“Band-Aids And Duct Tape; He Played His Ass Off”
January 16th, 2022
Giovani Bernard
Before performing as a key cog in the Bucs offense today, Giovani Bernard had just one catch and one rush since November 22.
So the playoffs arrived today and Joe was stunned to see Bernard, fresh off an injury, get so much work with Le’Veon Bell healthy and rising over the past few weeks.
Bernard, 30, was the Bucs’ only significant offseason acquisition on offense and it seems now Bucs fans know exactly why he’s here: dependable and sound play. And Joe is confident Bernard was so busy because Tom Brady has so much confidence him.
Bucco Bruce Arians was fired up after the game for what Bernard delivered coming off a hip injury.
“Band-Aids and duct tape. He played his ass off,” Arians said of Bernard.
Tom Brady, of course, praised Bernard for having a huge game with 5 catches for 39 yards and 13 rushes for 44 yards.
This is what happens to great teams in the playoffs. They get huge contributions from unexpected places.
January 16th, 2022 at 4:44 pm
I was surprise he was active and very surprised, pleasantly so, by how he played. Fantastic the way he stepped up
January 16th, 2022 at 4:50 pm
Go into archives. Peeps knew it was a good signing
He just got limited snaps this year.
He runs hard for being undersized
January 16th, 2022 at 4:51 pm
Very solid game from Gio. He was reliable and a big part of our success in this game. That catch he made on the floater early in the game was a huge catch. We are punting if he doesn’t catch that. Instead we set the tone with a 12 play TD drive. He was big time.
One important thing to take away from this is it doesn’t matter whether it’s hockey or football, Philly is our b!tch
January 16th, 2022 at 4:53 pm
He had a good game. Complimented our talent on the field.
January 16th, 2022 at 5:02 pm
Vaugh was also really good today. Just something about him running you get the sense hes gonna break a tackle and break off a long one if you just keep giving him chanses!
Hes basically came out of nowhere but Im very excuted for his future.
January 16th, 2022 at 5:03 pm
Too bad the Bucs don’t know how to build a team or a culture. Right Oneilidiot?
January 16th, 2022 at 5:05 pm
They both looked good.
January 16th, 2022 at 5:18 pm
I always thought they should of used him more on 3rd downs.
January 16th, 2022 at 5:25 pm
If you would have told me no Fournette and no Rojo for the first playoff game at the beginning of the year, I would have responded we were in trouble. Love to be wrong!
January 16th, 2022 at 5:25 pm
A tough wily vet with one last chance at the Super Bowl.
A great example to the youngsters!
January 16th, 2022 at 5:54 pm
Bell has no wiggle and no so pop idk what player you’ve been watching. He’s got soft hands, hits his mark, and pass protects – all things that Gio does much better at this point in their careers. Glad to see the coaches finally work him in.
January 16th, 2022 at 5:56 pm
Just as important was Vaughn stepping up running the ball. I really think next year he’ll be Rojo’s replacement and maybe Lenny’s as well if he wants too much money. Vaughn looks like he’s a few steps away from having a huge game!
January 16th, 2022 at 6:07 pm
Geo was swervin out there today! He’s a mismatch!
January 16th, 2022 at 7:13 pm
I can think of one person “cough cough er Joe cough cough who didn’t understand why fans were excited about having a rb who could catch when we had the best receiver group in the NFL. Now hopefully he sees why Bernard was a good signing
January 16th, 2022 at 8:40 pm
I grew up on the Ohio River right across from the stadiums…first Riverfront then Paul Brown…all of my cousins are Bengal fans, one even had season tickets.
So the Bengals have been my second favorite team behind the Bucs. I’ve seen Bernard run before. I always felt that he was underappreciated for his running ability because he was such a great pass catcher.
He’s a talented runner whether it’s a direct handoff or a swing pass.
January 16th, 2022 at 8:56 pm
Gio ls solid in pass pro with great hands and still has wiggle left;
what’s not to like?
January 16th, 2022 at 10:22 pm
Gio still has pretty good acceleration looked better than Vaughn in my opinion was surprised they didn’t put in bell for a few plays especially at garbage time
January 19th, 2022 at 11:24 am
Gio is a class act. Always was even in Cincy. True definition of a 3rd down back. See Gio Bernard. Not bad on 1st & 2nd downs also. Before Mixon came along he was Cincy’s #1 back.