Beware The Angry Bear Come January
October 10th, 2022
Atlanta coach Artie Smith.
In this crazy NFC playoff race, who knows what might happen? The Bucs could get the No. 2 seed (Joe would wage cash that the road to the Super Bowl goes through Philadelphia. The Eagles’ schedule is softer than a Lovie Smith defense).
However, come the final game of the season, guess who the Bucs play on the road?
Yep, that would be the Dixie Chicks.
Joe isn’t sure if readers had a chance to take in the latest from veteran NFL scribe and JoeBucsFan.com columnist Ira Kaufman. Ira does a great job of painting a picture of how peeved the Dixie Chicks were after losing yesterday. Ira went to the Atlanta locker room and told Joe about it in the bowels of The Licht House.
Ira noted how the Dixie Chicks players were absolutely seething. Coach Artie Smith was fighting to keep his outrage hidden. Owner Artie Blank acted like an arsonist burned down his neighborhood Home Depot.
In no uncertain terms, the Dixie Chicks believed they were robbed of a comeback chance by the terrible roughing-the-passer penalty late in the game that otherwise would have seen the Bucs punt to the Dixie Chicks with just under three minutes left. And the Bucs defense was gassed after Atlanta rand the ball down their throat in the fourth quarter.
Kevin Patra of NFL.com noted that Atlanta’s solid ground game (151 yards) wasn’t even at 100 percent with Cordarrelle Patterson sidelined yesterday, along with their first-round pick tight end tight end Kyle Pitts.
Artie Smith already said he has the Bucs’ game in Week 18 circled. “We can’t wait,” Smith said.
Atlanta will be loaded for bear. And it is likely some form of Bucs home field advantage will be on the line in that game. So the Bucs better have this run defense figured out by then and their offense oiled.
The Dixie Chicks will be waiting, will be ready, and will be stoked for revenge. You know they would love nothing more than to eff up the Bucs’ playoff plans.
October 10th, 2022 at 12:59 am
Let’s focus on one game at a time. Who knows, the fight the falcons showed yesterday they could be in a fight for a playoff spot. We have a tackling n rush defense problem that must be fixed asap. I like our up tempo offense, we move the ball at will for big gains fast. DWhite n several others need to go back to basic tackling school. We need a punt returner who doesn’t always look to run out of bounds. RGage is not playing up to his potential. We need to sever ties with Kyle Rudolph. Rakeem Roches got bulldozed off the line for at least 5-7 yards, literally. Rachaad White is slowly coming along. Godwin is just warming up. Leftwich need to get creative n stop being so predictable on 3rd n or 4th n short. Let’s fake a punt sometime. We need extra protection, Brady is starting to get hit more often. Our coach is too passive n laid back. The team need motivation.
October 10th, 2022 at 1:03 am
How fo you fix getting beat at the point of attack? It is not by scheme in the Bucs case, it by being stronger than your opponent, so this is likely going to be an achilles heel for the rest of the season. NOT GOOD.
This defense has won the line of scrimmage since the moment SUH joined the defense for the 2019 season, and preceded to put up a historically good run defense. That is a fact,
But the fact of life now is not looking pretty with the Bucs signing an oft injured guy Hicks to replace Suh.
Now we all see the value of Suh, it is staring us in the face, every time a back leaves cleat marks on various Buc defenders, while gashing the defense for long runs.
Yeah Warren Sapp would criticize Suh because he would not get big numbers of sacs, but when you cannot stop the run, teams can basically do whatever they want, and that is just painful to watch.
This is a recipe for a short playoff run for the Bucs. They better get a lot of turnovers and up the pass rush somehow, or being an actual contender for the Lombardi is not going to happen. I hope by some miracle they can actually begin to stop the run better, because a short playoff run is not what anyone here wants to see.
GO BUCS!!!!!
October 10th, 2022 at 1:05 am
so many things will get in the way of this revenge game, is Mariota likely to be even playing then? He was a seriously injury prone QB everywhere he played up to this. the penalties and no calls came out even–we were robbed on miller’s catches of pi calls and there was an egregious holding of antoine winfield on one of mariota’s touchdowns. Let them be pissed off, there will be so many more disappointments for them over the next 12 weeks that by the time the rematch occurs it will be nothing remotely resembling what they think they are gonna do to us.
October 10th, 2022 at 1:12 am
Only thing our team needs is a coaching staff. As season progresses, they will be getting more and more out of Brady’s way, just as in previous years. Bowels blew the Rams game and super bowl last year.
October 10th, 2022 at 1:20 am
Joe doesn’t. At least, for this season.
