“His Offensive Line Has Been A Disaster For Years”
February 11th, 2020
Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts checks in with a take on the NFL offseason quarterback circus.
So what about Philip Rivers getting launched by the Chargers after throwing for 4,615 yards last season with 23 touchdowns and 20 interceptions?
Fouts, the former Chargers great, pays attention to Chargers football and was adamant that Rivers has “two strong years” left in the tank
And most interesting to Joe, Fouts pulled no punches when it came to assigning blame for Rivers’ subpar 2019 season.
“His offensive line has been a disaster for years. And he’s the one that’s been bailing out the offensive line just before the ceiling crashes in on him,” Fouts told SiriusXM NFL Radio today.
Could Bucs fans say the same about America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston, and the guys playing in front of him? Some would, but certainly not a majority.
It makes you wonder how good Rivers might be behind a better O-line.
But breathe easy, Jameis lovers. Fouts believes the Colts are the “logical” fit for Rivers in 2020, citing their very strong offensive line and how Rivers’ knows head coach Frank Reich’s offense.
Co-host Brady Quinn, the former NFL QB, added that Tampa Bay and the Colts are both “logical” spots for Rivers.
February 11th, 2020 at 2:30 pm
Long term deal for Winston with only year one guaranteed but has the option of the rest becoming guaranteed by reaching certain goals like less than 20 ints or turnovers.
February 11th, 2020 at 2:40 pm
No they’re not watch nobody will give him starting qb $$$
February 11th, 2020 at 2:44 pm
Phil, $20M for a strong chance to lead the league in passing and, with a little luck and a few more players, revisit the playoffs? Come on down. Its a quick hop from the family manse in Destin.
February 11th, 2020 at 2:44 pm
The Chargers have been bit by an injury bug every year for a long time. It wasn’t that they didn’t try to build an )-line, they never had a chance to gel as a line because of those injuries.
The Bucs turned a corner a few years ago when they drafted D. Smith and Marpet. Say what you will about Smith but he has been durable and the line became more than adequate when Cappa figured it out.
The Bucs are now just a piece or two from having a good line (that includes a couple of decent backup players.
A high quality RT will make a line that can hold up almost as long as it takes Jameis to get the ball into play. Rivers would get it out of his hand faster. Maybe he can 25 million in Fla, as worth 33 million in California.
Either way the Bucs need to draft a QB. Rivers will pay 2 years and Jameis is a question that might be answered by the fourth game of the season.
I like Gordon or Morgan in the third round.
February 11th, 2020 at 2:50 pm
Chatter about Devonta Freeman getting cut. Hmmmm
February 11th, 2020 at 2:56 pm
The same can definitely be said for this oline in Tampa. Can almost guarantee that a better oline equals a better run game which in turn equals less interceptions by virtue of a more balance offensive attack with less passes. If you look at all of the good teams at the end of this year they all had strong oline and rushing attacks. I know…what magical thinking, huh?
February 11th, 2020 at 3:05 pm
Tampa has a pretty good pass blocking unit they are just soft in the run game
February 11th, 2020 at 3:11 pm
He’ll go to Indy and play indoors for two years and retire in Florida with his family.
February 11th, 2020 at 3:38 pm
I can’t wait for Silly Season….
February 11th, 2020 at 3:38 pm
Funny how for Jameis it’s an “excuse” but for Rivers it’s a justification.
Jameis has had bad Oline play, bad receiver play half his career, and a historically bad defense for his entire tenure here. Also, He’s had one year with a good rusher and that’s it.
Yup all Jameis fault. Let’s bring in ol’ man Rivers and take us to the promised land!!!! AKA top ten in the draft.
February 11th, 2020 at 3:42 pm
I’ll take a 23million dollar PHILIP RIVERS over a 33million dollar Winston any day! In BA i trust
February 11th, 2020 at 3:43 pm
Glad someone finally grew a pair & called a spade an spade.. I guess Mr. Fouts can see like me
February 11th, 2020 at 3:44 pm
I’m glad the Alaskan Abdominal finally sees that Winston isn’t doing his part. Rivers will read the defense and get rid of the ball. Also he will be a great mentor to a rookie. With Arians here the time is now for Rivers and a rookie. Great things ahead. Go Bucs!!!
February 11th, 2020 at 3:46 pm
The Bucs OLine and running backs have been atrocious or bottom tier for years.
That is not difficult analysis.
What are you smoking Joe?
February 11th, 2020 at 3:54 pm
But breathe easy, Jameis lovers.
LMAO!!!!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!!!
February 11th, 2020 at 4:14 pm
Not in pass protection where they have been solid, actually excelled.
They just struggle at run blocking.
Maybe by replacing Dotson it will greatly improve our run blocking.
February 11th, 2020 at 4:49 pm
ChanEpic Says:
“Chatter about Devonta Freeman getting cut. Hmmmm”
~~~~~~~~~
Yea, quite a bit, actually.
His yards per carry dropped to 3.6 last year, but that was a bad football team.
Wonder what he has left in the tank?
