Bucs Were The Difference
January 25th, 2019
Saints Pro Bowl DE Cameron Jordan
It feels like 10 years ago, but we are still in the very football season in which the Buccaneers dropped 48 freakin’ points on the Saints in New Orleans.
And 41 of those points were generated by the formerly-mighty Bucs offense. Lord knows it wasn’t the result of great field position provided by the Mike Smith defense.
Saints DE Cameron Jordan was one of the many NFL stars Joe chatted with at Pro Bowl festivities this week at Disney World. Jordan said that September clobbering by the Bucs was the turning point in the season for the Saints defense. “We set a new standard after that,” Jordan said. “Changes in ourselves, and a little of what we were doing on the field.”
How about that. The Bucs were difference-makers, straight from the four-time, double-digit sackmaster drafted just three spots after the Bucs picked Adrian Clayborn in the 2011 NFL Draft.
January 25th, 2019 at 8:31 am
That draft was one year I did the slightest bit of draft homework. WE NEEDED A DE. Was wrecked when we passed over Cam. Still irks me anytime he makes a play. Best wishes to him against any other team, seems like good people.
January 25th, 2019 at 8:43 am
Interesting write up about Jamies Winston courtesy of ESPN.com
Certainly the Bucs were not convinced that Winston was an asset, because they left him on the bench at times this season in favor of veteran journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick. But Winston actually finished eighth in Total QBR due to a few factors.
For starters, his main asset is that he’s willing to take chances that pay off over the long run. His passes averaged 10.8 air yards (second most) and 1.5 air yards beyond the sticks, highest in the league. On average, passes thrown beyond the line to gain have a much higher QBR than those behind it. Some of the credit here might go to Dirk Koetter and Todd Monken for the offensive scheme, but give some to Winston for being willing to execute the approach.
Winston’s aggression shows up in other ways as 20.4 percent of his passes were thrown into tight windows (1 yard of separation or less), per NFL Next Gen Stats, the third highest in the league behind only Rosen and Fitzpatrick. It’s hard to know whether that’s really a good or bad thing (he did have a completion percentage above expectation of 1.9 percent).
One other note on Winston: No qualifying quarterback had a lower percentage of his passing yards come from yards after catch in 2018 than Winston, per NFL Next Gen Stats.
Ultimately, what is quite clear is that Winston’s on-field performance was not what sank the Bucs this season.
January 25th, 2019 at 8:46 am
debucsfan — It drives me crazy…I recall a lot of fans saying that we made the wrong choice. Clayborn is a nice guy and a fine NFL pro but Jordan is the kind of guy we had been missing for years… Heck JPP is our first DE with 10+ sacks so this was an obvious miss by dom.
January 25th, 2019 at 8:49 am
@Wausa
Just reinforces that Jameis is bad with ball placement and putting it where his receivers can run after the catch.
January 25th, 2019 at 8:56 am
Ah, the glory days of Fitzmagic and the two game winning streak. It will never be forgotten.
January 25th, 2019 at 8:56 am
@ Loyaltytotheend
It reinforces that our QB was running for his life on almost every play and play action was not taken seriously by the defenses.
Want proof, look at our run game numbers…dead last🤦♀️
January 25th, 2019 at 9:00 am
No… Djax and Fitzmagic were the difference.
January 25th, 2019 at 9:04 am
One other note on Winston: No qualifying quarterback had a lower percentage of his passing yards come from yards after catch in 2018 than Winston, per NFL Next Gen Stats.
@Wausa – anyone care to venture why this is? Hum… anyone guess? Hint: bad QB’s can’t do this… ?
January 25th, 2019 at 9:11 am
imagine that….the leaders of the locker room and coaches made adjustments after 1 game….lol….
#REALISTKNOWSNOTHING!!!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
January 25th, 2019 at 9:14 am
No run game hurts I agree 100%
But when your QB is consistently throwing high behind or to the wrong shoulder it impacts the way the receiver can catch and run with the ball
January 25th, 2019 at 9:14 am
sign fitzie…because if bruce can fix jameis he can certainly fix fitzie’s mistakes as well…bring them both back…it would be quite gangly
#QuiteGangly …should be the new slogan next year…we didn’t wreak much havoc
January 25th, 2019 at 9:19 am
Loyaltotheend Says:
January 25th, 2019 at 8:49 am
@Wausa
Just reinforces that Jameis is bad with ball placement and putting it where his receivers can run after the catch.
^^^Absolute truth Loyal! JW can’t hit anyone in stride except when they are over the middle getting those guys killed.
January 25th, 2019 at 9:27 am
Not actually true. I guess you didn’t see him hit Humphries Evans and Godwin in stride.
January 25th, 2019 at 9:29 am
When in accounting for ball placement Winston is rank top 10 in the league. Look it up.
January 25th, 2019 at 9:31 am
Wausa ..Winston is rated 20th best qb by nfl…WAY below average!
January 25th, 2019 at 9:31 am
Most qbs throw 5 yards wr then runs 5 yards. Winston and just throws it the 10-15 yards.
January 25th, 2019 at 9:33 am
Unless Joe’s grasp of basic math is terribly wrong (very possible), “average” in the NFL is 16th given that there are 32 teams. If a guy is ranked 20th, how is that “way below” average? That’s not even in the bottom third.