Now Joe thinks all of us believe Suh, just on his history, should be a better option than “Nacho.” But guys, it’s the middle of October. Suh is still unemployed. If Suh really is the answer, why have 31 other teams passed on him? The entire league.
If Suh was as good as folks are whining for him believe he is, why is he out of the league? You don’t think other teams gunning for the Super Bowl could use him? Baltimore’s defense is awful, but even they passed on Suh. Belicheat? He didn’t sign Suh either. Pittsburgh? Nope. Joe could go on.
Are we really to believe that every GM in the NFL is a dumbass for not signing Suh? That’s some leap of faith.
October 10th, 2022 at 1:26 am
It is embarrassing that a coach of a team would not respond by realizing that the officiating always goes both ways and that his team also got some breaks that mattered in this game. In fact they kept the Falcons in the game. That’s pretty bush league stuff right there.
October 10th, 2022 at 1:33 am
Joe, Brady gets the kind of intensive football team you’re talking about the Falcons being that last week 10 to 12 times a year. Everybody wants to beat Brady. He’s been getting Everybody best shot for some 20 years now. I garrentee you he won’t think about the Falcons until the Monday before that last game. Hopefully the game won’t mean nothing but a little practice before the playoffs.
October 10th, 2022 at 1:45 am
We are really scared of the doormat Falcons at the end of the season. Soooo, it’s just a. sack when the big guy puts the QB in a roll and smashes him on the ground on his head and shoulder? Who are you people? Where do you come from? The media?
October 10th, 2022 at 3:24 am
that’s way way waaaaay down the line…
but i can’t front, i was thinking about that final game of the season rematch, after the way things went down this afternoon…
one can only hope they have nothing to play for at that point and have lost focus as a cellar dweller, and potentially are an even more dinged up bunch
October 10th, 2022 at 3:41 am
Joe please ask Bowles why Godwin was pulled for most of the second half. That’s when our offense stalled.
October 10th, 2022 at 3:46 am
Do you guys think this would even be an issue if it wasn’t Tom Brady? If it had happened to Matt Ryan, or Teddy Bridgewater or somebody like that, it wouldn’t be talked about. Now if Brady was playing defensive back and ran into Scotty Miller like their guy did, everybody would be talking about the no pass interference call. Comes with the territory of having Brady on your team. Embrace it while he’s here.
October 10th, 2022 at 4:24 am
I’ve seen that type of sack be a roughing before, they consider it excessive. Prolly was a makeup call for Miller too
October 10th, 2022 at 4:55 am
There are a few games between now and then. Todd and Bymron need an arse chewing from BA.
October 10th, 2022 at 4:56 am
That game might be meaningless depending on the seeding in the playoffs and we might sit our starts and not even care. Falcons meanwhile will probably be like 7-9 at that point.
That game is probably gonna be meaningless for us.
October 10th, 2022 at 4:59 am
No offense Joe but this is such a stupid thing to say for all we know that game in ATL could be meaningless and Brady and the starters barely if at all play.
October 10th, 2022 at 5:38 am
Pat- Good point because, literally the previous play was pass interference on Scotty Miller. BLATANT PI!
So while I understand them being upset with the roughing call, the previous play should’ve given the Bucs the ball 1st and ten in scoring range anyway.
Is there a particular reason refs aren’t throwing flags for Scotty? This seems to be the M.O.
October 10th, 2022 at 5:43 am
It is pretty bad when our QB knows the 2 minute rule and the refs don’t or choose to ignore it. A perfectly legal opportunity to score was taken from the Bucs. Go cry a river, Artie.
October 10th, 2022 at 5:54 am
If they play like they did today the Bucs should be up 34-0 going into the 4th quarter. ATL seems to forget all the crappy spots the Bucs got early in the game. Not to mention their own phantom roughing call on V. Vita and missed PI calls. The Refs were bad all day it just finally started to even out toward the end. Everyone remembers the last bad call but seem to forget the ones that got us there in the first place.
Bring it on in January. If the Bucs got a shot at taking it deep this year they’ll be playing much better by then and it won’t be close. ALT is the Titians of 2019 that’s not gonna win it in today’s world.
October 10th, 2022 at 6:20 am
They got robbed? After all those missed calls that they benefited from? Tackling Miller the play before?
Typical Atlanta with that funeral home director looking owner always creeping on the sidelines. Stay in the owners box Blank.
They are going to be 6-10 on week 18. Looking to get a QB in the draft. Who cares.
October 10th, 2022 at 6:27 am
OK, boo freakin’ hoo, Atlanta. I get it. It was a horrible call. But don’t get your ass kicked for 3 quarters and then p!ss and moan about a bad call.
