The Shame Of What Could Have Been
December 3rd, 2017
Major fail exposed.
Yes, the Bucs lost in typical bang-your-head against the wall fashion. Joe’s munching TUMS at an alarming rate.
But the real shame of today was the clear — and predictable — improvement in the run game in the absence of Doug Martin.
The Bucs could have and should have been pounding the rock with Peyton Barber and Jacquizz Rodgers all season long. As Joe wrote over and over, Martin had no business playing for the Bucs this season at full salary, not after last year’s brutal season and suspension.
This season, Martin wasn’t a downhill runner, couldn’t turn the corner and clearly was lacking the burst that the Bucs, for some odd reason, thought he had.
Martin was out today against a good Packers run defense, and whaddya know, the Bucs have their best rushing day of the 2017. Behind a shuffled offfensive line, Barber rocked 23 carries for 102 yards, and Rodgers complemented him with three carries for 25 carries. Charles Sims had three rushes for 16 yards.
Imagine what this offense might have looked like all season with Barber getting a chance to develop and Rodgers getting the carries he earned last year.
Among the multiple combined fails by general manager Jason Licht and Dirk Koetter this year, sticking with Martin is right up at the top. It never should have happened. Yeah, Joe is extra hot about this today.
And Joe sincerely hopes the Bucs brass finally sees the light and has Martin backing up Barber the rest of the way.
December 3rd, 2017 at 4:45 pm
Agreed. Run blocking still wasn’t great but you saw Peyton keeping the legs churning
December 3rd, 2017 at 4:46 pm
Oh please! Peyton Barber is not an elite or starting running back. He ran hard today and had a decent game. Don’t act like he’s the greatest. Rodgers is way more consistent than he. We still need a real running back Asap.
December 3rd, 2017 at 4:47 pm
Pass pro was atrocious.. ES63 lost the game with his weak block in back penalty.
December 3rd, 2017 at 4:47 pm
This team needs a 2018 NFL QB….
December 3rd, 2017 at 4:48 pm
Peyton needs to be worked like this rest of the season and finally get his jump start. Doug Martin is simply gone next season so expect a mid pick for another RB next season.
December 3rd, 2017 at 4:48 pm
Yes, the run game was better because they changed the OL. It isn’t rocket science. The OL in front of Martin was historically bad.
December 3rd, 2017 at 4:49 pm
Great game by Peyton, but I still believe it had a lot to do with not getting hit in the backfield, maybe we should have one offensive line for pass plays and another for run plays, because this line was straight garbage on pass plays.
December 3rd, 2017 at 4:49 pm
We take our thinking points from ed…Manziel then Winstump…
December 3rd, 2017 at 4:49 pm
It’s not like Rodgers and Barber Lit it up when Doug was suspended, you can’t count this teams problems with both hands.
” Who’s got it better than US ? NOBODY “
December 3rd, 2017 at 4:50 pm
Crazed fan……the point isn’t AB out here own great P.Barber is. The point is how bad MARtin is.
December 3rd, 2017 at 4:50 pm
Tampa fans hops from back to back like fleas. Someone has a good game and it’s suddenly becomes all hail Peyton Barber. When he fumbles next week watch you all sing for his replacement.
December 3rd, 2017 at 4:50 pm
How does today’s crap loss get turned into an indictment of a guy who didn’t even play today. That’s a classless reach, Joe.
This team has much much bigger issues than an RB1. The other ones ain’t all that either….
December 3rd, 2017 at 4:51 pm
I have never seen so many missed blocks on the screen passes, I mean literal whiffs and the screen game was working
December 3rd, 2017 at 4:53 pm
Martin will start next week because of stubborness.
December 3rd, 2017 at 4:54 pm
At lest Martin knows where the center is when he has a 1st & goal at the opponents 1 ½ yard line. Winston? Not so much! Quit bitching about a player that wasn’t even in the game today!!!!! This site has turned into nothing but crap with all the shilling that goes on for undeserving players & coaches and criticism for those not even playing! PATHETIC!!!
