Five Things
October 22nd, 2024
K.J. Britt chases Crows’ beastly RB Derrick Henry. (Photo courtesy of BaltimoreRavens.com.)
Exactly a month ago today when the Bucs lost to the Broncos, Joe was outraged. When the Bucs choked away a win against the Dixie Chicks, Joe was as p!ssed off as he has ever been at a Bucs loss. Still is.
After last night’s loss to the Crows, Joe is just numb and depressed. Almost in a state of disbelief.
What Joe saw was the best Bucs players not named “Tristan Wirfs,” or “Lavonte David” or “Antoine Winfield” go down for who knows how long.
“Loss” doesn’t begin to describe it.
Stunned/In-Shock Locker Room
Joe will try to give fans a peek behind the curtain after the game. It was surreal.
Joe was in the bowels of The Licht House in the final minutes of the game, watching the end with some cops just outside the Bucs’ locker room and near the same kiddie pool of ice water that C. J. Gardner-Johnson laid in overcome by the heat of being burned by the Bucs offense right and left.
Then, Joe sees Chris Godwin go down. One of the cops was absolutely sick. He bent over and moaned, “No, not Chris!”
Yep, it was Chris. Here came the cart. Air cast on his left ankle. Off comes the cart with Godwin in it.
Joe was looking for the cart, which went straight to an X-ray examination room away from the locker room.
Then, Joe saw a man and two women running past him. All wore No. 14 Bucs jerseys. The man looked just like Godwin. Joe guessed it was Godwin’s family and Joe jogged behind them hoping to get some intel.
Instead, the family ran to the X-ray/examination room. Joe spoke with a cop who was on duty near there and was told the three people were indeed Godwin’s family. Joe did not see Godwin’s wife. Maybe she was already in the room?
Shortly thereafter, the game ended and the Bucs began filing off the field into the locker room. Players and coaches looked as though they were leaving a church after a funeral and were headed to the cemetery.
No words were spoken. Many heads hung low. Joe saw Bucs coach Todd Bowles slightly bent over, staring at his feet as he walked by, fully crushed. Players’ demeanors were similar.
When Joe got into the locker room — not all — but some guys who always cooperate with media were not talking for the first time that Joe experienced.
It was funereal-like.
That locker room emptied out in a hurry.
If you were depressed last night, trust Joe, so were Bucs players and coaches. They not only had their arses handed to them by a real team that was well-coached (hat tip Todd Monken), Bucs players saw two of their best teammates and friends go down.
As a result, getting to the playoffs right now is very much in doubt. Will the Bucs even win nine games?
Inconsistent Bucs
This team is bipolar. No, really. They look awesome one week, then play like s(p)it the next. When they win they look really good. When they lose they look like dog feces.
Beat the Lions one week; get blasted by the Broncos the next.
Pound the Eagles one week; gag away a win over the Dixie Chicks the next.
Chain-whip the slimy Saints on the road one week; have the chain turned on them by the Crows the next.
The only thing consistent about this team is inconsistency. And good teams don’t get crushed this consistently.
Can Todd Bowles Fix The Defense?
The Bucs defense blows chunks. And how can a team with this bad of a defense have Pro Bowl players on each level (Vita Vea, Lavonte David, Antoine Winfield)?
Good defensive coaches find a way. Can Bucs coach Todd Bowles correct this defense? Simply put, if the Bucs hope to make the playoffs or win the NFC South in a four-peat, Bowles will have to brainstorm a way to win.
The Bucs are going to have to rely on old-school football until at least Mike Evans returns. That means ground-and-pound and play solid defense.
Good defensive coaches don’t have a defense in the bottom-five of the league. And that’s where the Bucs are trending after last night’s debacle.
The season hangs in the balance.
Run the Ball
Joe is a big believer in throwing the ball. Throw to win. One reason Joe is a monster proponent of the passing game is the Bucs had two of the best weapons a quarterback could have, Evans and Godwin.
Well, that’s gone for now. Maybe until Thanksgiving at best? So now, basically the Bucs are left with backups at receiver. Yikes.
In a span of about three hours, the Bucs went from having one of the best aerial attacks in the league to becoming a running team. Right now, the Bucs’ three-headed monster is the offense’s strength. The Bucs running backs. Yes, it has come to that.
So how did the Bucs’ running backs do last night? Bucky Irving had just a 2.6 yards per carry night with 23 yards, one more than Baker Mayfield.
Sean Tucker had 29 yards and an average of 5.8 yards a carry.
And Rachaad White led all Bucs in rushing with 40 yards averaging four yards a carry.
Add up all the running back’s yards from last night, that works out to 92 yards. Is that good enough to carry the Bucs?
The Saddest Scene
Joe knew this day was going to come someday. That day may have been last night.
Do you know that Bucs enforcer, sideline-to-sideline crusher Lavonte David has yet to have a 10-tackles game this year? That’s seven games and David has yet to reach 10 tackles in a game.
At the same point in the 2023 season, David had four games with 10 or more tackles.
For the first time in Joe’s eyes last night, David looked old. Joe never had seen David look sort of slow and out of place and being a non-factor.
He had two tackles. Two! That’s only happened three times going back to the ninth game of the 2016 season.
Joe has a bad feeling last night may be the beginning of the end of an era for the Bucs and one of the franchise’s best defensive players.
October 22nd, 2024 at 5:22 am
The defense is who we thought they were. The Ravens exposed just how bad they are. Bucs have a bunch of inexperienced players in the backfield that are clueless. The blitz isn’t going to cover for the horrible secondary and slow LBs.
