nothing. Do I like it? No, but I like superbowl championships more than the draft.
Two this is the comparison, the Rams haven’t had a first round pick since Goff in ’16. They’re perennial superbowl contenders now. That being said, they hit on every player the can get their paws on, including UDFAs.
Three, again like I stated before, I don’t even know who we’d trade if it’s a player. OJ will ride out his contract here, he’s off an Achilles and is worth 6 mil right now. Otherwise who do you want to get rid of?
Last is who do we even go after? CJ Henderson is now a Stinkin’ Panther, Gilmore is old, and wants more money. I don’t know who’s available without a cold call. On top of not knowing who’s available, we’re going to get price gouged based on our dire situation. Other than an AFC team who could maybe not try to screw us no one’s going to do us any favors.
Schedule should calm down, until we play the offensive juggernaut that is the Buffalo Bills who (and I cannot believe I’m saying this) once again put up a 40 burger on another team. Hopefully we get healthy soon. Any word on SMB? I recall 3 weeks or so? Is he coming back against the Phins? Hope so. I’ll enjoy the win for now. Keep up the good work Joes
October 4th, 2021 at 5:29 am
The hype was utterly ridiculous.
The injury bug sure caught up to us this year! With Davis going down, they are going to have to make a move.
It was nice to see the return of the pass rush.
Lastly, Lenny looked real comfortable toting the rock.
October 4th, 2021 at 5:30 am
There is a great analysis from the Patriots fan web
J.C. Jackson on Mike Evans, Jon Jones on Antonio Brown, Jalen Mills on Chris Godwin with inside help; that was the Pats’ secondary plan. To their credit, all three Pats corners were highly competitive throughout the game and battled with an excellent group of receivers. We’ll need to watch the tape to see exactly how the Pats took Godwin away for most of the game, but those zone-droppers felt like help to Mills on the inside. Although it wasn’t enough, they competed their butts off on Sunday night.
Bill had a good plan to remove Godwin with double and 2 droppers
October 4th, 2021 at 5:48 am
i can’t believe belichik turned us back into the field goal team we used to be, if for only one night….
but he did…
remember how most buc drives resulted in field goals for what seems like endless years…
remember that game we won with jameis years ago 19-17 where we went into kc and upset a really good kc team in front of their home crowd – and with jameis running the offense…
i’m not sure why i’m even bringing that up, other than it was the same score…we played really well there that day…
i guess i keep expecting more, and to see the team that dominated down the stretch last season…hopefully we get there as the season progresses…
but a win is a win…and we are 3-1 with much room for improvement in almost all areas of football…
belichik was clawing at his new head of hair like he wanted to pull some of it out at times when cameras turned to him on the sidelines…
also at one moment he took the front of his pencil and seemingly stuck it in his mouth to get between 2 teeth to remove some food or something that might be stuck there…wtf…lead can be toxic…
and they cut to his son at some point, and he definitely looked on the spectrum…he was offering up an extremly distorted face and his mouth and tongue were doing the motions of eating some poonanny – i kid you not…i as like wtf…
why do they catch all these weird sideline clips and then run them for the nation to see…
it’s almost like they do it on purpose
October 4th, 2021 at 5:51 am
so there are more than one blueprint out there now on how to shut the bucs down…
teams will study this tape…
we were sorta deadbeats in the redzone
October 4th, 2021 at 5:58 am
adam from ny Says:
October 4th, 2021 at 5:48 am
and they cut to his son at some point, and he definitely looked on the spectrum…he was offering up an extremly distorted face and his mouth and tongue were doing the motions of eating some poonanny – i kid you not…i as like wtf…
^^^^^^^^
Hahaha, thanks for the Monday morning laugh!
October 4th, 2021 at 6:00 am
what about…
a blockbuster trade to pry bradberry away from the giants…
October 4th, 2021 at 6:10 am
That Carlton Davis plays on special teams should not come as a surprise to those who wren’t paying attention prior to Sunday night. Heck, even RONDE FREAKIN’ BARBER played special teams, and not just in his unremarkable and forgettable rookie season!
October 4th, 2021 at 6:53 am
Sloppy wet game and brady was mental for it
Of course he was hyped / jacked whatever. You could see it in his throws
And defense wisely tried to take out godwin, our most consistent receiver. And did pretty good against evans and AB
Say what you want but towards the end , brady and belichick simply did not get along. Brady wanted to smack belly in the facd. The coaches claimed weather was not a factor yet close ups showed pouring down rain. We will take the win.
We avoided injuries last year. This year we are in trouble. Good thing we play fins next.
October 4th, 2021 at 6:54 am
Bad form on the Patriots’ part to not stop the game when he broke the record. To put up an infographic as if they were announcing a traffic jam on 495 felt like it was not enough especially when his family and the entire country was watching.
