CBS: Bucs Are Pretenders
October 20th, 2022
Pressure.
Now a third through the 2022 season (6 out of 18 weeks) and already people are setting odds and percentages on teams making the playoffs or going all the way.
One guy very confident the Bucs will not go all the way is Jordan Dajani of CBS Sports as compiled on his contenders/pretenders list.
Oh, Danjani thinks the Bucs will make the playoffs but he believes the way the Bucs are nothing but pretenders for a Super Bowl run.
The way the Bucs lost to the Steelers sealed his mind.
… The Buccaneers are averaging 20.2 points per game this season, the fewest points per game in Tom Brady’s first six starts of a season in his career. Tampa Bay averaged an NFL-best 30.4 points per game in Brady’s first two seasons. This is just the fourth time Brady has started 3-3 or worse — and the first time in a decade. The Buccaneers have a top 10 defense, but I don’t view this team as the kind of contender they were in years past.
So the pressure is on Byron Leftwich. He wants to be a head coach and was rumored to have been offered the Jacksonville job last season.
If Leftwich cannot start scheming around weaker areas of the offensive line, if he cannot find a way to shake loose a running attack with Playoff Lenny, if he allows Tom Brady to walk off into the sunset with Brady’s worst-scoring offense of his career despite great receivers and Playoff Lenny, Leftwich can forget about head coaching job next year.
At least in the NFL.
October 20th, 2022 at 10:06 am
Amen!
October 20th, 2022 at 10:07 am
This terrible O start has sealed Leftwich’s HC goal.
Dude can’t even score TD’s with Brady and his guys.
This team is embarrassing for its colossal underperformance.
Just wait until they lay an egg in Charlotte, even if they win. The home Boo Birds will be out with a couple of early 3-and-outs.
Has Tom Brady even been booed in his career…at home?
These guys better get their heads out of their butts, and QUICK, or they could go down in history as one of the most disappointing teams in NFL history.
October 20th, 2022 at 10:07 am
that all points to one thing. they coaching chamges and inability to adapt.
I hope brady pulls a pelosi and rips the playbook up and calls plays at the line. bet they’d put up a 40 burger!
October 20th, 2022 at 10:08 am
Right now we are paper champs, but I guess we all hold on to the bitter end that when the papers come out in Feb (or internet article) it’ll say we are champs. Eh just try to enjoy each game and see where we get. Hopefully they make rest of year more fun anyways
October 20th, 2022 at 10:09 am
If we continue to play the way we’ve been playing, this guy isn’t offering a hot-take, we will probably be one and done if we make the playoffs.
Hoping for a dramatic about face for this team. If not…well, oh boy, what a waste of talent.
Still…GO BUCS!!!
October 20th, 2022 at 10:12 am
They absolutely must make this a statement game.
October 20th, 2022 at 10:14 am
Yeah it’s amazing really, this offense can’t score 20 points a game most games.
And people are crying about the defense keeping these games close.
This is the modern NFL you need to put up 20+ points minimum if you want to win games.
Granted with Arians gone leftwich is being exposed as possibly the worst playcaller/coordinator in the league outside of Hackett in Denver.
October 20th, 2022 at 10:16 am
Let’s not forget – we were 7-5 and had just got clobbered by the Chiefs before we went on the miracle run to the Super Bowl. So I am not ready to talk about next years draft – YET…
However – I do have a much different feeling this season than I had that year. We had Gronk, AB, Evans and a healthy Godwin. No so this year.
We also had Marpet, Jenson, Cappa and LT Smith was healthy. Not so this year.
I hope we can get this ship turned around but my expectations are low at this point…
October 20th, 2022 at 10:18 am
and they don’t even know it !
October 20th, 2022 at 10:20 am
I wish Leftwich would have taken the Jacksonville gig, plus we’d get an extra pick next year. BOO!!!
October 20th, 2022 at 10:25 am
I have seen NOTHING to give any hope of a turnaround.
I’d even be surprised if Evans gets his 1,000.
I expect a heavy load of CMC on Sunday, grinding this D down the field.
Just Pathetic.
No Leadership.
No Heart.
No Head.
October 20th, 2022 at 10:27 am
Watch Bucs come out dominate win get everyone to be like oh yea we good the. Drop a clunker against ravens smh
October 20th, 2022 at 10:28 am
@ Cobra
Unfortunately – I agree…
October 20th, 2022 at 10:31 am
Leftwich needs to study all of the top 5 offenses in the league and borrow their playbooks. His sluggish offense is wasting Tom Brady’s final season.