October 22nd, 2024 at 5:32 am
damn joe this is some really depressing stuff mcgruff…
the problem is it all just might be on point…
can we somehow whip the falcons azz on sunday and maybe get mike back for the monday night kc match up…one’s gotta hope…
it’s like there are no good angles to look at what happened last night…
it’s like a tsunami rolled over our buccaneers man !
(prayers up for CG)
October 22nd, 2024 at 5:36 am
also i re-watched some highlights……or lowlights………
and i gotta say…whitehead was a disaster out there last night…it’s like he was in another world or something…i even saw a loaf…
also britt needs replacement – his area is open game for all quarterbacks…it’s a pretty serious issue…now let me go grab a tissue
October 22nd, 2024 at 5:41 am
The rb’s also added close to 120 yards in the passing game. They will need to produce that much or more in the coming weeks.
October 22nd, 2024 at 5:50 am
Todd has no one to blame but himself for Godwin. It could have easily been Baker getting his ankle broken. Even after Godwin went down he still had Mayfield dropping back. The game was already over when Godwin went down. With a big game coming in a short week, Todd dared fate to spite him, and it did. Without Chris, this season is over. However, wasn’t it over already? Good teams don’t play defense that poorly. When Todd called blitz, the other Todd called screen, touchdown! Out coached, again, out played, again. Ira said the Bucs needed their big boy pants for this game. Instead they wore their pull up diapers, and soiled them. I see the Glazers firing Bowles, and hiring Belichick, right, or wrong.
October 22nd, 2024 at 5:53 am
Heres one thing. Fire Todd Bowles for leaving chris out there for garbage time.
October 22nd, 2024 at 6:11 am
We had a big chance to take out the dirty birds next Sunday. Todd destroyed that chance. It will take a herculean effort. I am sick and disappointed. It’s literally something new that Bowles does every time we lose. Honestly I thi k he should go. I’m tired of underperforming, seeing talent wasted. One step forward, two steps back for Bowles.
October 22nd, 2024 at 6:12 am
David spent a good deal of time out there and had some plays. He had a difficult foot injury a couple years ago many said he could not return from and and is also old for his position.
All things considered – David is, and has historically been a solid contributor on the beloved Ducs D. Go Bucs!
October 22nd, 2024 at 6:23 am
Gota show up every week. Speaking of week they have a shot since the NFC south is weak. They’ll always be inconsistent with bowles. For his supporters tho most teams are.
October 22nd, 2024 at 6:25 am
bakefield bad throws stopped Coen from overcoming Bowles lousy defense. it was their only hope.
October 22nd, 2024 at 6:53 am
The game turned on one play. A perfect pass right into Evans’ two hands that was dropped. I’ll attribute that to him losing focus because of the pain from his hamstring injury. It was downhill from there.
October 22nd, 2024 at 6:58 am
Look, the better team won last night. Everyone acknowledged that this game would be a good barometer on the strength of the Bucs. Well, we’re just not a SB contender. We might have had the horses on offense to get it done, but clearly the defense is porous as a sieve. Good QBs will continue to pick us apart. And Jackson, who is a great QB, was on fire last night. It sucks having our top 2 receivers go down, but the offense can still put up points. We’re just not going to go too far this season the way the defense is playing.
October 22nd, 2024 at 7:00 am
The injuries were devastating for sure and probably will impact the rest of the season. Godwin presence and plays is like half the offense and with Evans also out you lose so many thing you can do. Way bad luck.
Even if we can win Atlanta the rest of the season will be so difficult.
But will be difficult a lot because of the Defense. We cant pretend no more.
The Defense is not close to good enough. We give up 500+ yards every other game. Most of the stops are because of a turnover, we hardly see the oppositions Punter anymore.
I ve been saying since last season this philosophy of Bent but dont Break just does not work anymore. It cant work with inconsistent pass rush. It cant work with soft coverage with 10 yds off. Yes sometimes if you make enough crucial plays it will look good like Detroit or Saints. But you cant expect to compete week in and week out with this approach. Definitely you wont go far in the playoffs.
Games like Detroit is a mirage and just fools you into thinking that this Defense works. Yes you won because you made enough plays but again you gave up 500+ yds. There will be games that you wont be able to make those plays enough.
The season is quite possibly over (for something big at least) but not only because of the injuries. If we are honest with each other with this kind of Defense (since we know Bowles wont change) the chances of doing a long playoff run were slim to begin with. Too bad because this Coens Offense really looks like they can do things.
Go Bucs
October 22nd, 2024 at 7:06 am
Praying for CG. Last night was a joke. Poor coaching and an unsettled QB who has peaked. Bye bye season. Sad, was the game and division were right there for the taking.
October 22nd, 2024 at 7:11 am
Cut our losses, fire Todd and let Cohen use the rest of the season for him moving into the HC position permanently next year. Otherwise, he’ll be a HC elsewhere, Todd will be gone and then we’re left with nothing. Belicheat is not the answer. He’s really old and got exposed after Brady left. We don’t need that here. Fans will not complain if Todd is fired in place of Cohen even though we are 4-3. Some fans may even say “good job Glazers” for getting ahead of it.
October 22nd, 2024 at 7:21 am
It’s shaping up that the rest of this season is an extended audition/interview for Coen to be HC next yr. If the offense continues to put up 30/game without its 2 stud WRs and the defense continues to give 40/game, the job is his
October 22nd, 2024 at 7:30 am
BuddhaBuc, that is an idea I like but the Glazers have never launched a HC during the season (last time the Bucs did it was 1990 with Perkins and Hugh C was running things). They might make some calls (allegedly, they did contact Lovie in his basement when Schiano was flaming out) but they will let Bowles finish. Now they could launch him ala Lovie and promote Coen like they did Koetter if Coen can keep the O respectable despite losing Godwin for the season and Evans likely until the bye. I just hpe Coen does better than Koetter if that happens.