Intense Bucs Defense
November 13th, 2023
Lavonte David
Man, was it cool to see the Bucs defense hunting yesterday.
In Joe’s vernacular, “hunting” for a defense means the hounds are turned loose. Time to chase down the ballcarrier or more importantly, bury a quarterback.
Yes, the defense was aggressive yesterday. The Bucs came out from the opening snap wanting to outmuscle and dictate how the game was played.
In the opening quarter alone in the 20-6 win over the Titans, the Bucs demonstrated how the game was going to be played and what the Titans were going to have to tolerate all game long.
The Bucs had five tackles for loss in the first 15 minutes. No other NFL team has had a better opening quarter this season on defense.
When your front seven dominates like the Bucs defense did early, you will win a good chunk of games.
It’s great the Bucs did this to Tennessee. Can they carry on that success next week at San Francisco? That’s a whole different animal.
November 13th, 2023 at 11:30 am
Screens , draws, and quick slants must be called aplenty against SF as their Dline is astoundingly good as was evidenced against the Jags yesterday.
November 13th, 2023 at 11:31 am
Gotta credit them for the bounce back. They got embarrassed last week, and I was very interested to see how they responded. It’s time for JTS to play the backup role and Dee Delaney looks pretty decent at safety.
Everyone expecting to get beat down by the 9ers but they’ve already shown they can have a bad week. A win in SF would be HUGE for this squad.
November 13th, 2023 at 11:39 am
“In Joe’s vernacular, “hunting” for a defense means the hounds are turned loose. Time to chase down the ballcarrier or more importantly, bury a quarterback.”
It’s kind of hard for our players to hunt when Todd Bowles is calling that weak as Cover 2 defense. I’m glad Todd Bowles got back to “the basic fundamentals” of only running cover two when teams are inside the red zone and letting our two tall, strong, physical cornerbacks lock down the wide receiver on their side of the football field.
November 13th, 2023 at 11:45 am
I’m not high on this team. Once win over a horrible team doesn’t make up for four straight losses. The Atlanta Loss was horrible. The Detroit loss was pathetic.
November 13th, 2023 at 11:51 am
San Fran is gonna steam roll us.
But hey, we are in loser division so we don’t have to be good, right?
As long as we s*ck less than everyone else we unstoppable
November 13th, 2023 at 11:51 am
“Can they carry on that success next week at San Francisco?”
LMAO. You already know the answer to that question is “no”.
November 13th, 2023 at 12:07 pm
I don’t care if we beat the niners, match their intensity and let the chips fall where they may
I can live with a loss if we show up and play hard for 60 minutes
What I can’t take one more time is a team that shows up flat and unmotivated against an inferior or superior opponent
Thankfully that didn’t happen yesterday
November 13th, 2023 at 12:22 pm
SF is undefeated and scores 30+ when Deebo is on the field and 0-3 and scores 17 when he isn’t. I don’t believe in that coincidence, so to beat SF I think we need 35+ on the board. Baker, ME & CG better have their wheaties Sunday or it could be ugly.
November 13th, 2023 at 12:30 pm
*Don’t believe that it’s a coincidence
November 13th, 2023 at 12:35 pm
Bowles called a decent game for the first time in a long time, and didn’t just sit back in a super soft passive zone all game. But that’s in the past, and going to San Fran, Bowles is first and foremost concerned with not getting embarrassed – not winning the game. So that means he’ll abandon the aggressive defensive, and the Bucs will go back to the super soft passive zone in an effort to limit the blowout loss. That’s how Todd thinks, which is why he’s a loser. Prove me wrong Todd.
November 13th, 2023 at 12:45 pm
Looking back at preseason picks… and I had the Bucs 4-5 right now, and yet finishing the season 5-12. Ouch.
I flip-flopped on that Indy game is what it came down to I think, when I made the pick, AR15 had been looking awesome in the preseason, but with him out, lets say the Bucs win in Indy, so now we’re up to 6-11. My preseason picks have them beating the Panthers in one of the two games, for the other win.
Since the #1 pick is off the table, I’d love to be proved wrong. But for all the good vibes today, the team is 2-5 over its last seven, and about to be 2-6. That doesn’t inspire much confidence in me. BUT, if the Bucs are to turn people into believers, they’ll need to be very competitive in this game, and not get blown out like 31-6, which I think is the most likely outcome. But hey, in Buffalo, they bored the Bills to sleep and nearly snuck back into it – with the help of 32 Bills penalties. If the game does come down to a hail mary, then that’s likely a positive outcome, and would make me feel a lot better about them.
November 13th, 2023 at 12:49 pm
If they go in to San Fran, refind their balls from 2020 and in particular Devin White plays like like he did in the Divisional Round then maybe ill get a half a hard on and start to day dream mildly about whatever glimmer of potential they have. Until then we are nothing more than fodder for whatever team with a better record unfairly having to come to Tampa to play a road playoff game. The 2023 NFC South may very well be the worst division top to bottom in what…the past 5 years? 10 years? Ever?
November 13th, 2023 at 12:53 pm
I feel the same way, Voice of Truth. The last two games were very exciting and had many good plays. The defense came alive in this one though. I saw some terrific pass rush for a change. Perhaps we should all feel like our Bucs are on an upswing and building!
November 13th, 2023 at 1:16 pm
Mike vabrel is know to have a physical team while yes the titans arnt good we still beat a physical team with a RB who is a dump truck. Bengals also got beat by the Texans so y’all saying we keep beating bad teams means nothing in the NFL. Any team can win on any given Sunday.
