“I’d Be A Little Wary If I Was A Bucs Fan Right Now”
September 10th, 2022
Not a Bucs believer in 2022.
The one and only Chris “Mad Dog” Russo has seen a bunch since he broke into sports radio in Orlando in the 1980s. And right now Russo doesn’t like what he sees with the Bucs.
He’s spoken about this at length appearing with screamin’ Stephen A. Smith on BSPN. And Russo has said the same on his popular SiriusXM weekday afternoon radio show heard on the channel that bears his name, “Mad Dog Radio.”
There are several things Russo doesn’t like:
* Tom Brady is 45.
* Tom Brady retiring, then unretiring.
* Tom Brady bolting to the Bahamas for 11 days in the middle of training camp.
* No foot-rubbing Rob Gronkowski (for now).
* Lost three starters from the interior of the offensive line.
* Chris Godwin is trying to return after knee surgery.
* A very dicey 2022 schedule, especially right out of the gate.
* No Bucco Bruce Arians.
* Todd Bowles.
The memories of Bowles’ days with the Jets are fresh in Russo’s tri-state, metro-based mind. He used to go nuts over Bowles (not in a good way) with the Jets from his game management to his awful offenses and miserable defenses to his press conferences. Russo simply does not like Bowles.
Russo doesn’t want to hear about what a joke the Jets organization is. He believes a good coach should raise a team above .500 no matter the roster.
All those factors led Russo to say Brady has “bitten off more than he can chew” in coming back to the Bucs for a season Russo believes is Brady’s last.
Fielding calls about Brady, Russo had a couple of things to share with callers:
“[The Bucs] have a brutal schedule,” Russo said. “I don’t love the head coach. They lost three offensive starters. They don’t have Gronkowski. They lost the interior of that offensive line. I think it could be a long year for them. Listen, who am I? My prediction is as good as your prediction.
“Now that division is easy. Theoretically, they shouldn’t do any worse than 5-1 in the NFC South. They don’t beat the Saints a lot. They won seven straight regular season games against them, New Orleans has. But 5-1 sounds about right. I’d be a little wary if I was a Bucs fan right now.”
Joe believes Russo is a bit harsh on Bowles. Joe can think of all kinds of coaches who didn’t do so well in their first at-bat and did better the second time around. Bill Belicheat springs to mind. Pete Carroll is another.
Hell, Bucco Bruce Arians never made it to a Super Bowl with Arizona.
You can hear a clip of Russo speaking about Brady with two callers in the SiriusXM audio below. Remember, Ira Kaufman appears on Russo’s show each Wednesday during the football season at 5 p.m. It’s must-listen radio.
Audio courtesy of SiriusXM.
(Hat tip: Eddie Erickson.)
September 9th, 2022 at 10:26 pm
another jagoff with an opinion
September 10th, 2022 at 6:06 am
Dude picked the Cowboys to win the NFC. ‘Nuff said.
September 10th, 2022 at 6:20 am
His reasoning was hilarious. Said too many people are picking Buffalo and Green Bay. So he decided to “go wild” and pick the Cowboys and Colts.
September 10th, 2022 at 6:58 am
I used to call into his show a lot as a kid in Orlando. He often had a trivia giveaway at the end of the show. I knew he talked so much that, instead of taking the fifth or tenth caller, he’d frequently take the first, for the sake of time. I would time it so that I had six digits dialed (rotary phone) and dial the 7th as soon as he gave the word. That system worked out quite well.
One winning question was who was the first horse after Citation to win the Triple Crown?
September 10th, 2022 at 7:06 am
Picking the Bucs to disappoint seems to be the trendy thing to do… let them bark!… and watch the Bucs ship pass (sail) right by towards another fantastic season…
September 10th, 2022 at 7:07 am
Opinions are cheap thats why everybody has ONE…..
