Disbelief
November 4th, 2016
Warren Sapp was spotted watching the Bucs defense last night.
One cool thing about Tampa Bay’s only Hall of Fame voter, JoeBucsFan.com columnist eye-RAH! Kaufman, is he hangs out with Buccaneers royalty.
And last night, John Lynch Night, was no exception.
During today’s Ira Kaufman Podcast, the veteran scribe described a sideline scene of Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks and John Lynch watching replays of the Bucs defense on the giant stadium video boards. The icons of the glory days, per Kaufman, appeared in disbelief while noting repetitive defensive mistakes against the Falcons.
And it’s not like Lynch, Sapp and Brooks don’t know the Bucs.
Brooks doesn’t miss a snap. And Sapp has been very visible at games since getting fired from NFL Network. He’s also a regular adviser of Gerald McCoy. Lynch sees the Bucs in film study for his FOX broadcast duties. Lynch also joined a film study session in Tampa with defensive coordinator Mike Smith early this year.
In fact, last Sunday against the Raiders, Sapp was in the house hanging out with Kaufman, and Joe encountered Sapp, as well. Joe and Sapp shared time and words at a broken ice dispenser attached to the press box soda machine. If Sapp was as troubled by the Bucs’ miserable defense as he was by that ice issue, then it’s no surprise he was reacting to the Bucs woes on defense.
It’s a been an awfully rough five years for the Bucs legends. They have to be the most flummoxed by the Bucs’ dreadful home record since Chucky was fired — less than three wins per seasons. It all seemed so impossible once upon a time.
November 4th, 2016 at 2:05 pm
This sucks!!!!
November 4th, 2016 at 2:10 pm
Never thought off say this… But Schiano was the best coach we had in the bunch since Chucky got run off. Besides the goofy ideas about blowing up Victory formation and his general attitude, and the ill timing of a MRSA outbreak beyond his control, he had the players disciplined. He should’ve gotten another year at least.
In my opinion, the team is now poisoned. I think it’s time for another housecleaning from top to bottom. Throw serious money at real GMs and a real coach. Ditch the free agency garbage and get some draft picks. Take the proper risks and do something big, like trading Lavonte David or McCoy for a handful of picks. Something. Anything. I’m sick of going to the games now.
November 4th, 2016 at 2:13 pm
Last nights loss was on the Entire team. Jameis makes some of the most Beautiful throws I have ever seen then he airs one. We had penalties by 9 different Bucs. Zero Pass rush in the Second half. Corners not pressing at the los. Safetys that can’t cover rookie Tight ends. SMH
November 4th, 2016 at 2:14 pm
I’m not even sure what to do at this point. I don’t even know how to transition away from the team. It’s definitely a parasitic relationship that the team has with its fanbase in that we are expected to give our time, money, and loyalty while getting nothing back in the way of victories, hope or entertainment. I want to enjoy football again. It’s the only sport that I watch and the team that I have invested in has taken away my ability to enjoy this one sports indulgence that I have. Part of me wants to find another team, but do you just find one arbitrarily to latch on to? If I pick a winner so I can enjoy the games then I’m a bandwagon jumper. If I pick a loser then what was the point of jumping ship on the Bucs. It’s a sad state to be in as a fan.
November 4th, 2016 at 2:15 pm
I only watch on tv because I live in CT, you know how hard it is to be a die hard bucs fan with all these New England fans around? It’s getting old but I will stick by them and HOPE THAT Winston is the real deal and will bring us out of the gutter eventually.
November 4th, 2016 at 2:16 pm
Even I..Miss Positive, Miss I Believe..is feeling out of sorts today..I think I have given up on the dream to at least make the playoffs..those gaps last night..those penalties..no energy except from Mike Evans and Glennon at the end..
I am waving my white flag..we had a chance to get another WR and we chose not to.
I’m logging off the computer for awhile…
Peace out..
November 4th, 2016 at 2:19 pm
Oh, everyone believed it a long time ago. 🙁
November 4th, 2016 at 2:28 pm
Yeah this really sucks.
To see this team, especially on defense, keep making the same mistakes on defense is unbearable.
How the hell can Mike Smith come in after watching the film, and still let our defense play so far off receivers and get no pass rush?
Is he being paid off?
It just makes no sense.
I’ll never abandon my team, I’ve been through worse. ……but GD!
