Can Lovie Now Adjust?
September 18th, 2014
First Joe was aghast. Then he was angry. Then he was PO’ed.
Now, Joe is just spent. Emotionless. Nothing left in the tank.
Joe is a coach’s guy, both good and bad. The one thing Joe learned when he was a kid was that good coaches adjust to the talent on a roster.
Can Lovie do this?
Lovie loaded this Bucs roster with guys who he claimed could play his defense. Rarely a day goes by that Lovie doesn’t talk about the need to get pressure on the quarterback and to force turnovers.
This just in: It ain’t happening. Doesn’t matter if Gerald McCoy is healthy or not. Doesn’t matter how many millions of dollars of Team Glazer cash they threw in Michael Johnson’s lap (who?). It doesn’t matter. It is not working.
This defense is beyond a sieve without pressure up front. This just in: The Tampa-2 is not the only defense that can be used in the game of football. There are all sorts of decent teams out there that don’t run the Tampa-2. There is no law or 11th Commandant that states thou shalt run a Tampa-2 when coaching the Bucs.
Hey, it’s a great defense if you have the horses. The Bucs don’t have the horses. Whether that is just bad player evaluation by Lovie, Joe doesn’t know for sure.
So it has come down to this: Does Lovie craft a defense that better suits the abilities of the players he has on the roster, or does he try to shove a square peg through a round hole, have his defense get lit up week after week, dance with a winless record and secure the No. 1 pick in the draft, or does Lovie try to salvage the season?
September 18th, 2014 at 11:56 pm
I said it from the first game that Glennon would be the starting quarterback by game 4. Joe’s & their buddy Little Steve D. are crying in their beer.
September 18th, 2014 at 11:57 pm
To a life outside the NFL ?….I really don’t care….banish him
September 18th, 2014 at 11:57 pm
Too late. This season is OVER!!!!! FANS ARE DONE WITH THIS!!!! I had his back. I was the one saying be patient. Let’s wait, this team will need time to gel and it together. No more. That was worse than anything Schiano put out there. I’m done……
September 18th, 2014 at 11:58 pm
@bucfan77 everybody with good sense said that Glennon should be the starting qb
September 18th, 2014 at 11:59 pm
He doesn’t know the definition.
September 19th, 2014 at 12:00 am
Listened to 2 minutes of press conf. Answer NOOOO
September 19th, 2014 at 12:01 am
Wow great call on Glennon Bucfan77. It doesn’t matter because he sucks too!
September 19th, 2014 at 12:02 am
ADJUST HIS A$$ OUT OF TOWN!
September 19th, 2014 at 12:02 am
Again, Lovey was out coached. When will those who ran the last coach out of town admit that Lovey is a bust as a coach.
September 19th, 2014 at 12:03 am
Football has passed Lovie by. It is time to be proactive about this and cut the cord. I was never for this, and it only got worse with the McCown signing.
September 19th, 2014 at 12:03 am
Honestly there’s really not any adjustments that can fix this team. We have no talent. These guys are all hypothetical paper champions. We certainly aren’t as bad as we showed tonight, but we’re just not good enough to win many games.
September 19th, 2014 at 12:03 am
Im about as die hard as it gets- and I thought about taking the license plates off my cars a while ago. Sums up the night- and the Glazer’s ownership- running BOTH MY TEAMS INTO THE GROUND (Man U is the 2nd)
September 19th, 2014 at 12:06 am
I’m a Bucs fan. Enjoy your laugh.
September 19th, 2014 at 12:07 am
again, lovie had a very poor losing record against teams over .500, a poor record against teams with .500 records. his teams only won over teams under .500.
and now here he is losing against ALL teams.
he has shown poor decision making from roster, to draft/free agency, to hiring coaches. what is he offering this team?
September 19th, 2014 at 12:08 am
I am done! this is a pathetic excuse for an NFL franchise!
September 19th, 2014 at 12:09 am
I’m not that down on Lovie he just needed to be humbled and humiliated to break thru that stubbornness towards his philosophy. Now it’s time to see if you can coach lovie because no parts of your philosophy works anymore can you adjust lovie? That’s only if you haven’t lost your team
September 19th, 2014 at 12:11 am
Lovie is in a time warp where he thinks it’s 2001 NFL. That running the ball and taking no chances on offense are acceptable because soft zone defense can win you games with good pass rush. Lovie was the safest hire that could be made, the fans (mostly) liked it and thought of the good old days when that 2001 philosophy worked. Lovie can’t change until he rejoins us in 2014 where football has changed dramatically.