October 4th, 2021 at 6:54 am
Belichick’s son looks like a young Bobcat Goldthwait.
October 4th, 2021 at 7:01 am
Refs made 5 crucial and timely calls to give the game to The Boston Foxboros.
October 4th, 2021 at 7:05 am
I think we get past Miami with the roster we have….that will give everyone another week to heal and get us to 4-1. Eagles and Bears are winnable but Eagles could certainly upset us in our current state. I think Rojo is done and if he has any value will be traded. He has running ability, someone will value him, maybe Baltimore or the Jets but he’s become too much of a liability on the field. He blows a blocking assignment every game. Blitz pick up is all about a “want to” mindset for a RB….its obvious Rojo doesn’t have that mindset even with the GOAT back there and a team with SB aspirations.
October 4th, 2021 at 7:17 am
D Rome when they showed him I did my voice impersonation of bobcat saying get after brady..pretty good one since I watched unhappily ever after quite a bit…red head with big jugs was a wet dream
October 4th, 2021 at 7:45 am
Hahaha, I enjoyed the last paragraph. I didn’t know they sent their news teams to Gillette
October 4th, 2021 at 7:53 am
Ok so Belichick is one of if not the greatest coaches of all time. They practiced with Brady for 20 years, I wasn’t surprised how they held him at bay. Point 2, McDaniels and Belichick used to torcher Bowles when he coached Jets, no surprise they did it again. Not being prepared for the trick play was bad coaching, McDaniels throws those in every big game they play when O is getting stuffed. This is the third 4th game Bucs saw 3 step drop quick release underneath, is this team that bad we have no way to stop this cause it ain’t going away. Wrong routes, 5 dropped passes not going to do it going forward. Dodged a bullet, the refs tried to take the game away at the end. Out coached from start to finish BA, BL, Bowles overrated. All they did was take Godwin out of the game and doubled AB from time to time. On a good note running game emerged. Let Rojo go, he is a waste of the teams effort. Ever since Lenny signing he has shat himself. This is NO SB team.
October 4th, 2021 at 7:53 am
That was done on Brady’s request.
October 4th, 2021 at 7:57 am
Should have passed on every down, rain or not. Would have won in a blowout, right?
October 4th, 2021 at 7:57 am
If you needed a reminder who the best coach of all time is, this was it. Bilichick dialed up a good game plan overall. When I saw the rain I knew it would be an issue for us. Passing teams in a downpour don’t do so good. Really questionable to go for it all on 3rd and 7 and keep running the clock.
The Secondary is in a world of hurt. No idea what the answer is. Trade seems unlikely. Rojo and OJ are untradeable based in their current production.
October 4th, 2021 at 7:59 am
Belichicks son is pretty much Ogre from revenge of the nerds.
October 4th, 2021 at 8:11 am
Way off the mark here…..
First of all….nice to see the promotion of Gillette Stadium……when Raymond James Stadium won’t get mention.
Even with all the completions….our Defense got 4 sacks, 2 turnovers, gave up only 17 points (lowest of the year) and had minus 1 yards rushing…..and it’s a good thing because our offense stunk.
1 target to OJ Howard……and what about moving the chains and eating some clock on our last drive instead of settling for a 48 yard FG and leaving 2 minutes on the clock for NE?
And speaking of 48 yard FGs…..no mention of Ryan Succop anywhere in any articles……the guy just had game winners in 2 of our 3 wind.
As for trades……we need all our players….so draft picks are all we have…..and with our older players….we’ll need draft picks to replace them…..we are stuck. Need to hang in until the bye.
October 4th, 2021 at 8:13 am
The weather, the circumstances, whatever- Brady was a little off, although he was pretty clutch at the end.
Some of the play calling and play design was head shaking ( your left tackle just lets the DE blow by him by design and you depend on a pulling guard and rb on a wet field to block the charging DE???)
But they found enough running game to pound out enough points.
D gave a gutty performance with 4 starters out- completely eliminated Pats run game and withstood a very poised and heady rookie QB.
Give Mac Jones an offense and the Pats will be rolling…
October 4th, 2021 at 8:31 am
The Cologne Cornerback…who smells a bit like desperation…nicely done, Joe. Perhaps the Bucs are “front loading” their defensive secondary injuries ( of course not purposely…hopefully they will all return eventually in time for a playoff run ). I thought Sherman played admirably…recovered a fumble and was the victim of a questionable call or two. I don’t believe the cornerback calvary is coming…so they gotta hang tough the next month or so.
October 4th, 2021 at 8:39 am
@TBBF – very good point.
“…Even with all the completions….our Defense got 4 sacks, 2 turnovers, gave up only 17 points (lowest of the year) and had minus 1 yards rushing….”
