Lovie Smith’s Second Task
July 17th, 2014
Lovie Smith needs to find a way to change an ugly late-season pattern the Bucs developed
Yes, a week from tomorrow, Joe will no longer have to think much about last year’s awful 4-12 record. That’s because the 2014 season will launch with the beginning of Tampa Bay training camp.
There were so many things last year that turned Joe’s stomach, from the putrid offense to never breathing on opposing quarterbacks. When Lovie Smith came aboard, he admitted one of his main goals was to put heat on quarterbacks.
However, there is a troubling trend with the Bucs franchise that irks every red-clad Bucs fan from Tampa and beyond. A trend that dates back to the Chucky administration. A trend that needs to stop if the Bucs ever hope to play meaningful games in January. Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times details this pattern.
Over last 10 years, Bucs have losing record in every month except November (21-18). Tampa Bay is a combined 15-34 in December/January …
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) July 16, 2014
The Bucs have yet to win a playoff game since Chucky hoisted the Vince Lombardi Trophy aloft in sweet victory in January 2003. On face value, that’s appalling, until you remember other Bucs lows since.
If the Bucs are going to play in January, then Lovie needs to find a way to ensure the Bucs aren’t folding like a tent in the waning weeks of the season. After figuring out how to make opposing quarterbacks eat dirt, this task should be Lovie’s second goal.
July 17th, 2014 at 9:14 am
Maybe this has a little something to do with our chronic inability to draft players long term?
July 17th, 2014 at 9:15 am
Yuck
July 17th, 2014 at 9:26 am
It’s not like good teams collapsed in December. We had crappy teams! Even the one that won 10 games against the powder puff schedule for Rah.
I don’t view it as much as collapses as phony success on the front end.
July 17th, 2014 at 9:27 am
Don’t forget eating Turf too!!!
July 17th, 2014 at 9:33 am
When you’re a bad team, everything needs improvement.
July 17th, 2014 at 9:36 am
The Bucs have a history of sucking? Shocking!
July 17th, 2014 at 9:37 am
Don’t agree that not ‘folding like a tent in the waning weeks of the season’ should be our second goal.
Building a team that wins consistently by playing solid, hard-nosed football better be our number one goal.
Stats like making ‘opposing quarterbacks eat dirt’ don’t mean much if they don’t lead to winning.
July 17th, 2014 at 10:02 am
The actual numbers in December should be worse because I remember a few years when we were playing playoff teams in our final week and they other team lost because they did not play all of their starters. (I remember at least Atlanta)
July 17th, 2014 at 10:38 am
I don’t know if anyone notices this trend, but it appears all the Florida teams tend to melt away in the second half of the season. Could it be from training all out in the sweltering heat all camp. The two a days in 90+ daily. Maybe we are just worn out as a team by the time the cooler weather begins to set in. Go ahead check out Jax and Miami and see how they tend to also slide in the second half. I mean isn’t our lifetime record horrible when we play in cold weather? The northern teams tend to pickup momentum and gain strength when the weather begins to cool down. Could it be that they are just getting into form, whereas the southern teams who practiced in the heat early on are conditioned early but wear out in the latter part of the season? It’s just a thought. Does anyone else agree?
July 17th, 2014 at 10:46 am
Doubt it. Don Shula used to have three-a-days in south Florida and he had a perfect season. The Bucs used to win games in December… when they had good teams.
July 17th, 2014 at 10:49 am
In my opinion there is ONLY one place to start and that is by winning home games. It’s bad enough that the team has struggled for the better part of 10 years, but to get whipped at home in front of your fans that pay good money to see the games is just plain embarrassing. I have to go all the way back to the 80’s & 90’s in the old Sombrero where we were the laughing stock of the entire NFL to compare the crappy play we’ve been seeing in recent years.
July 17th, 2014 at 11:01 am
Don Shula used to have three-a-days in south Florida and he had a perfect season.
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Well, that was more than ten years ago, and plus, if I remember, they didn’t play a 16 game season.
July 17th, 2014 at 11:03 am
I think the mantra of every coach in the NFL is to first and foremost………
win your DIVISIONAL games, since the best way into the playoffs is to win your division. Otherwise those teams are always ahead of you for a playoff spot. I don’t know the official stats, but I would suspect that a team going 6-0
or even 5-1 in their division makes the playoffs more than 90% of the time.
tickrdr
July 17th, 2014 at 11:10 am
The adj temp in Miami in Aug ’72 was 89 degrees 2013 it was 94 I wonder if that has anything to do with it? Dam you Al Gore!
July 17th, 2014 at 11:39 am
I just double checked ESPN for divisional records, and what I posted above is accurate, except for only a few outliers. Even most teams that go 4-2 in their division end up making the playoffs.
New England is a perennial playoff team, certainly due to Bra_dy and Bellichek, but also because they routinely and consistently beat up on Miami, New York, and Buffalo.
tickrdr
July 17th, 2014 at 12:11 pm
SAMCRO & Joe Says. I believe you are both right. Florida, Florida State, and Miami have all won National championships in the heat. However I have watched many Northern teams whither in September, October, and early November while watching the Bucs crash in December. While the heat and cold have influence, good teams win Chamionships.
July 17th, 2014 at 12:38 pm
This is a made up issue given that it’s basically a brand new team. If it were Lovie teams that folded, only then would it matter.
July 17th, 2014 at 1:20 pm
I’m still waiting for the theory that playing in the summertime heat in Florida gives the Bucs an advantageous edge against opponents to prove to be correct. After all these years it really has’nt been proven true by Bucs results.