Season Saved!
October 10th, 2016
Good times
Hallelujah!
Joe is so damn pumped to avoid the seemingly annual Bucs draft chatter in October.
Tampa Bay is 2-3 and alive and well — and alone — in second place in the NFC South.
This win in Carolina was mandatory. There’s just no way the Bucs could have explained away a four game losing streak against Carson Palmer, Case Keenum, Paxton Lynch and Derek Anderson.
Regardless of how you evaluate the state of the team, the Bucs got the job done through a lot of key injuries — and a challenging schedule — to arrive at 2-3 at the bye week. That’s exactly what they had to do. Every preseason prognosticator knew that when the schedule was released in April. A 2-3 record was the mandatory minimum.
Up next is the miserable 49ers (1-4) and Blaine Gabbert in two weeks. If the Bucs win that, and they should, then they would be in strong position with a 3-3 record, undefeated in the division, and possess a 3-2 conference record with momentum.
Punishing the Panthers in their crib tonight truly saved the season on many levels, in addition to garnering the Bucs some much-needed national respect.
Amen.
October 10th, 2016 at 11:34 pm
Rogers ran well. Keep him staring and lets sims go back to 3rd down.
October 10th, 2016 at 11:35 pm
Haters gonna hate.
October 10th, 2016 at 11:35 pm
We found a way.
Simple as that
Blow it out your arse @Bighog n @mikejo
October 10th, 2016 at 11:35 pm
Whew!
October 10th, 2016 at 11:36 pm
Great win! I’m so happy right now. I mean this is awesome !!
October 10th, 2016 at 11:36 pm
How did we win??? 2-0 in the division baby.
October 10th, 2016 at 11:36 pm
2-0 I’m the division both on the road is not bad
October 10th, 2016 at 11:36 pm
Great job bucs.
Should keep idiots like me quiet for awhile.
October 10th, 2016 at 11:36 pm
BUT!
4 TO’s 3 from the D and 1 from special teams! If it werent for that, we’re in a different mode.
Obviously the Offense needs to fix some things. But our D (backup players) are hanging in there and I REALLY appreciate that!
October 10th, 2016 at 11:36 pm
Sims is on IR. Pay more attention next time..
October 10th, 2016 at 11:37 pm
Martin, and quizz running together is going to be fun to watch. Get healthy Sims.
October 10th, 2016 at 11:37 pm
The playcalling gave me cancer though. After the by we will get Martin back so that is good.
October 10th, 2016 at 11:37 pm
Imagine if we used Rodgers this much last week, like many of us were screaming for…. Ah, a guy can dream.
October 10th, 2016 at 11:38 pm
McDougald, Jaquizz and Grimes showed up big tonight
October 10th, 2016 at 11:38 pm
Rodgers gets the game ball. Love how they ran the ball down their throats early. Finally got some turnovers. Well take it.
October 10th, 2016 at 11:38 pm
Gotta tip my hat to the the D though… They held strong.
October 10th, 2016 at 11:39 pm
Good win, but……somebody please teach Koetter how to manage the clock at the end of the game. Just awful clock management, and some of the play calling???
This team needs the bye week so badly right now. Get some of these injured guys back and do some self reflecting in Koetter case.
October 10th, 2016 at 11:39 pm
Saved what!!! Did you watch the game. Both teams did their best to give the other the game. This season is over!!!
October 10th, 2016 at 11:40 pm
Wowwwwww
Winston protected the ball, Rogers ran well and Evans made some great catches, no drops.
That’s it.
October 10th, 2016 at 11:41 pm
Best thing about this win is that BSPN tried their best to exploit every negative thing about the bucs… Not one positive thing was said about them and every horrible stat they have highlighted the bottom of the screen… except when chucky talked about how much he liked Jameis before the game started
October 10th, 2016 at 11:41 pm
Grimes should get the game ball.
October 10th, 2016 at 11:41 pm
I don’t even feel like we won. What a nail biter! AGUAYO! Why must you make my blood pressure rise!
Panthers did as much as they could to give us the game. And we continually tried to give it back to them. Gruden said it, neither team deserved to win this game, but someone had to. Glad the bucs came out on top. But holy cow do we have a lot of stuff to work on during the bye.
October 10th, 2016 at 11:42 pm
Evans did have a drop tho.
October 10th, 2016 at 11:42 pm
Yes!!! I also love the Koetter held his ground and put us in the be statistical position to win. He trusted the process and reaped the rewards. We needed to feel what it takes to win!!!