November 4th, 2016 at 2:30 pm
The NFL is general is hit or miss anymore due to injuries and talent drain. Many teams, including ours, resembles the teams of the strike year when non-players came in to play.
Arguably, and given the sorry state of our injuries, our 3 best players may have been hurt last night (and where was the spearing on the defender that drilled Evans?). It’s a game of attrition, but who wants to spend their time, money and mindshare to see Cecil Shorts & John Hughes, or, for that matter, at least a third of our when-healthy starters?
November 4th, 2016 at 2:32 pm
Say what you want about the defense, but this teams’ problems all start on the offensive line. Pure garbage is what that is. With a half-decent o-line, Winston and Evans would break records.
November 4th, 2016 at 2:34 pm
It’s just baffling to me that we’ve managed to be this inept for this long. I consider myself a die hard fan. I’ve been overly optimistic through some pretty lean years and I’ve looked through my rose colored glasses toward the future at every turn. Every off season is a new day where we’re finally going to click and everything looks good until they actually start playing football with other teams. Then we’re reminded just how far behind other organizations this team actually is. We’re getting torched regularly by teams that are a decade away from sniffing a playoff spot. I’m not sure if it’s incompetence or dereliction or a cacophony of holes left by previous regimes that will never be overcome, but it’s just too much to be able to support anymore. I’ve been a die hard for a lot of years, but I’m in hospice care now.
November 4th, 2016 at 2:39 pm
Like death and taxes and the Bucs losing, everlasting. Yawn.
November 4th, 2016 at 2:42 pm
SB that pretty much sums it up!
I’d like to think I normally lean towards the optimistic side, but the last 2 games have taken any hope I had left.
unbelievable Says:
November 4th, 2016 at 2:22 pm
I guessed 9 – 7 before the season started, now I honestly think it will be hard to get to 6 – 10 again. Seriously, what other games do we think we can win at this point? Maybe Chicago? Maybe 1 of the Saints games?
We’re not going to suddenly get good WRs. Best case scenario is Russell Shepherd comes back and is adequately productive.
We’ve gone through 4 RBs already. Nuff said.
Our oline is not looking better, it’s looking worse.
We have zero pass rush. And with Jac Smith out for the season, Howard Jones down with an injury, Clinton McDonald out w/ injury, and McCoy, Ayers, and Spence all playing hurt, I see no hope of a pass rush suddenly appearing.
Our safeties are not good, and now that VHIII has been exposed, he will be picked on every single week by large WRs. Gee, who could have guessed that?
Just trying to be honest. Someone please tell me where I’m wrong. The only possible point I could concede, is that the defense played 90 snaps Sunday and then had to turn around and play again 4 days later. Maybe, just maybe, they can hold up for more than 2 quarters next week. 2016 looks very grim Bucs fans.
November 4th, 2016 at 2:43 pm
@Patrick in VA.
Like I said last week. Wear the gear colors in public and people think your crazy here. This is why. My wife has thought I am nuts for a long time. She won’t even watch a game with me. Last night is the first time I refused to watch one. I am debating what to do. Been with them since 76. Just can’t take it anymore. Constant circle of changes but nothing changes.
November 4th, 2016 at 2:54 pm
What’s bad is theoretically we could lose every game on the rest of our schedule
November 4th, 2016 at 3:02 pm
I’ll preface this by saying that I like Jameis Winston. I want him to do well. I like his passion and I like that he’s motivated to right the ship. That said, can we shelve the leadership praise until he actually leads us to something? Thus far, he’s been the same type of leader that GMC was. He’s the guy that stands up and takes the blame for losses. That’s great, that’s a start. But, if we’re going to call him a leader, shouldn’t we also expect that he lead the team to somewhere we want to be? Leading us to a bunch of losses isn’t really something that we should be slapping the kid on the back for.
Now, I get that it’s a team game and a lot of the games lost lie squarely on the shoulders of the defense or special teams. But I don’t know that we have a single leader on this team until we’re led consistently to positive results where the play on the field looks like we won on purpose and not simply because the other team out-lost us.
