Critical Schedule Release Coming For Bucs, Arians
April 12th, 2019
Has mental-breakdown experience
All the games count and teams have zero control over the NFL schedule, other than the ability to place a request that may be honored.
But next week’s NFL regular-season-schedule release will be very critical for this Bucs team, Joe believes.
While there’s rightful hope that Bucco Bruce Arians can transform the losing mindset that flooded the Tampa Bay locker room the last two years, Joe is confident these Bucs are a fragile bunch mentally. Look how they crumbled last year at the first sign of adversity after a 2-0 start.
Unimaginable Bucs mental breakdowns have occurred in so many recent seasons. Take your pick. Perhaps the most famous was the admission of Lavonte David right after opening day of 2015. Joe still can’t believe it.
Then-safety Major Wright was called for a personal foul on the first play from scrimmage for the Bucs defense and David said the team’s spirit was broken for the rest of the home opener.
“We played a little passive after that first play,” David told the Buccaneers Radio Network more than a day after the blowout loss to the lowly Titans. “I think after that penalty, kinda like killed our momentum. Because we wanted to come out and be physical, and that was the statement of the game there.
“Major coming out being physical. After that happened he got the flag, ‘We were like, oh, man. We can’t, you know, come out and do what we wanted to do.’
“We kind of let that get to us a little bit. We can’t let that affect us, you know.”
Somewhat ironically, Arians admitted in past years that his 2016 Cardinals never fully recovered from a heartbreaking opening-day loss in 2016, a Sunday night home game against the Patriots. Arizona missed a very late field goal and lost by two points.
The Cardinals under Arians went 15-15-1 after that Sunday night loss.
Joe asked Arians directly at the NFL Owners Meetings how a team can sort of fall apart so early in a season and what he took away from that Sunday night experience and the resulting fallout.
Arians sort of dodged the question and talked about how he learned to have an experienced snapper, kicker and holder.
The Cardinals clobbered the Bucs 40-7 in Arizona the Sunday after that crushing loss to the Patriots. Soon after the game, Demar Dotson famously told Joe, later confirmed by Joe Hawley, that the Bucs were “too high” on themselves and believing their praises after their opening-day win a week earlier in Atlanta.
The greater point here is that the Bucs sure could use an easy-looking early schedule because Joe is not confident the team has the leadership in place on any level to pull them out of another 3-5 start, a trademark of the Dirk Koetter regime.
Joe’s going to cry if that schedule has the Bucs opening at home against the Saints, for example, before heading to Seattle and Jacksonville. And then a Week 4 trip to England to “host” the Panthers.
April 12th, 2019 at 10:36 am
Going to open the season vs Az because of BA or Atl because of Dirk.
April 12th, 2019 at 10:56 am
^^ You are probably right, Dewey.
As an example, the Browns are starting the season at the NY Jets.
1) Odell returns to NY
2) Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold square off
3) Gregg Williams (NYJ D-coordinator) takes on the Browns who fired him as interim coach
April 12th, 2019 at 10:58 am
^^ Hearing that this one is set in stone.
April 12th, 2019 at 11:02 am
Wow a major wright reference? Your going way back to the lovie days on this? It’s not critical at all. Media is afraid not players and Wouldn’t matter if they are playing the 16 worst teams in the league the game is still physical
April 12th, 2019 at 11:10 am
Not there yet Says:
“Wow a major wright reference? Your going way back to the lovie days”
~~~~~~~~~
No doubt, and yesterday I saw a Broderick Thomas reference!
So, here is mine for the day, going back further………..
KEVIN HOUSE.
April 12th, 2019 at 11:11 am
Didn’t you spout off about how “leadership” was all BS and so overhyped on a team when Kwon left?
And now you’re saying that you don’t think we have the “leadership” to overcome a 3-5 record this season?
MAKE UP YOUR MIND JOE!!!
??? Joe’s talking about mental toughness, the fortitude to pull out of adversity. Call it whatever you want, the Bucs haven’t displayed it in a while. –Joe
April 12th, 2019 at 11:13 am
I would rather play the better teams early in the season. That is when the underdogs can sneak up and bite a favorite. Most teams that make the playoffs are playing better in Nov and Dec.
April 12th, 2019 at 11:14 am
I’m hoping for an opening against the Salt Lake Stallions……oh, that’s right AAF & no longer there…..so Arizona will do nicely.
April 12th, 2019 at 11:18 am
If we’re a weak fragile team that gives up on a season because we lose a game early then we deserve our fragile record by the end of the season.
Unfortunately most years we’ve been a weak fragile team lol
All I care about with schedule is the bye week and hurricanes. Early season you might want to play the best teams actually before they get film on Bucs’ new look 2019 offense / defense.
April 12th, 2019 at 11:24 am
^^ Speaking of this, LC………………
I like LaVonte David, but when he said (after that horrid season opener) that the team actually “let up” after the early penalty call vs. the Titans…….
The fragile, mental-weakness of that…
makes me sick to my stomach.
April 12th, 2019 at 11:24 am
Morris Owens, Mark Cotney, Jimmy Dubois will take you a little further back Demon.
April 12th, 2019 at 11:25 am
^^ Well done, rhenry.
