The Morning After
January 3rd, 2022
Wow, what a crazy day yesterday. When is the last time the Bucs had such a dramatic, come-from-behind, important win fully overshadowed by a player going completely bananas and getting thrown off the team? Grab your mug of coffee and let’s roll. It’s another Victory Monday!
Antonio Brown Wigs Out
Joe often takes pride in having the pulse of the fans and writing about subjects fans care about. And given the success here since launching in August 2008, Joe thinks he’s got a pretty good idea of what fans want to read.
This time, Joe is really torn. After a lot of thought, Joe thinks the antics of a disturbed Pro Bowl, star receiver getting thrown off the team in the third quarter just before the playoffs begin probably trumps a three-score, come-from-behind win on the road.
Now the football purists will howl at Joe for putting Antonio Brown over a key win. But here’s why: Brown’s stunt may have far-reaching ramifications on the Bucs’ chances to repeat as Super Bowl champs. The Bucs had wrapped up a division title and secured a home playoff game whether they won or lost yesterday.
What happened yesterday sort of reminded Joe of the time in 2016, with the Bucs in a chase for a wild card on Christmas Eve at the Superdome, Doug Martin was a healthy scratch. Your starting Pro Bowl running back is not active and he’s not sick or hurt? Joe went into full Doug Martin mode.
Joe was speaking with Bucs players and officials about Martin in the locker room. The ballgame was backburner material. We knew who won; we didn’t know about Martin’s future. The Bucs lost a key game, yes, but the story was Martin. A few days later Martin was shelved for the season with a substance issue.
That’s sort of what yesterday felt like. Difference here, Martin still had a future with the Bucs when he was benched out of the blue. Brown may have thrown what’s left of his NFL career into the MetLife Stadium stands along with his undershirt and gloves.
(What are the odds Brown plays this spring in the USFL?)
Why Brown refused repeated orders from Bucs Super Bowl-winning coach Bucco Bruce Arians to get on the field is a current mystery. If he was really hurt, he could have alerted trainers who would have told Arians.
Here is what Joe will say about that: If a player is healthy and refuses to take the field after repeated orders, to Joe, that is on the very same level as throwing the game. So yeah, Joe would have tossed Brown off the field and sent him to the locker room, too.
Brown pulling his stunt with throwing stuff into the stands and then doing jumping jacks topless in the end zone (while the game was going on) and waving goodbye at the Bucs before running into the tunnel pretty much sealed his own fate. That was as gutless as Chicago Bulls forward Scottie Pippen walking off the court with seconds left in playoff game as he threw a temper tantrum because he wasn’t getting the last shot.
Is Joe sad Brown is gone? Of course. Joe is convinced the Bucs needed Brown to repeat. But who knows, maybe the immortal Cyril Grayson can play over his head and help the Bucs get to Los Angeles?
Did Brown deserve to get run? Absolutely. He’s a quitter. He quit on the Steelers on the cusp of the playoffs and now he quit on the Bucs on the cusp of the playoffs. Two playoff teams he has quit on in four seasons just a couple weeks before the playoffs began.
Can the Bucs win the Super Bowl without Brown (and without Chris Godwin)? Joe doesn’t think so. But better for Brown to punk out now than in the middle of a playoff game. At least now, Arians knows now who he can depend on.
More Virtue Signaling
The virtue-signalers had a collective conniption when Arians decided to keep Brown after his fake V-card hassle a couple of weeks ago. They finally got their wish yesterday with Brown now unemployed and their reaction was so, so predictable.
Vendetta, anyone?
Joe was so appalled by the following he’s not even going to mention this columnist’s name and/or publication (it’s a national outfit) because that person doesn’t deserve the SEO traffic. But this national columnist claimed Arians must really feel like a heel now because he didn’t do — in this person’s eyes — the right thing and pull the cord on Brown weeks ago.
And the same stenographer claims Brown has really made Arians look like a fool.
