Blaming The Tight Ends
September 14th, 2020
Tight end critique.
Today, Bucs coach Bucco Bruce Arians took to the mic at One Buc Palace for his day-after presser and had interesting things to say about the run game.
If you thought Arians was going to take Ronald Jones to task for typical RoJo yawning, ho-hum results, think again.
Instead, blame the tight ends.
Arians explained that the tight ends were supposed to seal the edge allowing RoJo to get outside and — as one Bucs fan told Joe today — “do his thing.” That didn’t happen because, Arians said, the tight ends didn’t block.
“We were outphysicaled,” Arians said of the Bucs’ tight ends not getting the job done.
Well, since O.J. Howard saw most of the snaps, Joe isn’t sure why coaches believe Howard is the next Dave Casper or even Jimmie Giles. Joe has yet to see Howard make a block where you have to put your drink down and yell, “Eeeeewwwww… “
Howard, at times, may be an OK blocker but not to the point you expect him to seal the edge against a loaded defense like the Saints.
Foot-rubbing tight end Rob Gronkowski used to be a crushing blocker. Perhaps he still hasn’t found his sea legs from taking a year off of football?
Joe loves Cam Brate but let’s be candid, Brate has never been much of a blocker.
September 14th, 2020 at 12:57 pm
There are no excuses for this season. Gonna be entertaining to watch all of the finger pointing if this grand experiment doesn’t gell quickly.
September 14th, 2020 at 12:59 pm
Put in Antony Auclair. From what I read he is a better blocker than Howard and while not as fast, has just as good of hands as Howard.
September 14th, 2020 at 1:04 pm
Hell…if the TEs aren’t going to be targeted and can’t block….put Joe Haeg in there as an extra tackle…..
September 14th, 2020 at 1:06 pm
RoJo looked good when there was space to run. Unfortunately, as Arians correctly pointed out, that wasn’t often. And even when there wasn’t space, RoJo made something out of nothing more than once. Blocking has to be better, plain and simple. It should be next week against a much easier Panthers front.
September 14th, 2020 at 1:09 pm
Is Brady an upgrade over Winston? Brady currently on track for 32 picks this year, two more than Winston last season.
September 14th, 2020 at 1:12 pm
Now that’s a thought! Auclair can block.
September 14th, 2020 at 1:14 pm
Sea legs? Team Glazer paid $10 million for them. They should be worth every penny. I’ll allow one, just one, mulligan here. Get it right if you expect to be the first hometeam SB host.
Getr done BA
September 14th, 2020 at 1:16 pm
Agrees Dan. A lot of hate for Rojo after the game. Thought he ran hard and made a few good things happen, but unfortunately not much there at all. Fournette found same thing. I get people too used to Rojo not doing anything so understandable.
I agree.. if tght ends not blocking well enough give some of their snaps to Auclair and maybe light a fire under them
September 14th, 2020 at 1:21 pm
Of all the TEs yesterday, Howard was the best, and I’m not saying that was good.
Gronk looked out of sorts and should not need a wake up call.
If looks could kill, the look Brady gave Brate after his dropped ball on that crossing route…
All fixable. Everyone has been pumping these guys up for months, and they ate some humble pie. Not a bad thing, and this is the time to get out of the way–not that it should have happened to start with.
The difference in other games and this one, is it is fairly easy to diagnose what happened and treat it now. I go back to “Tennessee Ready” and some other openers, and we’ve scratched our heads for years.
September 14th, 2020 at 1:32 pm
We lost to the Saints, a really good team, on the road. If we lay an egg next week, I’ll be concerned. Disappointed now, but not concerned.
September 14th, 2020 at 1:32 pm
Not surprised at all by Arian’s comments. Real short-sighted to blame RoJo. Looked strong when given a crease. Even the guys at FantasyPros who’ve been down on him, went out of their way on podcast to talk about how surprisingly impressive Jones looked good in the game.
September 14th, 2020 at 1:32 pm
*Arians’ comments
September 14th, 2020 at 1:35 pm
@roy t buford
Lol!!!!!!! Tennessee ready!!!!!!!!! But let us take a close look at the opening day record!!!!!!!!!!!
Lower incompetent lovie smith 0-2
Head Coach Koetter. 3-0
Ole stale biscuit 0-2
Pretty telling stats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
go bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
September 14th, 2020 at 1:38 pm
Lmao oh the excuses are superb. Wait until the bum no names from Carolina come to Tampa and steal another victory from the god TB12.
