Gholston Rose To Challenge; Bowers Didn’t
September 15th, 2014
With Michael Johnson nursing his ankle and Adrian Clayborn out for the year with a blown bicep, the Bucs rolled out William Gholston and Da’Quan Bowers as their starting defensive ends yesterday — and the results were predictable.
Gholston really flashed relentless hustle and standout effort at times. He finished with six tackles, four solo, including a sack.
Bowers? Well, Joe had his eyeballs dialed in on No. 91 quite a bit and eventually had to stop. Bowers looked like Michael Johnson out there.
Bowers primarily was at left defensive end, with Akeem Spence playing plenty inside as Clinton McDonald slid over to cover for injured Gerald McCoy (broken hand).
The Bucs are darn thin at defensive end, but Gholston did a lot of good things, enough to keep Joe feeling very positive about Gholston, who finished last season on a high note and might be better than Clayborn already.
September 15th, 2014 at 9:03 am
Saw that English nearly had a sack but Davis, being the great QB he is, got the throw off at the last second. It was a completion of course
September 15th, 2014 at 9:05 am
Gholston already better than slowborn??? I wish that there was someone telling us this all offseason!!!
September 15th, 2014 at 9:12 am
I was at the game, was Bowers??? Can’t say I saw him on the field…. nuff said!
September 15th, 2014 at 9:13 am
Gholston is definitely the class of our DEs. He should be playing at RDE, even when Johnson comes back.
September 15th, 2014 at 9:18 am
English looked 100 percent better than Bowers.
And I thought I saw more hustle from all those backups than I saw with the original starters (outside of McCoy).
In the second half, there were a LOT of close hits that were almost sacks.
One glaring weakness is a passing lane directly in front of the QB. They were giving him a wide open view and wouldn’t you know, that was the lane he made most of his completions thru.
I’m all for making Gholston and English the starters until injuries heal.
September 15th, 2014 at 9:21 am
English looks hungry to me.
I think with a little more work on technique he could provide some quality depth
September 15th, 2014 at 9:27 am
Good point Joe, we are all sick of Daquan Bowers would someone say bust already? What does the defensive ends have to do with not stopping the run whatsoever and the gaping hole we give offenses week in and week out in our “Tampa 2”??? Matt Ryan, Drew Brees and company are licking their chops in anticipation of playing the Bucs. I any team with the Bucs on their schedule in 2014 must think we are the easiest game of the year. When are we ever gonna be relevant again??
September 15th, 2014 at 9:27 am
Dear Joe,
You keep posting these stories about Mr. Bowers like you’re surprised or something. When will you learn not to expect anything from the pig except a grunt?
I’m going to say it. The guy is a bum. Another victim of the Dominik Second Round Curse.
September 15th, 2014 at 9:28 am
The_Buc_Realist
Hey man or girl whatever you are your Clayborn jokes are getting dry, dude played one game got hurt, he’s out for the season…… Let it go unless your really a stalker with no job no life and nothing better to do. He’s got an entire season to go but until he gets more than 7 or 5.5 sacks in a season, he’s really not done anything. stop sniffing his jock, consistency turd that’s what we need so let him get a sack every game
September 15th, 2014 at 9:42 am
Sign Teo Nesheim!!!
September 15th, 2014 at 9:57 am
After everything that transpired last season I never thought I would say this but it is obvious to me that the Glazers jumped the gun on firing Schiano. This team looks absolutely listless. Lots of other teams have first year head coaches this year (Browns, Titans, Vikings etc) and through two games none of them have looked as pitiful as the Bucs. Under Schiano, even with all of the distractions, they were competitive in every single game except the last Saints game. This team has regressed in every area imaginable. They were wrong about the quarterback, they were wrong about the offensive line, they were wrong about Michael Johnson and they were wrong about Revis. There is absolutely no hope for this franchise.
September 15th, 2014 at 9:58 am
Lovie Smith is the one who has not ‘risen to the challenge’.
September 15th, 2014 at 10:00 am
Just because Lovie Smith is also crapping the bed doesn’t mean Schiano shouldn’t have been fired. Schiano should have been fired 3 games into last season.
Smith deserves this whole season to get things molded, but right now I am very, very pessimistic he’s going to be successful. He is making the same mistakes and appears to have learned nothing from his time in Chicago.
September 15th, 2014 at 10:01 am
Don’t worry buc4lyfe, soon the season will be over, adrian slowborn will not be resigned. And he will sign for some other team as a backup with the reputation of none existent pass rusher who is injury prone. Then you won’t hear my “jokes” or as some have come to realize, ” statements of truth”!!!