September 19th, 2014 at 12:11 am
Lets run Leslie Frasier’s old Minnesota defense he is the DC right? And if Tedford can get cleared this weekend full week to try get something going with Glennon. And let Lovie be the figurehead… problem solved 🙂
September 19th, 2014 at 12:12 am
Can yall imagine the Glazers right now
The fan base would probably have been fine going 4-12 again this season if the defense looked competent. That’s literally all that would have been needed because you could tie it back to early Dungy and buy some time. It seemed like such a sure thing too because Lovie ran the same defense with huge success and is (was?) a renowned defensive coach.
Then they show their ass and get 56 (FIFTY-SIX) dropped on them by a division rival with the team noticeably quitting halfway through the third quarter.
This is the Glazer’s worst nightmare, and somewhere Greg Schiano is doubled over in laughter.
September 19th, 2014 at 12:13 am
Not even an Andrew Luck type first round QB can save this team. That’s how far away this team is from being any good.
Get used to it or become a Jags fan.
September 19th, 2014 at 12:13 am
INCOGNITO!!!!!
September 19th, 2014 at 12:13 am
The BUCS were blown out before I could have my pizza delivered and get drunk. Thank god they got blown out because it was an actual joke while watching it. With that said…. With the overal first pick in the 2015 draft, the tampa bay Buccaneers select…?
September 19th, 2014 at 12:14 am
The team has taken on the personality of their head coach. Passive & Boring. Don’t think Smith changes.
September 19th, 2014 at 12:14 am
Welcome to the laughing stock of the nfl everyone… where are the people defending this team now? Ive been saying since week 1 lose ……this team is garbage and were in rebuild mode and should trade jackspn mccoy and doug martin for picks.. and people said I was crazy.. this team is so bad im really about to vomit!
September 19th, 2014 at 12:16 am
Say what you want about them damn stunts of Schiano but no one in this league could run on the bucs. Now the pass was a different story with all those blown coverages. But Lovie’s defense couldn’t stop neither
September 19th, 2014 at 12:16 am
Yawn, it is what it is and they are what we thought they were. Wake me next decade so I can see if anything has changed.
September 19th, 2014 at 12:16 am
Leslie Fraiser didn’t do anything good with the Vikings Defense, and almost same defense players last year did better than this scheme.
September 19th, 2014 at 12:18 am
I didn’t watch the game, but the score says it all. We all got boosted up, just to see this crap week in and week out now. Guys we shouldn’t have signed, we signed. Guys we should have signed…we didn’t. Everyone is hurt again. Just like last year…and the year before that. Out coached as usual. Im going to lay down now before something bad happens now.
September 19th, 2014 at 12:19 am
“Welcome to the laughing stock of the nfl everyone… where are the people defending this team now? Ive been saying since week 1 lose ……this team is garbage and were in rebuild mode and should trade jackspn mccoy and doug martin for picks.. and people said I was crazy.. this team is so bad im really about to vomit!”
I think you start dumping whatever offensive talent you can, but you hold on to McCoy, LeVonte, and any other half decent defensive player. Start cleaning up this mess on the defensive side of the ball first and there’s no need to nuke the entire roster.
September 19th, 2014 at 12:20 am
We have not been as good this year under lovie as we were last year when so many were calling for the head of Greg Schiano! I am beyond mad,… feel like giving up for the first time since we became a team!
September 19th, 2014 at 12:21 am
We should have stuck with Coach Schiano.
Lovie has taken Schiano’s Defense, and made it much worse.
September 19th, 2014 at 12:22 am
Been a lifelong fan and this is by far the most humiliating defeat I’ve ever seen. Raheem’s team gave up on him at the end of the season but at least those games weren’t national games where the whole league can affirm their belief that the Bucs are and forever will be a trash franchise. I bought the hype this offseason and started this game pissed…it got worse and now I’m to the point where I honestly don’t care anymore. They literally make it painful to be a fan.