October 10th, 2016 at 11:43 pm
How is that aweful clock management? He got his field goal off with no time on the clock for the other team to respond.
It’s exactly what he tried to do in the Rams game.
It’s a delicate balance to score and take the lead before the clock runs out without leaving the other team time to respond.
October 10th, 2016 at 11:44 pm
We played Derek Anderson and our d did what they had to. Im ecstatic atm! Plus I dont think any team needs the bye week more than us. If we can commit to the run like we did tonight we should be okay. But Jameis has to be more consistent. And Koetter playcalling did seem odd on that last drive, but hey we won so maybe there is a method to his madness. Go Bucs!
October 10th, 2016 at 11:44 pm
BucGator yep still think we need a true OC.
October 10th, 2016 at 11:46 pm
Great win going into the bye week and the bye week couldn’t have come at a better time with all the injury’s!
October 10th, 2016 at 11:47 pm
the refs gifted us an extra timeout.
October 10th, 2016 at 11:47 pm
Agree with everything that you wrote, save for “some much-needed national respect”. Not sure this outing garners the Bucs much of that. Still, gritty, ugly road win. A few of those and the pretty wins follow.
October 10th, 2016 at 11:48 pm
Agreed LargoBuc
October 10th, 2016 at 11:48 pm
Joe, correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t this the first prime time win for is since Thursday night against the Vikings in 2012?
October 10th, 2016 at 11:49 pm
Us*
October 10th, 2016 at 11:51 pm
Good job bucs will enjoy this while i can.
October 10th, 2016 at 11:52 pm
Told everyone to hold on after the Broncos game…
You fans we’re ready to spit nails.
This is still a very young team.
October 10th, 2016 at 11:53 pm
Ok… Fan Alert…. Nothing in the rest of this take is any logic… Just a fan’s hope.
A bye Week
Aguayo made a game winner.
Winston hit as many big throws as missed and no ints
Martin is back after the bye.
Rodgers is a legitimate second back
GMC will be back
Noah Spence’s shoulder will be better
Robert Ayres will be back
McDonald may be back
The part that we thought was gonna be tough is over and we are 2-3 just like we kind of figured… Now if somehow we can win vs the 49ers, we are at 500, then who knows.
October 10th, 2016 at 11:54 pm
Whew! Made myself save the last cold one ’til the forth, damn glad I did. Good for our GM, FSU came through after duffing two gimmies. Cardiac Bucs keep the NFC South interesting. Now, just don’t lay an egg coming outta da bye. GO BUCS
October 10th, 2016 at 11:54 pm
Holy sh$t, nice win , let’s take this bye week and get healthy……GO BUCS
October 10th, 2016 at 11:54 pm
The D need a stop and they got it. The O needed to drive into field goal position, and got it done. Aguayo needed to split the uprights, and he did. This is how you learn to win.
Tonight was a first step in the right direction.
October 10th, 2016 at 11:54 pm
Oh and we are going 3-3 after the bye.
Remember, Buc-kle up Bucs fans the season is still young too.
Good night. 🙂
Going to bed with a smile on my face!
October 10th, 2016 at 11:55 pm
When we got the ball with less than two minutes, why did letter wait until 3rd and 8 to start running the two minute offense. It was like he thought we had the lead and was trying to run out the time.
Most mind numbingly terrible play calling. I seriously want to know what he was thinking. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that in the history of modern football
October 10th, 2016 at 11:55 pm
*Koetter
October 10th, 2016 at 11:56 pm
I am happy about the win but this kind of garbage play calling will lose us more games
October 10th, 2016 at 11:57 pm
Best road team ever!!!!!!!
October 10th, 2016 at 11:58 pm
Why is everyone attacking Koetter? Sure his game plan was boring and conservative but WE WON the game. Ron Rivera got conservative after Anderson threw that pick to Grimes. This was a game between two coaches who can’t trust their quarterbacks right now. Winston was, again, wildly inaccurate. Anderson was inaccurate at the worst times. Our offensive line and defense played better, so we won.
You guys can lay off Koetter because he’s just doing his job. At this point I dont care if he benches Winston, as long as we win.
October 10th, 2016 at 11:58 pm
Good to win and all but man do we have issues with lack of talent
October 10th, 2016 at 11:59 pm
The Panthers looked like a typical Buc team tonite……turned the ball over 4 times…..and made a really stupid penalty at the end of the game…..and they lost.