Also, Jameis’ salary is currently 19th highest for projected 2019 salaries. Seems fair.
January 25th, 2019 at 9:49 am
@Jaywill
Are you making up stats? Ha ha if your on the east coast it’s a bit early to be drinking
January 25th, 2019 at 9:52 am
If 16th is average and JW is 20th he’s below average and after as much experience as he has that’s disappointing for a #1 overall pick who was hyped up as “Pro Ready”
January 25th, 2019 at 10:56 am
Wausa- Those stats are all fine and good until you add one very important variable to the equation: TURNOVERS.
He can’t control the run-game but he can control who he throws to.
No, Jameis did not single-handedly torpedo the Bucs season, but he did contribute.
January 25th, 2019 at 11:03 am
Wow imagine that, a team taking personal ownership after getting blown out. He didn’t just talk about it they did it. Locker room full of talkers led by Mr. off-season himself Geraldine.
January 25th, 2019 at 11:03 am
Teams get so overly compelled to improve immediately after they lose to the Bucs because they are so embarrassed and ashamed to lose to the Bucs
That speaks volumes to how terrible EVERYONE in the league knows how Bucs are
If that doesn’t pi$ you off as a Bucs Fan then you’re soft
January 25th, 2019 at 11:57 am
debucsfan Says:
January 25th, 2019 at 8:31 am
That draft was one year I did the slightest bit of draft homework. WE NEEDED A DE. Was wrecked when we passed over Cam. Still irks me anytime he makes a play. Best wishes to him against any other team, seems like good people
——————–
I did tons of homework that draft. Cam Jordan came into the Senior Bowl and absolutely wrecked everybody they put in front of him. He was bigger, faster, and stronger than one-armed Adrian Clayborn, who skipped the Senior Bowl for non-medical reasons (after posting only 3.5 sacks as a senior) and we still went with Clayborn… I thought the choice should have been obvious.
January 25th, 2019 at 12:19 pm
Bucsfanman Says:
January 25th, 2019 at 10:56 am
Wausa- Those stats are all fine and good until you add one very important variable to the equation: TURNOVERS.
He can’t control the run-game but he can control who he throws to.
No, Jameis did not single-handedly torpedo the Bucs season, but he did contribute.
________________
My post is an article ESPN.com wrote(not my opinion).
Turnovers are included in QBR ranking.
Obviously, their analysis does not fit the narrative a lot on here have.
My personal opinion is Jamies needs to improve his play, but he is a good young QB(turned 25 three weeks ago) with a ton of talent that can become a great one with the right coaching and teammates around him.
Unfortunately if he does become a great QB it may be with another team because the hate for Jamies is strong among a lot of Buc fans.
January 25th, 2019 at 12:22 pm
Problem for our Bucs has always been them being difference makers to other teams advantages. Hopefully this is about to change.
January 25th, 2019 at 12:26 pm
Wausa- My bad. You did quote. Apologies!
I think he will be improved with the coaching additions alone. If they can get some semblance of a run-game, the turnovers will drop.
IMO, he doesn’t have to be “great” he just has to be smart and do the little things. If he’s destined to be great, this will merely be a stepping stone.
B.A. is the right coach, right now for Jameis.
January 25th, 2019 at 1:15 pm
Another interesting note, here are the ten DE’s taken in the first two rounds:
Rd1 (11) – J.J. Watt/Texans
(14) – Robert Quinn/Rams
(16) – Ryan Kerrigan/Redskins
(20) – Adrian Clayborn/Bucs
(24) – Cameron Jordan/Saints
(30) – Mo Wilkerson/Jets
(31) – Cameron Heyward/Steelers
Rd2 (37) – Jabaal Sheard/Browns
(42) – Brooks Reed/Texans
(51) – Da’Quan Bowers/Bucs
And Mark Dominik (the only GM to double down on DE’s in the first 2 rds) get us cheeseburger bowers and the slow but “high motor” guy in Clayborn… and we wonder why we’ve sucked for so long…
January 25th, 2019 at 1:16 pm
SHouldve been more specific, “the only GM to double down on DE’s in the first 2 rds that particular draft*
January 25th, 2019 at 1:22 pm
Loyal he was pro ready u dont come in ur rookie year starting qb n throw for over 4000yrds ur first 3 seasons n if not for the off the field crap would of done it this year too. Some of u really make no d@mn sense. If u want to complain complain about his ints or something. Now that ba is taking over alot of yall gonna be eating alot of crow when it comes to jw🤷♂️
January 25th, 2019 at 1:45 pm
@Rodney
I’d love to eat crow about Jameis but even if he does great in 2019 it would be one season…
He’s gonna have to put together a string of strong seasons to shake the label of inconsistent
He’s yet to play like a franchise qb consistently after over 55 games. Yet some on here think Clyde Christensen and a first time Coordinator are gonna make him look like Mahomes
January 25th, 2019 at 2:49 pm
Thanks for the reminder that Dominick was a terrible GM that set the franchise back a decade
January 25th, 2019 at 2:57 pm
No worries @Bucsfanman
Great post