David Said He Wasn’t Surprised
October 15th, 2018
Talks defense.
It was a touching moment Joe witnessed and Joe wondered at the time what it may have meant.
The Bucs were getting lit up in the first half. It was a gut-wrenching repeat that we have seen way too often around these parts. It was like the 40th rerun of a specific movie on HBO in the same month.
But at one point either late in the first quarter or early in the second quarter, Joe noticed linebackers coach Mark Duffner with arms slung around Lavonte David’s shoulders, like a father offering calming advice to his son.
No idea what Duffner was saying. But Joe was reminded of that scene when he talked to David in the locker room yesterday.
Despite yet another no-show by the defense in the first half, David was adamant to Joe the Dixie Chicks did not fool them.
“No, not at all,” David said when Joe asked him if the defense was surprised by anything Atlanta ran.
Then Joe asked why the defense played so much better in the second half.
“We changed nothing,” David said. “It was all about execution. We weren’t executing the way we know how [early on].”
Well, if that is the case, it is about time the defense starts executing the way they know how to right off the bat. This nonsense about spotting teams three-score leads is going to get a lot of folks canned at One Buc Palace if this keeps up much longer.
October 15th, 2018 at 11:03 am
We need to start executing/tearing up contracts. The excuses just keep rolling in……..
October 15th, 2018 at 11:05 am
“The way we know how” “that wasn’t us” actually u don’t know how and it is you
October 15th, 2018 at 11:06 am
Ridley, and Sanu didn’t play that’s what changed. They still scored 10 points when they had to in the second half. Now we’re pretending like the second half we stopped them. Only in the minds of Buc fans.
October 15th, 2018 at 11:08 am
Nothing changed, exactly. The Falcons still scored ten points when they had to, without Ridley, and Sanu. Only in the minds of Buc fans did we stop them in the second half.
October 15th, 2018 at 11:16 am
this defense will never be anything but garbage led by cancer93 and is mentally weak overrated sidekick… get those hold over bums that have been infecting everyone with the losing culture out of town. they have sucked!!! they will always suck!!!! On field results prove it…. reality is far more important than feelings and sideline hugs from coaches. these fools have PROVEN BEYOND A SHADOW OF A DOUBT THEY DO NOT KNOW HOW TO WIN OR BE COMPETITIVE….. Excuses and hurt feelings… a bunch of mentally weak pansy arses. the entire defense outside of jpp is a total disgrace to professional athletes everywhere.
October 15th, 2018 at 11:16 am
The loser mentality is set in deep. You only need to look at that ridiculous sideline dance for proof. These losers were soooo happy to have their momentary victory, they had to dance. Pathetic. Embarrassing. Pure “we know we suck” evidence so let’s celebrate everything.
October 15th, 2018 at 11:19 am
Lavonte David and Gerald McCoy command ALOT of cap space. Obviously, defense and not offense is our problem and what is holding us back from a playoff run, whoever the QB is. I say we dump Lavonte and Gerald for a boat load of picks and draft defense, defense, and more defense.
October 15th, 2018 at 11:20 am
Time to trade:
LVD
GMC
GRIMES
and not resign:
KWON
We should probably let Donovan Smith walk too.
October 15th, 2018 at 11:24 am
Malloy
Who’s gonna give us a boatload of picks for them?
The only one dumb enough is our GM.
October 15th, 2018 at 11:25 am
Trade Grimes to who? This is his last season. He should not have been allowed to return. He has already checked out.
October 15th, 2018 at 11:26 am
Our defense has a “lets have fun” philosophy.
Not a “lets beat them down” philosophy.
Our players focus on “fun” and not “winning”
Thats why we suck.
That dance was ridiculous.
October 15th, 2018 at 11:27 am
@therralmalloy. Agreed 1000% and right now kwon doesnt deserve a new contract either. Good thing next years draft is deep on defense as the offense is not the problem.
October 15th, 2018 at 11:28 am
No sweat Dooshlarue, Glazer Boyz will blow it up at the end of the year. Gut feel that they’re already looking around.
@LVD … “We changed nothing. It was all about execution. We weren’t executing the way we know how [early on].” SERIOUSLY LVD? I’d be embarrassed to use exactly the same excuse every week. Try something different, anything different. Like .. “Hey man, the dog ate our playbooks.” ANYTHING.
And BTW Joe, didn’t I read earlier that these guys were given a week off after the Chicago debacle? Methinks that’s probably not the way to fix COMMUNICATION and EXECUTION issues. But hey, I’m not the one who’ll get fired, so press on guys.
October 15th, 2018 at 11:28 am
Glazers are overcompensating for cutting broke and rice and rebooting that defense to the point that they can’t see you can lose without overpaying. David I like him but he’s a leader who has to be consoled on the sideline and that idiot Geraldine is on the sideline dancing instead of talking strategy. Once again like before we have a coach who won’t call out veterans and how can you hold anyone accountable when the leaders are the ones who should be doing that.
Those were the two guys talking most this offseason after baker got cut how they learned to lead and hold guys accountable but as usual it was all talk.