September 19th, 2014 at 12:26 am
He tries to shove a square peg(Dom’s leftovers and has-been free agency pickups) through a round hole(the system that worked 2 years ago and earned the Bears a 10-6 record)
September 19th, 2014 at 12:32 am
@ Nate, unfortunately, I have to agree with you, time to trade VJ, GMC and Martin for whatever picks we can get for them and start the rebuild. Maybe the Ravens will give us a pick and Zuttah back for Martin, and we can get our 4th round pick back from the Patriots for VJ.
September 19th, 2014 at 12:33 am
One way or another something needs to give. But we can’t just keep getting new coaching staff every year. It will only hurt the very few high caliber players we have as it is. GMC has already been through 3 head coaches and only been in the league 5 years. How in the world can we expect consistency when we’ve never allowed one to grow. I agree Lovie may have had his time pass by and has never been that good of a talent evaluator. The reason the Tampa 2 D line always worked so well under Lovie or Dungy was because on Rob Marenelli. That guy gets the most out of D Lines ALWAYS.
Anywho long rant short. We eventually need to stick with a coaching staff for a couple years and allow them to get some consistency with players moving forward or we will never end up actually moving forward.
September 19th, 2014 at 12:34 am
It appears that the game has bypassed Lovie. He wants to run the ball in a passing league, making it impossible to outscore his opponents. His defense is not working. Yet, he holds on to the past and continues to force the square peg into the round hole. I imagine his wife would tell you that he is a stubborn man.
Doing the same thing over and over again, yet expecting a different result each time is the definition of insanity. If Lovie doesn’t change his tune, and my name was Glazer (and it’s not) he would not last the season as my coach. Same for the GM, who clearly missed (along with Lovie) on several talent evaluations.
September 19th, 2014 at 12:35 am
@Greg VJ and Martin I can see. But never ever ever do you give your one and only best player. No, just stop that thinking right there. GMC, David, Evans, and ASJ stay…. Everyone else? Replaceable.
September 19th, 2014 at 12:36 am
Bingo.
September 19th, 2014 at 12:36 am
We are all die hard fans or else we wouldn’t be on this site. I can honestly say this was the most embarrassing game I have ever witnessed. This team is an absolute joke and no one can tell me otherwise. MJ is a complete bust, he is invisible during every game. The offense… complete joke, ATL had the last ranked D in the NFL. This BS defense has made LVD almost invisible and we have two over hyped safeties that can’t cover a FB!!!!
I have not been this disappointed in over a decade!!
September 19th, 2014 at 12:37 am
Can we please just have Derrick Brooks as our GM? At least he knows how a winning football team should look.
September 19th, 2014 at 12:38 am
Just remove the last word in the headline..
September 19th, 2014 at 12:43 am
This is a worst case scenario even for us long suffering Bucs fans. Bucs are still paying Schiano this year PLUS 5 more years of Lovie and they are not even close to having an average offense, defense or special teams. Trade Barron, Martin, bowers, and Goldson (can’t cuz of his contract) before trade deadline. Fire the special teams coach as a sacrificial lamb and demand that Tedford get back to work now! Glazers should have a closed door meeting with Lovie/light and air it out. They probably won’t cuz they don’t care.
September 19th, 2014 at 12:43 am
richardtyson Says:
September 19th, 2014 at 12:26 am
“He tries to shove a square peg(Dom’s leftovers and has-been free agency pickups) through a round hole(the system that worked 2 years ago and earned the Bears a 10-6 record)”
Really? You really believe that? After all of Lovie’s FA pickups in the offseason to improve this team from last years team. After everyone he let go in the offseason too.
You really believe that or are you just grasping for anything?
September 19th, 2014 at 12:49 am
Schiano was at least able to do SOME things right. We were stout against the run, we didn’t fumble the ball, and we made plays on special teams (blocked punts mostly). There isn’t ONE positive you can take away from the three games under Lovie. NOT A SINGLE ONE.
September 19th, 2014 at 1:00 am
Didn’t you post this: https://www.joebucsfan.com/?p=109700
“It is simple. it is real simple,” More said. “The Cover-2 thing [under Lovie] is normally [used] when you are in third-and-long. So, if you are in third-and-seven or longer, 90- to 95-percent you will be in Cover-2. Now if it is third-and-six or less, just about 100 percent of the time you will be in man. It just depends on the down and distance.”