Man, talk about tunnel vision and not being able to see beyond your narrow, myopic, cartoonish, sheltered world.
Yeah, Joe is confident Arians goes home each night, picks up his Super Bowl ring and rubs his fingers over it to make sure he’s not seeing things, then checks his various bank accounts and notices the bonuses he got for winning the Super Bowl and the raise he got from Team Glazer for winning the Super Bowl — and the money he made for writing his book about winning the Super Bowl — and says to himself, “Man, what a total fool I am for having Brown help the Bucs and our players win a Super Bowl. I should have let my entire franchise and never signed him and p!ssed off the greatest quarterback in history and thrown away hundreds of thousands of dollars that someday will go to my grandchildren. I should just slit my wrists right now!”
Sometimes, Joe cannot believe the fantasy world some live in.
Oh Yeah, There Was A Game
This almost seems ridiculous to type, but was anyone surprised that of all people, it was Tom Brady who led the Bucs on an 18-0 run in the final 22 minutes to pull victory from the teeth of defeat?
When the Bucs got the ball down four with just over two minutes left, was anyone remotely surprised that two minutes later the Bucs had the lead?
This is Tom Brady, folks.
If the Bucs weren’t in the red zone in the final seconds, that would have been more of a surprise than the Bucs winning. Brady does what Brady does. It’s second nature for the guy.
That takes no luster off of a comeback win, but Joe is actually a little more frustrated than giddy. We’re talking the Jets here, people, a defending Super Bowl champion and a current division-winner fighting for a better seed should not be down three scores to this sorry-arse Jets and a struggling rookie quarterback in the third quarter.
Or was this some twisted exercise for defensive coordinator Todd Bowles to get out of an interview with the Jags?
The playoffs start in less than two weeks. Right now, Joe doesn’t know which Bucs team shows up at the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway for the first home opening-round playoff game since January 2008.
Will it be the Bucs who throttled the Bears and Stinking Panthers and outfought the Bills and Colts for wins, or is it the team that got slapped around by the WTF and the slimy Saints twice and came within an eyelash of losing to the godawful Jets?
This Bucs team is so, so inconsistent.
The Immortal Cyril Grayson
If there is a silver lining to Brown wigging out yesterday, it gives more of an opportunity for the immortal Cyril Grayson to make a name for himself.
(Just a reminder, Joe refers to Grayson as “immortal” because it’s sort of a nod to the late, great GOB Chris Thomas, who would refer that way to unknown players making key plays. Former Bucs guard Ian Beckles on his podcast last year went bananas when the Bucs were so injured at receiver and Grayson was targeted by Brady, a pass that bounced off Grayson’s face mask and triggered Beckles. On his podcast, Beckles roared about why Grayson was on the field and why the Bucs couldn’t do better in player acquisition and said, “Who is Cyril Grayson? I never heard of this guy in my life!”)
Grayson, a former practice squad guy and former LSU track star who never played football in college, made a monster play against the slimy Saints, looked solid against the Stinking Panthers, and of course, yesterday made key plays including the game-winning 33-yard pass from Brady to win the game with 15 seconds left.
The reason Brown was on the team was for his big-play ability and he came through time and again. Well, Grayson is starting to show that same ability.
Maybe it’s not to the Hall of Fame level of Brown (his 10 cent head may have killed those dreams), and Grayson certainly has the wheels to get behind defenses.
So maybe he can provide just enough offense to keep the Bucs alive in the playoffs. Pretty safe bet that Grayson won’t go mental on the sidelines, throw his jersey and shoulder pads off, throw his gloves and undershirt into the crowd and then do topless jumping jacks in the end zone before waving goodbye to teammates and running off the field.
The Power of Tom Brady
Running back Le’Veon Bell hasn’t been with the Bucs long enough to scrub his toilet. But already you can see in his eyes and hear in his words how much respect he has for the veteran Bucs’ quarterback.