Wins is all that matter, remember that?
September 14th, 2020 at 1:39 pm
It’s the same situation we’ve been in for years:
• The Bucs are rarely, if ever in a position to establish the run!
Turnovers and various other mistakes (*Missed field goals) consistently put this team in a position to where they are playing from behind, many times by multiple scores.
I’d love to see them with a two score lead in the second half. Only then can you truly establish the run and punish the opposing defense.
Can’t wait to see Rojo and Fournette tag team a wounded defense.
September 14th, 2020 at 1:40 pm
if we left new orleans with no major injuries, that’s what counts at this point…
how is nacho?
September 14th, 2020 at 1:42 pm
It’s one game. ONE game. That’s 6.25% of a season.
September 14th, 2020 at 1:50 pm
Barber ran for 1.7 ypc on 17 carries yesterday…..so…..we certainly don’t miss him.
Rojo at 3.8 ypc was substantially better than Kamara & the entire NO rushing effort at 2.4
If he has any hole at all….he can get yards….
September 14th, 2020 at 1:55 pm
All this money on TE position and still can’t find a way to use them. The offensive line still can’t run block. Starting to think this team was just built wrong. I still think you can win in this league with great defense and a good offensive line and run game. If you can’t run the ball then atleast go out swinging and throw majority of the time. So tired of seeing run up the middle for no gain and then to keep trying the same damn thing over and over expecting different results.
September 14th, 2020 at 1:59 pm
Winfield is a star in the making , his read and react is excellent for a rookie. So freaking hilarious how the TB12 NutHuggers want to blame Evans for a pick and BA clearly stated both were on Brady.
Licht Brain gave a huge extension to D Smith , again proving our GM is garbage. Smith is horrible and Brady will continue to struggle as long as D Smith is on the field. 10 FREAKING MILLION & a 3rd ROUNDER FOR A WASHED UP GRONK-BWAHAHAHAHAHA. It is criminal how badly this franchise has been mismanaged since Gruden was canned (canned after going to the playoffs). Glazers do not have what it takes to win as owners in the NFL-Period.
September 14th, 2020 at 2:13 pm
RJ did the best he could with what he was given. I liked how he tried to bounce it outside when there were absolutely no holes opened up in the middle but unfortunately he made the mistake of bouncing to Smiths side and got swallowed up. When he finally got a decent hole he ripped off 22 yards. He’s definitely showing better vision and still got 66 yards rushing against a very good Aints front line.
September 14th, 2020 at 2:34 pm
Triston, I call him THE WOLF MAN, you have the skills to play both guards and both tackles, I know you a rookie but that first game is behind you, bring some swag and make this O/line what it can be i.e. You should ask no I mean told D Smith to move to the other side and give me a shot at this monster that keep kicking you in the ass!! Get this O/line to barking at some people, it’s what we needed last year and it’s gonna be a problem this year!!! HENNY AND HOG…get yo-self some!
September 14th, 2020 at 2:37 pm
Bruce is boo.
September 14th, 2020 at 2:43 pm
“Put in Auclaire.”
Exactly. He’s the best blocking TE on this team. Gronk did nothing to surprise me by looking very slow. But hey, have to keep up with the media hype, right? RoJo just showed me what I already knew. He’s overated. Especially with this oline.
September 14th, 2020 at 2:46 pm
This OLine hasn’t run blocked well in years. Donovan Smith is going to end Brady’s career if he keeps this up.
September 14th, 2020 at 2:54 pm
Seems like I remember reading more than once that Brady was brought in to ‘change the culture’, especially on the offense. It’s still very early in the season, but yesterday’s Bucs looked eerily like last year’s Bucs from a ‘culture’ standpoint. Granted they were playing an elite Saints’ TEAM that’s extremely well-coached IMO, but danged, our offense was out-of-sorts just about the whole game.
BA blaming the TEs is laughable. He should be pointing fingers directly at his OC, his OLine coaches AND players, as well as his S/T coaches AND players. Cultural change has to start in the trenches. Playing like we did yesterday, the Bucs will be lucky to go 6-10 on the year. Fortunately we’ve got 15 games to right the ship. Time for these guys to get pissed and start playing like the winners they have the potential to be.