This is not a smash mouth offense. It has to incorporate some elements of surprise/disguise. I can guess correctly 80% of the time the first down offense.
The only time they had an explosive play was the first play of game with the quick screen to Godwin. He popped over 20 yards because they were t expecting it.
October 20th, 2022 at 10:33 am
We would be 5-1 right now if the OC could do his job.
October 20th, 2022 at 10:45 am
Brady excels most on medium play-action passes, which seems to be the LEAST thing we do
October 20th, 2022 at 10:46 am
I’m seeing a lot of similarities between the fair-weather media and many of our fair-weather fans. The Bucs aren’t 0-6 or 1-5 they’re 3-3 … in a weak division to boot. No NFL game is easy, but supposedly the hardest third of our schedule is behind us (and those teams only sport a 18-18 record to this point). Remaining teams BTW currently sport a 26-40 combined record.
On the good news front, we’re playing a BUNCH of newbies (Hainsey, Goedeke, White, Otton, Kieft, JTS, Hall & Camarda) a LOT and they’re gaining very valuable experience. We SHOULD be getting Jensen & Hicks back before too long, and their veteran leadership will surely help. Several of our star receivers (Godwin, Gage, Jones) have been dinged up quite a bit, but HOPEFULLY they too make it back to 100% before too long. And oh ya, our defense is actually playing quite well in case no one’s noticed (ranked #5), despite having problems stopping the run & not getting a consistent pass rush.
The veteran players are here for the same thing all of us want: another Super Bowl championship. Same with the coaching staff. The coaches & the vets know what it takes to win; they’ve all been there. We are where we are. All of us just need to chill a little bit and let this thing play out. My guess is that none of us REALLY care if some guy from CBS we’ve probably never heard of named Jordan Dajani calls us ‘Pretenders’ anyways.
October 20th, 2022 at 10:47 am
BA shoving his cronies down the Bucs throats killed the GOAT!!!!
#baklldthegoat
October 20th, 2022 at 10:47 am
Sounds like a perfect match. Pretender team for pretender fans.
October 20th, 2022 at 10:48 am
The Bucs do not have a top ten defense. They have some guys who could make one, but the coaching is bad there and a couple of other guys drag them down too much.
The offensive problems lie mostly with Leftie, but also with a lack of a motivating head coach (notice I didn’t capitalize that).
If Leftie can come up with a scheme that works, he would uplift the whole team, even the increasingly morose Brady.
If nothing changes they are not even pretenders, they are just Brady’s doom. Playing as he is makes him look too old for any other team to consider him.
October 20th, 2022 at 11:02 am
if they lose sunday they will not make playoffs. a win and they prolly in.
October 20th, 2022 at 11:13 am
IMO Lefty should not be any kind of NFL coach. He really stinks. But the Bucs ownership needs to stop listening to BA’s BS about how good Lefty,Bowles & some players are. Even Light fell for BA’s crap.
October 20th, 2022 at 11:20 am
I have a gut feeling that so long as Bowles and Leftwich remain Bucs that the Bucs will remain pretenders….
Bucs are starting to resemble a mix of the old Jets and the old Cardinals!
October 20th, 2022 at 11:29 am
I’m an optimistic because I would rather dwell on positives than negatives. That said, I DO believe this team will get better because the foundation is there for much better play. Like DR said, we have the pieces needed on this team to succeed.
We are 3-3 after a tough opening stretch. I know we should have, on paper, beat the Steelers, and I see it as one of our annual 2-3 “bad games.” All teams have them except the 72 Fins.
I can accept losses, but get frustrated when losses are due to non-competitive play, such as demonstrated in the Steelers game. Let’s hope there aren’t any more bad games. I do have hope and optimism the Bucs will be better. I still believe they can win the SB this year.
We can do it! GO BUCS!!!
October 20th, 2022 at 11:34 am
Tye, you nailed it. need to get rid of both of them. Can’t get rid of Heckle and keep Jeckle
October 20th, 2022 at 11:36 am
I can’t wait to see Leftwich’s press conference today.
He’s got some splaining to do.
October 20th, 2022 at 11:38 am
Joe Bucs site going to revert to the days of studying who the bucs can pick in the top 10 of the draft, Jason Licht has been whiffing at first round picks that he actually had to plan for. He lucked into Tristan Wirfs, Winfield was excellent pick
October 20th, 2022 at 11:42 am
The team is a mess. O-line and TE’s are bad. Players are heartless, confused and not competitive. Play calling has been bad. Brady is screwed up because of his impending divorce. Injuries are piling up. In a month this team will be done. It will be time to start Trask in late November and get ready for the Brady retirement party. I hope am wrong, but there are so many negatives.
