You’re No Fun!
June 20th, 2023
It seems a life raft has been launched.
Joe is (was?) a big fan of Football Outsiders. Reasonable stats, objective analysis, excellent writing. Joe’s good friend Mike Tanier was a must-read for Joe. But in the not-so-distant past, Football Outsiders was sold. Then they weren’t paying writers. For the past month, that site has been dark.
So it seems a few of the Football Outsiders‘ gang has found a life raft of sorts at something called Underdog Network. There, Tanier resumed his work.
And in a recent series of columns, Tanier crafted a Fun Index, meaning teams that will be the most fun to watch this fall. The Bucs, sadly, come in as the least fun team in the league to watch.
Simply put, Tanier doesn’t believe Baker Mayfield moves the needle. In fact, he can’t find any reason one would want to watch Kyler Traskfield behind center.
The Baker Mayfield/Kyle Trask quarterback competition is a threat, not a plan, and the Buccaneers were boring in 2022 with Tom Brady at quarterback. Worst of all, the Buccaneers didn’t liberate Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, or many of their big-name defensive veterans so they could at least tank with Bad News Bears-level flair.
Joe agrees, in part. That Bucs offense last year was boring as hell and with the stars they had, it was inexcusable. No wonder SpongeBob can’t find work, not even in college.
(Jags fans, you should thank your lucky stars each and every night that Shad Con Khan selected Doug Pederson over SpongeBob.)
Hopefully, new offensive coordinator Dave Canales can add juice to the offense. At the very least, from what Joe has seen in underwear football season, Canales’ offense is, well, certainly different.
June 20th, 2023 at 4:33 am
At the very least, our players have plenty of fuel to have a giant chip on their shoulders.
June 20th, 2023 at 7:19 am
Count me as a glass half full dude. I expect that the D will be solid because well…that’s Bowles wheel house. I think Canales and Mayfield, with all that offensive talent to work with, will surprise some folks. “And that’s all I have to say about that”.
June 20th, 2023 at 7:48 am
The players talk about loving the HC, but their energy level on the field tells a very different story. Boring is putting it kindly.
Under Todd this team sleepwalks through multiple game stretches
It’s literally a joke
June 20th, 2023 at 8:06 am
Upset buffalo or philly we become must see TV. One thing that is never boring is winning. We could be the worst story in football, or the must surprising.
June 20th, 2023 at 8:18 am
Leftwich not going to the Jags cost us 2 3rd round picks………what a bummer.
June 20th, 2023 at 8:26 am
The funny thing is the Bucs have had many teams in the past that were not good offensively, but a great defense made it enjoyable for the fans. That’s kind of what we have to hope for again this upcoming season. Run the ball and play great defense.
June 20th, 2023 at 9:07 am
Last years Bucs were one of the most boring football teams ive seen in a long time. I dont know how it could be much worse tbh. The Mike Glennon year might have been more entertaining.
June 20th, 2023 at 9:26 am
Seems to me, albeit still early, Dave Canales brings fun back to this offense. With his high energy, positive attitude, and celebration of success, I believe the players and fans will have some fun this season. This should happen unless, Mr Boring , I mean Todd Bowles, figures out a way to deflate the tires again this season. We’ll see! Best case scenario is that Todd Bowles gets on the Canales bandwagon and starts having some fun too!! After all is said and done, football is just a game!! The problem I see is that it’s hard to teach old dogs new tricks!
June 20th, 2023 at 9:52 am
Just win baby!! minds will be changed… I really see no real heavy power houses in the NFC. If Defense shows up, the division title is easily winnable. Go Bucs!
June 20th, 2023 at 10:02 am
I think they will be fun to watch in a Jameis sort of way. Entertaining with Baker, but just not winning. However, If Canales can implement his offense and make it simple yet keep the opposing D guessing, the Bucs have a chance to win the division.
June 20th, 2023 at 10:11 am
Every offseason there are “experts” in mass quantities who will tell you that they know what is going to happen during the season. They are not always wrong, but they are wrong often enough to make their “expert” status questionable. It is especially laughable among the guys whose only claim to expertise is that they are journalists who work for a network, newspaper or magazine that covers the NFL. Peter King comes to mind. The other sad fact is that these guys have so satutated the various media with their misinfomed bs that the players don’t get the motivation to prove them wrong with much intensity or at all unless that player is very prideful. Because it is so plentiful. it just rolls off like water on a duck.
June 20th, 2023 at 10:45 am
I wonder what Tanier thought about the QB that did move Joes Needle in that game against Pitt. We had him for 5 long seasons, “The OG Savior”, and ” America’s QB” He was not “fun” to watch either. But at least he moved Joes’ needle….
June 20th, 2023 at 10:57 am
Typically, I am a glass half full guy.
I was not a Baker Mayfield fan before he got here, and I was not a Dave Canales fan before he got here.
Not sure why I should get excited that either are here now.
However, if they are two guys that are responsible for executing plays and calling plays this year, I will root for them and hope they are above average in their craft at the NFL level.
I just don’t really see anything yet that suggests they will move the win needle in a positive way.
June 20th, 2023 at 11:34 am
I agree with several of the above comments. I think we’re being underestimated. Our defense should be solid and I think our offense is going to surprise a lot of people. I think Canales offense fits Mayfields strengths perfectly. The other thing I’ve thought about is how Geno flourished in that offense last year and Russel Wilson struggled terribly without it. Was it the scheme that made the Seahawk offense? I think it was and I think we’re going to see that here.
And from the article yesterday that Brady was hiding flaws. He was hiding a broken down offensive line and SpongeBob’s ridiculous play calling all while he personally played the worst he’s played during his career. I think we’ve fixed the SpongeBob problem and if the offensive line gels- watch out. We could easily be one of the best teams in the nfc with our defense.
June 20th, 2023 at 12:30 pm
We really do not know if the new offense will be any good. It’s going to be pretty basic and focused on limiting mistakes.
That do not sound fun to me.
And so far as the defense? Well…it’s the same one from last year.
June 20th, 2023 at 12:41 pm
It really is a shame to see the disrespect the area gets within sports period. Not just the area but the whole state kind of deals with it with all the other teams, too!
June 20th, 2023 at 12:55 pm
Joe,
Can you elaborate on the con reference to Shad?
June 20th, 2023 at 1:33 pm
Upstate NY BUC makes an under appreciated/discussed observation …
The NFC is soft and available for the taking.
Things to Consider:
1. Rodgers & TB12 are gone. There isn’t a legit starting quarterback outside of Hurts.
2. The NFC East teams will beat each other up.
2. All NFC playoff winners have the hardest ranked schedules, except the Bucs (22).
3. I don’t see big improvements to any NFCS team. (Carr sucks and so does their OC)
The Bucs can win 10 games and finish 2-4 in NFC
June 20th, 2023 at 1:37 pm
You know what Joe meant.
June 20th, 2023 at 2:09 pm
So #1 on this index is the team most likely to run a trick play while the cheerleaders go topless and free beer is served?
June 20th, 2023 at 3:11 pm
Your team is boring when they don’t win. Winning trumps boring
June 20th, 2023 at 3:24 pm
It’s no fun, unless they win. If they lose, it is also no fun.
It’s the silly season for sure.