After yesterday’s game, Bell said on the final game-winning drive there was no stress at all. Why? Because Bell and his Bucs teammates had all the confidence in the world Brady would find a way.
“It felt incredible,” Bell said. “As composed as he is and accurate, as much leadership as Tom [has], really, there was no second-guessing,” Bell said. “I had so much confidence we would go down there and score. I was just glad to be a part of it and be on the same drive as him.”
Now that’s respect. And that’s also why Brady has seven rings. He makes everyone around him not just better, but confident.
You guys Antonio Brown is in my driveway what do I do.
— David Spade (@DavidSpade) January 2, 2022
Bigger Diva: Antonio Brown or Terrell Owens pic.twitter.com/Fjx2b9RnLg
— StPatrickFF🍀 (@stpatrickff) January 2, 2022
January 3rd, 2022 at 12:03 am
I was against the pick up. Then I realized how much his on-field skills helped us and TB vouched for him, put him up in his house, and hired His personal life coach AND paid for it.
I gave him a fourth chance as a fan.
Yeah……not anymore.
January 3rd, 2022 at 12:21 am
We gave him a chance last season. He kept his end of the bargain. He got a ring out of it.
This season, I was in his corner over the VAX CRAP. Nobody should be forced to take experimental medication, period.
As for the story that he refused to play. I think it was the opposite. AB wanted in to get to his bonus money and the coaching staff said “No”. That to me sounds more plausible. I don’t know how the NFL Salary cap works at the nuts & bolts level. But with all the injuries and bringing back last season’s starters we have to be on the razor’s edge. I think the team benched him to save coin and AB probably already spent the money was no longer capable of keeping his demons in check.
Sad really. Oh well.
NEXT MAN UP!
GRAYSON GET IN THERE AND CATCH THE DAMN BALL!
January 3rd, 2022 at 12:22 am
“Why Brown refused repeated orders from Bucs Super Bowl-winning coach Bucco Bruce Arians to get on the field is a current mystery.”
Where are you hearing that? From what I’ve seen reported, it was pretty simple, Arians said Brown needs to go into the game, Brown said his ankle was hurt, he couldn’t, Arians said if you can’t go in, you’re benched. Also that same Athletic story, by Greg Auman who isn’t one of the drama queen reporters so I actually believe him, said that Arians is the only who started it – to me, implying Arians was being an a–hole about it. I didn’t see anything about repeatedly ordering him to play. If Brown, who was on the injury report all week, said he couldn’t play because of his ankle, I’m not sure why telling him to play anyways is a good idea. At the same time, it doesn’t sound like Arians said that, he just said if you can’t play, you’re out of the game, which makes sense.
Obviously, in any case, it wasn’t that conversation that set off Brown, it was just the final straw. Then again Brown is a nutjob, so who knows, maybe that is all there was, and Arians was being cool about it, and Brown just went off – that’s unlikely, but possible.
January 3rd, 2022 at 12:22 am
Running to the lockeroom in the way he did when getting benched was stupid and his fault. But no one actually believes a guy a few reps away from $100,000 in bonuses, a division win secured the week before, was benched or hurt most of season, a guy many teammates really loved, would just not take to field and fight to have less reps and ignore coaches request to play, and do so in way that no one believed he was truly hurt, making BA banish him. That story is nonsensical.
He clearly argued with a coach in a 10-24 deficit and snapped. And players saw and knew this, which is why he was dragged and held back from leaving. It was a clear mental breakdown, which is way more acceptable than just refusing to play when healthy. Still stupid and if he wasn’t a top WR he would be released, but he was a star on team with many injured weapons and chemistry with their QB only comparable to Gronk. That is irreplaceable before playoffs. If he was on drugs or actually refused to play he has to go, if it actually mental breakdown he should’ve been kept off the main roster and actually helped mentally by the team, because he’s was is an employee whom seriously needs help as indicated by Tom and others, as anyone with a super bowl run in front of them and millions still to earn in bonus/stardom whom just wouldn’t take to field when they were playing well already would have to be the most illogical crazy person.