February 11th, 2020 at 4:51 pm
Andrew luck out of retirement
February 11th, 2020 at 4:54 pm
You guys know we don’t have a bad line right?
according to multiple sources we have one of the better lines in the NFL the PFF tribe rated us the 7th best line. consistently the Chargers had a bottom 5 line.
but the Winston defense force loves to look for any and every excuse there can possibly be.
February 11th, 2020 at 5:04 pm
^^ Yea, there are definitely a lot of worse lines than ours. The run blocking could be much better, but yes those guys actually played pretty well for much of the season.
February 11th, 2020 at 5:20 pm
The problem with the Bucs offensive line is the run blocking. Most of the sacks they let up is because BA called a 50 yard slant route
February 11th, 2020 at 5:40 pm
This is true. Not to mention no running game to speak of and he played for years with a Lovie defense that lined up 10-15 yards of the WRs. Put a decent well balanced team around him and let’s go win some games. I just hope this is all posturing for contract talks and they know this. I get that fans can’t really tell what the problems are but if the coaches don’t then we’re in big trouble no matter who they get at Qb.
February 11th, 2020 at 5:42 pm
813bucboi Says:
February 11th, 2020 at 3:54 pm
But breathe easy, Jameis lovers.
LMAO!!!!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!!!
_____________
I think Ndildo teaches a class on how to breathe easy…. through his nose that is….. while he’s slurping the Savior.
February 11th, 2020 at 6:02 pm
Joe eat some more mushrooms 🍄……… dude look at the qb pressures and the running game over a five year span , top five worst in the NFL !!! Stop It !!! Salaries clearly have you blinded in Tampa Bay !!! Some one please Help Joe !!!
You do a great job Joe but you are amiss with reality and this o line . They did play avg for the first time in 4 yrs , the last few games !!! Winston got worse , head scratcher!!!
February 11th, 2020 at 6:32 pm
“Could Bucs fans say the same about America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston, and the guys playing in front of him?”
Um… no. Jason Licht has done Jameis Winston no favors in this regard, but all the throws made DIRECTLY to opponents, with no Buc in the immediate area, can hardly be blamed on the OL. It’s like LBs in pass coverage are invisible to Winston.
February 11th, 2020 at 6:56 pm
Yes Jameis lovers, it’s in the bag.
Signed,
Quid Pro Quo Joe B.
February 11th, 2020 at 7:10 pm
Sacks allowed per game 2019 rankings:
9. Colts
12. Chargers
22. Bucs
February 11th, 2020 at 8:02 pm
Fun fact, Winston has played most of his career in the offense that made Dan Fouts famous, the Air Coryell system that Dirk ran. Arians offense has the same general idea of throwing deep a lot but doesn’t use the TE, so I’m not sure you can say it’s in the Air Coryell style, but for 3-years that was what Winston was running. In 2015, Dirk was running a heavy run throw deep offense – with Lovie being the moderating voice there.
Anywho, Fouts did basically nothing in his career until he was 28 (his 7th year in the NFL). That year he threw for 4082 yards, 24 TDs and 24 INTs. The next year, at age 29, he threw for 4715 yards with 30 TDs and 24 INTs. Then at age 30 he had his best year with 4802 yards with 33 TDs and 17 INTs.
For Fouts career, running the same offense that Winston has ran most of his career, he had 254 TDs and 242 INTs.
Yeah yeah, different time, blah blah blah… But when you run a deep ball offense where you score points and push the ball down the field, you’re going to have more turnovers than some limp armed noodle who runs a west coast offense.
February 11th, 2020 at 8:37 pm
Everyone likes to bring stats up from over 20 years ago when it was a different game. Back then DBs were allowed to play DB and interceptions were much more common nothing excuses his metric ton of turnovers.
Winston is essentially a homeless mans Farve gifted an elite offense that he manages to struggle immensely with.
February 11th, 2020 at 9:45 pm
Well every other group on this team has been made a scapegoat including the offensive line. This group may struggle with run blocking but the truth is they are good at pass protection. Winston has had time in the pocket just about every game this year. If I were Winston’s hydration specialists I’d be very worried my name is coming up next.
February 11th, 2020 at 9:51 pm
Anywho….a lot of JayMiss’s picks are on short routes.
Kinda blows that lame ass theory to hell.
Hmmmmmmm… what now Fancy Man?
February 11th, 2020 at 11:34 pm
Fouts is full of it. The Chargers allowed 34 sacks last year while Carolina and Miami tied for a league-worst 58. I don’t care how heady of a vet you believe Rivers to be, he didn’t save 24 sacks with his quick wits and/or quick release.
I don’t want our team to be the experiment to find out whether Rivers is washed up or not. I’d honestly rather just have Jameis back instead of Rivers, Flacco, or Taysom Hill.
It’s also funny how much is being made of Arians and his vertical attack-centered philosophy by the same sports media that ties us to every QB on the market without optimal arm strength: Rivers, Newton, Brady.
February 12th, 2020 at 10:38 am
I don’t see the point of Rivers. He is a much much older version of Jameis. I somewhat still like Jameis, but have always liked Rivers. He is done now.
February 12th, 2020 at 10:22 pm
This is true, but Rivers could never have played in an Arians offense when he was in his prime. Just not a fit.