Scott Pioli: No Need To Panic… Yet!
December 21st, 2021
Try to relax, ex-NFL GM says.
The Bucs offense on Sunday night looked so bad, even worse without three of its biggest stars, it had all the stench of a one-and-done team in the playoffs.
Slow down!
That’s the word from former Super Bowl-winning suit Scott Pioli. Speaking on “Good Morning Football” today, seen weekday mornings on NFL Network, Pioli understood how someone could freak out over the Bucs’ performance and the injuries and want to climb the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.
Pioli noted that he was with the Belicheats in 2006 the last time Brady was shut out. Pioli noted because of injuries, the Belicheats were compromised at receiver, and then Pioli rattled names of those players and they were basically the Jaelon Dardens and Scotty Millers of their day.
And still Brady got the Belicheats to the AFC title game, losing a one-score game to Father Dungy and Opie Taylor.
In so many words, Pioli said One Buc Palace is not yet on fire. Worry? Sure. Panic? Ease up.
You can see Pioli’s full take on the Bucs in the NFL Network video below.
How concerned is @scottpioli51 with the #Buccaneers offense?
“I’m concerned but I’m not at five-alarm level concerned yet.” pic.twitter.com/b9MJFHPKgV
— Good Morning Football (@gmfb) December 21, 2021
December 21st, 2021 at 10:56 am
I’m not overly panicked. It’s just that we haven’t seen that kind of performance for so long, it came as a complete shock. Most of us were expecting a convincing win at home. Couple that with 3 key pieces of the offense going out with injuries and there’s certainly cause for concern. This week at Carolina will be a big tell.
December 21st, 2021 at 11:02 am
Losing Godwin is a MASSIVE hit to our SB chances. I was psyched about the postseason with AB back, but now with Godwin gone I am a bit panic-y. Especially seeing how our O has been playing in the last game and a half. Got a feeling I’m gonna be crossing my fingers AND TOES now on a lot of plays in the postseason. May GOD let us please WIN without Godwin!
December 21st, 2021 at 11:06 am
A very rational response!
December 21st, 2021 at 11:09 am
Rational? Perhaps. Accurate? We will see.
December 21st, 2021 at 11:16 am
The weekly over reactions are hilarious. Win and your the greatest team in sports history. Lose and your done for the season or forever. Hopefully people don’t live their lives this way.
December 21st, 2021 at 11:21 am
I agree, Lenny is the key factor in this. They’ve been winning without Brown and he was the key man prior to the injury so hopefully the same happens the Godwin is out. (It is a bit ironic the Bucs newfound #1 target was taken out in that game). Lenny is the key because that leaves Bucs with NO underneath receiver. I watched the int again and I am in no way saying it was Scotty’s fault but when Brady scrambled if Scotty turned up field NO ONE was behind him.
December 21st, 2021 at 12:08 pm
The Medicated One says that Brady’s done (never mind how the same was said last year, and how it turned out).
Another guy said it’s time to play Trask (Hahahaha!!).
The Bucs lost to the Saints last year, at home, 38-3. Did it destroy them? No.
December 21st, 2021 at 12:12 pm
Yea…….. lets not panic until its time to panic,dumb. Maybe if we would have panicked when we lost to the WFT we be better off today.
December 21st, 2021 at 12:36 pm
Joe have you heard anything about LVD injury. Didn’t see him yet injured in the Bucs game. I also turned it off with 3 min left. So idk what happened
December 21st, 2021 at 12:40 pm
Godwin’s loss is a major blow. I actually think he’s our best player on the field on offense obviously after Brady. Brady is seasoned enough to know how to handle things. Carolina might need to be a grind but I expect a deeper commitment to the run and I can promise you that our O Line will take this personally. I expect a far better offense come Sunday in Car
December 21st, 2021 at 12:45 pm
Hard to disagree with Pioli.
I don’t care who the Bucs play in the playoffs, if that team from Sunday night shows up, they will be one-and-done.
And the team falls apart.
If it has not already.
December 21st, 2021 at 12:48 pm
@Cobra. Mike Evans and Lenny hopefully come back but that will noy be our playoff team. AB was out too. There is only so much that 2nd and 3rd string receivers can do against that defense while not prepared. Coaching needs to be better but come on. The talent discrepancy is massive.
December 21st, 2021 at 1:55 pm
This team will not repeat. We just lost our best player for the year. And they been struggling mightily WITH him in the lineup. They may win 1 playoff game. I wouldn’t bet on it though. Go look at the stats w this offense last few games. They were and are trending DOWN. It wouldn’t hurt as much if I saw ANY offensive player look like they wanted to be there except Rojo. The other 10 were worthless.
December 21st, 2021 at 2:13 pm
This is not a Superbowl team, sad to say. Getting shut out at this point in the year signals something is off. The defense has been terrible. They probably deserved to lose to Buffalo. When was the last time they played a complete game? I mean, I guess they could pull it all together and turn things around, but that doesn’t seem to be the trajectory they’re on.
December 21st, 2021 at 2:19 pm
Is anyone in the nfc really that scary? Bucs got a chance. Give yourself two home games. Get that second seed.
December 21st, 2021 at 2:48 pm
A solid week of Miller, Johnson, Perriman practicing wiith Brady will increase their output from last week 10 fold
December 21st, 2021 at 3:12 pm
I think there should be some panic because not only do we have a pile of injuries but the league knows how to shut this offense down. And the coaching staff seems clueless how to counter that. All the coaches want to do is blame backup players for not getting open.