October 11th, 2016 at 12:00 am
@bigpoppa. I’m not mad abt the game plan. But with 2 timeouts and no 2 min warning, you never ever start off with two runs he came VERY VERY close to giving the game away.
October 11th, 2016 at 12:01 am
Koly Ealy you the real mvp.
October 11th, 2016 at 12:02 am
Whoever we had playing on the Dline played inspired football and the rest looked like they actually wanted to win.
Thank goodness.
One complaint, do we just have to get boneheaded penalties in the red zone?
October 11th, 2016 at 12:02 am
When someone talks about bad luck in losing it’s called whining…but we have no trouble pointing it out when we win.
Let’s all be honest. We got NO bounces in those first four games…fumbles were scooped and returned for TD’s…passes that bounced off receivers turned into pick sixes…every tipped ball went wrong…every fumble lost…but I kept trying to point out that these things even out over the season.
You’re damn straight if you want to point out tonight a muffed punt bounced to us…VHG’s great play to tip a ball was an int for us…and Anderson’s fumble recovered by us…stupid penalities by both teams tended to even out…
Overall IMHO at 2-3 the luck has also started to balance out.
October 11th, 2016 at 12:02 am
And honestly the run on 3rd and 9 on the drive b4? We should have lost that game and we should have because Koetter called the worst final 3-4 minutes of a quarter I might ever have seen.
We are lucky Jameis came through on that clutch 3rd and 8 that Koetter set him up for on the two minute drill with 2 nonsensical runs.
Jamies has his issues but he overcame Koetters Spit play calling to win,us the game
October 11th, 2016 at 12:03 am
So happy for Roberto! Hopefully this is the first of many game winners for him!
October 11th, 2016 at 12:05 am
Joe, Carson Palmer is great quarterback unlike those others you mentioned.
October 11th, 2016 at 12:09 am
I feel like every time the camera pans to jameis on the sideline he’s always squinting. Could the reason he’s always overthrowing receivers is cause the dude has no depth perception? Get the kid some contacts already!!
I’m in agreeance that the play calling at the end was suspect and it kinda seemed like dirk just wanted to get the game to OT and not turn the ball over and give the panthers good field position. What is done is done and I’m just happy things turned out in our favor for a change.
October 11th, 2016 at 12:10 am
I was thinking about that run on 3rd and 9 before aguayos miss. The one everyone was freaking out about. Im pretty sure koetter was putting the ball on the right hash for aguayo. Aguayo prefers it on the right hash and the play call was a run to the right. Koetter wanted to give aguayo some redemtion. Luckily for Aguayo he got a second try to win the game. Although i personally want to see jameis win the game for us. He has been pretty bad this year as a whole. It was kind of a toss up of who do you trust more in that situation. The int machine or the struggling rookie kicker. Neither have earned the ball at the end of the game but one of them had to get it.
I hate bad mouthing winston, but i can’t deny the truth.
October 11th, 2016 at 12:11 am
@87 Dont overlook what our D and special teams did….wouldve lost this one against a garbage Panthers team if it werent for their turnovers….Plus Roberto missed 2 fg’s (one shouldve been made the other I give him a pass). But thankfully he made that last one.
We’re a mess, but luckily the Panthers are more of a mess. We have a lot of work to do. We might win 3-4 more games.
October 11th, 2016 at 12:12 am
This was an awful game but the team showed a lot of grit…
Koetter’s decision making was very “live and die by the sword” but it worked out in the end.
Horrible game but a good win.
Hope they can heal up and stay focused and humble.
October 11th, 2016 at 12:13 am
Defense played ok. Still gave up over 400 yards and zero sacks
But I’ll take the win
October 11th, 2016 at 12:13 am
Nail biter, but last second win. congratulations Buc’s. Now we got 2 weeks to get well and get some players back, although our backups on defense played their butts off. Sorry Sims out for the season, but Rodgers looks like a keeper. Hope Hawley is OK. Now we can all enjoy the rest of our week and look forward to a weak 49er team after the bye.
October 11th, 2016 at 12:14 am
This truly was a season saver as the headline suggests. It was about to get real fugly at One Buc Place. I for one am thrilled the bye week is next…savor this for a while and keep some hope alive a little longer. 🙂
October 11th, 2016 at 12:15 am
@truebucfan. Sorry, at the end of the game you set up your kicker. You don’t do that on 3rd downs that’s still the worst play calling imaginable.