September 14th, 2020 at 2:55 pm
Tristen, THE WOLF MAN needs to find some NASTY and slap each starting O/lineman in the face with it and if that don’t work bring on the back up, slap him with that same NASTY!!! It’s time to find some guys who will and can get the job done!! Come on Wolf Man bring the swagger!!!
September 14th, 2020 at 3:02 pm
Blah Blah Blah…its only one game. How many years has this excuse been used?…..I would say since the Super Bowl win.
September 14th, 2020 at 3:03 pm
They looked exactly the same as last year except their qb is older, slower, and whiter.
September 14th, 2020 at 3:32 pm
So you’re abandoning the season after one game? Not exactly a rocket surgeon, are you?
The Bucs new QB has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with race. If you make it out to be, then you’re a race baiter.
September 14th, 2020 at 3:42 pm
Aceofaerospace Says:
September 14th, 2020 at 1:32 pm
We lost to the Saints, a really good team, on the road. If we lay an egg next week, I’ll be concerned. Disappointed now, but not concerned.
………………
THIS!!!!
September 14th, 2020 at 3:44 pm
Agreed, SB.
September 14th, 2020 at 4:00 pm
Most of the runs come on super predictable down and distances – this was a Leftwich special game. Too conservative, too boring, too predictable.
Here’s an idea when you have an all-star team where running is the weak point… don’t run.
WOW! AMAZING IDEA!!!!
Yeah, don’t run. Don’t run until you have the passing game going, then do it to keep the defense off balance.
What an idiot would do is run up the gut, get zero results, then continue to do it.
Instead, go back to shotgun, let Brady scan the field and hit the open gut.
DONT just run on 1st down for 1 yard, then repeat that on every set of new downs until you’re down by 2 scores.
September 14th, 2020 at 4:38 pm
Every year Buc fans..SOS. The blame game. How bout blaming your 50 million dollar man for 2 key saint scores? Opps, my bad, can’t blame the savior or his sidekick Gronk huh? I said bring Brady here was a big mistake and I’m sticking by it. Also the Bucs are jinxed with penalties and poor special teams play Looks like to me, despite the hype, we are the SOB’s (same ole bucs). Now cheer up plank walkers. We should..beat the panthers senseless…Should is the key word here.
September 14th, 2020 at 5:08 pm
Tampabaybucfan Says:
September 14th, 2020 at 1:50 pm
Barber ran for 1.7 ypc on 17 carries yesterday…..so…..we certainly don’t miss him.
so i guess the two Touchdowns aka TD’s Barber scored yesterday were so meaningless you neglected to mention them. Nice cherry picking of numbers.
September 14th, 2020 at 5:34 pm
I agree with the above. Play Auclair.
September 14th, 2020 at 6:39 pm
@Mike Johnson
We’ll blame Brady once the Bucs lose to the Panthers next week =D
September 14th, 2020 at 6:48 pm
Mike Johnson
It’s still EARLY. But OK your fee fees are still but hurt that not only the Bucs but the entire league took a pass on JW.
That’s OK but you must understand you’re on a Bucs blog not a Nole blog…although sometimes I wonder.
If Brady does begin to win with this team you are going to be eating one huge shiit sandwich. If not…you can beotch. One thing is clear however JW is riding the pines behind Taysom freaking Hill!!! Hill threw a perfect pass on the trick play. If he was all that he’d be the clear heir apparent if Brees goes down. And he may yet get to play. I don’t really care as long as it’s not for the Bucs!
September 14th, 2020 at 7:39 pm
Here’s the thing, IMHO…If someone quits on their team after one game, were they even really a fan? Sure, it was ugly at times. Things that we all had hoped the Bucs had gotten past.
It’s like that old saying, “No sense in crying over spilled milk”. Honestly, the Saints are a better football team than the Bucs right now.
September 14th, 2020 at 8:36 pm
Play calling was crap yesterday. Seemed just as predictable as last year.
September 14th, 2020 at 10:25 pm
Even the coach is telling you that run blocking is the problem, yet you still refuse to accept it.
Lol.
September 14th, 2020 at 10:47 pm
Ok BUCS fans it’s time to stick together I didn’t like the Brady move but right now he’s the quarterback . So man let’s just stick together . I kept trying to tell yall that Brady looked bad the pass 2 years . So we need to run the ball because this is Brady last year with us .