Learning Preventing Todd Bowles From Replacing K.J. Britt?
October 29th, 2024
Season hinges on second-year backup linebacker?
The Bucs defense looked so damn good against Detroit, it is nearly unimaginable how it has fallen off a cliff.
And this came when the Bucs got back three key starters: Antoine Winfield, Calijah Kancey and Vita Vea.
How in the world does an NFL defense get worse when two first-round picks and an All-Pro safety return? That makes no sense to Joe.
Alas, it has happened. Seemingly ever since SirVocea Dennis was injured against Detroit, the Bucs defense has collapsed.
Dennis rotated with inside linebacker K.J. Britt. It was Britt who handled run plays. Dennis came in to play solid pass defense.
Since Dennis blew out his shoulder and Britt has played full-time, it has been a nightmare.
It also exposed Britt as a starting linebacker. Simply put, he is not a full-time starter; he’s a bit player. A rotational guy.
Bowles said there is one guy on the roster he believes to have the skillset to replace Dennis. The problem is, he’s not ready to play.
“There’s probably only one [player] that can do it and [Vi Jones] has to get caught up to speed,” Bowles said. “At the time [of Dennis’ shoulder injury], he wasn’t caught up to speed.
“Everybody else was more of a MIKE linebacker or pretty much the same from an athletic standpoint and K.J. [Britt] was the smartest of the bunch.”
Well, if Joe was Bowles, Joe would be giving this Jones a crash course on linebacker play. Even if he “isn’t caught up to speed,” he has to be quicker than Britt.
Joe has little faith in the Bucs defense being able to carry the Bucs after the bye with all the trash teams on the schedule. Give any quarterback in the NFL time to throw (another exceptional trait by the Bucs defense) he will likely burn you.
Throw in receivers who are constantly wide ass open, that’s a recipe to get beaten — even by the NFL’s dregs of society.
October 29th, 2024 at 7:06 am
He’s always been that way…..Bowles has this fascination of perfect execution of his defense regardless if the current defense is imploding.
October 29th, 2024 at 7:09 am
On the Pitt’s TD or not the LB did attempt to get a holding call but Pitts knocked his hands away and got loose. If Britt is a good tacking LB I would say to tackle the receiver instead of getting beat. 5 yard penalty and a 1st down is better than a TD all day long and especially on Sunday.
Kelce is next on the slate so better do something quick.
October 29th, 2024 at 7:11 am
Well, Britt is the scapegoat for now, but is he the reason this defense is so bad? I see wide-open receivers all over the field at the same time. I was hoping Whitehead would shore some things up though it doesn’t look like it. Too complicated for the young players. They are lost in open space! Go back to basics and hopefully make other teams earn their yards.
October 29th, 2024 at 7:14 am
“Tampa Bay plays at Kansas City against the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs, who are also the league’s lone unbeaten team, on Monday Night Football”
this nightmare section of the season cant get any worse
October 29th, 2024 at 7:14 am
Our D has been “OK” against 3 rookie QBs + Jalen Hurts missing 3 top WRs, but the 4 games against quality QBs not so much…Does anyone want to play Washington or Detroit again?
Week 1 – Rookie 1st start – 161 (88yrds rushing)
Week 2 – Goff – 307 (470 total team yrds)
Week 3 – Rookie Nix 216 (47 yrds rushing)
Week 4 – Jalen Hurts 158 (without top 3 receivers) we may just have his #
Week 5 – Cousins 509 (580 total)
Week 6 – Rookie 1st start Rattler – 243yrds
Week 7 – Lamar 281 (52yrds rushing) 525 total team yards
Week 8 – Cousins 276 – 405 total team yards
October 29th, 2024 at 7:20 am
Bowles is too loyal for his and the teams good. Why doesn’t he get Jones caught up to play 3rd downs? Cant be that hard unless Jones is a really slow learner. Then we need to sign ir trade for someone. Anyone. Britt can play two downs!