@Mad max.
100% Disagree. We are 2-3 after facing an extremely tough schedule and have a way easier finish.
October 11th, 2016 at 12:16 am
The play before that run on 3rd and 9 Jameis should have been intercepted. He knows Jameis very well and thought he was going to be intercepted. He settles for a field goal attempt. I didn’t like the call much but his play calling caused Jameis to not throw any INTs and we won. Maybe Jacquizz should be the starter until Douggie forces his way back into the lineup.
October 11th, 2016 at 12:17 am
Greg Olsen just caught two more balls on his way to the car. Can someone cover the only option they had please.
October 11th, 2016 at 12:24 am
We have got to turn those turnovers into points. Happy for the last minute win by Aguayo but he is still garbage. He has cost us points all season that could’ve possibly provided wins. If he could make kicks we might not of even had to worry about coming down to the end, even though I do love a gigantic blood rush followed up by a win.
October 11th, 2016 at 12:26 am
Look I don’t want to be that negative buc fan but dirk’s decision making is awful. He ran on 3rd and 9 with 4 min left with a struggling kicker. He has constantly been making idiotic decisions. I wanted him as a coach but I’m starting to second guess myself. Koetter’s decision making must improve!
October 11th, 2016 at 12:27 am
Our defense was actually doing pretty good. Settling for a Game winning FG with 4 minutes left in the game isn’t the worst play call imaginable. Besides did you see winstons numbers on third down? He converted just 1 third down passing the ball. Rodgers had more more third down conversions on the first drive than winston had all game. As much as you might not like to admit it, winston was getting handled by the pass rush on third and longs. Koetter knew that. He played in to that trend and went with a run play to catch the defense eother off guard or at the very least put the ball on the right side for aguayo.
As much as i would be completely irate if aguyao lost us this game, i am happy that koetter continued to give aguayo his chances.
October 11th, 2016 at 12:29 am
If we don’t drastically improve… Maybe we should give chuck another shot with our offense. All he ever lacked was a qb. I know that’s crazy but it’s starting to seem like a great idea.
October 11th, 2016 at 12:32 am
Chucky would never come back. You’re crazy to even think he would.
October 11th, 2016 at 12:33 am
My man Jaquizz that I was saying needed to get lots more touches last week showed up tonight. With Simms going on IR today, I am very, very pleased to see Quizz’s performance tonight. GO BUCS!!
October 11th, 2016 at 12:33 am
WOO I’ll take it!!!
Time to get healthy and make some adjustments. We’ve just seen an extreme of conservative game calling and chucking the rock like a mad man so we need to find that balance but I liked the obvious effort to protect th football tonight. Hopefully Aguayo goes on a roll after that win.
Defense impressed me given the fact that our entire defensive line was basically a bunch of no names.
2-3 or 3-2 was what most hoped for with this schedule before the year began.
October 11th, 2016 at 12:33 am
@tampa tony: Defense also had 3 turnovers & most importantly only gave up 14 points without 3 starters on the DL & 2 or 3 rookies playing in their place
October 11th, 2016 at 12:35 am
Theres no way around it…..The D and Special Teams WON THIS FOR US!
Granted Roberto missed two, but that final one went in!
We shouldve won by 14 or more! MUCH, MUCH work to do with the Offense!!!!
October 11th, 2016 at 12:37 am
Trubucfan22 there was good protection in the second half. JAMEIS HAS TO LEARN HOW TO COMPLETE THOSE LONGER ROUTES!!
October 11th, 2016 at 12:41 am
Winston is a problem right now. But i think the bigger problem is his lack of weapons at WR. He has no able to get open. He has to focus in on Evans because he is the only one with the ability to get open. Once we get a couple of a tually talented WRs all of our play calling and QB problems will subside. It doesnt matter play you call, if the wrs can’t get open then the play will fail. And it it doesnt matter how good your qb is, if the wrs can’t get at least a little separation then the play will fail.
The other issue, and im sure joe aill refuse to believe it, but the o line is not as good as he thinks it is. Rodgers, much like Martin did last year, was able to avoid free defenders in the back field and make something out of nothing. Pass protection again was shoddy like it has been most of the time over the last 2 seasons. Othing has changed with he o line, they just arent as good as some of the stats imply. Jameis had absolutely no time on third and long plays today, and that is on the o line. In the second half rodgers had no where to run, and that is on the o line.
