Lovie Says More Vincent Jackson Is Needed
September 29th, 2015
Joe’s never quite sure what to make of it when a guy in charge says something needs to happen.
Then order it to happen! Take last year, when Lovie Smith used to say the Bucs must stick with the running game longer.
Well, then Lovie should have gotten on the headset and talked to everyone’s favorite fall guy, Marcus Arroyo.
Yesterday on the Buccaneers Radio Network, Lovie said the balance wasn’t quite right in the passing game in Houston. More Vincent Jackson was needed.
“I think Vincent was maybe targeted about four times [Sunday]. Yes, we acknowledge that we need to get him involved more,” Lovie said. “That’s, you know, a great player. But some games you have a favorable matchup with a certain guy. And before you know it you look and it’s not exactly, it’s not spread out to the way you would like to, as far as to all of your receivers.”
To be precise, Jackson was targeted four times, not much for a guy earning $10 million a year. He was targeted five times in New Orleans.
The favorable matchup Lovie referenced was, of course, to Mike Evans, who had 17 balls thrown his way. He caught seven and dropped at least four. Lovie said the Texans were focused on taking V-Jax out of the game.
In the absence of Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Joe would love to see the Bucs have V-Jax play more in the slot and actively seek the best matchup for him.
V-Jax was all over the field during his greatest season. That was the 2012 campaign, when Mike Sullivan led Josh Freeman to throw to V-Jax more than nine times per game. V-Jax caught 72 balls for a whopping 1,384 yards and went to the Pro Bowl.
September 29th, 2015 at 10:51 am
Just a reminder to Lovie:
Touchdowns count six points.
Field goals count three points.
Only 11 men allowed on the field at one time.
Simple as that…….
September 29th, 2015 at 10:54 am
Tom- type slower in case incompetent Lovie Smith is reading this!
September 29th, 2015 at 10:55 am
Vjax could seem to separate himself from KJ. Jameis fired one in to Jackson and it was well defended by K. Johnson. That was a tough match up I’m sure VJax will be getting his share in games to come.
September 29th, 2015 at 11:01 am
Alright Joes, why was Mike James released? I didnt see that one coming….theres others who need to be traded or released.
September 29th, 2015 at 11:10 am
There is no doubt Jameis was forcing the ball to Evans. We heard all week Evans was going to be heavily involved in the game plan. I would guess Jameis was told to get the ball out quick due to Houson’s pass rush, so he probably went to his first read (Evans) too much. Hopefully Jackson can get more targets, because good things tend to happen when we get him the ball.
September 29th, 2015 at 11:17 am
More than more VJax, we simply need something different. Our top 4 targets (VJax, Evans, ADJ, Murphy) all profile as essentially the exact same kind of receiver: Tall, big, lacking top end speed. We need more variety in the targets out there because they all are too similar right now, and none of them are threats with speed or in the middle of the field, they’re guys you throw to outside mostly.
September 29th, 2015 at 11:25 am
bucrightoff has a good point. We’ve been struggling to find that quick slot guy for quite some time.
September 29th, 2015 at 11:59 am
Why was Humphries deactivated for the game?
September 29th, 2015 at 12:00 pm
Jackson was like the invisible man in the Texan’s game. Too many short passes to slow Evans. That took the pass rush heat off of Winston. I thought the lack of Winston being sacked was because of great O line play. The Bucs haven’t shown much of an effective short pass ability besides the Sims TD. Houston is not that good, but they had a better game plan and better execution in the game. The Bucs were not terrible in their effort evidenced by hanging in until late.
September 29th, 2015 at 12:00 pm
Correct me if I’m wrong didn’t Adam humpries shine in preseason why not give him a chance to be that slot guy since they wanna put Rainey on kickoffs and punts instead of Adam like it was suppose to be, which in my opinion Rainey lacks the speed for. Ijs utilize humpries
September 29th, 2015 at 12:32 pm
If anything the Bucs need a quick WR in the slot. Putting Jackson in motion would help get him open but it really is just a bandaid to a larger issue and that is not having a change of pace receiver underneath.
September 29th, 2015 at 3:24 pm
I don’t know how to do the new math so someone might need to help me out…
ME was targeted 17 times, caught 7 and dropped 4.
What happened to the other 6 balls?
September 29th, 2015 at 9:34 pm
As a big time buccaneer fan I totally understand everyone being discouraged but a real fan has to back up his team through the good and bad ,and I know it’s been more bad lately but I truly believe if we give this team that has 4 rookies starting some patience, we will see better results soon.I mean we’re only 3 games in,there’s still 13 more to go so let’s back up our bucs and be positive instead of all this negativity. If every one wants to jump ship go ahead ,take the easy route and get on the bandwagon and go for another team,cause we don’t need fans like that!!I’m not gonna give up on my team ever and I’ll always be a buccaneer till I die!!
September 30th, 2015 at 11:25 am
We must establish a running game, controling the time of position, is going to be the key, to staying in the game. We have to pick up those 1st downs. Tha Texans had the ball a hole quarter longer than us last week. Like 14 min. longer, that’s is unexceptable play. Get it together, or get embarrassed again.
September 30th, 2015 at 11:40 am
Love this is not 1980 teams pass on 1st down