Jamel Dean Cost Bucs Valuable Seconds
October 4th, 2024
Jamel Dean immediately popped off Falcons receiver Drake London after making this tackle.
So late in the fourth quarter last night when the Bucs defense tried to hold a three-point lead to keep the Falcons (who had used all their timeouts) out of field goal range, Tampa Bay was 1 second shy of completing the task.
Atlanta marched down the field on the desperation drive and found various ways to get out of bounds, and Tykee Smith’s forced fumble luckily bounced in their direction.
The Falcons found themselves with 12 seconds remaining with a second-down play on the Bucs’ 43 yard line trailing the Bucs 30-27.
Did Atlanta go for a quick-out throw to get a few yards and get out of bounds? No. They gambled on throwing over the middle, hoping to find a completion and time to rush upfield and spike the ball to set up a field goal.
They opted for a slant pass to Drake London with Jamel Dean on him in tight coverage (for a change.)
The pass was complete for eight yards and London ran for five more. Dean tackled him with 8 seconds remaining and immediately popped off London like the Falcons’ No. 1 receiver had a case of lice. Atlanta managed to spike the ball with one second remaining.
Today, without naming Dean, Bowles acknowledged that Dean should have stayed on top of London to kill a little clock. “We should have laid on him,” Bowles said.
It might have meant the game.
Football is about details. That was situational football and it’s practiced by the defense. Defensive backs are taught to not get off whomever they tackle if the offense is pressed for time. You see it executed in high school.
Joe mentioned another little detail, which was Lavonte David’s fourth-down interception. If David was situationally aware, then he would have batted the ball down. That would have saved the Bucs eight yards of field position and put them in much better field-goal range.
There are many other little things throughout the game — every game for every team — especially on that final regulation drive, when the Bucs struggled to keep players in bounds.
October 4th, 2024 at 1:01 pm
Odd. Maybe it was someone else but I saw someone sort of look like he was leaning on the receiver and I was scared we were going to get nailed with a flag
October 4th, 2024 at 1:02 pm
Between that and the Atl player spotting the ball, not the ref is what did us in!! I watched the reply about 20 times and it appeared the ref may have put his finger on the football…at most. Can we confirm the rules, not that it matters but….
Lack of details was littered through this game that we deserved to lose!
October 4th, 2024 at 1:03 pm
*replay
October 4th, 2024 at 1:04 pm
Yes! That’s exactly what I’m talking about. Todd apparently doesn’t teach it. Lay on him an extra beat or two. Tell Bucky when heading into the pile at the end of a game, two hands on the football. When in FG range where a FG ices the game, don’t run plays with a high risk of lost yardage. Tell the O-linemen not to do anything that could remotely be called holding at that juncture. And yes, passing the ball to Chris and Mike is ok. Jenius Crimes.
October 4th, 2024 at 1:07 pm
Boy you nitpicking now
The fumble by kid killed us simple
Move on
October 4th, 2024 at 1:10 pm
There’s no rule in the NFL against laying on an opponent until a referee tells you to get off the pile. This is completely on Dean and Bowles. I even told my wife that all we had to do was lay on the guy if they got a completion. Plus, there was a timeout to coach the players up and inform them about that strategy. But he’s great and timeouts don’t matter it’s clearly not coaching; its clearly Baker’s fault we lost. (SARCASM THICK ENOUGH) I know the Glazers aren’t likely to cut bait mid-season, but at the very least, they should consider bringing someone in to Coach the Coach. His time management and attention to detail at the end of games is atrocious.
Ultimately though even with all these baffling decisions the refs screwed the Bucs last night…
October 4th, 2024 at 1:22 pm
Joe, Dean apparently does listen to Todd when he asks him to play closer to the line of scrimmage, do you think he will listen to him about a detail like this? #sarcasm
October 4th, 2024 at 1:22 pm
I mean, doesn’t listen to Todd
October 4th, 2024 at 1:27 pm
Dean was horrible man. Trash soft coverage.
