Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow
October 27th, 2014
Vikings LB Anthony Barr picks up a fumble by Austin Seferian-Jenkins for the game-winning play Sunday.
A long look at the Bucs yesterday, today, and what to expect tomorrow and beyond.
So we stand (sit?) here on a Monday morning trying to figure out what in the world we saw yesterday. For the first time in a long time, that Bucs defense we expected from Lovie Smith showed up.
Hey, anytime you hold an NFL team (even the Vikings) to 13 points in regulation, you should win. Period. But that is how bad the offense was.
In a bow to the 2013 season, the offense was miserable. Glennon had better days (that forced pick to Mike Evans was painful); Joe has seen a lot worse at quarterback. The run game? Good grief.
Averaging 2.9 yards a carry? Really? Those are dismal numbers and all but cut the nads off the offense. Of course ,the Vikings defense knew when Glennon was throwing.
Look, it is idiocy to suggest Lovie go out and hire some retired offensive coordinator to come out of mothballs. And the new offense will be learned, what, by Christmas when the Bucs are 2-12? Right. This is, to get down to the nuts and bolts of it, what happens when you lose your offensive coordinator right before the season.
No, the defense did its job (sans the final Vikings game-tying drive).
Lovie’s Message
Joe is often too busy getting players’ quotes – only a finite time to get them and often, after a loss, they understandably can’t wait to get the hell out of there – to attend Lovie’s postgame press conference. But Lavonte David stated Lovie’s message, at least to the defense, was that it made strides Sunday.
Again, hard to argue. If you hold a team to 13 points in regulation, you should win. Period. This game is not on the defense, even with that game-tying field goal.
Doug Martin’s Last Game?
Joe roared Sunday when he got to the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway and learned the hot rumor was Doug Martin was ripe to be traded. Just thinking about that makes Joe’s sides hurt. What maniac of a general manager is going to waste a draft pick on Martin and pick up his salary? You can get a running back off the street for next to nothing who can run for 2.9 yards a carry.
Joe doesn’t expect Martin to be traded but, with Charles Sims eligible to come off the injured reserve recall list, Joe does expect Martin to be demoted.
Mark Barron
Joe may have been a little harsh on Bucs safety Mark Barron yesterday, but damnit, Joe has been waiting for three years for this guy to get his s(p)it straight. Joe saw far too much of Alterraun Verner covering a receiver and clearly expecting help from Barron, only to have Barron show up late after a catch was made for a first down.
There is no way to get around it. Barron has been a major disappointment and Joe can only see him sticking around one more year, unless he makes a major transformation. Who is betting on that happening?
If Adrian Clayborn wasn’t good enough to get his fifth-year extension, Barron certainly isn’t. Joe thought Barron played his best game against the Saints a few weeks ago. He hasn’t played close to that since. It was almost like his good game was an accident.
What Next?
Good question. Joe thinks the defense actually is getting better. Baby steps. Yes, the defense played well… against the Vikings. Again, baby steps here. But if the offense still doesn’t wake from its slumber until late in games, they are painting the defense into a corner. Ironically, the first two drives, the Bucs offense never looked crisper this season.
This is simply a bad team. It is a combination of bad talent evaluation and, for reasons unknown, really bad coaching. The latter element is a big shock. Joe thought Lovie was much, much better than this.
The Bucs are playing like Tampa Bay under Raheem Morris with his terrible gameplans. Difference is, Lovie has a significantly higher salary budget to work with than Morris ever had.
This is a really bad football team.
NFL Thoughts:
Saints: They looked like the Saints we all expected in throttling the Packers last night. Perhaps the Saints have turned the corner?
Broncos: Peyton Manning does what Peyton Manning does and has the nerve to call out a poor scoreboard operator. Yawn.
Lions: Beautiful come-from-behind win against the Dixie Chicks. Oh, the Lions are beat up, too. They played without a tight end yesterday. All three tight ends were hurt and inactive. Damn.
Seahawks: Hey, the Stinking Panthers held the Seahawks to 13 points and lost. Sound familiar?
Bengals: Good game dodging a bullet with the Crows. Wonder if they need a defensive end? Joe knows where they can get a defensive end cheap.
Dolphins: The Fish are swimming under the radar. Joe thinks they could make the playoffs. Two pick-sixes on Blake Bortles got the job done.
Chiefs: Speaking of playoffs, few teams right now are hotter than the Chiefs. This team lost a ton of talent to free agency. Shows just how good of a coach Andy Reid is.
