Gassed Or Adjustment?
December 16th, 2021
Somewhere in there is Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
The chest-bumping optimists are still all jacked up because the Bucs played a near perfect half of football to plant a 24-3 lead on the Bills at halftime Sunday.
It was awesome.
But why did it evaporate?
Perhaps the Bucs gassed themselves? And Joe’s not just referring to Alex Cappa’s comment about the offensive line.
Xs and Os guru Dave Moore, the former Tampa Bay tight end who is the team’s gameday radio analyst, speculated on WDAE-AM this week that the Bucs’ defensive front line might have gotten tired.
Essentially, Moore’s take was that the Bucs’ front had so much juice in the first half and were so successful, that they either ran out of gas or let up, or Buffalo adjusted.
That got Joe thinking about what the best answer is. Running out of gas would be upsetting. The Bills had 31 offensive snaps in the first half. That’s not a huge number.
If the Bucs let up, well, that would be a little troubling. So Joe will go with the Bills adjusting with Jamel Dean out and the Bucs defense overall being just an average unit.
That’s not Joe down on the defense. It’s ok to be average when you’ve had a lot of injuries — and when your offense is the very best in the business.
December 16th, 2021 at 10:37 am
something i definetly believe bucs need next year is a new special teams coach. Im sorry but armstrong is not cutting it at all.
December 16th, 2021 at 10:45 am
Bucs let the foot off the gas, and once a team does that it is almost impossible to get that mojo back.
I blame the coaches for going turtle.
December 16th, 2021 at 10:48 am
That’s something that Arians, Bowles, and Leftwich need to address: At what point do you balance aggression and bleeding the clock? Right before halftime during the Atlanta game, they did something stupidly aggressive and it cost a pick 6. During the second half of the Buffalo game, they tried bleeding the clock too early and it damn well nearly cost the Bucs the game.
Bleeding the clock introduces lots of problems. One of the chief problems is that the Bucs go zone (with additional padding) to prevent quick scores, which force long, time-consuming drives. This tires out the entire defense, hitting the older players the hardest.
December 16th, 2021 at 11:10 am
One thing that is not going to help the Bucs is Jenna Laine walking around the Bucs facility while she is sick. Over in New Orleans head coach Sean Payton is sick, but he considered others and is working from home.
December 16th, 2021 at 11:10 am
Josh Allen is a TRUE running QB. He resembles some protypical beasts that came before him like Cunningham and Newton…big guys who didn’t mind taking on even a linebacker much less a safety or CB and they frequently would win.
Trouble with that strategy is long term. It is a career shortener. Cam had some great years and then his body simply gave out.
I always thought Josh Freeman had that great year because of his terrific size and running ability…similar to Allen…but Schiano made Free stop running to preserve his health and career. Too bad the career imploded prematurely anyway because Freeman was a much better QB when he was free to run.
December 16th, 2021 at 11:16 am
SB and those that blame offense for D being gassed. 3rd qtr Bill’s get KO drive ends at 12:28, Bucs take over 4 and out yes 4 downs, Bill’s take over at 11:09 & score Bucs drive starts at 7:27 drive ends at 4:53, Bill’s next drive ends at 2:11 in the 3rd. Bucs control ball into the 4th until 11:20 and kick FG. Bill’s next drive score. Bucs take over at 9:07 backed up from holding call first play Lenny 1 yd run. The first Bucs 3 & out in the second half
Bill’s get ball back at 8:08. You all know the rest. So after O scoring 24 points in the first 1/2 D was on the field just under 9 min 3rd qtr and rested 6 min before getting on the field in the 4th, this does not account for TV timeouts. They shouldn’t of been gassed.
December 16th, 2021 at 11:20 am
Both the 4th & out and 3rd & out Bucs tried run first. Bill’s adjusted, they ran it down the D’s throat the second half.
December 16th, 2021 at 11:23 am
How about a simple concept called “run the ball”? And I’m not buying the Jamel Dean is out is why our secondary is trash. It’s been trash with Dean in there. Every time there’s something like a meltdown, there’s an excuse. SB hangover, injuries, Dean out, AB covid cards, etc and letting the foot off the pedal was an excuse earlier in the year. They cant use that one. How about not overhyping and overselling this team. We are good to great football team but not Powerhouse World Destroying team like we are lead to believe
December 16th, 2021 at 11:32 am
The Defense gave the Offense an interception. They did nothing with it. Special teams gave the offense a turnover on downs, the offense did nothing with it (including easy missed throws by TB12).
December 16th, 2021 at 11:34 am
They were gassed AND Buffalo adjusted and began kicking the snot out of them. It was embarrassing.
December 16th, 2021 at 11:35 am
Brady missed more throws in the second half. Looked like he was short arming a few. He likes to throw at their feet, half the time Godwin & Evans are sliding to make the catch. There’s less chance of throwing an interception with a low ball; whereas anything can happen when the pass is elevated. I’m guessing this is by design, sort of like playing prevent offense with a lead.