October 29th, 2024 at 7:23 am
They can just give Kareem Hunt 25 carries for 163 yards and call it a day
October 29th, 2024 at 7:25 am
Bucs are bottom 5 in every single defensive category except red zone which we are middle of the pack. Never mind Britt; is anyone playing well? They aren’t even playing average. Not one single player on this team is dominating at their position.
October 29th, 2024 at 7:40 am
defense sounds way too complicated then
October 29th, 2024 at 7:50 am
Joe … ‘Seemingly ever since SirVocea Dennis was injured against Detroit, the Bucs defense has collapsed. Dennis rotated with inside linebacker K.J. Britt. It was Britt who handled run plays. Dennis came in to play solid pass defense.’
Makes a nice story, but the stats don’t bear out that Dennis has played a critical role in the passing game. Goff was quite ‘average’ that game (35-of-56 passing for 324 yards, 0 TDs & 2 INTs. Britt was only targeted once (he allowed 1 catch). Dennis was targeted 6 times (he allowed 5 catches for an 83.3% completion percentage). Our other ILB (LVD) was targeted 6 times (and allowed 6 catches). Baically, none of our ILBs did diddly-squat in the passing game … not just Britt.
I totally agree that Britt is not a starting-caliber ILB. But on the season Dennis has allowed 10 catches in 11 targets (90.9%). That doesn’t holler ‘Look at me; I’m special’. Britt has been targeted 15 times and allowed 11 completions (73.3%) and LVD has been targetd 35 times and allowed 28 completions (84.8%). All 3 are getting burned. LVD has allowed 280 yds passing & has 6 missed tackles to his credit. Britt has allowed 205 yards passing & has 4 missed tackles, while Dennis has allowed 92 yards passing & has 2 missed tackles. Our whole ILB group is underperforming IMO.
October 29th, 2024 at 8:10 am
Defense Rules excellent post as usual! You just can’t blame one player for what is going on right now. If the other 10 players on defense were doing their jobs we wouldn’t even be discussing this. I’m feeling pretty good about this matchup Monday night. Mostly because they are 6-0 and we need a win much more than they do. Take the 9.5 points either way.
October 29th, 2024 at 8:14 am
If your defense is so complicated that the only players that understand it are smart but not physically gifted then there is a problem with that system. It seems every year there are players that make big plays with very limited opportunities but Todd won’t get them on the field regularly because they don’t completely understand the system. Why haven’t these more physically gifted players been coached up nonstop to get on the field? Todd is responsible for that and is failing the team by failing to prepare all of his players.
October 29th, 2024 at 8:25 am
This is such a ridiculous comment from a coach in my opinion. Maybe I’m misinterpreting it, but how ON EARTH has it been 5 weeks and an NFL player is not caught up to speed. Even before the injury, he’s still on the team. What is he doing at practice? More importantly, what is Todd or the linebackers coach doing at practice? How are there players on the team that can’t play? It boggles my mind and me reading the HEAD COACH say that a healthy player isn’t playing because he isn’t ‘caught up to speed’ is ABSURD.
I put that nearly on the same level as Anthony Richardson saying he needs a breather and tapping out of the game.
October 29th, 2024 at 8:31 am
What I get from this is that our head coach is, once again, deflecting blame onto the individual players. As opposed to his rock steady, never changing, you will do it my way, stubborn , and never changing game plan.
You can’t force your opposition to play the game the way you want them to. They study your tendencies, strong areas, and weak areas, and game plan each individual game in an effort to put their players in the best position to succeed.
.
.
.
WHY can’t we do that?!?!
October 29th, 2024 at 8:36 am
Is Vi Jones on the practice squad?