October 4th, 2024 at 1:29 pm
Dean and Britt gave very bad performances
October 4th, 2024 at 1:31 pm
Fernando Says:
October 4th, 2024 at 1:07 pm
Boy you nitpicking now
I agree Fernando, its easy for Joe and others to play the “hindsight” blame game from their couches while all these supposed subtle “mistakes” are happening in real time at rapid speed.
Joe blaming LVD for catching that interception was one of the most pathetic things ive seen in awhile…..
October 4th, 2024 at 1:41 pm
If that were the Bucs in that situation, the clock would have said :00, we all know that was BS, clock should have run out
October 4th, 2024 at 1:47 pm
I thought what lost the game was…
Bucs got called for holding when they were at the 30 within range of a FG to put them up 6 and the Falcons would have had to drive the length of the filed with no time outs.
October 4th, 2024 at 1:51 pm
Damn I’m sorry but we’re starting to sound like whiny little beotches and fair weather fans.
It’s one game. Hard to swallow because we had the favored team, a division rival down and let them get up.
But as Chad and Jeremy sang in the 60’s…”That was yesterday and yesterdays’ gone”.
I’m sorry I’m over it. I just want Winfield back in time for New Orleans and Kancey as well. I’m not gripping about this team, or it’s coach, or it’s QB.
The hole at ILB is concerning but again if Vocea could stay healthy there may yet be hope there as well and when Winfield returns he’s a smart great athlete who will also help in the middle. I’m looking for an int from Winfield when Cousins comes to RayJay.
October 4th, 2024 at 1:54 pm
I agree with this…complete lack of situational awareness on this play and the Bucky Irving fumble. Before he fumbled, I thought that a fumble would be the Atlantas only chance and then he fumbled.
Then when they went over the middle instead of the sidelines, with 12 seconds left, that ends the game the vast majority of times.
Complete and total failure to have any level of situational awareness in those situations anhd it cost us the game.
October 4th, 2024 at 1:55 pm
That’s not what lost this game, first thing was the lack of healthy players and players not being in shape to be in positions to make plays. Second Bowles telling the offense to shut it down in the 4th quarter. Nothing more Nothing less.
October 4th, 2024 at 1:56 pm
After thinking about this after a horrible night sleep I didn’t recognize dean getting up ASAP or think about lavonte Davids int instead of batting it down. Not putting this on David but Dean was getting torched all game. Also thought Bucky should have just fell down instead of going for more and like I said last night was screaming for him to get down lol. We shot ourselves in the foot and lost… Point being never leave it to the refs.
Not so funny but kinda funny thing was I was talking to my dad who is a die hard “redskin” Commanders fan and told him Kirk was going to have a you like that game and he said there was no chance.
Kudos to the offense for majority of the game but missed tackles, bad D game plan, and defensive injuries have mounted up a ton. There’s a next man up mentality but with so many out it’s hard to strike on the next man up
October 4th, 2024 at 1:56 pm
You don’t give away games that are in your lap. That is unforgiveable. With the uncoverage pass defense, we are in for some more poundings and Todd still coaches like he thinks his defense is good. We need to go full 40 burger, every game, no matter what lead we have. We all know that Todd and this pass defenseless is incapable of holding a lead now that the cat is out of the bag on the incompetent individuals who can’t play football in the back 7.
October 4th, 2024 at 1:57 pm
Their schedule isn’t gonna get any easier the next 6 weeks or so.
October 4th, 2024 at 1:59 pm
Seriously, you guys are going to blame Dean’s failure to lay on the player on Coach Bowels because he must have failed to teach him to do that and is yet another reason he should be fired. How long has Dean been playing football? No Coach has never mentioned that in all those years? Please!! Stop blaming the coach for every miscue. The players have to be held accountable for their screwups. Not everything is on the coaches. We had so many injuries. The secondary really, really misses Winfield. Now everyone hates Bowels again and wants him fired. Pathetic.