September 10th, 2022 at 7:17 am
I went to Rollins College with with Russo and knew him well. I was running the radio station when he was doing baseball and basketball play by play. We used to argue about music all of the time . He was into Springsteen I was into Punk. He’s a great guy but sometimes he’s just full of s##t!
September 10th, 2022 at 7:18 am
As a long time Bucs fan, I feel better about our chances at a super bowl run this year than in any in the lost decade…. Wary? I am JACKED up for this season!
September 10th, 2022 at 7:18 am
Ahhhh! More fuel for Brady to respond to! Go Bucs!
September 10th, 2022 at 7:19 am
Another example of some one who clearly see the situation for what it is
Terrible offensive Line
Bad Coach
Throw in irresponsible organization that won’t bring talent needed on online and we have the makings of a 6-11 season
September 10th, 2022 at 7:34 am
I am the little wary that Russo speaks of, for the very same reasons he stated. A lot of pieces changed and none of us will know what we really have until they play. Thank god its coming soon!
September 10th, 2022 at 7:47 am
This game vs Cowboys will come down to whether or not the Bucs’ D gives Brady an opportunity to win it.
Will Cowboys offense keep ball away from Brady in 4th quarter? Or will Bucs’ D stop Dallas and give Brady a chance to engineer a game winning drive or run out the clock with a close win.
September 10th, 2022 at 7:52 am
8 year olds dude.
September 10th, 2022 at 8:11 am
Out of all the things. He mentioned, having Bowels as head coach is my greatest concern. He stinks as a coordinator and is even worse as a head coach.
September 10th, 2022 at 8:23 am
This dude is a horrible reporter. He’s just like Florio.
September 10th, 2022 at 8:27 am
As a fan since 76′, I’m always wary.
September 10th, 2022 at 8:36 am
Every point he makes is true. At least he’s not like some other talking heads whom takes are about ego and not facts. Tom Brady hit on this when he got to Tampa. There is only a small difference between winning and losing in the NFL. He has proven to be the X factor for most of his career. This year he has gone off his normal routine. We will see if he can overcome that.
September 10th, 2022 at 8:37 am
Ira I need you to slap around this guy on his horrible take.
September 10th, 2022 at 8:48 am
His first mistake was to discount Tom Brady…….never do that
His second mistake was to not take into consideration the Bucs defense…
And, what about our new punter?
September 10th, 2022 at 8:51 am
Not that anyone cares, but here’s how concerned I am with what he uses as his reasoning. 0= no concern, 10= I toss and turn all night.
* Tom Brady is 45. 0
* Tom Brady retiring, then unretiring.- 0
* Tom Brady bolting to the Bahamas for 11 days in the middle of training camp.-0
* No foot-rubbing Rob Gronkowski (for now).-3
* Lost three starters from the interior of the offensive line.- 6
* Chris Godwin is trying to return after knee surgery.- 0
* A very dicey 2022 schedule, especially right out of the gate. -5
* No Bucco Bruce Arians. 0 (Last I checked, BA is still with the Bucs)
* Todd Bowles.- 0 (He’s a very good coach, has great players, a great coaching staff and BRUCE ARIANS)
September 10th, 2022 at 9:02 am
Russo reminds me of idiot Rob Parker.
September 10th, 2022 at 9:07 am
Bojim Says:
September 10th, 2022 at 8:27 am
As a fan since 76′, I’m always wary
__________
Amen.
Adding to that, we play Dallas in prime time.
What’s our record against the Cowboys and in prime time games again?
September 10th, 2022 at 9:11 am
Here’s my takeaway from everything he said: “My prediction is as good as your prediction”.
End of story.
September 10th, 2022 at 9:24 am
Nicely put Willie. And also, Russo’s list conveniently (intentionally?) omits the other side of the ledger – traded for Shaq Mason (+), signed Akiem Hicks (+), signed Julio Jones (+), signed Russell Gage (+), released Brad Pinion (+) (sorry). So all of that just gets brushed away?