October 29th, 2024 at 8:41 am
I am not sure if Bowles is being to loyal to his players BoJim. Another spin on what he has been stating is that he is simply not accountable but he is beginning to drop hints that his players are accountable for not being able to get up to “speed” by week 9 and/or he is pointing the finger at Licht for not giving him players who are up to “speed”. Coach is beginning to label scapegoats for the defensive failures. Seems like this defense is ill equipped to handle any challenges and look clueless. If his players cannot work Bowles’ scheme then he has to simplify it for them. The players are adapting the personality of their coach, aloof and unaccountable, no one is taking responsibility for this train wreck. Has the defense tuned out the coaches?
Joe, I wish someone would ask Todd point blank at one of his pressers who is “accountable” for this bottom 5 defense; the coaches or the players?? Coach Todd is making it sound like the players are making bad plays and cannot comprehend the schemes so that this is on them, deflecting criticism from himself..
In other words, Bowles is giving us a bunch of gibberish. Man thinking about how bad this D is enough to make any Buc fan start morning drinking.
October 29th, 2024 at 8:45 am
vi jones has quietly been with the bucs for at least the past 2 seasons…
he might have been brought up for a game, or maybe 2, at one point last year…i dunno…
in fact he might have even been signed to the practice squad at some point during 2022…once again – i don’t know the exacts…
but he’s been around here for a minute…
bowles needs to adopt him like a son, like he did with dean for a bit, and get duke ready to roll…
he should be sitting at the diner table with coach and fam, and breaking bread at this point…lol
get my guy ready coach !
October 29th, 2024 at 8:53 am
This is on Jason and Bowles the fans were saying all off season that we didn’t think there was enough Depth at LB position yet no one listened. Crazy to me that the fans seem to know more about football than the people in charge of day to day operations. It shouldn’t have even got to this point to be honest.
October 29th, 2024 at 8:58 am
There’s a lot of people here I invariably skim past because they have nothing to contribute. I always read what DR has to say, and I think he’s right. The only reason we won the Lions game is because it didn’t occur to their coach to target Britt
October 29th, 2024 at 9:04 am
Bucsfan81 I agree with you, but everyone needs to remember we are still rebuilding and can only address a few areas at a time. We’ve tried to address the D line, but it seems no one can play up to their draft status. At least the moves on the Offensive line seem to be doing ok.
October 29th, 2024 at 9:18 am
Britt relays the call from the sidelines to the field. Ever play telephone? It’s easy to screw up the message. You have to have an iq sufficient to commiunicate, audible,think quickly. That’s why you simply can’t pull him. He’s a smart, articulate guy. That position , centrally placed in the defense, requires quick thinking. Bowles doesn’t have a replacement who can mentally handle the “field general” aspect of the position….hence” not up to speed”.
October 29th, 2024 at 9:25 am
If I had 6 months to prepare for a job knowing that at any point I could be responsible to take over the full responsibilities, and when the time came I ‘wasn’t up to speed’ I’d be let go. His ONLY job up to this point in the season has been to get up to speed. It is absolutely ridiculous (I know I’m not an NFL player so I don’t know what it takes) that he can not do his job. Maybe he’s just not good enough, but the ‘not up to speed’ argument is OUTLANDISH. Training camp, preseason, 7 weeks into the season, he’s not up to speed? SOMEONE has to be resposible for that.
October 29th, 2024 at 9:42 am
We’re not hitting home fast enough we need a edge to help, we should’ve been all over the trade for the edge out of New England for a 6th round pick but instead none other than the chiefs got him….. we really need to get an edge or stop playing JTS he is bad I’d rather see braswell play.
October 29th, 2024 at 9:43 am
The fact we are able to put up points without our big 2 and average 29 a game and not win is SAD
October 29th, 2024 at 9:49 am
the ‘new guy’s’ floor cant be much worse than Britt’s ceiling. Bowles’ seat is getting warmer.
October 29th, 2024 at 10:16 am
500 coach. He just doesn’t have it.. how many more errors will he cost us..
October 29th, 2024 at 10:23 am
Seems the opposing teams know our defense better than our own players. Sad really. Excuses= it’s a young team, Devin White left a void, communication, coaching, all of the above. Go BUCS
October 29th, 2024 at 10:32 am
And by the way.