October 20th, 2022 at 11:51 am
If the Glazers don’t want to tarnish what could likely be Tom’s last year, stop this train wreck now. I find it hard to believe they think that the product they are fielding each week is acceptable. I guess they’ll have to be reminded with gate receipts.
October 20th, 2022 at 11:51 am
The Bucs’ offensive play calling is predictable. That makes playing defense a lot easier – duh.
October 20th, 2022 at 11:53 am
Why was he gone from Arizona?
Why wasn’t he offered a head coach job even at his former team – Jacksonville?
Hmmm.
October 20th, 2022 at 12:29 pm
Look how KC and the Bills are playing. Ive been saying it for a while….whoever wins between those two are your SB champs….probably playing the Eagles.
Wildcard at best for us, and done once we get there.
October 20th, 2022 at 12:40 pm
BACK TO THE DEN OF DEPRESSION …
It was fun while it lasted.
October 20th, 2022 at 12:46 pm
Byron isn’t going to be hired as a HC, ever. If he’s such a brilliant offensive mind (so said Arians and others), where is the creativity? Where is taking advantage of an opponents weaknesses? The PIT game should have had a 35+ point output. Guess if they had gotten TDs instead of those field goals it would’ve been.
I’ve seen enough of Leftwich without Arians. Barring a historic turnaround in output, I want this guy gone next year, otherwise we’re going back to the dark ages of Bucs football.
October 20th, 2022 at 12:54 pm
Let the rebuild start then!
October 20th, 2022 at 12:55 pm
The experts agree with me! This season is a bust. Dump Brady, let him go save his family, save the Glazers millions, and play Trask. Trask played well in the preseason (playing with truck drivers), had a higher quarterback rating than both Gabbert and Brady in the last preseason game (look it up), and deserves it. In fact, if Trask were dark-complected, Joe and all you haters would be screaming that the Bucs are rayciss for not giving Trask a shot. 100%.
October 20th, 2022 at 12:56 pm
“Da Bucs Guy Says: Let the rebuild start then!”
What I’ve been saying! Now the experts agree with me!
October 20th, 2022 at 12:57 pm
The Glazers won’t fire these 2 stooges for at least a couple years. If they did the NFL will fine them for being rayciss.
October 20th, 2022 at 12:59 pm
I’ll decide after the next game. Hopefully the team meeting did something.
October 20th, 2022 at 1:59 pm
Bucs aren’t going anywhere being soft in the trenches. You’ve got a rookie guard who is easily the worst G in the league and a barely serviceable 2nd year center.
On defense VV looks nothing like his former self and Akeem Hicks is nursing plantar fasciitis. Meanwhile Barrett is playin okay but JTS is getting handled by TEs.
October 20th, 2022 at 2:02 pm
Until further notice, pretenders. They have a lot to prove, and one or two good games against a few weak teams won’t change my mind. The good news is there’s plenty of time to find their identity, but I’ll need to see a metamorphosis to regain my pre-season optimism.
October 20th, 2022 at 2:28 pm
Damn straight! Leftwich is riding coattails and has finally been exposed. Horrible QB’s make really bad coaches.
October 20th, 2022 at 2:29 pm
Everybody has a crystal ball but none them has a rearview mirror when it’s over. People were burying the Bucs two years ago before they ran the table, REMEMBER?
October 20th, 2022 at 2:30 pm
BA was a better coach than everyone realized. This is crap.
October 20th, 2022 at 2:34 pm
You don’t need a crystal ball for this mess, and 2 years ago is not today.
October 20th, 2022 at 3:02 pm
Its either “Put Up” or “Shut Up” this week.
October 20th, 2022 at 3:05 pm
A pretender at least gets credit for projecting an image that might mislead some.
The Bucs aren’t that. They just flat out suck.
October 20th, 2022 at 3:07 pm
From our players to our coaches, it took a total team effort to be as lousy as we are right now. It’s still early and we have far too much talent to be a .500 team at the end of tbe year. If we don’t make the playoffs, I would go all scorched earth on most of our coaches and even look to trade/not resign some dudes.
October 20th, 2022 at 3:37 pm
One has to wonder IF Brady demanded we get rid of Arians, or Arians did this to us on his own ?
One thing is for sure, we were a lot better team when Arians was still coaching.