January 3rd, 2022 at 12:26 am
I promise you, our potential opponents are celebrating that Brown is gone.
The loss of Brown weakens our team.
I understand why Arians cut him, and from what I have seen and read so far, who can blame him for what he did.
But I am not happy with the loss of our best remaining receiver, especially with Chris Godwin out.
January 3rd, 2022 at 12:33 am
I fear brown wont be able to handle this and commit something that would put him in jail
January 3rd, 2022 at 12:33 am
larry fitzgerald to the rescue? not diva, wants a super bowl, possession wr….
January 3rd, 2022 at 12:37 am
I have no sources or insight, but my guess as to what happened is that Arians never wanted Antonio Brown back after the vax card forgery. He probably baited AB to let him know where he stood, and AB was stupid and undisciplined enough to take the bait.
I think there’s more to this story than a dry verbal exchange between Arians and Brown.
January 3rd, 2022 at 12:37 am
Can we just resign AB already! It’s playoff time baby! Go Bucs!
January 3rd, 2022 at 12:39 am
Unlikely. Joe wrote why a week or so ago. You can fish the story out of Joe’s free archives.
January 3rd, 2022 at 12:42 am
Our season was pretty much gone when we lost Godwin, but after losing AB it’s now toast. I’m disappointed in what happened yesterday. I put the blame on the coaches. I would have probably lost my cool too on how they were all playing. Complete embarrassment. Anyways Go Bucs!
January 3rd, 2022 at 12:43 am
To me it wasn’t even about a Anti COVID shot. I thought (wishful thinking) we were a top dog squad that gush with talent at all levels and thought we didn’t need Brown if we were good. Doing fake V cards when you already been thru hell is proof AB never wasn’t going to get it. And that’s childish.
As for Doug Martin, we saw countless of articles of how Martin should NOT be on the team for doing drugs. Lots of them. But some reason, AB gets a pass for saying racial slurs to Mayock and Big Ben, Farting in a Doctors face, fake V cards and countless others stuff within a 2 year period. If his football transgressions we’re off the field…okay I get it but AB is just not that team guy and can’t wait to hear Skip Bayless because he predicted this fallout
January 3rd, 2022 at 12:44 am
Bring AB back !
January 3rd, 2022 at 12:45 am
Jay Glazer, who spoke with Arians. Joe’s already written a story about that some six or eight hours ago.
January 3rd, 2022 at 12:51 am
I think the bucs will fall short . You just can’t replace guys like godwin and brown with Johnson and Grayson. Also i wonder if Brady comes back.
January 3rd, 2022 at 12:52 am
So AB wigged out-yeah he’s a head case – it’s all entertainment. Brady found a way to make it work. Good coaches can handle 50 plus individuals at a time
January 3rd, 2022 at 12:53 am
Arians shouldve stay home. He himself is a diva. He trashes players.
Tom won the team. last year. Won super bowl. Arians hasnt done nothing.
Players follow tom. No one follows arians.
January 3rd, 2022 at 12:55 am
If we win games in the playoff. Its all tom.
It will be glorious.
Its all down to bowles. Defense. And tom.
Arians and leftwich are garbage.
January 3rd, 2022 at 12:56 am
Joe – I read that story, but I didn’t take that as being repeatedly ordered into the game. Also the The Athletic story says it’s from a 3rd party in the locker room, which seems a lot more credible than what Arians said. I’m not bashing Arians, to be clear, I’m just saying that’s what I read and it sounded like more of a well rounded and believable story.
Regardless, the best move the Bucs could make right now, considering the lack of depth at WR, would be to resign Brown on a prove-it deal, and put him on a really short leash.
January 3rd, 2022 at 12:58 am
Regardless of his nfl career or the bucs playoff chances, AB needs help. His next step is back into general population with the rest of us, I hope he remembers to love thy neighbor.
January 3rd, 2022 at 12:59 am
This is the worst arians possible.