September 15th, 2014 at 10:11 am
Under Schiano Lavonte David was an all pro. So far this year the guy is invisible. It’s like he isn’t even playing. A lot of things happened last year beyond Schiano’s control. Freeman’s mental breakdown, MRSA injury. What is Lovie’s excuse? Horrible personnel decisions and a flawed, outdated scheme.
September 15th, 2014 at 10:31 am
Lavonte David invisible???
September 15th, 2014 at 10:33 am
I finally realized what Bowers is good at….holding the point and that is it. He should be a nose tackle or backup nose tackle. He doesn’t get much penetration but he plays the run fairly well and doesn’t get pushed around…..definitely not a defensive end anymore.
September 15th, 2014 at 10:39 am
I would like to see what the Rams 3rd down conversion percentage was yesterday, I assume it had to be around 80-85%. This pass defense really sucks, was that Austin Davis or Kurt Warner out there??? I guess we can make any scrub quarterback look like a pro bowler.
September 15th, 2014 at 10:52 am
this league has figured out the tampa 2..it worked for like 3 years with very smart players on the bucs…these guys…not so much
September 15th, 2014 at 11:01 am
Lavonte has hardly been invisible. Still one of the best LB’s in the league. The guy who is quietly flying under the radar and is impressing me is Clinton McDonald.
@Uncle Albert…actually our 3rd down % was better than theirs. Theirs was around 45% AND OURS WAS 50%.
September 15th, 2014 at 11:16 am
@Bobby
Please give me some Lavonte David stats from the past two weeks. Remeber when he use to consistently stuff runs in the backfield instead of making the tackle after thr running back has already gained 5 or 6 yards?
September 15th, 2014 at 11:36 am
Major applause for Gholston and McDonald both. Spence played well too.
These are the last pixels I will ever waste on Bowers.
Just cut him.
September 15th, 2014 at 11:42 am
Joe
We do not have an attacking defense, we have a defending defense, so until the other offense comes to you, you do nothing or at least that is how it looks.
September 15th, 2014 at 1:32 pm
Not that I think he is a good QB, but if we are never going to pass downfield, or through it up for our tall receivers when they have single coverage, then we might as well have Tebow as our QB and let him run it every play. What a comedy of errors, wait, no not a comedy, a tragedy.
September 15th, 2014 at 1:32 pm
Bowers is the fattest DE in the NFL. Dude had to come out every other play. No stamina. He needs a membership to SHAPES.
Freaking embarrassment!
Go Yucs!
September 15th, 2014 at 1:37 pm
Bowers doesn’t have the explosiveness left after all the injuries to be an effective end. It’s really a shame because he really was a monster at Clemson. But he showed in a very small window that he could be a really nice rusher inside at tackle where he still has that explosive edge.
September 15th, 2014 at 1:42 pm
If anyone expected any more from Bowers then shame on you. The bottom line is that they had no choice given the hospital ward known as “One Buc”!
Gholston looked better than either of our starting DEs, that’s for sure. Hopefully he can stay healthy long enough to stop this sieve of a defense. So far I have been unimpressed(to say the least) with Johnson. He didn’t flash in the pre-season and I’m beginning to question the move to get him.
By the way how “bad” did Davin look(hint: it’s rhetorical!).
September 15th, 2014 at 2:05 pm
Sho nuff- dumbest post I’ve ever read on here “Tampa 2 worked for 3 years” try 10 with dungy/gruden and then all of Lovies tenure in Chicago where they lead the league in turnovers with the same defensive scheme which dates allllll the way back to two years ago
September 15th, 2014 at 2:11 pm
Pewter_Power Says
“After everything that transpired last season I never thought I would say this but it is obvious to me that the Glazers jumped the gun on firing Schiano.”
The grass always seems greener.
I would like to think Bucs fans learn a lesson from this, but it is already apparent they will not.
September 15th, 2014 at 2:27 pm
^^couldnt agree more. It’s common knowledge, they speak out of it all the time about how nobody wanted to play for Schiano. He’s gone not coming back nobody even hired him except a network. Just because he runs a blitzing defense don’t act like he’s a better coach then lovie
September 15th, 2014 at 6:52 pm
Lovie is in lockstep with conservative game losing strategies with Schiano. They both were 0—–2 after 2 games.I would rather risk a bad play than trying to not to lose. at least you hAVE A CHANCE.