Glazers you do realize this is a business and you owe those losers nothing, they get paid for effort and the paycheck doesn’t match the production.
October 15th, 2018 at 11:31 am
It was #WEAPONS4WINSTON and we loaded up on receivers, best receiver corps in the NFL. Idea was Winston would carry us to the play offs. Bad idea. Now its “our defense sucks!” Well, yeah…
October 15th, 2018 at 11:34 am
gmc is fixen to retire too, just look at his annual press confrences every start of training camp, talks about he’s getting old and his knees bothering him and he has been in this league now yada yada yada, the biggest taker on the team, followed by david and underperforming kwon, i’m sick of them all. year in and year out watch these ass clowns take a dump in the middle of their fans living rooms, man caves, she sheds, sunday funday rituals, clowning while getting the dogsnot kicked out of them, last straw
October 15th, 2018 at 11:34 am
I agree Defense Rules. Why wouldn’t they come up with new excuses?
Lie and say, yes they surprised us. Or better yet throw your coaches under the bus and say they aren’t allowing us to play tighter coverage. The same crap spewing from the defensive side of the ball is starting to really stink.
October 15th, 2018 at 11:39 am
I think the fact that two of the Falcons WR’s got hurt and didn’t play most of the second half had more to do with our defensive turn around than anything we did. If Sanu and Ridley play the second half, we don’t even get close to winning.
October 15th, 2018 at 11:39 am
As John McCay, the first Bucs coach ever, said when ask what he thought of his teams execution he replied “I’m all for it”. He followed that up with, when ask
how his team played today he said “they didn’t block too well but they made up for it by not tackling”.
October 15th, 2018 at 11:39 am
LMAO! WE lose thats what we do. We were not surprised. We are never surprised at our poor performance. Because We are the..SOB’S (same ole Bucs)!!
Fire Koetter. Fire Smitty. Revamp this Defense entirely…Next year. Nothing will happen now. Man up Buc fans. Accept the inevitable..another Losing season.
October 15th, 2018 at 11:53 am
Time to hire a Tom Coughlin type to fire the GM and coaches, dump GMC, Kwon, restructure LVD (if not, let him walk) and get as much cap space back to chase a veteran DB or two. Give Cichy a chance at LB and bench Grimes so all the other rooks can have some playing time to see you can actually cover a receiver and “communicate” with other DBs. Let them “dance” all the way out of OBP. Find out if any player actually takes pride in playing for the Bucs, other than JPP.
October 15th, 2018 at 11:57 am
Changed nothing? Bs. Changed the whole defensive philoshophy. Played aggressive. Blitzed and pressed. Didnt sit back 15 yards and run up and try to tackle. Not sure why nobody is calling this clown smith out when he is throwing these guys under the bus. N no atl didnt surprise us either. Neither did NO, Pit, Phi or Chi. What surprises up is the lack of aggression each and every week on defense.
This is going to be the worst defense in the history of the nfl. Yet noone at one buc thinks a change needs to be made. Insane indeed
October 15th, 2018 at 11:58 am
Bring out the big broom and clean the house
Sweep out the trash
October 15th, 2018 at 11:59 am
Folks should have already been getting canned..This is not professional products. This is a joke. It’s been years since I got upset and screamed about a bucs game being lost because I’m so used to seeing the losses. It’s expected , it’s our way of life. The losses come and go like the sun rises.
I want to.know who has been calling the offensive plays as well since week 2. Can anyone confirm that it’s still Monken? Sure doesn’t look like it
October 15th, 2018 at 12:01 pm
Defensive Coordinators help teams prepare for games. The Bucs should look into hiring one.
October 15th, 2018 at 12:08 pm
“We weren’t surprised”
Not at all . We knew what they were gonna do and they knew what they were gonna do. The same thing every team does against this D. Watch the secondary start 10 yds off and then run backwards when the ball is snapped. Then throw it to any number of wide open players…simple.
October 15th, 2018 at 12:20 pm
How long is it going to take for this team to realize mike Smith is the problem let our D play more man to man Dam
October 15th, 2018 at 12:21 pm
I’m sick of hearing excuses from Lavonte. He’s been making excuses for his defense’s pathetic play for the last 6 years straight. LVD is overrated, HE brings no leadership, and frankly looks pathetic when he plays pass coverage.
You know what really changed in the 2nd half?
Ridley and Sanu were no longer in the game.
And even with that, we were only able to stop them for 1 quarter before other guys stepped up and made catches.
Julio Jones was WIDE OPEN on at least 80% of their offensive plays yesterday.
THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THAT.
This defense is insulting to the fans and I honestly hope people start boycotting the home games. F@ck the Glazers, Koetter, and Licht for allowing this Mike Smith embarrassment to continue.
October 15th, 2018 at 12:23 pm
@Dooshlarue
Donovan Smith is not an elit left tackle,however,he’s a solid left tackle probably above average and he’s not the weakest link on the oline that goes Benenoch. Marpet already resigned, Bucs should definitely resign Donavan to sure up the left side of the oline, but i do agree with letting Kwon go.
