Koetter: Bucs Need Conditioning Work
September 17th, 2017
No Victory Monday day off
Tampa Bay has a much tougher opponent next week in Minnesota, and scoring just three second-half points and guys getting gassed probably won’t cut it if the Bucs want a victory against the Vikings.
The Bucs’ victory today was glorious, a work of beauty for too-long-suffering fans ravaged by a natural disaster. The Bucs pounced early and often, but they sort of finished with a whimper. They lost their shutout and the offense wasn’t humming in the second half when it only put up three points.
Asked about running back Peyton Barber’s showing after the game, Koetter praised Barber but noted he was gassed.
“I thought Peyton did fine when he got in there. I thought he got a little bit tired. That’s something we all have to work on, our conditioning a little bit,” Koetter said.
Talking about the game overall, Koetter said he saw a drained team.
“It was tough, 46 guys, it was hot down there. You could see on various drives, I think we had a 17-play drive on the one … both sides were sucking gas there pretty good,” Koetter said.
No surprise. The hurricane-induced bye week screwed things up, and conditioning certainly wasn’t top of mind for all the Bucs last week. Plus, the team first team units hadn’t played in nearly a month.
Can the Bucs pick up some conditioning this week? Absolutely. Already, Koetter has denied their traditional “Victory Monday” day off, and Joe suspects an extra tough day is coming Wednesday.
Gassers anyone?
September 17th, 2017 at 6:41 pm
Should be back in shape in time for Minnesota.
You could def see Barber get gassed after 2 big bone crunching runs in a row. They had him run it again and he was sucking wind before the play started. I think (hope) that’s the same reason the pash rush disappeared in the 4th and they’ll be better prepped next week.
September 17th, 2017 at 7:16 pm
Have to think that the Bucs were gassed because of the high temps (low-90s) combined with the humidity today (mid-60s?). Hopefully in Minnesota temp & humidity will be much less of a factor. Our Sept temps & humidity are brutal on the other teams, but no picnic for our guys either.
September 17th, 2017 at 7:37 pm
The game is also going to played in 72 degrees F next week. Playing today in 90 degrees for a full four quarters is all the conditioning they need. Hopefully the soft tissues all heal up well after they are cooled down and put back to the test Tuesday. Can you say “covered practice facility” all week? Yup.
September 17th, 2017 at 8:01 pm
Is that new indoor practice facility up and running yet? We need some realistic work in conditions that resemble what we will face in MN
September 17th, 2017 at 8:37 pm
Defense Rules and Roy T. Buford nailed it. A lot of difference playing in a dome with AC than playing in Tampa at 1PM on a hot humid afternoon.
I’m not sure you can really train for what they endured today. Next week we should see what their conditioning looks like.
September 17th, 2017 at 11:16 pm
In my personal tumult from the storm I missed any possible bad news press on the damage to the new practice facility. Any word on that from a damage and delay standpoint?
September 18th, 2017 at 12:42 pm
The best way to get in shape for football is to play football. Having our first game behind us and then going to play in the cooler Minnesota climate should help tremendously.
A person can do all the conditioning work in the world but there is no substitute for getting ready for a sport like playing the actual sport.
September 18th, 2017 at 10:47 pm
You also have to consider how quickly we took a commanding lead on Da Bears when considering all the factors leading to guys being gassed. Once we got thru most of the 3rd quarter, still preserving our shutout and leading by 3+ scores, we went very conservative and ran the ball on the majority of our plays all the way to the last whistle… That consumes a ton of energy from the offensive line and RB, and since the D knows what’s coming, the drives usually run the clock down but also forces our D back on the field before they even have a chance to catch their breath after the previous drive… Add all that to the extra time without real game conditioning and the heat/humidity, and its no wonder they were running on fumes after 3 quarters. I think were gonna come out and punch Minnesota in the mouth just like we did to Da Bears, only this time the beat down will come from Jaboo and our aerial attack 😀 I’m calling 268 yards and 3 TD for JW3. Probably throw a pick to X-Rhodes, but its gonna be all Tampa. Bucs 31, Vikings 20.