December 16th, 2021 at 11:55 am
I think a bit of both, but also a third factor. I think we adjusted in the wrong direction. Felt like we were trying to play prevebt defense halfway through 3rd quarter (partially due to a 4th factor, dean out). We also did our predictable run on first downs.. would have liked to see more short to intermediate (over the middle was there) and run on 2nd
December 16th, 2021 at 12:02 pm
Not the 1st time Bucs’ defense has had ‘issues’ in the 4th qtr. Maybe it’s just a combination of a bunch of different factors.
Let’s face it, our DLine is old (McLendon 35; Suh 34; Gholston 30; RNR 28; O’Connor 28). Then throw in JPP 32 & Shaq 29 for kicks. The only spring-chickens in the lot are Vea 26, JTS 22 & Nelson 24. Guess who’s getting the most def snaps each game; yup, the old-timers. In Bills game, Vea got 38 def snaps (49%), JTS got 32 snaps (41%), Nelson got 14 snaps (18%). RNR only got 24 snaps (34%), Gholston 18 snaps (23%), O’Connor 8 snaps (10%) and McLendon got 0 (guess he was inactive). Want to guess who got the lion’s share of the work upfront? Suh with 52 snaps (67%) plus Shaq with 66 snaps (85%) & JPP with 54 snaps (69%).
Personal opinion is that our younger guys aren’t pulling their weight. Then throw in the injuries to our defense and it’s no wonder they wear down in the 4th qtr. And especially when the Bills’ strategy worked to perfection. They weren’t overly successful passing the ball in the 1st half, but they did run us all over the field in the process. Often wondered if it’s easier for a DLineman to play the run consistently or to have to pass rush on just about every play. I’d think that playing the run would be easier IF you were someone like Vea or Suh (the immovable object?). Kinda wonder if our DLine doesn’t get worn out because it has to pass rush so much (opponents do run against us LESS than against any other team).
December 16th, 2021 at 12:07 pm
For decades we’ve expected the heat to affect our opposition….in fact it has been the other way around
December 16th, 2021 at 12:15 pm
Doesn’t matter what team it is, more often than not, the team that dominates the first half can duplicate it the second half
December 16th, 2021 at 12:20 pm
The way we played and allowed the Bill’s to come back the way we did was a shocker. For the life of me I cannot and could not and still can’t figure it out. Maybe Dave has a point them tiring out in the second half which scares the hell out of me. I am going with the Bill’s making adjustments but why didn’t the Bucs catch on to the Bill’s adjustments and stop them from scoring as easy as they did. Quess I am just getting to old to figure these guys out anymore.
December 16th, 2021 at 12:27 pm
I guess more walk throughs are the answer. NOT!
December 16th, 2021 at 12:29 pm
The Bucs simply grew bored because the first half was just too easy. It almost bit them in the butt but Brady got their attention back in the nick of time.
December 16th, 2021 at 12:29 pm
Guys/Gals, Bucs won only 2 games where they didn’t have to score 30 or more points, Pat’s 19 and Eagles 28. What does that tell you? DEFENSE!
December 16th, 2021 at 12:52 pm
I’ll go back to Chris Simms commentary after he rewatched the entire game. He said he was expecting to see the Bucs let up, go soft, try to protect the lead, etc — but instead he said the Bucs stayed aggressive, the Bills made some minor adjustments, actually ran the ball a few times, and then Josh Allen went nuclear. It wasn’t so much the Bucs doing anything, as much as an elite QB just went off and made plays.
December 16th, 2021 at 1:14 pm
Some of these theories you people have are always good for a laugh but let’s get back to the real world. This team is full of professionals that are good at their job despite cmurda sometimes saying differently on Gameday. Chalk that up to too much passion for yours truly. Let’s just call it that. Getting back to the matter at hand. These professionals that I spoke of don’t just lollygag and stop playing because they have a big lead. They do the same thing that typically happens against them. The Bills adjusted and dominated the 2nd half because they needed to for the sake of coming back in this game. It took some missed Brady throws and lack of execution by our offense but that combined with the Bills going all out on defense led to the comeback. We have done the same thing the Bills did for half of our wins. Many of us are ready to jump off a cliff because of a terrible first half and then we go crazy in the 2nd half. This time it happened to us and it’s an opportunity to learn. It’s a whole lot easier to digest when you still win.
December 16th, 2021 at 1:49 pm
@”..Josh Allen is a TRUE running QB..”
————–
So our D number one against the run = JA goes for 106 yards!!!
So what were they stopping??
They could not stop a QB, performing these duties:
was throwing over 300 yards…
was leading the team to a 50/50 chance of winning ….
was doing the running back of the Bills with 106 yards…
How can you justified the DC Toooddd and our D.
This is blindness by choice!
This is sticking your head to the sand!
December 16th, 2021 at 2:04 pm
Interesting stats in the NFL this year of total points scored by quarter.
1st quarter: 1787
2nd quarter: 2949
3rd quarter: 1949
4th quarter: 2829
So there is clearly a lot more scoring in the 2nd and 4th quarters.
Then compare a league average team to the Bucs.