Last week AB 10 catches. 100 yards.
Arians had everything to do with this. He pushes the wrong buttons on some men.
January 3rd, 2022 at 1:00 am
Francisco – I’m with you on not being able to replace a guy like AB with someone like Grayson. Yeah, congrats to Grayson for having a nice day versus the Jets, but we’re not playing the Jets in the playoffs, and now Grayson is a starter when he should be a 4th or 5th string gadget player.
I played Grayson in my fantasy finals today, and in daily, so I believe in him to some degree, but people acting like Grayson can replace Brown remind me of the people who said Humphries was a starting NFL WR. Where exactly is Humphries now? He got a deal from the Titans to be a starter, now he’s a depth WR with the Redskins I think. That’s what happens when you take a #4 WR and think he’s a starter because he can get open when teams are treating him like a #4 WR.
January 3rd, 2022 at 1:01 am
Forget humpries.
Go and get edelman
January 3rd, 2022 at 1:03 am
Well hope.i didn’t jinx it. My response about passports was if you had told Arians a year ago the passport would be the only issue with him he’d have signed him right away… Was the right decision to stand behind him kn that, but he blew it.
Sadly I think losing 2/3 of your superstar receivers is too much. We are going to have to try to change the offense to be a lot more run heavy.. but our olinr is also better pass blocking. Would almost need to swap Capps for stinnie if healthy and hope Lenny, Rojo, Vaughn can pull it out with the odd play action and hope the defense form last two weeks (not this week) shows up. Awfully talk order
January 3rd, 2022 at 1:05 am
Whats any wr going to do with 1 week of training with the team? Especially older ones who arent in football shape like edelman or fitzgerald. The way the team responded in second half not much doubt arians was in the right
January 3rd, 2022 at 1:05 am
Rod-. While I agree it doesn’t seem plausible, does ANYYTHING ab does seem plausible to you? He is off, and people who are off do things that make absolutely no sense.
January 3rd, 2022 at 1:06 am
Playoffs will depend more on who we get back on defense
January 3rd, 2022 at 1:08 am
I am trying to picture how the bucs will move the ball against these good teams. 🤦♂️ If they fall behind by two tds against a very good team it might be all she wrote. They gonna need this defense to carry them more.
January 3rd, 2022 at 1:10 am
And it was disturbing to me that are whole entire season was in AB hands or talent or whatever that was. Those reports were dreadful. That was crazy to even think about that we were not going far without AB of all 7 billion people on this Earth.
January 3rd, 2022 at 1:13 am
sideline, not locker room. Reporters have been banned from locker rooms for two years now. Otherwise, Joe would have been at the game yesterday.
January 3rd, 2022 at 1:36 am
Don’t worry Joe, no one is going to subscribe to that site. It’s circling the drain for a reason. Arians will get heat from the usual suspects in the media, but if you guys haven’t noticed, no one cares what these people think. New Media is winning. All of these legacy media outlets are dying, and they’ll get worse before they get better, before they slide completely into irrelevance.
Brady has won Super Bowls with less talent than this. I still believe in him.
AB is a head case, everyone knew this. Including our front office. That’s why he had an incentive laden deal. Good job to Licht for not throwing the bank at him. I think Licht got lucky getting Brady over Bridgewater, and he deserved to be fired as much as Koetter and Jameis did, but his roster and cap management deserve praise.
Reading sports journalist express faux concern about how he needs help and how coaches “enabled” him is laughable. These same losers want every college athlete on the payroll and hated guys like Urban Meyer and Greg Schiano for acting like college coaches. None of these people care about AB’s mental health.
And I’m not acting any better. I like AB because of what he could do for this team. I didn’t want him at first for the drama, but he earned another chance after last year. Now he’s done, and he left in the most epic way possible.