The NFL is doing what the NFL ALWAYS does: They are overcorrecting. The Tua incident is an embaressment so now EVERYTHING is going to be roughing.
The NFL needs to overhaul some rules. If it’s not a head shot and the QB is not getting body slammed, it should not be a penalty. But no one is paying to watch Blaine Gabbert and the NFL knows this…so they overcorrect and the quality of football ….. well so what.
The next thing is the the stupid false start / encroachment. The old rule was totally clear. If you’re on offense, you don’t move. If you move, it’s a false start, if you don’t, and the defense jumps and makes contact or is in the neutral zone when the ball is snapped, then it’s encroachment.
Now, you give the refs another judgment call. If the defense moves and that movement causes the offense to move… that’s a penalty on the defense…. unless the defensive player points at the offensive player first. If the offensive player points at the defensive player first, then it’s a penalty….. clear as mud, right?
October 10th, 2022 at 6:31 am
Atlanta would have gladly taken the win if the roles were reversed. It wasn’t the first bad call and won’t be the last.
October 10th, 2022 at 7:14 am
But Joe, those other teams haven’t been gashed for 150 yards the last two games and also have a supposed run stopper to has lived up to his injury history so far. So I gotta ask would any other team but us sign Hicks at this point. Lets face it we have spent a 16 million on a 3rd or fourth target for Brady and so far
it has not been the best use of cap space. IMO we have spent two much money
in this area and gambled on injury prone players at WR and DT. Suh was a good fit and teammate and just maybe his veteran presence and reliability would have
added stability to our D Line.
October 10th, 2022 at 7:48 am
Irv went to The FalCone locker room to apologize and try to soothe The Arties’. Circle Week 18 all you want. If the Bucs were to lose that game…they deserve what they get or don’t get for the playoffs.
October 10th, 2022 at 7:58 am
If that’s what Miller is focused on he’s worse than Bowels. Grow up it wasn’t like Bucs were backed up inside their 10. I agree the call was questionable but refs throw make up flags all the time and clearly that was for the missed Miller PI call. I saw Jones from KC toss Brady to the ground like a rag doll last week and no call. These refs need to be accountable somehow. Atlanta will be in the toilet looking up at the end of the season, let them take out their frustration on Gabbert or Trask, Miller, Darden & Perriman, who cares? Listen the team should be 4&2 the GB game was I’m sorry BL’s drive ending play calls and a late snap by a green center, shat happens. My biggest concern is the lack of motivation and urgency and with this cardboard cut out coaching staff, I don’t know how you fix that.
October 10th, 2022 at 8:38 am
Whatever. It is professional football. If the calls by the refs are decent, and we can’t beat the Pigeons in their own nest, we won’t be able to win any SB. The only thing I’m concerned about are cheap shots, like the one Godwin got last year.
October 10th, 2022 at 8:49 am
To whichever joe highlighted part of my post. The proof is in the pudding.
We see it every week.
Whats with this every other GM talk, the bottom line is the D line is not the same.
So I just do not understand ssaying what others GMs did or did not do.
Say what you want, but the run D is a far cry from what it has been.
That is just the simple facts.” OH but the other GMs”
Write or say whatever you what, does not change the Bucs not being near as strong on the D line. It is staring us in the face weekly.
So again this “other GM’s did not sign him either talk”, so what, the run D was never anything close to this present mediocre example of Buccaneer Run defense.
GO BUCS!!!!
October 10th, 2022 at 9:13 am
NExt time we meet the Falconettes, it will be a no bearing game for us. AT that point, we already secured our playoff spot. GO BUCS!!!
October 10th, 2022 at 10:13 am
Lol I don’t think their coach makes it to that game
October 10th, 2022 at 11:31 am
Yeah, where is the outrage over Vea BUMPING MM to the ground. At least there was ZERO chance of MM getting hurt vs Brady.
It’s simple, NO MORE WHIPPING THE QB TO THE GROUND!!!
October 10th, 2022 at 1:00 pm
I really hope the Atl game at the end of the year means something and the Bucs roll in and Brady & co. put up 40 on their arses and the D holds them to 10 points and 25 yds rushing with Patterson on Pitts. Let’s see if they pan Smith’s and Blanks faces then. I’ve see old Artie Blank and his sea hag wives faces after the Atl/Pat’s SB.
October 10th, 2022 at 4:32 pm
That is fine! Let the losers seeth. By January this buccaneer Team will be running on all cylinders with or without Julio. Hopefully we get some of our O line starters back, but regardless these second stringers will be rolling just fine by then. And They didnt see our defense at its best. So let them seeth, they will have to deal with a lot more than just a bad call that hurt their fragile egos. What a bunch of pussies. Great teams move on from a bad game quickly!!!