Kwon: Pressure On Players
October 11th, 2015
Players rally to Lovie.
Outside of One Buc Palace, the chirping and hollering were at near record levels for the Bucs to move on from coach Lovie Smith.
Inside the building, apparently, was another matter.
Joe spoke with a couple of linebackers after the win over the Jags; and both disputed any pressure was on Lovie.
“Nah, we don’t pay attention to that stuff,” Bucs outside linebacker Lavonte David said, brushing off any pressure on Lovie to win.
However, middle linebacker Kwon Alexander heard the anti-Lovie noise and it was misplaced, he said.
“Pressure on Lovie? Nah, man. Lovie is a great coach,” Alexander said. “He is a great coach. It is on us to go out there and win the game. We have to go out there and showed the world what we were owing to do and what we were capable of and have fun.”
Joe thinks this could be a landmark win for Lovie. At the very least, for the next two weeks, people hollering for Lovie’s head on a platter will quiet down.
Now, how the Bucs are able to carry over this win into the second third of the season, that is to be determined. For if Lovie doesn’t get more wins, the same pressure will be back on. Big time.
October 11th, 2015 at 6:44 pm
This was a great win for the Bucs. Got to see some growth in #3’s game and we ran the ball great. Defense is a work in progress but the pieces seem to be in place now.
The best part of today’s win was psychological. This was exactly the kind of game we would have found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. But today it seemed as if we finally found a way to win a game instead of lose it.
October 11th, 2015 at 7:01 pm
Wins soothe all sports related mental wounds, except for the really grumpy.
October 11th, 2015 at 8:07 pm
Hmmmm I disagree that the pieces are in place for the defense. I think guys are getting more comfortable in the scheme but they are lacking talent in the secondary. Jennings and Jenkins would probably barely make most teams but we have them starting.
October 11th, 2015 at 8:27 pm
Agree Waterboy, defense still has a number of missing pieces. Neither Jennings nor Jenkins should be starters, their coverage skills are terrible. I’d take Verner and Banks over those two any day.
I’m not at all sure what’s up with our safeties, but I wasn’t impressed today. McDougald made a very nice interception, but other than that he looked to be out of position a whole lot.
The DLine was pretty stout against the run in the middle, but had trouble with end sweeps on several occasions. Getting 6 sacks is awesome I think, but Bortles had all day to pass on way too many other occasions. And as a result he picked our secondary apart.
Overall a great win (to say the least), but in a number of respects the defense took a step back today. Fortunately the offense and special teams took a step forward and we came away with the W.
October 11th, 2015 at 8:48 pm
I agree with the comments below. Jennings is a huge risk while he on the field. Bortals did a poor job in targeting Jennings until it was too late. As it was they scored 14 points off of Jennings. He is one of the worst corners I have seen in a long time.
October 11th, 2015 at 8:48 pm
oops, meant comments above
October 11th, 2015 at 10:00 pm
They isnt any pressure on Lovie this year, contrary to the saber rattling nonsense here.
Lovie has had two good drafts. The team is improved in almost every category,we now have depth at most posistions-
Plus we are grooming a young franchise QB, who is showing signs of greatness.
You’d have to be pretty stupid to believe Lovie is in any kind of Danger.
Unbelievably stupid.
That covers a lot of the Trolls and haters here.
Go rent A billboard. But save yourself some embarrassment and humiliation, and just hang yourself from it.
October 11th, 2015 at 11:33 pm
Capt Tim
I agree because the haters and negativity has been irritating as helll, although the hanging from billboards is a little harsh. LoL
The glazers hired Lovie to let him rebuild in the way Dungy did. Last year was a house cleaning. This year was the major rebuild to put the building blocks in place from the last few drafts.
They have amassed a bunch of depth.
They obviously are still missing a few pieces (O and D line and anther DB and WR), but the major pieces are there.
Changing coaches and systems every couple years only sets them back another 2 years.
This team is poised to be a playoff contender for years to come starting next year.
October 11th, 2015 at 11:58 pm
Dave- yay, intelligence
October 12th, 2015 at 7:44 am
We beat the worst team in the league so I don’t know that gets Lovie off the hot seat. I think we have seen enough from Lovie that we all know he’s a terrible coach and should be replaced at the end of the season.
October 12th, 2015 at 9:36 am
Phil-YaY intelligence We have plenty of deph we only need o-line D-line A whole secondary another wr LOL
October 12th, 2015 at 10:35 am
Haha… Does everyone realize that we are currently ranked #8 in overall defense. That ranking comes from our passing defense not our run defense. We are #6 against the pass. I don’t believe Jennings is our answer but I have seen WAY to many missed tackles against the run. We will finish the season as a top ten defense. Need to nab a DE in the first round (wishful thinking is Bosa) then another OG in the second…. Then Love and Licht can do what they do best and find some diamonds in the rough for the secondary.