Rachaad White: Defenses Offering Opportunities
November 20th, 2023
Taking advantage.
Joe is really impressed howRachaad White has grown into maybe the best receiving back in the league. That’s right, he’s been that good for the past month.
Just don’t get Joe started on him as a runner.
So Joe heard a lot from Bucs coach Todd Bowles and some from Baker Mayfield yesterday in Santa Clara that the reason why Mike Evans and Chris Godwin are getting fewer targets early in recent games is because defenses are determined to take them out.
It’s a smart move by defenses. Roll the dice with the lesser guys like Deven Thompkins, Trey Palmer, Cade Otton and White.
Well, it used to be White. He’s no longer a lesser receiver.
Joe asked White yesterday if his receiving numbers have exploded recently in part because defenses are so worried about Evans and Godwin. White said there is no doubt.
“Yeah, you can see a lot, teams just bail out,” White said. “They just drop out. I think certain times today, though, the corners fell off.
“Yeah, [San Francisco] played [Evans and Godwin] really tough. Who wouldn’t?”
That’s the thing about football. Take away one or two guys and that opens opportunities for other offensive weapons. White has taken advantage.
Thompkins? He didn’t catch a pass yesterday but had a great 17-yard run. Trey Palmer has been hit or miss but he mostly hit yesterday.
Joe is looking for the bright side. If the Bucs can move the ball against the 49ers, they ought to be able to move the ball against the Colts next week.
November 20th, 2023 at 9:03 am
Mayfield can complete passes to White because he’s only 5 yards away. Anybody farther upfield is a crapshoot for Baker.
November 20th, 2023 at 9:29 am
good to see canales using the seam a little more…it’s working
November 20th, 2023 at 9:30 am
Realistic-optimistic…. That’s total bs baker is doing a damn good job so far this year considering the center and gaurd positions are weak links and has no true rb to help carry the team. He’s been on point with a lot of his passes around the field, he’s definitely missed some throws but every qb does.
November 20th, 2023 at 9:36 am
We are so fortunate that Evans & Godwin are healthy….if one of them goes down, I’m afraid that it will end our season.
As far as White as a running back……Vaughn, Tucker & Edmonds can’t run behind this line either……neither could “Playoff” Lenny last year.
November 20th, 2023 at 9:42 am
So the SF defense changed in the 2nd half? They focus on ME and Godwin thus allowing only 1 reception between them in the first half, and in the 2nd half Godwin and ME have 10 more receptions?
What a load of BS from Bowles – SF was scheming their D to take out our stud WRs -NO TODD, IT WAS YOU WHO TOOK THEM OUT OF THE GAME!!! Quit wasting plays running the ball until you are out of the game and then start being aggressive passing to the best set of WRs in the NFL. What a joker Bowles is
November 20th, 2023 at 9:42 am
Colt game is shaping up to be a good one to watch.
November 20th, 2023 at 9:55 am
Hi, finally others are saying the same thing, while White may not be a franchise back, as I said before nobody can run behind this o line. 3 weak players on the inside of the line. Let’s hope White does not get injured. He is obviously a 3rd down back and could be a great compliment to another back not presently on this team.
November 20th, 2023 at 10:12 am
Deff bin pounding the drum often about RW1 and his YAC abilities. Dude literally broke one of the corners ankles yesterday and that corner missed the rest of the game. He’s a beast when he gets the ball in space. Honestly if we got some road graders up front and paired him with a bruising back who can find a whole and explode thru it this offense would deff take the next step
November 20th, 2023 at 10:22 am
Imagine what Sean Payton could have done with this O?!
Personally can’t stand the guy but he’s a good ball coach n would of had this so rolling with the weapons the Bucs have
November 20th, 2023 at 10:22 am
That’s exactly what happened to the Bucs. They focused on CMC and Deebo and it gave Kittle and Aiyuk opportunities to break free. Of course it didn’t help that our coverage sucked and we missed a couple of tackles.
November 20th, 2023 at 10:34 am
This is bunch of horse crap by Baker not being able to hit Mike E. and Chris G with the deep balls. If this was the case White should have 100 plus yards every game. You have garbage qb and OC If your running back is your first receiver option and is second leading NFL in receiving.
Baker hardly passing the ball to Mike E. and Chris G. in first half of the games. Why ? Cause he can’t and coaches are so concerned Baker throwing picks. They rather be conservative with him. That is why we can’t beat any good teams. You have to be in it to win it. Dink and dunk captain to White is not going to beat many quality teams.
November 20th, 2023 at 10:38 am
We all saw yesterday when they Baker throwing all over the places with at least four passes which should have been intercepted. Then towards the end he leads long drive twice on fourth downs with no points even when 49’ers defense was playing not to lose with the game already decided.
November 20th, 2023 at 11:05 am
You don’t win many games in the NFL by scoring only 14 points. You also don’t win many games by surrendering 27 points. One would think that yesterday’s game was a model for what a 27-14 loss looks like, but it really wasn’t.
It was more a model for 1 team (the winner) making more big plays than the other (the loser) when big plays were needed. SF had 30 rushes … 4 of them were for 10 yds or more (2 of those played a role in their scoring drives). SF had 25 passes, with 21 complete (84%) … 12 of them were for 10 yds or more (6 of those played a role in their scoring drives). So that’s 16 plays that gained 10 or more yards (normally enough for a 1st down?). And SF only had 59 plays all together, and they were only 4-of-11 on 3rd/4th down conversions (ie, they were usually getting their 1st downs on 1st & 2nd downs).
Bucs OTOH had 18 rushes … only 1 of those went for 10 yds or more (and it was a key play in setting up our 1st TD). Bucs had 45 passes with 29 complete (64.4%) … 9 of them were for 10 yards or more. Bucs had 67 plays all together, and they were 8-for-17 on 3rd/4th down conversions (we had considerably more 3rd/4th down opportunities & did better at converting them).
All in all though, SF had more big plays (16 total for 10 or more yds) than the Bucs did (10 total for 10 or more yds). Their offense whooped our defense in not just running the passing game, but also the running game. Still, we did some good things; just not enough of them.
November 20th, 2023 at 11:37 am
I know a lot of people love Baker but he’s not very good.
The last three red zone tries failed because he was throwing into double and triple coverage. He could have gone for the first down and extended the drive but kept trying bad passes to the end zone.
Evans should have had 150 yards yesterday. He can’t hit a long throw to Evans.
He almost got two WR killed with throws over the middle. He doesn’t see the Safety.
If you’re a Baker fan, enjoy the season. He’s a journeyman QB. He won’t be the starter next year.
November 20th, 2023 at 11:49 am
The roster’s not deep enough to count on 3’s and 4’s because the D’s taking away your 1’s and 2’s. Is this an inexperienced playcaller or an overly conservative HC surrendering to the “take what they give us” philosophy?
November 20th, 2023 at 1:23 pm
Crazy he juked the into a torn ACL
November 20th, 2023 at 2:22 pm
The statistics that Fox showed during the game regarding the history of our running game were eye-opening. It has sucked for many years. Can’t just blame it on the O line either, have to consider the practice squad-type RBs we have had besides Doug Martin and Lenny.