Remember that cheap head shot Britt took on Lamar Jackson?
Roquan Smith saw that. He retaliated on Chris Godwin.
Mike linebackers watch each other. They settle scores.
October 29th, 2024 at 10:34 am
@Joe: “How in the world does an NFL defense get worse when two first-round picks and an All-Pro safety return? That makes no sense to Joe.”
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It would be a good question for Bowles. 😉
October 29th, 2024 at 10:35 am
Put the guy in,, it couldn’t get any worse ,,, at the very least he just runs around and looks fast like JTS,,, the only other thing I can think of is Bowles is setting everyone up for a big end of season run where he gets to keep his job but going 9-8 and squeaking out the division on week 18
October 29th, 2024 at 11:46 am
What happens if Britt gets hurt? Will the Bucs just play 10 because his replacement isn’t “up to speed?”
October 29th, 2024 at 12:17 pm
It’s Mayfield’s fault.
October 29th, 2024 at 12:52 pm
Elevate Kalen DeLoach and give him some snaps!
He certainly won’t be worse than Britt…. and you might just find you have a hell of an undrafted FOOTBALL PLAYER who has been languishing on the practice squad while the ‘starter’ Britt proves game in and game out that he doesn’t belong on the field other than special team plays…..
October 29th, 2024 at 12:59 pm
🙂
October 29th, 2024 at 1:08 pm
Jones is 6’3 230 lbs and ran 4.52 coming out of school, jumped 36″, and ran 6.96 3-cone drill… all elite numbers. He can move, no doubt. But he hit 11 reps on the bench and was undrafted for reasons beyond his bench press… maybe he could serve in the Dennis role, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Jones struggles at reading and coming off blocks as well as the mental parts of the game as far as play diagnosis and zone drops. Sure, Mike LB looks like an easy job but there is SOOOOOO much that goes into it. From an athletic standpoint, Jones is the best we have by far. He couldn’t be too much worse than Britt in pass defense, in my opinion. It doesn’t matter how smart you are if you’re stiff and can’t run.
October 29th, 2024 at 2:21 pm
There was a very very fast and quick guy available, for free, that already knew the system, that was a huge upgrade over the trash that is Britt, and Bowles passed on him. Yes, it was Bowles, no way Licht isn’t just standing by doing nothing unless Bowles told him NOT to get him.
October 29th, 2024 at 2:35 pm
Anyone who doubts my brilliance, just check-out my comment from May. That is a quality A++++ take.
“Rod Munch Says:
May 1st, 2024 at 5:56 pm
We’ve already seen Britt play – and I can answer the question.
No, he’s too slow.
That’s why he went so late in the draft. His instincts, all that stuff is great, but he’s too slow for the NFL, and will get exposed.
BTW, the quote from Foote is more proof this will be nothing but a soft zone garbage defense.”
October 29th, 2024 at 3:05 pm
Just found out that Titans dealt LB Ernest Jones (6’2″ & 230 lbs) to the Seahawks last week; traded him for a 4th Rnd pick and Jerome Baker (another LB 6’2″ & 232 lbs). BOTH LBs look to be substantially better than Britt. Wonder if our front office even knew that both were on the trading block.
October 29th, 2024 at 5:28 pm
It takes a long time to memorize Coach Bowle’s Waffle House menu. Vi Jones could still be struggling with link vs patty sausage or soft boiled vs poached eggs.
October 30th, 2024 at 2:35 am
Helen Keller could rise from her grave and play better than Britt. For that matter she could coach better than the Bowlser. So could Rich Kotite and Bobby Petrino. Mike Smith even. At least he fixed his defense once, in 2016. Although maybe that was Tandy.
Hey — isn’t Tandy on the coaching staff?
Jason — idea. Let’s discuss.
October 30th, 2024 at 11:20 pm
Not sure why we didn’t grab Devin white when he was released from Philly. He’s no all-pro but I’d say he’s worth $2M to us, especially with Denis out.