October 4th, 2024 at 2:00 pm
We are 3-2 even with Winfield, Vea, Kancey missing much of those games. Goedeke bring out has tied the offense hands as well. If we can get healthy we are in good shape.
October 4th, 2024 at 2:02 pm
StPete … ‘Damn I’m sorry but we’re starting to sound like whiny little beotches and fair weather fans.’
Oh so true StPete. In the final analysis we lost because Atlanta scored more points than we did. Or if you prefer, they allowed fewer points than we did. At least that’s what the official record book says. Hard loss, but those represent some of the best learning experiences. Never learn much from whining though.
October 4th, 2024 at 2:05 pm
Poor coaching.. I also blame the Press they never call him out during these press conferences the press just lob softballs questions at him.. no accountability. afraid they’re going to take press passes away like a good question is why is it always these coaching decisions that we take a loss does he ever learn anything? It seems it’s the small things he doesn’t knw, which turn into losses for the team
October 4th, 2024 at 2:08 pm
He’s been awful.
October 4th, 2024 at 2:18 pm
In chess, it is the player’s responsibility to make the moves, not the pieces themselves. This distinction is what separates good coaches from great ones. Coaches like Mike Shanahan, Bill Belichick, and currently Andy Reid exemplify this understanding.
I don’t advocate for anyone to be fired, but I believe Britt/Dean should be benched made an example of per say last night and they should take responsibility for last night’s loss, rather than Baker. We finally seem to have a competent quarterback, reminiscent of when Brady joined the team, and yet he is shouldering the blame despite the offense scoring 30 points.
Todd Bowles needs to improve his clock management and use timeouts more effectively. For instance, during the Falcons’ fourth down, they went hurry up. Call timeout make them think about it let your defense actually get set at least, and when Pitts went out of bounds at the end of the game, it was crucial to keep the plays in bounds and manage the clock better aka tell the players to lay on them for extra time to run off the clock.
Ultimately, the referees made a significant error by not calling a facemask on second down, (only called holding on Barton) which would have replayed the down and eliminated the valuable seconds for a potential game tieing field goal.
While it’s easy to analyze the situation with hindsight, I was frustrated by these details in real-time last night. If I can see these things there’s gotta be someone smarter than me that would be beneficial for Todd Bowles to hire with a keen strategic insight advising him during critical moments; it would be worth the investment financially.
Maybe Bruce Arians will help??
October 4th, 2024 at 2:26 pm
Bucs deserved to lose, but the spike was bs. The Falcons center set the ball on the line of scrimmage, not the ref. The ref just touched the ball after the center set it down. This cannot be correct officiating, and if it is, it shouldn’t. Only the ref should be able to the ball on the line of scrimmage.
October 4th, 2024 at 2:44 pm
One thing is clear, has been clear, for anyone objective.
Todd’s pass defense has sucked for too long now.
Offense must rule.
October 4th, 2024 at 2:54 pm
Lavonte should have hit the house call that olineman he tried to juke wasn’t gonna get him
October 4th, 2024 at 2:55 pm
So rookie Bucky Irving made a huge fumble. Veteran LVD intercepted a pass he shouldn’t have. CG14 fumbled but ME saved him. And here we find the Dean also had a brain cramp.
So what’s the solution? Find players who NEVER have brain cramps? I haven’t seen any perhaps you have. Oh that’s right, blame the coach for not “teaching” them better and making them perfect. I think I’m beginning to get it.
October 4th, 2024 at 2:58 pm
Could have held him up in the air before letting him go down as well
October 4th, 2024 at 2:58 pm
You can have the 15 yard line if you don’t have any time
October 4th, 2024 at 3:03 pm
Hopefully they learn from this but I am not counting on it.
October 4th, 2024 at 3:13 pm
And you shouldn’t give up a third or fourth and 14 for a touchdown and you shouldn’t fumble the ball when trying to run the clock out and the offense should have at least one long sustaining touchdown drive in the second half to finish a game and There shouldn’t be dozens of missed tackles and the right side of the offensive line to learn how to run block and the let goes on and on and on.
