Chris Simms Talks To Joe
July 16th, 2019
Talking about America.
Joe figures if Bucs fans want to know about a Bucs quarterback, why not talk to a former Bucs quarterback who once led the team to the playoffs.
Six quarterbacks in Bucs history have done so (quick, name the other five!).
Joe is cleaning out his voice recorder and delivering interviews conducted earlier this year. One was with NBC Sports personality and football analyst Chris Simms.
Young Mr. Simms is a busy guy. Intelligent football fans watch him weekday mornings co-hosting “PFT Live” on NBC Sports Network. Simms also hosts his own weekday podcast, “Unbuttoned,” and is also the color analyst for NBC Sports broadcasts of Notre Dame football.
So Joe asked Simms, the former Chucky quarterback, how he thinks the marriage of Bucco Bruce Arians and America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, may turn out.
JoeBucsFan.com: Can Bruce Arians smooth out Jameis? It seems Jameis’ main problem is consistency. There are some throws he makes you say to yourself, ‘There’s no way there are getting rid of this guy.’ Then there are other throws he makes you wonder how he was even drafted. It’s like watching a car wreck. How can Arians smooth him out?
Chris Simms: The first with Bruce is, Bruce has an incredible offensive mind. I think the one thing I have heard with Bruce more than anything else is like he is in the battle with the quarterback. Whether it was Peyton [Manning] or Big Ben [Roethlisberger] or Carson Palmer, they felt like they were a team with Bruce. When it was like, ‘Aw man, we didn’t get the first down,’ [Arians] was as disappointed as the quarterback coming off the field. I think that is a great start in making a quarterback feel comfortable. ‘Oh, I have a head coach and a playcaller that’s in my corner? And he knows what I am good at and knows what I am bad at? ‘ He really formulates gameplans around that. But to your point about what you said about Jameis is spot on. Jameis has games where I go like, ‘Holy crap is he talented.’ He can be one of the best quarterbacks in football. But then he has a game or two or a series or two where you go, ‘Did he just throw that ball over his head backwards? Did he just have three people hanging on him and he tried to throw the ball 20 yards down the field?’ Those are the kind of things he has to eliminate, certainly. It does seem like he is maturing more on and off the field. That is certainly what he needs. But I think if there is a guy that can get the best out of Jameis Winston, I think it is Bruce Arians. I really love the Bruce Arians’ hire by Tampa Bay. I think that was one of the best hires of the year.
One thing Joe would love to see more of, if Arians really does craft gameplans and playcalls based on what his quarterback does well, is incorporate throws outside the pocket for Jameis.
People mock Jameis for allegedly being slow, but he showed last year he’s good on his feet. And Joe will never forget two years ago on “Hard Knocks,” former Bucs coach Dirk Koetter told Jameis he was more like Aaron Rodgers than Tom Brady. Joe nearly fell off his couch hearing that.
Turns out later in the season Joe noticed stats repeatedly published by NFL Films that showed Jameis actually threw better outside of the pocket than Rodgers, then Joe realized Koetter was right on target. But Koetter rarely had plays run to get Jameis intentionally out of the pocket to throw.
How about dialing up a few plays of Jameis on a rollout?
July 16th, 2019 at 12:11 am
Amen Joe.
July 16th, 2019 at 1:20 am
Does anyone in the media pay attention?
Arians is not calling plays! How’s he gonna be a QB whisperer when he’s delegating play calling to a neophyte playcaller?
Manning, Rapistberger, Luck and Palmer got the QB Whisperer who was coaching them and calling plays. Jameis is getting the greatness of Leftwich and Christensen. I’d be much more confident in Jameis becoming consistently good if Arians was the playcaller instead of the delegator
July 16th, 2019 at 1:20 am
July 16th, 2019 at 1:20 am
Does anyone in the media pay attention?
Arians is not calling plays! How’s he gonna be a QB whisperer when he’s delegating play calling to a neophyte playcaller?
Manning, Big Ben Luck and Palmer got the QB Whisperer who was coaching them and calling plays. Jameis is getting the greatness of Leftwich and Christensen. I’d be much more confident in Jameis becoming consistently good if Arians was the playcaller instead of the d
July 16th, 2019 at 3:11 am
@Loyal:
We just tried doing the head-coach-as-playcaller thing. Didn’t work. Let’s see how an experienced AND successful coach impacts team performance by instilling oversight and accountability, not by focusing his attention on the options for the next 2nd-and-6.
July 16th, 2019 at 3:27 am
Dirk Koetter told Jameis he was more like Aaron Rodgers than Tom Brady…
Koetter also raved last year about how smart Cappa was and how he was going to be versatile on OLine – play guard, center and tackle-
Both players had confidence and performance issues-
Koetter would make a good public relations rep…
July 16th, 2019 at 3:30 am
The other 5 = Doug Williams, Trent Dilfer, Brad Johnson, Jeff Garcia and Shaun King
July 16th, 2019 at 4:59 am
Good response Pete I. I had forgetten about King off hand, kept thinking Gradkowski (ugh) but just couldn’t believe it.
I wouldn’t say Dilfer or King “led” the Bucs to the playoffs per Joe’s challenge, but good enough. Those guys plus Sims played just well enough, often enough, not to lose the games that let the defense actually bring the playoffs to fruition. They especially did a nice job keeping King at his comfort and capability level.
I have wondered why Koetter’s group didn’t run more plays that rolled Winston out because I noticed when he’s on the move he seems more effective. With an O line that don’t hold the pocket up very long let’s see if BA and Byron have built such plays in.