I can’t wait for the documentary about this season. It will be epic
January 3rd, 2022 at 1:39 am
To be clear, I brought up how they hate Urban and Schiano because they were overbearing. “These guys are professionals, not kids, you can’t treat them like this” while simultaneously arguing every coach AB ever had in the NFL is responsible for his mental health
January 3rd, 2022 at 1:53 am
AB is history. The old adage ‘You are where you are’ pertains.
And the Bucs are hurting, big-time, going into the playoffs. Most seem to be making it about the Bucs’ offense (losing Godwin, losing Brown, several others hurting), but after watching our defense yesterday, THAT should be our biggest concern going forward. Granted they tightened up when it counted (4th qtr), but prior to that they looked abysmal. And our S/Ts looked just as bad.
Still, I keep telling myself that anything can happen once the playoffs start. But at this point, I sure wouldn’t put any money on the Bucs repeating as SB champs.
January 3rd, 2022 at 2:06 am
Joe – sorry, I added locker room, my fault. I went back to the story and it does say sideline.
I swear the article said player, but re-reading it, it says ‘witness’ – and I thought it was more strongly worded. Not sure if there’s been some stealth edits to this article or if I’m just an idiot who read it wrong, which is certainly possible to be clear.
But it does say there was just that one interaction, according to that report. Not that it matters anymore I guess. As long as Brady doesn’t feel like the team screwed him over, I’m good, again, not that it matters what I think.
January 3rd, 2022 at 2:34 am
I’d like to throw a nutty conspiracy theory out there, because you know, that’s the Joe Rogan kinda world we live in:
Maybe AB had already premeditated that he was going to pay Arians back for keeping him out so long? Maybe this whole stunt was part of a plan to throw the game by leaking info to someone in the Jets beforehand? The Bucs would come to AB to save the day and that’s where he makes his Grand Exit? If so, it almost worked.
January 3rd, 2022 at 2:44 am
Are the Bucs desperate enough to sign someone off the street right now to get them through the playoffs? If so, who is available?
If they don’t, they simply don’t have enough to win. And the defense regressed as well.
January 3rd, 2022 at 3:34 am
MAN, do we need Barrett, David and JPP back ASAP. Our D sucks without those 3 key guys. Freaking injuries having been ham stringing us all season. If we get those guys back, we might have a shot. But not gonna lie though, losing AB and Godwin is a staggering blow. If we do somehow miraculously repeat, it’s gonna be one helluva ROCKY story. But then it was last year, too. Guess we always have a slugger’s chance, if we play gutsy and ballsy as hell, and get our key guys back. Fingers crossed. Go Bucs!
January 3rd, 2022 at 3:58 am
First, most all our best players rave about how great AB is, so our comments to the contrary, in that regard, are imaginary. On the other hand, I do not think AB and Bruce liked each other much. All I DO know is: Even if Arians “baited” him, called him names, or somehow seemed to disrespect him, his actions of throwing off his clothes (I was scared his pants were coming next) and running off the field like a crazed monkey showed he did not belong on a football team. I also know that the way he was running and jumping, he surely can’t claim his ankle was hurting.
January 3rd, 2022 at 4:04 am
BA is universally loved by pretty much anyone who ever played under him, but sure, he’s the D-bag here and not serial quitter AB.
January 3rd, 2022 at 4:10 am
Pretty shocking to see people here saying AB should get another chance or that this is BA’s fault. AB has thrown himself off three teams now with completely insane, irrational and frankly scary behavior. This is not a person making sane, rational decisions and clearly is not all there mentally. The guy just stormed out in the middle of a game!
We won’t know if it’s money / fame that got to his head or if the Vontaze hit (and others) caused some serious CTE for a long time. AB has been a head case for several years.
The team alway knew this was a high risk / high reward situation. Luckily we got one super bowl before the inevitable meltdown.
Brady’s comments were telling, AB need some serious help. He’s pissed away tens of millions due to some crazy behavior
January 3rd, 2022 at 5:11 am
Initially I felt like get this guy out of here, but after Brady’s comments I feel bad for the guy. I still think the fake vax card was just dumb on everyone’s part and didn’t deserve the attention it got, but Brown has been solid off the field since he got here. I now wish they could work it out. If he can play awesome, but more importantly get him the help he needs.