December 3rd, 2017 at 4:54 pm
Jimmy Jack
I agree with you bud. Martin is done.
December 3rd, 2017 at 4:55 pm
As far as I’m concerned Martin should not take another snap for the Buccaneers ever again. Peyton Barber’s performance proved that the offensive line is not as terrible as some would lead you to believe.
December 3rd, 2017 at 4:56 pm
STILL have Martin Defenders
Lmao
These guys deserve a crappy team
December 3rd, 2017 at 4:56 pm
martin is a washed up joke. let’s just hope his relapse is very entertaining because if the 30 for 30 has to rely on his failed career highlights it will be more like 30 seconds not 30 minutes.
December 3rd, 2017 at 4:56 pm
There’s a red flag on every aspect of this team. Starting with the ownership. The Glazers obviously don’t care about this team because if they did, there would be some changes sometime this season. But of course, they practically handed the keys to Licht. Who doesn’t address the offensive and defensive line. When he did, they all panned out to busts. Speaking of bust, Jameis Winston sure reminds me of one. Still overthrows his receivers and literally gives the ball to the defense. Quit standing up for him. His sexual allegations don’t look pretty on his resume along with his on the field performance. Keep him next year so e can tank for a real QB because this draft class is extremely suspect. On the defensive side of the ball, the D-line gets pushed around by the o-line. That play when Hundley slipped, he should’ve been sacked. But no, our guys backed off of him. All in all, the entire franchise is okay with losing and giving fans who pour money into this pathetic franchise a false hope. How many post game interviews do you hear the ping pong table being used in them?
December 3rd, 2017 at 4:58 pm
Yes, the Bucs running through big holes at center had nothing to do with how horrible Marpet was at run blocking. That is the difference. The praise given to Barber is the reason this team has been in the gutter for ten years. Obviously, the fans, media or the coaches have no idea what they are looking at.
December 3rd, 2017 at 4:59 pm
You guys are getting too sensitive about this…….I think Joe is pointing out the fact that it took Barber one game to prove what some of y’all have been waiting two years for MARtin to prove.
Face it, MARtin is done and if you think he’s on the team next year your insane. They are going to pay him all this money to continuously run for 3 yards per carry. MARtin just isn’t an effective runner any more. If you disagree you don’t have one game to back it up from the last two seasons.
December 3rd, 2017 at 5:03 pm
This game just proved nobody trusts the coaching staff. Mike Clayton just said it on 620 how hard do you try to be the best? How much do you care? How much does your life depend on it? How much do you love football? How much time do you spend trying to be the best? If you don’t have an answer you should not be playing the game, and you should have no part. We as fans do our part maybe we care to much. We need more our players need more. Go see hard knocks when Jameis straight up asked Koetter how he can be great! Koetter took the easy way out instead of giving him tough love. I could tell then this team was missing that tough love. It’s time to get down to fundamentals and find someone who wants it more then I. More then US!
December 3rd, 2017 at 5:05 pm
While we all sit here in disgust bitching about how bad our team is Rams Eagles Jags all playoff bound …. coaches GM suck , teams is worse while other teams are 100% better in one off season
December 3rd, 2017 at 5:05 pm
Didn’t mention the sacks given up!
December 3rd, 2017 at 5:08 pm
Does Koetter have a problem with pounding the F@ing rock in the red zone
December 3rd, 2017 at 5:08 pm
Good call Joe. This falls on HC/GM
December 3rd, 2017 at 5:10 pm
Earnest Graham II
December 3rd, 2017 at 5:10 pm
I wish we could play Green Bay every week. We might be 8 and 8 for the year.