My biggest problem is Britt. I’ve been talking about it for a year.
I like the guy, great to come in as a run stuffer, but full-time when he only has tackle to tackle speed and can’t cover down the seam is starting to show up in a big way. Dennis looks like the heir apparent to LVD and is probably going to take snaps from Britt until then but now he’s gone for a few games and ILB is a massive liability other than LVD.
Oh, that said, they really need Kenzie and Winfield back. I need a consistent pass rush as usual
October 4th, 2024 at 3:23 pm
My question is, why in the hell didn’t the special teams coach instruct the punter to just kick a line drive out of bounds? Screw trying to get a favorable bounce or hoping our gunners get to the ball before it gets into the end zone.
October 4th, 2024 at 4:19 pm
I think it’s clear to say that Dean is not the sharpest tool in the shed.
October 4th, 2024 at 4:31 pm
These players are not paid bc of their mental acuity. Dean and LVD should have used their smarts.
October 4th, 2024 at 5:40 pm
Now you watch… next time Dean will lay on him on a player too long in a similar situation and get flagged for a defensive delay of game lol.
I expect that to happen b.c officials always screw us, cuz #ItsABucsLife
October 4th, 2024 at 5:42 pm
Learn and move on,,, obviously we could have ,, should have won but this is the game! Getting the ball at the 28 and not getting points is SuperBowl Atlanta esc,,,,,, you have to get even an FG,,,, Just took 30 things to lose that game
October 4th, 2024 at 5:45 pm
Oh and SBs are not won or lost in Oct ,,, so relax and enjoy a pretty darn good and entertaining offense
October 4th, 2024 at 6:07 pm
It seems Bowles spends more time telling the media what his players should have done than actually teaching the players themselves
October 4th, 2024 at 7:10 pm
@joe
There were a lot of exact situations that had to happen for the bucs to lose.
1. The ref did not set the ball “dead ball must be set by officials”
2. Was the RB well behind the line and not behind the center area a legal formation when snapping? There is a new rule that was intended to affect the tush push that may apply here.
3. Al Micheals saw the flag and stated “looks like a flag for apparent facemask. Should have been called but bad luck there.
4. Official back judge rushes to “touch” the football that was set in place by the center. Not correct by the letter of the rules.
5. Just an observation: overtime rules should always be the same pre and post playoffs so teams learn the strategy. Each game is too important to get a lucky coin flip. Neither team was being stopped much by the others defense.
In any case, Bowles just does not adjust and will stick with any player regardless until injury takes them out. I love listening to the bucs on the radio and been a fan since they started. It is just hard to see Bowles being a good enough coach to actually win a superbowl. When he was interviewing for head coaching opportunities instead of game planning for Los Angeles that was it for me. Seems nice but be nice to have more hope.
October 4th, 2024 at 8:51 pm
HE HAD TO OR IT WOULD BEEN A DELAY OF GAME FOR BUCS. and the half can’t end on a delay of game.
October 4th, 2024 at 9:58 pm
Right on Hearty D. Bowles will not change, he probably only makes changes if he is told to by the Glazers. Stubborn and arrogant like Lovie Smith. They are a bit passive too, they will respond but after the season is over like when they had Licht launched Leftwich.
October 5th, 2024 at 11:18 am
He’s a liability.
October 5th, 2024 at 3:48 pm
This is the second in what will, by season’s end, be a series of “get right games” for other offenses. Broncos were floundering on offense, played the Bucs, and got back on track. Same for the Falcons. Are the Saints gonna be next?
October 5th, 2024 at 4:24 pm
The Lavonte one is a reach because had Coen been more creative the game is over. Now with Dean, he seems to get worse and worse in cushion coverage. At this point this should be his last season to prove he’s starting material. However, Bowles must stop being so damn stubborn and playing cushion coverage even with back ups! Let these boys play basic man coverage where it will allow the pass rush to get there. Whenever Bowles plays safe he ends up sorry