January 3rd, 2022 at 5:28 am
Tyler Johnson is the guy to step up now. And Leftwich constantly abandoning the run game is unbelievable. The damn empty backfields on 2nd and 2, what the hell?
January 3rd, 2022 at 5:33 am
I would rather take our chances with receivers that we have ,a known quantity.
AB right now is not a dependable option , it’s like having a cheating wife and hoping that she wont cheat today! You can’t depend on him to behave on a consistent basis! Lets trust Brady to elevate the receivers we have and know that they will give an effort that the team can be proud of and maybe the stars will align. he is THE GOAT!! Maybe this will be his curtain call. I am a reformed Famous fan and have had a love hate relationship with Tommy, but he has shown yesterday that he is the greatest ever ,and I believe we have enough right now to get it done if our D plays to the level they are capable of!! OBTW I am an African American male and this is not a race or culture issue AB crazy Yall!!
January 3rd, 2022 at 5:57 am
You dont sign a guy off the street two weeks before the playoffs do dos. Not sure why people think Brady needs Brown to repeat. Brown left Bucs went on an 18-0 run. His targets will go elsewhere. You won’t notice he’s gone unless you love sociopathic divas. Career over. Over. Roger
January 3rd, 2022 at 6:48 am
Tom Brady makes players stars, not the other way around. Grayson has done what he’s done because Tom is throwing him the ball. Grayson has all the tools to be a star player, Tom knows how to use those tools. We still have Evans, Gronk, Brate, Perriman, Miller, Johnson, and new star player Grayson. F… A.B., and his antics. It’s obvious A.B. can’t be trusted on, or off the field. It should’ve been him catching the game winner, instead a new star is born mainly because of star maker Brady. If we don’t win the S.B. this year it won’t be solely because we lost A.B.. Our defense couldn’t stop the Jets yesterday, that’s more concern to me than losing a head case.
January 3rd, 2022 at 7:17 am
Westernbuc
Brady has done crazy things with less. But dont forget he did that in New England where he had best d coordinator belichek and a top o coordinator . We dont have that in coaches here. Thats the difference
It Sucks things went down like that yesterday. Both sides probably stubborn and it went to 💩 from there. Adr is probably right. If arians not a game , this does not happen.
But since it did , AB has to go unfortunately. He lost his dang mind. Any team is going to double evans and put a quality corner on grayson. And no one will get open and brady will get shallacked like in saints game and everyone will blame brady cause thats what we do on this site. A dude drives a team 90 yards in just over a minute to win the game yet he sucks…again our fans are some of the worst. I mean orlbucfan and bucsanthem are absolute morons
January 3rd, 2022 at 7:50 am
“Why Brown refused repeated orders from Bucs Super Bowl-winning coach Bucco Bruce Arians to get on the field is a current mystery.”
Where are you hearing that?
Jay Glazer, who spoke with Arians – Joe
If AB’s contract was heavily incentive laden, why would AB refuse to go into the game? If he was injured, wouldn’t the trainers know that?
Something doesn’t add up in this story.
It would make more sense if AB was benched and went nuts because he couldn’t
go back into the game…
I don’t know, seems more questions need to be asked…
January 3rd, 2022 at 8:12 am
Arians isn’t innocent in all of this. AB is a nut job, but there’s more to this story. Arians should be sitting up in the booth, not down on the sidelines getting in the way. He gleefully claims that he has nothing to do with the weekly game plans, why then should he be making game altering decisions on Sunday’s?
You either want to coach players up and make the team better or you want to sit in a golf cart and be a war lord. Which is it? The guy earns a hell of a lot of money for doing nothing during the week and then screaming red faced at referee’s on game day. Every a-hole in the stands and at home watching the TV can do that.