Ahhh yes… Good memories, indeed.
April 12th, 2019 at 11:30 am
Yes sir!
April 12th, 2019 at 11:45 am
there’s no easy/shortcuts to success…..you gotta earn it…..
i hope we open with the saints, seattle, jax and the pats…..
lets see what this team is made of….
#REALISTKNOWSNOTHING!!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!!
April 12th, 2019 at 11:48 am
Hey Demon, here is one more, and one of my favorites, that deserves mention.
Danny Reece Cb/punt returner
He played about five seasons with the Bucs and was one tough mother. Fielded over 200 punts calling for a fair catch only 7 times. Still holds the record for most punt returns in a season, and if I am not mistaken, holds the record for least amount of fair catches in a season all time. The current Bucs could use some of that toughness for sure.
April 12th, 2019 at 11:59 am
^^ And he was actually from USC!! — Are you listening to rhenry, ROJO?
April 12th, 2019 at 12:04 pm
That’s what I’m talking about 813bucboi
No one is giving any kind of credit for a turnaround season by beating teams just as bad as us. I’m glad we play the Rams and Seahawks we need to beat the competitive for these players to have confidence they can take the next step and that gives confidence if playoffs come into play. It’s time already even Orlando magic earned a trip to the playoffs
April 12th, 2019 at 12:11 pm
Joe’s talking about mental toughness, the fortitude to pull out of adversity. Call it whatever you want, the Bucs haven’t displayed it in a while. –Joe
in a while??? LOL hilarious
bucs have rarely every displayed those traits… a couple of years when mckay got everything right and gruden’s glory year outside of that bucs were notoriously mentally weak pretenders with no threat to challenge especially during dungy the clown era.
April 12th, 2019 at 12:14 pm
danny reece was tough as nails, never fair caught a punt……what about mike washington and wally chambers? and the great booker reese who licht is working really hard at making him not the worst bucs pick of all time
April 12th, 2019 at 12:28 pm
Loved both Mike W & Wally Chambers, Dusthty.
Poor Wally’s injuries just got the best of him. Didn’t he come in the trade for a draft pick that ended up being Dan Hampton with the Bears?
April 12th, 2019 at 12:34 pm
Demon, think you are right I was trying to remember, but ya chambers was a missing piece on that crazy defense….stumbled across a youtube channel called : randy scott check it out…the bucs defense was crazy!!! the bucs team then compared to now was night and day
April 12th, 2019 at 12:50 pm
Yes Demon, we traded a no 1 for Wally Chambers. We also traded a no 1 for Jack “the throwin Samoan” Thompson and Chris Chandler.
April 12th, 2019 at 12:50 pm
If my memory serves correctly that it.
April 12th, 2019 at 1:06 pm
^^ And in those days those trades were probably just because Hugh did not want to pay for a first round draft pick, lol. Wow…
That defense became a dominant force in SPITE of Hugh!
April 12th, 2019 at 2:01 pm
As cheap as Hugh was, he did devote a section in the old sombrero for the Buc Band. For all I know, he may have charged them full ticket price. lol. Fun times for sure.
April 12th, 2019 at 2:04 pm
Enough of this utter BS about the schedule. I got one freaking demand and I don’t care who is on the MF schedule.
The Bucs must win their home opener. I’m sick of the BullSpit. I’m sick a team that can’t defend their turf. And I’m sick of paying good money to see a tram run at half speed and get throttled………embarrassing me and their city.
Dirk had me done paying for unprofessional. I’ll be back at the Opener to support Bruce but if all I get is another unprepared, non-practicing team embarassee I be back on the couch with colder beer and way better food.
I want to see a team ready to battle…..sick of this passive BS Lavonte was talking about.
April 12th, 2019 at 3:07 pm
notthereyet
i agree….
and im a huge magic fan!!!!!….
this is the year bucs need to show something…..
UF turned it around…
Lighting best in the NHL….
Magic made the playoffs….
Rays won 90games last year and are starting out hot this year…..
lets go bucs….time to catch up and stop pu$$y footing around!!!!!
#REALISTKNOWSNOTHING!!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!!
April 12th, 2019 at 3:55 pm
I think we have a leader in the most important spot …Headcoach and then in the 2nd most the QB after that I’m sure JPP is the leader on defense
April 12th, 2019 at 6:21 pm
Hoping for a Nashville roadtrip in September or October. Saturday night at the Grand Ole Opry and it’s a weekend party for sure My bride and I go on one trip a year since 2006. But we are 0-10. Yeah, sucks. 0 and freakin’ 10. ATL, CIN, HOU, MIN, ARI, DAL, NO, DET, others…etc, you name it. Dammit, time for a road win. As for the travesty in CHI last year that Joe writes about….that should NEVER happen. These are supposed to be professionals for God sakes. A lot of this I harken back to my military life…if I ever went 1/3 into a mission flying fighters and said “Well, we lost this one” for any reason at all, I’d be dead. Freakin’ dead. I can’t believe these young men could even say something so pitiful, at playing a kids game too. Joe, you are going to keep me up at night reading the drivel these young men say today….
Are they men? Maybe that’s the problem???????????????????