October 11th, 2016 at 12:42 am
Crazy idea? It’s been talked about every single season and after every Monday night game since he was fired.
October 11th, 2016 at 12:44 am
I think they should’ve at least called a screen instead of a straight up run on third and 9. They started to stop Quizz right up the middle in the second half
October 11th, 2016 at 12:44 am
Soebuc, either way winston was not cutting it on third down. And that forced koetter to call it conservative.
October 11th, 2016 at 12:47 am
We had a couple ulle screen passes fail and result in an incompletition. Another good thing about the run was it did milk the clock too. That decision had a lot of parts to it.
October 11th, 2016 at 12:49 am
Wow, enjoy the win. Play calling was fine… oh, and you do set up for a kick on 3rd and 9, good god you people amaze me.
October 11th, 2016 at 12:50 am
Yeah the fans always talk about chucky coming back. But in teality that is just desperate fans talking crazy. Chucky would never come back. He’s been gone so long and has a great job. He has absolutely no reason to come back to the hell hole that is the bucs coaching carousel.
October 11th, 2016 at 12:51 am
Gigglypuff – Sims is on IR. Martin is back after the bye, he goes right back into the starting slot. Losing Sims hurts a ton, he was excellent as a 3rd down back – not good as a starter, but 3rd down back he excels at that.
October 11th, 2016 at 12:52 am
The problem is I don’t see more than 3 more wins on the schedule the rest of the way. I really don’t.
October 11th, 2016 at 12:52 am
bye week is coming at a great time as well….
October 11th, 2016 at 12:55 am
With rodgers on the roster the loss of sims isn’t as bad. Rodgers is a pretty good third down back. And he can be a solid back up as we saw today. Im not worried at all really. I always wanted sims to do good, but i never saw him as a big difference maker. Not the way koetter used him anyways.
October 11th, 2016 at 12:55 am
Dirk is clueless, post game his explanations for everything are just that of an absolute dope and I see why he was never hired as a head coach until now. First he talks about how with 2 mins left he ran the ball because he was worried they wouldn’t get a first down, instead he wanted to run the clock and force them to use their timeouts, then 10 seconds later he says he had complete confidence in the 2 min offense. When asked about kicking the FG he says he had no confidence in the kick, yet he played for the field goal. He’s really really a dope. I hope Mike Smith sits him down and explains to him how to be a head coach, because so far he’s been terrible. Lets hope he makes huge strides over this bye week, but wow, I wasn’t a Dirk hater before – but he’s made me one.
October 11th, 2016 at 12:56 am
It’s amazing how conservative our play calling can be and Jameis still throws for 219. Imagine if we let him cut it loose, he’d be throwing for 350 a game.
October 11th, 2016 at 1:01 am
I am very concerned that that Jameis is not really an accurate downfield passer. We have to come up with “game manager” game plans for this guy to compete.
October 11th, 2016 at 1:06 am
It was a great time sitting with both Joe’s, Ira Kaufman, and two lovely ladies at Abe’s in Clearwater. The food was great, and so was the new beer! The first thing Ira Kaufman said was we need to run the ball down their throats with Rogers, like him, and many of us have been screaming for the Bucs to do. The 2 amazing ladies were hard core Bucs fans, seriously. They found us by searching Google for a Bucs Watch Party. They were awesome Fans, and never ever lost faith in the Bucs during the game, even when we missed 2 field goals.
They brought the Mojo!
October 11th, 2016 at 1:14 am
brion – Jameis was 4 of 5 on the last drive, Dirk has to actually let him play so he gets into a groove, we all know Jameis is best when the game is on the line. Dirk was throwing a hissy fit after he quit on the team last week and this week he decided he’d “punish” the nation by making this game as boring as possible. Seriously opening running the ball is a great idea, no issue there, late in the game when your kicker isn’t making kicks and playing for FGs, Dirk showed how dumb he can be tonight. Carolina for some reason was even worse. The Bucs won the turnover battle by a mile and barely overcame Dirk’s horrendous play calling. Dirk was very good in his role as OC, but he’s in way over his head as HC – which is the exact reason I said Lovie should have never been fired. Give Dirk a couple of years working exclusively with Jameis and don’t make him have to take his eye off the ball – the ball being the offense. Dirk is not HC material, I just hope he figures out a way to get dramatically better at his job really quick and stops being such a moody on his period woman.