Not worried about BA not calling plays. I do worry about him wanting to let Leftwich run to far, too long, before he intervenes. I don’t give a hoot about Leftwich’s professional development as an OC. I want the Bucs to Bucs to have the best chance to tucik a couple of games into the W column early. Going to be hard enough as it is.
July 16th, 2019 at 5:24 am
I would say the defense led those teams to the playoffs before I said Qb.
July 16th, 2019 at 6:05 am
Joe, you’re going to get labeled a “hater” with lead-ins like that!
For the first time in a loooong time, we have competent coaching. Jameis is who he is. It’s what’s around him that needs adjusting. 35+ attempts and we are toast! Run the ball, control the clock, play good defense, and make adjustments along the way.
We’ve been throwing the ball all over the place. You cannot win in this league being a one-dimensional offense. It doesn’t matter how good your QB is. We know what we have. It’s time to play winning, complementary football.
July 16th, 2019 at 6:21 am
Exactly Stanglassman … it was the Bucs’ DEFENSE that got us to the playoffs. That’s our heritage. Just for kicks I went back to look at those years we’ve made the playoffs to see how the defense (and offense) did in terms of POINTS ALLOWED and POINTS SCORED (and their rankings):
o 2007 – Defense: 270 pts allowed (#3) … Offense: 334 pts scored (#18)
o 2005 – Defense: 274 pts allowed (#8) … Offense: 300 pts scored (#20)
o 2002 – Defense: 196 pts allowed (#1) … Offense: 346 pts scored (#18)
o 2001 – Defense: 280 pts allowed (#8) … Offense: 324 pts scored (#15)
o 2000 – Defense: 269 pts allowed (#7) … Offense: 388 pts scored (#6)
o 1999 – Defense: 270 pts allowed (#3) … Offense: 235 pts scored (#27)
o 1997 – Defense: 263 pts allowed (#3) … Offense: 299 pts scored (#23)
o 1982 – Defense: 178 pts allowed (#16) … Offense: 158 pts scored (#18) **
o 1981 – Defense: 268 pts allowed (#4) … Offense: 315 pts scored (#18)
o 1979 – Defense: 237 pts allowed (#1) … Offense: 273 pts scored (#21)
** 1982 was a shortened season of only 9 games
Bucs made the playoffs in 10 of our 43 seasons. Bucs DEFENSE ranked in the Top-10 in NINE of those 10 playoff seasons. Bucs OFFENSE ranked in the Top-10 in only ONE of those 10 playoff seasons (under Tony Dungy, a defensive-minded coach BTW). So yes, DEFENSE has always led the way to the playoffs.
The NFL however has changed in the past decade or so, putting a lot more emphasis on offenses scoring points. Great defense is still possible as we’ve seen with teams like the Bears, BUT … the notion of BALANCE between the offense & the defense is more important than ever IMO. Belicheck understands that VERY well in my opinion … and so does Bruce Arians. If we’re to get back to the playoffs anytime soon, it’ll be the Bucs’ DEFENSE that’ll lead the way.
July 16th, 2019 at 6:51 am
!0 days…….
July 16th, 2019 at 6:52 am
I am not sure that Rogers does a lot of rollouts either. He just moves from the pocket and sets up a few yards from the pocket and throws. Given the time he often has ,somebody must be sustaining blocks somewhere.
When Jameis escapes the pocket and plants his feet, He has thrown some pretty accurate deep balls,IMO
July 16th, 2019 at 7:18 am
@Lou
So we are doing opposite of what Arians did to become successful and hoping that he is as successful as his prior stops? I hope it works out but Leftwich as o coordinator averaged less than 14 points per game…
July 16th, 2019 at 8:41 am
I hear all the hemming and hawing about Leftwich bring the play caller, but remember guys like Sean Mcvay and Kyle Shanahan were once young, unproven coordinators who learned the job under very good offensive coaches. I will trust Arian’s judgement and give Leftwich a shot.
July 16th, 2019 at 10:42 am
Where’s the fast forward button? I can’t wait for training camp to start! Lots to watch this season.
July 16th, 2019 at 11:08 am
They said we were going 0-3 last year Buc the Haters!!!
July 16th, 2019 at 2:57 pm
Totally agree.
I’m not an FSU fan so I didn’t follow JW’s recruiting and early play…I tuned in the Championship year.
I had the same impressions then as now. Wow look at that freaking arm strength and the tight window he just whistled the ball through. Then..wow..rukidding…did he really try that bone headed play. The last six games of the ’18 season that seemed to change.
As far as running…same deal..FSU…man this dude is SLOW…I mean really slow. But look how slippery and elusive he is. I’d watch a run where I thought…he’s stopped…no he’s still going.
Gets to the NFL and it’s the same deal…you think he’s too slow but his slipperiness can sometimes be amazing. You may resist calling him a very good runner but he is a very effective runner.
With JW outside the pocket the pressure grows off the charts for the defense…especially against a QB who can run it.
July 16th, 2019 at 4:53 pm
Yknow…. i seriously would like to find a Chris Simms #2 Bucs jersey.
I am proud of what the kid gave us as a BUCS QB, and i am proud of what he gives us as an analyst on PFT and his podcast.
Definitely a fan. Good stuff, JOE.
Thanks for that.
July 16th, 2019 at 5:17 pm
This is where koetter was mind-boggling. Accentuate the positives is PARAMOUNT in coaching. I’ll NEVER understand why desean wasn’t in the slot more or why Jameis isn’t moved around to help the o line, and subsequently Jameis, by keeping defenses off balance. He will LOVE Matt, the statue, Ryan. Lol!! I like Matt tho just a different type of qb. But DEF not better than Jameis, all around, if you give them the same team.