September 10th, 2022 at 10:22 am
Zeke takes more cap room than all 4 Buc running backs put together, and he’s barely above average
September 10th, 2022 at 10:40 am
Yeah I’ll just point to what WillieG said. That pretty much sums up my thoughts.
Bowles can still make mistakes and will. He sucked, for whatever reason, as HC with the Jets. With that experience though, he has a few great teachers. Two of them are experience and hindsight.
September 10th, 2022 at 11:17 am
This is how I see it:
* Tom Brady is 45. – age has always been a factor, hopefully not this year!
* Tom Brady retiring, then unretiring. – Favre played well though he did it!
* Tom Brady bolting to the Bahamas for 11 days in the middle of training camp. – Meh!
* No foot-rubbing Rob Gronkowski (for now). – to much credit!
* Lost three starters from the interior of the offensive line. – valid concern!
* Chris Godwin is trying to return after knee surgery. – Gage and Jones!
* A very dicey 2022 schedule, especially right out of the gate. – many teams take a step back after a really good season!
* No Bucco Bruce Arians. – Valid concern!
* Todd Bowles. – Greatest concern!
September 10th, 2022 at 11:51 am
All legitimate concerns. Our defense should be better. What happened to our defense last year was incredibly unusual. Yet our team was still in it at the end of the season.
The o line concerns me. Nothing else does. My opinion is as legit as Russo’s
September 10th, 2022 at 12:54 pm
Bojim Says:
September 10th, 2022 at 8:27 am
As a fan since 76′, I’m always wary
******************************************************
As a fan since 76′, I’m always OPTIMISTIC
Yes, I’ve been proven wrong on this more often than not but as of right now, we are undefeated. The FAN in me expects that to remain unchanged throughout the season.
Oh, and about the OL, Jason has proven himself very capable at finding the right players to fill the roles, once again, optimistic till proven wrong.
September 10th, 2022 at 1:12 pm
I am concerned about EVERY opponent until the clock reads 0:00…
September 10th, 2022 at 1:31 pm
Putting Bowles in the same area as Belichick and Carroll is hilarious.
September 10th, 2022 at 1:37 pm
No concerns for the Bucs this Sunday, we will beat the Cowboys.
A big concern for me lately is the fact that there is no Burger Monger here in Brandon.
I guess I will have to break down, and drive over to Tampa!
September 10th, 2022 at 2:10 pm
I believe the defense will be much better. It may take some time for the offense to fire on all cylinders. Anytime there’s that much turnover, I think it’s normal.
September 10th, 2022 at 3:38 pm
@WillieG
Might disagree slightly but you certainly are in the reasonable ballpark!
September 10th, 2022 at 6:17 pm
I don’t see Dallas running well against this defensive line. Maybe another team sure. But not against Vea or Hicks. I expect screens to JTS’s side. And a rushing attack that
tries to bounce outside. Other than that I’m not expecting Dallas to blow up the Buc’s secondary. Dallas will try to run the ball until Tampa has the lead. Then they will have to pass. I think Tampa might run the ball a little more than usual. Especially if it’s working. Even if just to setup play action.
September 10th, 2022 at 11:00 pm
Bah,
He just copied my list of concerns!
Damn near Plagarism, except my concerns were just post- not paid Articles! Lol
September 10th, 2022 at 11:14 pm
Yet another bigmouth quack from the northeast with an innate dislike for our team. Like so many things from the northeast media he is best left ignored.
September 10th, 2022 at 11:50 pm
Please shoot me if I ever give stock to anything this guy says.
September 11th, 2022 at 12:01 am
George when was the last time you saw any team coached by Brady go 6-11??? Guess you forgot all about that 2020 season didn’t you when we all thought Brady was going to get killed behind that line but what happened? Bruh you’re just a troll. You should chop your fingers off so you can’t type your opinion anymore. Can’t remember ever reading anything positive about the Bucs coming off your keyboard