The issue is that in every Bucs loss this year, the opponent put consistent pressure on Brady with just the front 4. That means they can drop 7 back to defend. When you have a team like the Saints who have a good secondary, this will be a winning formula to slow down this offense.
Coaches want to blame the backups. But backups are not going to get open in this kind a scheme. Evans, Godwin, and AB might be able to beat some of these good secondaries at times. But backups will struggle. You have to adapt the game plan to what you have and what the defense is giving you. The Bucs can’t keep throwing 40 yard bombs to Darden on 4th down. It’s not going to work! And if Leftwich can’t see that, then he’s just as much the problem.
December 21st, 2021 at 3:18 pm
There just doesn’t seem to be any consistency in creativity. Reverses, screens, sweeps. Mix it up for God’s sake. When we did run the ball, both 4nette and Rojo had some good plays. Just don’t run it up the middle all the time. I mean, really, we were in the game well into the 4th qtr. That interception was the nail in the coffin.
December 21st, 2021 at 3:36 pm
If Evans and Lenny can’t come back THEN I will panic.
Love, Love, LOVE me some CG14 but let’s be honest. He wasn’t that much of a factor in last yrs playoffs because of his finger. We can get by without him but not if our OL played like they did Sunday night.
December 21st, 2021 at 3:37 pm
We did deserve to lose to Buffalo! I am a die hard Bucs Fan, but Buffalo should have won that game. The Refs missed a pass interference call in the end zone that was so blatantly obvious even the announcers caught it, and so did the rest of the NFL the next day. Had the call been made, Buffalo would have been first and goal with 28 seconds left, trailing by only 3 points.
Instead, they had to settle for a tying field goal. They got Robbed.
Then, we take a big crap at home, and get shut out by the Saints.
I am far from “doom and gloom” but lets be real. We are not playing like a Super Bowl Team at all lately!
December 21st, 2021 at 3:42 pm
Chris Apple: I’m sure there were absolutely no calls that went against the Bucs vs. Buffalo. 🙄 Get a grip, that was 2 weeks ago and THE BUCS WON!
December 21st, 2021 at 3:43 pm
I think having AB back will help…..I think we can win the three remaining games with AB, TJ, Perriman & Rojo…..but will need Mike & Lenny for the playoffs…
And….if our defense can play like they did vs New Orleans…..we’ve still got a shot.
December 21st, 2021 at 3:49 pm
Arizona took a powder too. Maybe AB and Perriman will step up. This is ROJO last chance. Play calls have to improve they were a large disaster factor. Now or never time. Howard too make it now or begone. No hopes for Darden need bigger tougher receiver. 7 straight wins to the Souper Bowl.
December 21st, 2021 at 3:51 pm
So Rojo gonna give us six plays and be done this week too?
December 21st, 2021 at 4:02 pm
Jmarkbuc: If they had a “like” button on here, your Rojo post would get a thumbs up from me, a thumbs down from the guy who said it’s okay for Rojo to be out of shape, because some of the fans are, too! Hahaha
December 21st, 2021 at 4:05 pm
Championship football is all about overcoming adversity. No one is more experienced in that than Brady. We still have leadership on this team, but the coaches are officially in the spotlight. They’ll have to find creative ways to make up for Godwin’s production. Mike Evans will have to play lights out and probably do some things he’s not been asked to do very much. BA already said AB is a part time player? Will that still be true going forward? Even if Evans is out?
I’m not in panic mode yet, but boy am I close. Seems like our only hope now is great play from the defense and some Brady magic. This time last week I felt very confident about another Super Bowl run. Now…. I’m on pins and needles.
December 21st, 2021 at 4:43 pm
Playoffs may come down to covid lists, but hopefully new league protocol will help and is timely
December 21st, 2021 at 5:36 pm
BigPoppaBuc … ‘Seems like our only hope now is great play from the defense and some Brady magic.’
Even with our defense stepping up big-time last year, it still took our offense scoring 30 PPG to win the whole enchilada. I could see us playing 3 NFC teams from the Saints, Packers, Cards, Cowboys, Rams, San Fran THEN having to play the AFC winner (Chiefs, Pats, Bills, Titans, Ravens, Colts, Chargers?). There’s some excellent offensive AND defensive teams among those listed.
Bucs still sport a 10-4 record and are still #1 in scoring. We even came up a little defensively to #13 after Sunday’s game. But with the injuries on defense … and now on offense … we’re sucking hind teet. Bucs NEED to get some key players healthy.
One other thing we NEED is to reacquaint our Special Teams with what the word SPECIAL means. They totally stunk it up against the Saints, punting, place-kicking & returning. Don’y know what’s going on with Pinion, but of his 8 punts, 4 went for 40, 39, 30, 39 yds. Saints ended up getting a FG off the 30-yard punt, and also got a FG off another Pinion punt the Saints returned for 34 yds. Throw in Succop’s missed 45-yd FG and our S/Ts was anything but special.
December 21st, 2021 at 5:39 pm
The problem is that Scott Pioli is comparing a great NE coaching staff (that always got lesser talent to overperform) with a mediocre Bucs coaching staff that can’t seem to get it right.
Also, the 2006 NE roster was not awful. And GOAT was 34.