Top 30 Buccaneers Mysteries Of 2014 – No. 21
February 10th, 2015
Evan Dietrich-Smith was in the center of an unsolved mystery
In many ways, Tampa Bay’s 2014 season was more bizarre than the MRSA-infected, quarterback-gone-mental, Fire-Schiano-billboards campaign of 2013.
There were plenty of real Bucs mysteries last year, and Joe’s revisiting the most interesting of the bunch.
No. 21 — Anti-Jell
Bucs fans heard it all preseason, and fans of many NFL teams hear the same talk: offensive lines need time to jell. Familiarity means a lot, O-linemen like to say.
That’s very nice, except it’s not always accurate. And in the case of the Buccaneers’ 2014 offensive line, the jelling mysteriously regressed.
The Bucs ran for over 100 yards on opening day, and then followed that up with 157 yards on 30 carries against a nasty Rams defensive front. Heck, Josh McCown was only sacked four times through the first two games. That’s a vacation for him.
So what happened? The Bucs did not have significant injuries on the line yet it crumbled and came unglued, anti-jelled, if you will, as the weeks wore on.
That rarely happens in the NFL, especially under a brand new regime with a bunch of veterans on the line.
Joe hopes Lovie Smith and friends solve this ugly mystery before (if) they return Evan Dietrich-Smith, Logan Mankins and Demar Dotson to the starting lineup, something Lovie seems very eager to do.
Oh, yeah, that’s right. It was Jeff Tedford’s fault.
No. 22 — Seferian-Jenkins boasting about penalized pose
No. 23 — Never moving Michael Johnson
No. 24 — “I didn’t want to put more points on the board”
No. 25 — Glennon success without an offensive coordinator
No. 26 — Putrid punting
No. 27 — Defending three-step drops
No. 28 — Eight consecutive red zone runs versus Rams
No. 29 — Leaky Sean Glennon
No. 30 – Jorvorskie Lane
February 10th, 2015 at 5:02 pm
A mystery….then….now….and likely forever…..won’t be solved…..
Perhaps George Bush’ fault!!!
February 10th, 2015 at 5:04 pm
Hroniss Grasu
to go along with Mariota
February 10th, 2015 at 6:33 pm
J Allen covering Julius Peppers lmao almost as funny as Charles Simms running into his own player. Now that was hilarious.
February 10th, 2015 at 6:42 pm
@tamapabaybucfan hahaha that was funny
February 10th, 2015 at 6:43 pm
The more other teams saw of the Bucs offense and formations, the more the other teams realized they were running the same plays and routes out of them.
This isn’t rocket science, Joe.
I remember one game where the Bucs ran the ball 85 percent of the time on first down. Why even worry about the pass and crush 10’guys in the box with a single height safety if the team isn’t going to call out of it.
Makes for tough sledding for any offensive line or RB.
Gee whiz.
Highlight of huge season, Danny Lasanah.
February 10th, 2015 at 6:59 pm
Joe,
That’s the way to stick it to the little puppy. Loved it!!!
February 10th, 2015 at 7:16 pm
Warhop is the reason. Why is he still here?
February 10th, 2015 at 8:47 pm
Can anyone say coaching
February 10th, 2015 at 8:53 pm
I don’t know what happened other than teams
figuring out that the Bucs had only 4 or 5 plays
that they run on offense.
I say keep them all and lets get some got dern continuity.
Maybe an off-season together will do wonders for the oline.
February 10th, 2015 at 9:00 pm
Mankins looked unmotivated all season. What good does having a veteran pressence like Mankins do if they could care less about the team.
February 10th, 2015 at 9:09 pm
Anti-Jelled indeed. Good one Joe.
Picking a QB #1 is a given in my mind and obviously they have to make the best choice possible there – but the biggest concern of this whole offseason HAS to be figuring out how to upgrade and get much better play from the OLine.
February 10th, 2015 at 9:11 pm
@Largo, agreed. I can’t figure out who was the most disappointing- Collins, EDS, or Mankins. I could make a case for all 3.
February 11th, 2015 at 2:54 am
Lovie made a calculated guess that Schiano had missed on the OL. Lovie miscalculated. Coulda kept the same group for less and done better
Better luck this time Lovie after you draft Leonard Williams or Randy Gregory.
February 11th, 2015 at 11:56 am
EDS himself was a mystery. how do you go from near pro-bowler to being a delay-of-game and botched snap machine
February 11th, 2015 at 3:27 pm
Pretty sure the other teams knew exactly what was coming 75% of the time, or more, after the first couple of games. Not too hard to stop. The non-Tedford issue caused that, as Arroyo was not capable of confusing the defenses.
February 13th, 2015 at 11:01 am
[…] No. 21 — Anti-Jell No. 22 — Seferian-Jenkins boasting about penalized pose No. 23 — Never moving Michael Johnson No. 24 — “I didn’t want to put more points on the board” No. 25 — Glennon success without an offensive coordinator No. 26 — Putrid punting No. 27 — Defending three-step drops No. 28 — Eight consecutive red zone runs versus Rams No. 29 — Leaky Sean Glennon No. 30 – Jorvorskie Lane […]