Hands Up!
June 3rd, 2022
Bucs coach Todd Bowles.
Joe remembers this was a big thing with former Bucs commander Greg Schiano.
If a defensive lineman cannot get to a quarterback, the least he can do is get his hands up. Maybe the quarterback will throw low and there will be a bat-down at the line.
Bucs coach Todd Bowles seems to think the Bucs need to get better at rushing the quarterback from the interior. And if they cannot get there, get those hands in the air!
“Well, it’s important because we had a lot of three-step drops last year and the ball was coming out quick,” Bowles said on Tuesday after underwear football practice. “So even if you were clean, you weren’t getting [to the quarterback.].
“So we’ve got to have better emphasis on seeing the quarterback when he’s raising up and when we can get our hands up to bat some more balls down because we aren’t getting there for the sack because the ball is coming out too fast.”
You know what this tells Joe? If teams were using three-step drops so much against the Bucs, that means either they feared Bucs sack king Shaq Barrett or Jason Pierre-Paul.
Either that, or teams figured they had a better shot of getting guys open quickly. Or maybe a little of both?
June 3rd, 2022 at 9:33 am
I would think the remedy for that is to have the DBs play closer to the LOS. But what do I know?
June 3rd, 2022 at 9:36 am
This tells me that our DBs were playing 7 – 10yrds off
June 3rd, 2022 at 9:37 am
Glad to see this mentioned. Too many times this chance is missed in games.
June 3rd, 2022 at 9:49 am
Three step drops are negated by press coverage by the dbacks, and shotgun formation. However a front 7 like ours and our blitz packages creates more opportunities for pressure on opposing qbs..
I’m seriously excited for the new season.
GO BUCS!
June 3rd, 2022 at 9:58 am
Quick drops are a way top keep a defense like ours, at a lower rate of efficacy in terms of the blitz getting home. Doesn’t matter if it’s a DB/LB as the “go” guy, on pass plasy if the ball is out before the blitzer gets there, opposing QBs know it one less man in coverage zone/man and its a great way to give up 2nd level dump offs that convert to first downs, and keeps our defense on the field longer than need be. What I trust Bowles with, is being able to mask those calls moving forward and using them moderately perhaps scaling back a bit. Partly why I feel the interior rush was something to improve on, now we wont be blitzing out of necessity(hopefully).
June 3rd, 2022 at 10:02 am
My college hockey coach used to preach a strategy that he called ‘Do What Works’. Sounds simplistic, but too often teams actually out-think themselves & make things much more complicated than they need to be.
Bucs’ defenders blitzed more than anyone else, left large areas of the field uncovered, and had our DBs play off quite a bit very often. We played the run quite well for these past 3 years (ranked #1, #1, #3 in Run Yards Allowed), but weren’t nearly as consistent in the passing game (ranked #30, #21, #21 in Passing Yards Allowed). Opposing QBs used 3-step drop quick-release passing simply because ‘That’s What Worked’ against the Bucs IMO. It really isn’t rocket science; it’s just that some QBs were better at pulling it off than others were. And besides, the Bucs’ offense was pretty good at putting up points all 3 years.
June 3rd, 2022 at 10:18 am
Bowles and Kiffin both are modern day flex D’s or bend but don’t break
Notice the blitz cranks up inside our 50 and especially inside the 30
It’s almost like we are trying to trade FG for TD’s too often and give a lot of TOP
June 3rd, 2022 at 10:21 am
So do they not practice that against the 3-step king Tom Brady already?
June 3rd, 2022 at 10:24 am
Playing off man or Zone will lend itself to more quick throws. Thats what we play. We don’t play a lot of Press.
June 3rd, 2022 at 10:48 am
If a team has a tendency for short drop backs and quick throws, play more press coverage. Like Scurvy Dogs says, move your DBs up. But you’ve got to keep the rush pressure on and force the QB to throw quick or otherwise a WR will get behind coverage allowing the deep pass.
June 3rd, 2022 at 11:33 am
Inexcusable to have that many pass attempts with that few batted balls…..Hands up!!!
June 3rd, 2022 at 11:54 am
Do what works. Bowles defense has done that more than not.
Ok with fans picking apart little flaws. There have been no game in and game out major flaws.
June 3rd, 2022 at 1:05 pm
Scurvy Dogs is exactly right. Bucs DBs give up way too much space. They have a tendency to play upright when off the reciever. If that’s how bowles wants them to play, and if he continues his inane untimely blitzes, it’ll be a long season for the secondary.
June 3rd, 2022 at 3:29 pm
I think that teams just took the path of least resistance against our defense. Our run defense was good and our outside corners were oft injured and too inconsistent even when healthy. Good thing we did something in the offseason to remedy the issue. LOL, nevermind. 😛
June 3rd, 2022 at 5:20 pm
The 3 step drop works well against a team known to blitz as much as this team does. It was more effective than running the ball. Its becoming more clear as to why they are bringing size and length to the dline- to clog up the passing lanes while they come for ballcarrier. Bowles is adapting to the looks that he has seen. I like it.
June 4th, 2022 at 8:57 am
Quick 3 step drop pass comes out, sounds like the nemesis we have always had, the slant pass….. is the stank of the Mike Smith defense still all over our team even with Bowles as the DC/HC, and a Super Bowl ring?
Better call Odoban or one of Joe’s sponsors who helps with In house water issues.