October 15th, 2018 at 12:25 pm
@defense rules
I believe I read somewhere that week off for the bye is mandated by the player agreement.
Lets just hope the one that constructed this mess is the first head to roll. I don’t see any quick fixes in the future. Rebuilding is necessary from front office down.
One can only hope somebody with the vision to fix this team applies. We have had a series of apprentices at the GM position since Gruden ran off Rich McKay.
Just my opinion but Jameis is to Koetter as Miichael Vick was to Jim Mora in
Atlanta. But important decision also exist on the defensive side of ball as to aging or oft injured players.
signed ,
Frustrated in Valrico
October 15th, 2018 at 12:35 pm
KGH
Yeah, I know Donovan is just ok and has never missed a start but we will have to over pay for him and I don’t think he’s worth it.
We’d be paying about 35 million + for 3 OL players and I don’t think that’s sustainable.
Let’s turn our losers loose and get some draft picks. 3-4 rounds are fine because Licht loves to waste high picks.
October 15th, 2018 at 12:36 pm
I suspect the team is as divided as the fans posting on JBF….
October 15th, 2018 at 12:40 pm
Kwon, David and McCoy need to go. They’re all overrated and we get the same results every week.
October 15th, 2018 at 1:00 pm
I’m feeling a 10 game winning streak coming.
October 15th, 2018 at 1:07 pm
our defense should be called “the fun bunch” as per teacherman777 said…
“the fun bunch”…i like it…sounds like a bunch of nice fellas tickling balls, rather than breaking them
October 15th, 2018 at 1:22 pm
If us fans band together and NOT go to games, not watch on TV or listen on the radio for a few weeks it’ll begin to hit ownership in the pockets and at that point they “MAY” decide to take action and change Mike Smith’ role…. Ownership are obviously smart and wily business people; there’s virtually no way they can not know that our defense is probably the worse EVER in the history of the NFL (and what a shame with so much talent to lean on)…
If ownership will not step in and take action us fans should do our part and not contribute our hard earned money to these billionaires who refuse to step in and do what needs to be done in order to give us hard working people a team and product to be proud of… Does anyone think that ownership can be proud of the current defensive product? Refuse to give them your money for a few weeks and we’ll (hopefully) see a different play-caller on defense…….
October 15th, 2018 at 1:44 pm
just need a new head coach a splash hire
October 15th, 2018 at 1:47 pm
The defense is trying their best to get Mike Smith fired. Wake up and smell the coffee. These guys don’t magically play better in the 2nd half. If you can’t play when you’re fresh at the start and all of a sudden play better once the 2nd half starts, something is cooking internally. Sanu and Ridley being out was a huge part of the “execution”, but you could see better play none the less from key players.
They want Mike Smith gone more than the fans.
October 15th, 2018 at 2:00 pm
He has been fired….
October 15th, 2018 at 2:02 pm
Hallelujah!
October 15th, 2018 at 2:08 pm
Ask and you shall receive!
October 15th, 2018 at 2:12 pm
BUCS JUST FIRED MIKE SMITH!
October 15th, 2018 at 2:31 pm
Best news I’ve heard this year!!! Bye bye mike smith, I wish you luck on future endeavors but man your defense here has been total garbage!!!
October 15th, 2018 at 2:31 pm
Hallelujah!!
October 15th, 2018 at 2:46 pm
Smith had to go, now Koetter has to fix the defense and Winston has to:
Have a 2-3 game stretch with no ints or fumbles
Hit some deep balls to Evans and Jackson
go at least 7-4 remaining games
If Koetter and Winston can get those 7 wins then the Bucs should retain Koetter and sign Winston to a cap-friendly deal with more emphasis on incentives and less guaranteed money
If Winston goes 8-3 that’s a different story
These remaining 11 games have enormous significance and knowing they can count on the defense, the only way for them to score 35-40 points a game is to have some touchdowns out of Jackson and Evans. If Winston can only hit on jump balls and catches in between zone coverage then he isn’t a franchise QB, those guys (Brady, Brees, Big Ben) hit guys on the move and throw with
timing
October 15th, 2018 at 2:49 pm
So I guess there will be an actual game plan for the defense against the Browns. That means we should already be in better shape bein Smith doesnt game plan or make adjustments. Mike may be a great person but his defense was straight garbage. I hope we can hold teams to 20pts or less if so the offense can win alot of games. Wouldn’t that be a nice change
October 15th, 2018 at 3:53 pm
REX RYAN FOR DC 2019
October 15th, 2018 at 5:32 pm
Hope duffner can get it turned around and tightened up quick, see us 3-3 Monday morning!
October 15th, 2018 at 6:46 pm
there’s too much Koetter loyalty to hard working/can’t play players- Ryan Smith, Benenoch, Adarius Taylor. If the problem is execution, then that’s on coaches for enabling poor execution every week with no consequences. Same garbage gets run out there every week no matter how much they suck.
They need to bring in another kicker this week and let Calalaexjet know he’s on thin ice.