Patriots: Beat the Bears. Tom Brady yada… yada… yada. Yawn.
Bills: Kyle Orton throws for four touchdowns and zero picks. Kyle Orton! Then again, this was against the Jets.
Texans: Joe doubts the Texans can get to the playoffs, but Bill O’Brien and Romeo Crenell have done a helluva job with that team. They have to do something about Ryan Fitzpatrick. Like kidnap him and drag him across the Mexican border.
Cardinals: This looked like a fun game on paper and it was. Who is doing a better job defensively than Todd Bowles? He lost a ton of top starters to injuries and the defense hasn’t missed a beat. Never heard him whine about how long it takes players to learn his defense. Odd, isn’t it?
Browns: The Browns throttled the Raiders despite Derek Carr going crazy. Yes, the Bucs are worse than the Raiders. Ought to be fun Sunday in Cleveland.
Steelers: Big Ben Roethlisberger goes wild, throwing for six touchdowns and over 500 yards. Joe is just going to throw this out there. Roethlisberger, who is no spring chicken, is a free agent after next season and the Steelers have yet to offer him a contract or start contract talks. Make of it as you wish Bucs fans.
Non-NFL thoughts
1. Man, Oscar Tavaras died. In a car wreck in the Dominican. Thought to be one of the top hitting prospects in baseball. Man. Dude just hit a big time homer in the NLCS. Life is short and unpredictable, folks.
2. What is the matter with you, Hugh Freeze? You trying to out Less Miles in his own crib? Down only three and needing but a field goal to tie in the final seconds, you elect to try to score a touchdown, only to have Bo Wallace get picked. That may be the most absurd thing Joe has seen in forever. For crying out loud!
3. How does Ole Miss drop so far with its one loss being so close?
4. Man, the Rebels had receivers open all night long. But crazy Bo Wallace was overthrowing people, which makes Freeze’s call late in the game even more idiotic. If Wallace had been remotely accurate Saturday night, the Rebels would have won easily. At least Wallace can sob to his hot hairdresser.
5. Remember last year how Florida State was loaded at receiver? That is Ole Miss this year. They have some complete studs there.
6. Florida folks are pining for Dan Mullen. Why not Freeze?
7. Ohio State blows a 21-point, second-half lead to Penn State and survives in overtime? Just for that, Urban Meyer, you should be disqualified for the next two years of playoffs.
8. The fact Penn State rallied to almost win shows how far the program has come in such a short time.
9. Does Brady Hoke have a real estate agent, yet?
10. Great, great World Series thus far. Madison Bumgarner pitched last night like Steve Carlton.
11. Pitt fumbled on its first five possessions Saturday. They should be placed on probation.
October 27th, 2014 at 7:15 am
I’m not saying he’s Drew Brees, but Kyle Orton is the most under-rated QB in the league.
October 27th, 2014 at 7:38 am
Joe, the defense didn’t butch up when it counted most, instead they folded like a 20 dollar whore.
October 27th, 2014 at 7:51 am
Don’t Win 4 Winston
October 27th, 2014 at 7:59 am
Joe, they still folded with 2 minutes left and the lead vs a rookie QB thus another failing grade for the D. They had the win in their hand but they allowed the offense to lose it in predictable fashion…. The team appears to be tanking….
October 27th, 2014 at 8:01 am
Tired of blaming the coaching staff every year. yes lovie sucks and shouldn’t have any billet in the nfl, but the owners need to take the blame. Why couldn’t they secure Jon Gruden? Kind of sickening to wake up and read this: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/jongruden-interested-in-raiders-coaching-job–told-team-to-draft-manziel–reports-230621311.html
October 27th, 2014 at 8:01 am
Oh and Joe: Penn State rallying vs Ohio State does not signify PSU progress; rather it shows how the Buckeyes are regressing…. I wonder if Urban is going to start complaining about his health again like he did in Gainesville….
October 27th, 2014 at 8:10 am
Weird Bill Obrien doing a great job COACHING in Houston and here we have this crap
October 27th, 2014 at 8:20 am
The defense is still utterly horrible. That small hands Teddy couldn’t light them up is because he’s not particularly good. Roethlesberger throws for 650 against that defense yesterday.
October 27th, 2014 at 8:22 am
Let McCown call the plays. He understands the offense and has 12 years experience in the NFL. Can’t be any worse than ‘Yahoo’ who is calling the plays now.