October 4th, 2021 at 8:55 am
Any word on how Winfield is doing? He played well with two forced fumbles. Yes, two, because he was robbed by the refs on one call. He should expect a letter of apology from the league.
October 4th, 2021 at 8:58 am
I lost track of how many dropped balls and penalties killed drives last night, (to say nothing of Brady having several passes sail on the first quarter) Refs blew a few critical calls too
October 4th, 2021 at 9:05 am
Over the past 15 years or so, the Bucs have played well in games, only to lose a squeaker to a better team. So I will not complain about any W. But the offense did not look like “it has a lot of weapons.” Brady was off, it was raining, there were a few drops, and the O was definitely out of sorts. Despite all of the fawning over Mac Jones, the Pats only scored 17 pts.
October 4th, 2021 at 9:06 am
If the weather was so bad, why could Jones throw in it? Bucs passed more downfield, that’s where weather comes into play. I don’t believe he threw 1 pass downfield. We keep blaming injuries but aren’t these the same DB’s when healthy that gave up over 200yds to KC and got torched by Chicago, NO and Rams last year? All four teams Bucs played embarrassed the defense with 5 to 10yd underneath and screen passes. Made Mac Jones look like the next coming of Joe Montana.
October 4th, 2021 at 9:12 am
Joe I understand that Carlton Davis has been a special teams player. But things change when he is the ONLY healthy CB you have left. No reason to put him out there. NONE. There are 22 starters, a kicker, a punter, and a backup QB. That leaves 23 other NFL players on the sidelines who can be in for those special teams plays.
October 4th, 2021 at 9:37 am
We do not have anyone worthy to trade.
October 4th, 2021 at 9:42 am
When you keep losing your corners and safeties games are going to be close. The offense needs to score more than the other teams. That needs to be the goal over the next four weeks. They have a Bye week and after that to get everyone back.
October 4th, 2021 at 9:43 am
HC Grover Says:
October 4th, 2021 at 9:37 am
We do not have anyone worthy to trade.
We do….but we need to keep them…..and we need our future draft picks to replace some of these older players.
October 4th, 2021 at 9:44 am
I think the Bucs had Rojo run near the goal line so he had a chance to get a TD.
But Lenny was the offense for the most part last night.
I think RoJo might be on the trading block for some defensive backfield help.
October 4th, 2021 at 10:09 am
We have draft picks to trade. At this point a #2 or #3 for Gilmore looks good. Season teetering here
October 4th, 2021 at 10:10 am
Rojo is valuable to a team that wants to play smash mouth run it up the gut offense. Is there teams out there that still do that? Maybe the Bears or the Ravens would want him? He can only play 1st and 2nd down offense. He is out to lunch when it comes to catching the ball and picking up pass rushers. No value other than as a battering ram back. Behind a decent run blocking offense, he’s got some upside, thats about it.
October 4th, 2021 at 10:34 am
Why does LVD get voted a captain every season? Cos he is a great player both on and off the field. Belicheat and Pats were ready and the refs and weather pitched in. Still the decimated secondary Bucs defense won this one. Tryon and VV are beginning to play tag team. They stay healthy, that will be a lethal combo.
October 4th, 2021 at 11:32 am
IMHO The Bucs should try & trade ROJO, Howard & Mr. Donavon Lazy ass Smith which I’ve been preaching for a long time. I think Wells could easily replace him. Plus Okung, Swartz & Wagner are FA that could easily replace Smith for less money. The only two FA CB I see that could be helpful are Conley & Hayden.
October 4th, 2021 at 11:53 am
Can we trade fans ?
October 4th, 2021 at 1:25 pm
TOM: Your theory has some serious holes, such as if the players you mention could “easily replace” The Durable One, why would any NFL team trade for him instead of just signing one of those guys?
October 4th, 2021 at 3:56 pm
I’m pretty sure I like these morning after articles more than the training camp notes, but they are both excellent. I’m not sure that we can trade for a legitimately good corner without giving up several high draft picks and/or a starter on offense under contract for a few years. Mike, Ali, and Wirfs are probably the only ones that meet that criteria that anyone would want, but I’d be heartbroken if we had to trade any of those dudes. Lol, we are in a tough f’ing spot man.
October 4th, 2021 at 5:03 pm
What is it with you and Richard Sherman? For a guy who’s had three days practice and thrown into the fray, I think he did damn good. Cut him some slack, man. He’s an All-Pro player, give him some respect. We’re lucky to have him.
October 6th, 2021 at 7:01 pm
Why can’t we get a better Offensive coordinator??? Like Rams, chargers, cowboys, Cardinals, Packers, etc instead of the boring offense that makes me shut the TV off within 5 minutes… I MEAN REALLY!!!!