1st quarter league Ave team: 56
1st quarter Bucs: 50
2nd quarter league Ave team: 92
2nd quarter Bucs: 103
3rd quarter league Ave team: 61
3rd quarter Bucs: 77
4th quarter league Ave team: 88
4th quarter Bucs 67
It appears that we are better than an average defense in the 4th quarter for the majority of this season at least when looking at point allowed. Or at least from one analytical measure.
I noted 2 plays where JST was in the game, it looks like the Bills coaches and Josh Allen schemed against a JST tendency.
7:36 left 3rd quarter, 3rd down and 3. Bills on Bucs 19 yard line. JST gets pushed to the outside, and Allen has an easy run through the gap he left for the TD. It was a planned looks like a pass situation but Allen was always running.
Then 4th quarter with 9:51 left and score 27-10. Buffalo on Tampa 38. Allen does a body fake that he is going to pass it to his left but again JST is on the field in the same position. Allen never had any intention on throwing the ball. JST gets pushed to the outside and Allen uses that same gap for a 28 yard gain down to the Bucs 15 yard line.
Film is not lying that JST can get exploited. He will not be on the field in a crucial playoff game with a running quarterback. Luckily, Rodgers, Dak and Stafford are not runners at this point.
December 16th, 2021 at 2:05 pm
Bottom line is this Defense is not consistent, can’t adjust, and has a suspect secondary partially due to injury and partially due to mediocre players. Saints are going to be a real test for our D with their run game and trick plays. The offensive play calling in the second half of the Bill’s game didn’t help.
December 16th, 2021 at 2:19 pm
geno711 – Good post, I appreciate the effort of anyone who actually does some homework and presents numbers, not only opinion. Even though most people will ignore it because it’s more than one sentence long and they have the attention span of a goldfish, at least one person read the full thing (spoiler: that was me).
For Tryon, he’s a rookie, and good players will find ways to take advantage of rookies. He still needs to get some minutes, and up by three scores with under 10 mins to play is generally when you’d want those rookies getting minutes. He’s got all the physical tools and has shown some real skill, he’ll only get better, I hope.
December 16th, 2021 at 2:34 pm
Rod Munch, I agree, geno711 has a great comment, observation. Tryon is killing us at time being out of position and taking the fake or juke from the QB or RB. Miss his last year of college ball due to his Covid decision is obviously having an effect.
If he continues like this which he probably will this year at least it could cost a crucial game. Hopefully not a playoff game.
December 16th, 2021 at 3:47 pm
That’s not Joe down on the defense. It’s ok to be average when you’ve had a lot of injuries — and when your offense is the very best in the business
……………..
You mean the Same offense that could only muster 3 points in the second half there by causing the D to get gassed?
December 16th, 2021 at 3:48 pm
That’s not Joe down on the defense. It’s ok to be average when you’ve had a lot of injuries — and when your offense is the very best in the business
.
You mean the same offense that could only muster 3 points in the second half?
I wonder why the defense was gassed.
December 16th, 2021 at 3:49 pm
Oh so my comments are being erased.
I guess sharing your opinion is not allowed here on football matters even.
December 16th, 2021 at 4:57 pm
The answer is simple. They were on the field more in the 2nd half because the offense stalled. The O had good drives in the first half giving the D time to rest up. Not so in the second half. Chasing down a damn good running QB is energy draining. How do you stop that. Your offense stays on the field with long drives.
December 16th, 2021 at 5:38 pm
So Anonymous, now the O has to score 48 to make you happy and cover for the D??? Dip shat
December 16th, 2021 at 5:59 pm
Tryon the rookie walled headless chicken who loafs when the opposing QB is running for a game winning touchdown. But at least he can sprint to be the first one to congratulate a Bucs WR for the winning catch! That was great, Joe.
December 16th, 2021 at 6:12 pm
We’ve watched this offense run 13 play td drives just to watch this defense give one up in 5. They get 6 minutes of rest and still play tired. Doesn’t make sense. It seems like the faster the offense scores the better off the defense plays. Be glad when AB gets back
December 16th, 2021 at 6:14 pm
I hope they can find the recipe for a whole game soon, and like the idea enough to keep doing it.
December 16th, 2021 at 8:14 pm
Listnfrmafar Says:
December 16th, 2021 at 5:38 pm
So Anonymous, now the O has to score 48 to make you happy and cover for the D??? Dipshat
Yus has a point there. If you expect a D to dominate when the O can’t even hold the ball for 10:40 in the second half. Sure Just let an average D take over for The BEST Offense in the NFL that can’t get out of their own way and blame the D!
You are the new Ndog here numbnut.
December 16th, 2021 at 10:39 pm
Run the ball. Burn the clock, and beat the defense up a bit.
December 17th, 2021 at 7:39 am
SB, how does one of the best RUN Defenses get their arse pounded on the ground game in one quarter with a 24 point lead? Oh forget to mention a limping QB ran all over them. Dodge a rusher step left and run for 15 to 25 yards over and over and over again. Actually sad.
December 18th, 2021 at 6:59 am
Hey we still win the game. Enjoy! GOBUCS!