Ira’s 10 Takeaways From Preseason Game 2
August 22nd, 2016
BY IRA KAUFMAN
Generating turnovers has been a chronic problem for Tampa Bay’s defense during the club’s 5-year lease on the NFC South basement.
The Bucs picked off four passes in Saturday night’s 27-21 triumph at Jacksonville and here are 10 more takeaways for Buc fans to chew on:
* Cameron Brate picked a bad time to have a bad game. Brate couldn’t corral any of the three passes sent his way Saturday and one of Jameis Winston’s few accurate throws went off Brate’s hands for an interception. Looks like Austin Seferian-Jenkins now has a clear path to reclaim his starter’s position and begin justifying why he was a second-round pick in 2014.
* Speaking of Brate, he was victimized by a cheap shot from Jaguars safety Peyton Thompson. Brate was in a defenseless position when Thompson clubbed him in the helmet, prompting a personal foul flag. It was a dumb, dangerous play by Thompson, who is already with his fourth NFL team at the age of 25. Now you know why.
* Winston was clearly outplayed by Blake Bortles, whose 24-yard TD pass to Allen Hurns was a thing of beauty. Bortles lofted the ball over the head of Brent Grimes, no easy task considering Grimes’ outstanding leaping ability.
* Winston throws several different pass routes very well, but the deep out isn’t one of them. It takes a big arm to connect on a long sideline pass and if you float the ball, it’s often a pick-6 the other way. Joe Flacco is particularly adept at that throw and it might be a wise idea for Dirk Koetter to rip that page out of the playbook.
* After a shaky start, rookie Roberto Aguayo is now under intense scrutiny heading into the Sept. 11 opener at Atlanta. Aguayo was wide right on two FG attempts in Jacksonville, and GM Jason Licht is hoping for a quick comeback from a kicker known for remarkable accuracy rather than a strong right leg.
* The best news of all through two preseason games? No major injuries for the Bucs, who were smart to rest Gerald McCoy and Doug Martin. Look for both to suit up Friday night against Cleveland — then sit out the exhibition finale.
* Jags coach Gus Bradley, facing a do-or-die season, has to find a way to explain 11 first-half penalties for 101 yards. Hop on the bus, Gus. Owner Shad Khan is a patient man, but Jacksonville’s lack of discipline was astonishing.
* Koetter said Tampa Bay’s feeble ground game at Philadelphia wasn’t an issue, and he was correct as Charles Sims, Storm Johnson and Peyton Barber took turns gouging the Jags. Second-year guard Ali Marpet in particular had his way until Koetter pulled the first string. How dominant were the Bucs up front? They snapped the ball 84 times and maintained possession for 36:14.
* New defensive coordinator Mike Smith probably reached for the Maalox when T.J. Yeldon slipped out of the backfield unmarked for the game’s first touchdown. I’ve seen the replay 11 times and I’m still waiting for a Buc linebacker to wander into Yeldon’s zip code.
* First-round pick Vernon Hargreaves showed why the Bucs believe he will be a difference-maker, posting two interceptions while the secondary had another impressive outing. And nobody needed a pick more than enigmatic CB Johnthan Banks, a 2013 second-round choice who has plunged down the depth chart. Two years ago, Banks looked like a player on the rise. Now, he’s on the bubble.
August 22nd, 2016 at 8:18 am
good stuff IRA
August 22nd, 2016 at 8:30 am
Great recap of the game. At the end of the Yelton’s TD pass, LVD was casually stolling through the zipcode. For some reason, he just didn’t look very motivated to do anything about it. If you watch the replay, he clearly pulled up and didn’t attemp to tackle him. LVD didn’t really seem to start playing until the 2nd qtr.
August 22nd, 2016 at 8:51 am
Add to this list that the defensive line looked quite average without Gerald McCoy.
August 22nd, 2016 at 9:02 am
Gotta admit that pass to Hurns from Bortles was thing a beauty. But Grimes looked great on that play too. Even though it was just a tad over his fingertips, it was still a great attempt that almost worked. Very similar to the one Grimes did tip earlier in the game. Love me some Grimes!!
August 22nd, 2016 at 10:06 am
Bortles can make every throw. His only knock was that, like Jameis, he wasn’t very sound mechanicaly.
August 22nd, 2016 at 10:27 am
Bucs needed this win. Yes its preseason but we needed just one. The kid Peyton Barber ran pretty good. Had never heard of him before. Bucs should scour the waiver wires after final cutdowns to secure another Offensive lineman..just in case. Bucs need more attitude like Jameis says. Loved the article here IRA.
August 22nd, 2016 at 11:24 am
It is hard to count this as a win even though we finished the game with more points. Our starters were outplayed and outscored. We did not score on the Jags first team defense. Also the defense was shaky this go around. Hopefully Jameis will be more on point against Cleveland, the WR’s will catch better and our coveted 2nd round kicker can remember how to kick the ball through the uprights!!!! Just keeping it real. There were also some good things observed but I am sticking to what needs to be fixed. GO BUCS!!!!!!
August 22nd, 2016 at 11:37 am
Good article..and I agree with everything..Jax not only had 11 penalties, but some of them were dirty hits, dangerous enough to get our guy severely injured.
August 22nd, 2016 at 11:39 am
I never heard of RB Barber either, he was effective. I’m anxious to get to the final roster.
August 22nd, 2016 at 12:27 pm
Five year lease on last place in the NFC South? Seems more like they had a5 year mortgage on last place. Great insightful article.
August 22nd, 2016 at 12:32 pm
I don’t see how our secondary played well when jags scored 2 tds in bortles 3 possessions.
August 22nd, 2016 at 1:15 pm
It’s practice.
August 22nd, 2016 at 1:18 pm
I agree the most important takeaway is that no one has been seriously hurt at the 1/2 way point in the pre-season. Although that cheap and dangerous hit on Brate looked scary.
August 23rd, 2016 at 2:50 am
Winston throws an decent deep ball…not sure where this is coming from? Winston has the arm-strength to make every throw, but he has to have the proper mechanics to put the right torque into his throws…with feet set, towards target….and step and follow-through…driving the back shoulder into the throw.