Still The NFL’s Best
September 29th, 2015
All that national media attention for defensive end Jacquies Smith last week didn’t generate an inspired performance against a patchwork Texans offensive line.
However, Smith remains an inspirational figure.
With four sacks (none Sunday), Smith remains the NFL sackmaster general. Those four sacks lead the league. A few guys across the NFL have 3.5. (Adrian Clayborn has one, for those wondering. George Johnson has none. No other Bucs defensive end has one, either.)
It just goes to show how tough it is to drag quarterbacks to the ground. It’s why guys who can rip off 10 sacks a year make gobs of cash and score the hottest women.
As for the future of the Bucs’ pass rush, Joe is concerned. Gerald McCoy is not playing at 100 percent. Bucs fans saw it on the field Sunday, and Lovie Smith acknowledged it yesterday. There’s no question that McCoy is the engine of that rush, drawing massive attention from offenses.
September 29th, 2015 at 8:58 am
Lovie could be trying to trade Verner for Willie Young.
With the Panthers losing their top pass rusher Charles Johnson they traded with the Bears for Jared Allen so we know the Bears are shipping off their 4-3 DEs.
September 29th, 2015 at 9:01 am
I’m not ready to crown this guy mvp. Some of those guys with 3.5 are big names that draw double teams. Smith doesn’t see those so I don’t think I can compare them.
September 29th, 2015 at 9:01 am
Agree that Gerald is ‘the engine’ of our pass rush Joe, but it didn’t look like he was doing the DLine any favors by being out there Sunday. Bum shoulder/arm is easy for these monster OLinemen to take advantage of. Might be wrong, but I think that’s one of the main reasons that the Texans were able to run on us so well.
Keep hearing that we’ve got this great DLine depth behind McCoy with McDonald, Melton, McDaniels and Gholston. If they can’t man up unless Gerald ‘inspires them’ then the Bucs have a bigger problem than just McCoy’s bum shoulder.
September 29th, 2015 at 9:11 am
Since McCoy was drawing massive attention then why weren’t the other defensive players able to get to the QB or make a backup RB look like a full fledged starter?
September 29th, 2015 at 12:08 pm
paying attention to trends and leaderboards after 2 or 3 games is silly. one big game early in the year will make you “top 10” until probability settles in around midseason and other guys have big games too. tennessee is a “top 5 defense” after 3 weeks in large part because they shut down the bucs. meanwhile they’ve lost and given up 4+ TDs in each of the 2 games since
September 29th, 2015 at 12:16 pm
I never understood why we got rid of clayborn,
September 29th, 2015 at 2:17 pm
Even with McCoy banged up didn’t he have a sack, forc fumble called back by penalty. As well did smith against the saints. Penalties and mental errors are what’s killing this team ( and a kicker who can make 55+ yarders with ease but under 40 no way)
September 29th, 2015 at 5:48 pm
We keep hearing about how “last week our defense didn’t generate an inspired performance against a patchwork Texans offensive line.” Here is how Pro Football Focus tells it. LT Chris Clark (+3.1) bounced back from a poor Week 2 showing (-1.6) to have his best game since the divisional playoff round back in 2013, when he was on the Denver Broncos. He had the fifth-highest grade among all OTs this weekend, and his +2.6 pass-blocking grade was the third-highest. RT Derek Newton (+2.1) also came to life Sunday with a good performance and RG Brandon Brooks (+2.9) is rated 10th overall by PFF. The Bucs played an inspired Texan team at home last Sunday, who’s OL turned out to be much more formidable than anyone expected. The Buccaneer DE were terrible against the run and George Johnson (-5.6 with just 1 QB hurry) appears to be the latest trade bust for Jason Licht.