Arians used to be a players coach, I’m not really sure what he is now. Mostly just a guy that wants to prove silly points with certain players. Whatever it is, something just doesn’t smell right about the way he treats some of these guys publicly.
January 3rd, 2022 at 8:16 am
Chummaster says: ” it’s like having a cheating wife and hoping that she wont cheat today!”
What a great analogy. Every Bucs fan is like the guy having this conversation with his friend.
Friend: “Dude, she’s totally hot but you have got to get rid of her.”
You: “Why? She’s so hot!”
Friend: “Dude, she drained your bank account and tried to burn your house down!”
You: “Yeah…. but she’s so hot!”
January 3rd, 2022 at 8:29 am
Bucs have to pull together and start fresh for the playoffs. Too much loafing on the defense yesterday. They didn’t stand their ground when the Jets were running the ball. Bowles had a terrible game plan and why he didn’t use the same style of defense that they did against Carolina is hard to grasp.
Fortunately when it became desperation in the second half the defense did its job and compressed the field not allowing runs or passes into holes in the zone.
I’m very concerned that this coaching staff isn’t doing enough keep opponents off balance. Other than Brady, Grayson, Gronk and Bell, the offense wasn’t firing out yesterday.
On defense, did anyone look good? Davis had a pass breakup, Nelson a sack.
When some of your best defensive players like White and Vea go invisible for a whole game, you have to wonder if they are taking plays off.
January 3rd, 2022 at 8:45 am
Dr. say he’s fine, he played fine, then jogged off the field doing jumping jacks. But he is saying his ankle didn’t feel right?
EFF him. He quit on the team, good riddance
January 3rd, 2022 at 8:49 am
LOL David Spade… nice.
January 3rd, 2022 at 9:00 am
Not to nitpick but we were never down 3 scores to the Jets.
January 3rd, 2022 at 9:11 am
Stop calling it a “mental breakdown”. He just showed his ass. That’s who he is.
January 3rd, 2022 at 10:08 am
Sadly, this is the biggest takeaway. #1andDone
As for Brown- if anyone thinks BA pulled him so that he couldn’t get his incentives, you’re crazy. Just last season, it was RoJo who got screwed out of having a 1000 yard season just so that AB could pick up extra yards and hit incentives in his contract. That’s not BAs style.
January 3rd, 2022 at 10:15 am
Hey Bird(brain), some of us aren’t Brady fanatics. So what? How long have you been a Bucs fan? 2 years? Believe me, yahoos like you don’t faze me. My hope for the Bucs this season was a division win. They’ve done it. I don’t see them winning a SB. Too many critical players hurt.
January 3rd, 2022 at 1:18 pm
Skip Bayless said his source said the AB got into it with Brady cause he wqas taregeting Gronk over him and Brady told him Come on man ..
January 3rd, 2022 at 4:33 pm
No nfl team should sign Antonio Brown without serious mental health intervention put in place
January 3rd, 2022 at 5:20 pm
Nobody will sign Brown. He’s done. stick a fork in’em! Kinda sad but Its all on him. I bet everywhere he has played mental counseling was offered to him and he either refused it or lied about it just like he lied about being vaccinated. It is a blow to our offense. Turn the page Bucs and onward we must sail. NEXT……..
January 3rd, 2022 at 6:21 pm
At least we’ll have his rap career.😏
January 3rd, 2022 at 7:26 pm
“Joe went into full Doug Martin mode.”
.
.
LOL
You went to the club and bored some beans?
January 3rd, 2022 at 7:27 pm
*scored some beans
January 3rd, 2022 at 9:31 pm
I didn’t read all of the comments so someone may have already said this. I’m going to take a different tact. I believe this is going to galvanize us. I believe we’re going to play some of our best football going forward. We’re a close knit team. We’re hampered by a lot of injuries and to some very key players. Still, don’t count us out..
January 3rd, 2022 at 10:00 pm
Cool! 🙂