October 27th, 2014 at 8:25 am
That game was squarely on the passing game Glennon wet the bed two weeks in a row. He’s had better days really? I find it ironic that he played just like josh Freeman yesterday, missing every target until the end of the game because mgm your emotion is clouding your judgement lol do you not see that you have now become the freemanites of last year? He’s garbage so no more holding on to the past it’s time to wait for a quarterback with talent to develop. Blake Bortles threw two pick six and he’s still a better prospect
October 27th, 2014 at 8:26 am
If the Bucs were to bring in Big Ben he would be pounded into a crumpled heap here in Tampa. The Steelers always seem to make their O line work. Without the loss to the Bucs, they would be leading their division. Ben stays in Pittsburgh I think.
October 27th, 2014 at 8:39 am
Joe, a real NFL offense would have torched us for 30 points.
Bridgewater left numerous opportunities out there.
Not buying our defense did a good job yesterday.
October 27th, 2014 at 8:43 am
Paul,
No way Gruden would ever coach for the Glazers again. Ever.
In fact, Gruden’s status was elevated thereafter. Look at his predecessors for the proof of the Glazers complete ineptness.
October 27th, 2014 at 8:49 am
Our center makes major mistakes in every game.
October 27th, 2014 at 9:15 am
Joe,
In your opinion, what is this team’s biggest need? We are clearly going to be drafting high, and hopefully we add a few more picks. This team is a mess and needs to add players all over. QB is likely our first pick (tank for Mariota please), but where do we go after that? Our OL is still garbage, we will need a WR to replace Jackson (even if he’s not traded), the DL has been horribly disappointing, our only reliable LB is David, Verner is the only CB on the team capable of making a play and both our safeties are terrible in coverage and missing open field tackles. This is not a win-now team like Licht and Lovie suggest. This team is at least 2 years away from being good and I don’t think Lovie is the right guy to develop players. Is there any possibility that Lovie doesn’t come back next year? I’d hate to pull a Cleveland, but he’s clearly not the right guy and, in my opinion, should fix the mistake sooner rather than years of losing.
October 27th, 2014 at 9:16 am
I forced myself to rewatch the game and here’s what I noticed:
1. GMC was getting good pressure as usual, but it seemed like Jacquies Smith was actually giving some decent help when he got the chance. He was pestering Bridewater a lot, so that might be a good sign. And Michael Johnson was surprisingly solid against the run.
2. Our safeties are terrible. Big names but nothing else. Barron and Goldson, who are supposedly our big hitters, were each missing multiple tackles.
3. Our offensive line is getting beat every play. Anthony Collins looks like a turnstile, he was letting Sharrif Floyd dominate us. EDS just lets guy by on run plays, no wonder we can’t get a running game going. Demar Dotson is the only guy out there playing well right now, Omameh will be good in a year or two.
4. Yeah, our offensive line sucks, but Glennon isn’t really making it any better. Our offense is just bad overall. IDK what it will take to give them a shot in the arm. Evans looks really good but outside of that it’s kind of a train wreck.
October 27th, 2014 at 10:00 am
Everyone was laughing and joking about the Bucs after the game at the bar I was at yesterday. People are beyond being angry about losses and just laughing about it now. This team is a joke for real.
October 27th, 2014 at 10:17 am
Before the Bucs start trading away players they should fire the whole coachin staff and start fresh.
October 27th, 2014 at 10:20 am
biff,
True, Glazers bumbled the Gruden thing. more reason glazers need to sell then.
October 27th, 2014 at 2:03 pm
I didn’t think the defense played all that well. We need D players with nasty attitudes who just want to hit someone. I saw Jonathon Banks come up to make a tackle on a receiver and he was slapping at the receiver like some little girl. He of course missed the tackle. My advice to the defense is “HIT SOMEONE”, make them regret they came here to play. Get nasty, play dirty, anything is better then whats on the field now. Maybe we’ll lose more games(if that’s possible) but teams will remember playing here and might not want to come back. At this point in the season the offense and defense need to throw caution to the wind and just go for it on every play, be aggressive alls that can happen is they lose another game.
October 27th, 2014 at 2:58 pm
Sorry Joe but the defense did not show up.
They benefited greatly from bad throws from Bridgewater and some critical dropped passes. All our linebackers outside of LVD look lost, and at least 1 guy in the secondary is playing the wrong coverage on almost every play
And then, when we needed our D to actually show up the most, did they?!
No, they let the Vikings march it right down our throats and tie the game up. This defense is pathetic. No way to spin it.