November 13th, 2023 at 1:23 pm
The only way this team beats SF, is to play a WC offense and largely abandon the run. On the defense, they have to put a spy on Purdy like Winfield and put man coverage on McCafferty out of the backfield. LB’s have to have lane discipline to limit McCafferty from getting big gains. JTS should not start, he is gutless.
November 13th, 2023 at 1:24 pm
The defense was great against a trash team 0-5 on the road while offense could hardly score. Fire HC and bench the little man Baker. If your second best receiver is your running back it mans your qb is no good. He is only good a short passes dumping to the White while Chris G. is hardly involved in offense.
November 13th, 2023 at 1:33 pm
The Tennessee Titans offensive line is one of, if not the worst in football, add to that they have injuries. Let’s see how the Bucs fare against a quality opponent.
November 13th, 2023 at 1:34 pm
Still not sold on this defense. Levis was constantly missing wide open guys all day.
– The Bucs still have a enormous hole at SS, Ryan Neal sucks and Dee Delaney sucks less.
– Carlton Davis appears to have the Yips and Zyon McCollum isn’t good either
– JTS still gets way too much playing time.
The improvements I saw from defense was a much better gameplan for Devin White and a reduced snap count for non factor Greg Gaines.
November 13th, 2023 at 1:56 pm
Tbb3
Gotta agree with you. Watched the replay this morning. Tennessee’s opening drive looked like same old stuff to me..
Levi’s missed plenty of open throws, and the Titans are dreadful.
I’m glad we won, but it wasn’t all that.
November 13th, 2023 at 2:08 pm
When Joe says,
“Can they carry on that success next week at San Francisco?”
It all depends upon how good the Niners O-line is. They are pretty good, I suspect.
If the Bucs can penetrate the Niners O-line like they did against the Teats, we will win, methinks.
If the Bucs can penetrate the Niners O-line like they did against Beagles, we will not win, methinks.
Oh and how good is the Niners D-line? Almost forgot about those guys.
Not expecting a win, but I’m hoping for intensity and a competitive fire against the Niners, something to truly build upon if/when the Bucs meet a quality opponent in the playoffs (presuming they make it).
Go Bucs ! ! !
November 13th, 2023 at 2:15 pm
Bucs Defense face a hella task against the 40ers O line. That Line is rock solid. Its going to take a titans type game and more out there in Frisco.
November 13th, 2023 at 2:17 pm
As long as Todd is the head coach the probability is high we play any game like we did against the Cowboys in last year’s “home playoff game.”
November 13th, 2023 at 3:09 pm
We have sucked in years past going out to candlestick park and this won’t be no different. As much as I want to be hopeful. This is probably a blow out by half time. That’s just being real.
November 13th, 2023 at 3:40 pm
I think the Bucs have the horses on D if they play with the same aggressiveness and fire. Not confident in the O though. I don’t think they’re going to score enough points to give the Bucs any type of chance, but maybe they surprise.
November 13th, 2023 at 4:19 pm
Hey joes, can you kindly update LVD’s picture? How about 3 years ago, when Bucs won the game that sent them on the path to the SB? He pulled his helmet off as he came off the field, and his face was wet from not just sweat. He deserves it, so go do it. You’ve got it in your photo files.
November 13th, 2023 at 5:35 pm
Lombardi Lenny … ‘San Fran is gonna steam roll us.’
Maybe, maybe not. San Fran opened the season 5-0 before losing 3 in a row to the Browns, Vikings & Bengals. Thankfully they won Sunday … 34-3 against a good Jaguars team … and broke that losing streak to make it to 6-3 now.
Looked for commonalities in the 3 losses (to see if there was a common thread on how opponents beat them) but only found two.
1 – 49ers lost the TOP battle in all 3 losses.
2 – Brock Purdy threw 5 INTs in the 3 losses (49ers committed 6 giveaways in the losses to the Vikings & Bengals. plus 1 more in their loss to the Browns).
San Fran turned that around in beating up on the Jaguars. They won the TOP Battle handily by rushing (30 times) more than they passed (28 times). The Jags also committed 4 giveaways to none for the 49ers. IOW, Jags beat themselves (we’re familiar with the concept).
Interestingly, the 49ers rushed MORE than they passed in ALL 6 wins, but they rushed LESS than they passed in ALL 3 losses. Maybe Brock Purdy isn’t a whiz kid after all.
IF Bucs can hold 49ers rushing attack at bay (less than a 4.0 YPC average and less than 120 yards or so) AND win the Turnover Battle by PLUS 2 or more, we’ve got a chance to beat them. Since they’ve only given up 143 total points in 9 games (15.9 PPG average) I wouldn’t anticipate that the Bucs would amass 30 or 40 points on them. IF we win, it’ll be because our defense held them to 15 or 16 points AND our offense capitalized on takeaways to put up 17 or 18 points ourselves (close game in that case IOW). Always the possibility that we could get trounced though (San Fran is a very physical team).
November 13th, 2023 at 6:01 pm
This week comes down to urgency. Desire. Pride. Anything other than a win is another nail in Bowles’ coffin. If these players love him like they call claim, they will snort horseradish and fight and save his job. And their own. If Devin White wants a contract, play like yesterday.
SF is just a team. Not Gods. Purdy is not Montana. Hit him hard in his face. He will fold. Mccaffrey is injury prone. Stuff him. Kittle is a pretty boy. Knock him down.
There are no more margins for error.
November 13th, 2023 at 6:49 pm
Nice not to hear Brian Kelly and Hopkins name much.
November 14th, 2023 at 11:18 pm
We were Tennessee Ready!
LOL
Go Bucs!