December 3rd, 2017 at 5:15 pm
Well one thing we know, possibly, with Doug some of those sacks may not have happened
December 3rd, 2017 at 5:16 pm
Joe, this is bigger than Barber vs Martin. Much bigger. This is about ego and hubris at the highest levels of football operations on this team. The sort that thinks it’s okay to TRADE UP and take a kicker in the 2nd round last year and not draft a NFL capable RB this year- in one of the deepest RB drafts in recent memory! The plan to stock this roster has been haphazard, at best. Sure, some of that was Lovie and the Rockstar before him, but Licht deserves plenty of blame for signing piss poor FAs, ditching Barron and Revis for virtually nothing and missing the beat on what this team needs most- PASS RUSHERS and a STUD RB. But he and Dirk clearly knew better Clearly. Looking back at hard knocks it’s difficult to not to mock their beer drinking and overall smugness. BLOW IT SKY HIGH Glazers. SKY HIGH.
December 3rd, 2017 at 5:24 pm
Nothing has made me scream at the TV this season more than seeing Doug Martin repeatedly get the ball after he had demonstrated that he was clearly inept. It was Lovie Smith like to keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
December 3rd, 2017 at 5:24 pm
Frank Pillow, I wholeheartedly agree with you. Call it ego, call it arrogance, or call it hubris. The decision making comes from all three. The Bucs during the Jason Licht era have a worse winning percentage than under Mark Dominick.
December 3rd, 2017 at 5:24 pm
This game should put Martin to rest as a Buccaneer !
December 3rd, 2017 at 5:35 pm
Marpet at center is a joke, it didn’t work. Martin is a washed up joke, and we should have had Hawley in at center at year.
December 3rd, 2017 at 6:07 pm
Just another example of Licht outsmarting everyone by paying full freight for Martin when he had screwed the team in ‘16 and appeared washed up. He made up for it by keeping Evan Smith around at a bloated salary as well. I’m sure the Cadillac sponsors would love to see Licht’s Out walk into the showroom…insisting on paying well above sticker price. LOLicht!
December 3rd, 2017 at 6:09 pm
Doug Martin was also out the first 4 games of the season and we didn’t have this kind of production from the run game. You’d have to do that more than 1 game for me to think that somehow we’re a better run team without not only Martin but marpet and dotson. The Bucs ran the ball well against Chicago on opening day, and they ran well against the Giants. Quizz Rodgers even got the game ball that day. Both were victories, sans Martin.–Joe
But hopefully the Glazer’s watched that game and thinks of what this team could be with superior coaching. Not enough targets to the main that’s on the team, they should be fired just for wasting the Glazer’s money on Jackson just to have him blocking for Adam Humphries.
Draft two backs one in the 2nd and one in the later rounds and get these other bums of the roster
December 3rd, 2017 at 6:22 pm
Not a Doug Martin fan but it was clear to me today that the reason they keep him in the game so much is for his pass blocking skills. Barber’s pass blocking leaves a lot to be desired and resulted in havoc in the backfield when Jameis dropped back today. He seemed to miss quite a few blocks today. The same reason Michael Pittman was always on the field even though he couldn’t get out of his own way as a runner. The solution is to get a guy that can do both.
December 3rd, 2017 at 7:05 pm
And up for this years Academy Award….. An American HORROR story..The Tampa Bay Bucs!!
December 3rd, 2017 at 8:16 pm
Since last year I have been saying give Barber 20 plus carries and he will do what Martin and Others can’t , Avg 4 yards and run for 100 !!
I guaranteed it but the three clowns couldn’t see it !!! What in the hell does that say !!!
This is A very tell tale sign as to how bad Koetter and Company are holding this team back ,btw Julio Jones had like three catches today , how in the hell is M Smith still Employed !!! He is to this team as Lovies son was to our other worst most clueless defense in the entire NFL. What a bunch of clowns , Barber just proved how bad the three stooges are and it’s worse that I ever envisioned but Koetter is handcuffed of his own doing with Mike Smith !!!
December 3rd, 2017 at 8:36 pm
7 sacks and 14 QB hits, but hey we ran a little better…