If that’s true then our man must really be bad because they were not even getting to third down let alone third and long.
September 19th, 2014 at 1:02 am
@buc1987
My expectations on FA pickups are very low. That being said, what free agents did you see available during the off-season that had proved themselves to be good the year before? The Glazers spent some money to make it seem like the Bucs could be contenders. It’s their way of selling you this product. Letting most of the O-line go was a mistake. I would have kept Zuttah. Mike Williams is Mike Williams.
September 19th, 2014 at 1:14 am
The biggest problem for this team is how truly bad they have drafted over the past decade. Take a look at rounds 1-3 for the last 6 years…it’s REALLY bad….most of those players are not even on the team anymore. McCoy and David are really the only ones that panned out. All those premium picks we spent on the DL have busted.
The reality is that this is a bad team with not really a whole lot of talent. And you can plug in any coach or QB you want and you will have the same results. The team needs to start drafting better and start rebuilding starting on the lines. No one wants to hear that “r” word. But that’s reality. We are at least a few years away from being a competitive team.
September 19th, 2014 at 1:16 am
Its time to dump ship everyone.. we have to get rid of everyone startong with the gm.. the draft sounded good has been a disaster… his talent evaluations have been way off… our draft has had 0 help to our team this year… glazers yohr decision making has beenterrible as well please sell the team to someone who knows what they are doing in terms of hiring a coach and gm…
September 19th, 2014 at 1:36 am
20+ years of being a bucs fan…im officially done. Finish out the fantasy year and im done with the bucs and the nfl.
September 19th, 2014 at 1:36 am
I am happy to have the services of Mike Evans. I’m still hoping to see Charles Sims later in the year. Sims should be able to hold on to the ball and get more then 1 yard a carry. This years draft was lacking a pick, but I’m not going to say why and upset anyone.
September 19th, 2014 at 2:31 am
Maybe the Browns got it right by firing their coach after one season. 3rd game of the season and the team just quit. So much for Lovie having his team prepared and playing competitive football.
September 19th, 2014 at 7:57 am
Does anyone else feel this game set the Franchise back like a decade? It feels like were a year one expansion franchise!
September 19th, 2014 at 8:56 am
One positive came out of last night…the Bucs finally found a way to get McCown off the field and save face (Glennon only went in because MCCown got hurt…wink wink)
September 19th, 2014 at 9:12 am
I would like to say this, this organization has been a complete failure for the last 13years and it aint getting any better, I think there should be someone held accountable for the last three losses, after last nights trouncing and the previous two games which we should have won, I would start with leslie frazier. if lovie is the great mastermind defensive guru. then let him call and run the defense. we need to get an experienced OC if tedfords health will not let him participate. and also I would like to have the long suffering fan base in the bay area, season ticket holders and fans who buy tickets. to boycott the bucs next home game. the glazers should also be held accountable and if it does not bother them to embarrass the tampa fans with this steady diet of failure, then they too should feel the heat and have an empty stadium at their next home game.
September 19th, 2014 at 9:46 am
Hey now, we all wanted to go Back to the Future with Lovie Smith playing Tony Dungy’s role, Gerald McCoy playing Warren Sapp’s role, Lavonte David playing Derrick Brooks’ role, and Mark Barron or Dashon Goldson playing John Lynch’s role.
If I recall correctly, that group started the 1996 season 0-5 before the defense started to click and the Bucs rallied to win 6 of their last 11 games to post a 6-10 record.
If that analogy holds, then we’re more than halfway through the painful learning curve and there is a very bright future indeed.
September 19th, 2014 at 10:27 am
Lovie will at least get one more season after this. And I agree with it. Most teams with a first year staff don’t make the playoffs immediatly. Lovie gets another year from me.
September 19th, 2014 at 2:03 pm
As far as talent evaluation goes, Lovie and Light seem to spend more time reading the players resume then finding out if he has heart and courage enough to keep going no matter what. This team dosen’t seem to have any fight in them. Their not aggressive in any situation, even with their backs to the wall. Which is where they are right now. Someone needs to light a fire under their butts and get them mad, good and mad. So when they go out to play their next game alls they want to do is kick ass and take names.