November 4th, 2016 at 3:05 pm
The drafting of VH3 & Auguyo were big mistakes by Licht. Anyone who watched Florida could see the kid has quickness and good movement but lacked speed and size. Guest what, in the NFL the best receivers have quickness, speed, good movement and size so you don’t draft a corner in the first round unless they can stay with a top WR. They should have drafted DL. OL , DL, OL, DL, OL and maybe mix a WR or DB in cause our DL is horrible and our OL is up and down at best. The issue now is we seriously need another WR, 2 DE’s
November 4th, 2016 at 3:11 pm
@Chris … “What’s bad is theoretically we could lose every game on the rest of our schedule”. We can still get to 10-and-6 if we go 7-and-1 the rest of the way Chris. You just have to ‘think positive’. Oh wait, that’s called ‘being delusional’. My bad.
November 4th, 2016 at 3:24 pm
Ndog don’t forget we need safeties as well
November 4th, 2016 at 3:27 pm
In the interest of fairness, I think Miko Grimes should get credit for not flame spraying the organization in the midst of this spiral in to…. a standard Bucs season. For as much grief as she got when we speculated about her being a loose cannon, I haven’t seen anything about her being anything other than a relatively quiet, supportive fan.
November 4th, 2016 at 3:29 pm
ndog, the Bucs have drafted poorly for many years now. Combine that with the coaching carousel we’ve had (killing player development) and it equals today’s mediocre team. Free agents can plug holes, but every good team builds through the draft. Bucs have the foundation for a decent team offensively (Winston, Evans, Marpet among others) but we’ve still got a LOT of holes on the OLine, at WR & TE and even at RB (ours simply aren’t holding up). On defense, Bucs have a LOT of building to do … far too many holes to list. I thought that we were 2 years away from the playoffs. Now, tend to think we’re a lot further than that unfortunately.
November 4th, 2016 at 3:47 pm
To all posters above “I CAN FEEL YOUR PAIN”?
November 4th, 2016 at 4:43 pm
Mark my words, Jason Licht will be fired after the season.
November 4th, 2016 at 5:21 pm
Chill the F out. Impatience and wanting a quick fix is what got us in this mess. You HAVE to stick with a plan for a few years for it to work. A few games won’t cut it. Have to be able to draft and develop for your system and coaches. It doesn’t matter how talented your roster is if they cannot ever get comfortable in a system. Comfortable isn’t one off-season. Comfortable is years. Give them time. Running off Schiano for example, was stupid because he was trying to change a culture and build a program. That got blown up after two years for Lovie and look how that worked. Top overall pick. These games are what is known as “Growing pains”.
PATIENCE!!!
November 4th, 2016 at 5:41 pm
Thank you @Mort…the world needs instant gratification thanks to smart phones..no way ANYTHING will work if we have a new head coach year after year after year. Patience. Have some faith.
November 4th, 2016 at 5:57 pm
Faith has run its course!
November 4th, 2016 at 9:34 pm
I’ve had a day to calm down. I’m still not calm. I still insist on firing Mike Smith. Can anybody give me 1 reason why Mike Smith, a guy that has never led a successful defense that didn’t involve Jack Del Rio pioneering it, should not be fired.
November 5th, 2016 at 3:44 am
There is one, and only one solution to this curse.
HIRE JON GRUDEN
November 7th, 2016 at 9:24 am
Patrick in VA Says:
November 4th, 2016 at 2:14 pm
I’m not even sure what to do at this point. I don’t even know how to transition away from the team. It’s definitely a parasitic relationship that the team has with its fanbase in that we are expected to give our time, money, and loyalty while getting nothing back in the way of victories, hope or entertainment. I want to enjoy football again. It’s the only sport that I watch and the team that I have invested in has taken away my ability to enjoy this one sports indulgence that I have. Part of me wants to find another team, but do you just find one arbitrarily to latch on to? If I pick a winner so I can enjoy the games then I’m a bandwagon jumper. If I pick a loser then what was the point of jumping ship on the Bucs. It’s a sad state to be in as a fan.
—————
Holy crap, bro. You totally nailed it. Change your name to Brandon in VA and it very well could have been me that said what you did.
I’ve sworn off watching the Bears game this week. I won’t do it. The Bucs have 10 days rest…the Bears aren’t great. Either the Bucs clobber them like most teams playing previously on Thursday do with the long rest, or they don’t. Either way, the clobbering or slight win won’t be enough to trick me back in (it’s a trap) and I can spare myself the indignity of watching them possible lose.