Breaking Down The Beatdown
November 11th, 2020
Fooled by Saints?
Some really good stuff here about why the Bucs looked like Boston College playing the Saints last Sunday.
You can blame/credit Saints defensive coordinator Dennis Allen.
Joe noted that Allen figured out if any offensive linemen were going to have a rough night it would be the left side of the Bucs’ line with inconsistent Donovan Smith and Joe Haeg, who was making his first start of the season.
It may have been Smith’s worst game of his six-year career.
But it wasn’t just getting pressure on Brady, though that was a huge issue. Jenna Laine documents that Allen disguised his coverages so well that they totaled fooled not only veterans like Chris Godwin, but even buffaloed park-violating, home-invading, NFLPA-ignoring, down-forgetting Bucs quarterback Tom Brady.
Receivers often were going to a spot they expected a ball, Laine wrote, thinking the defense was using one coverage and Brady would throw to a spot thinking the Saints were in a different coverage.
On one play, Chris Godwin stopped his route 10 yards shy of where Brady threw it, as the presnap look was Cover-2. But the coverage wound up being Man-2 (with two deep safeties in zone coverage and man coverage underneath) which altered the route. The same thing happened with Scotty Miller on third-and-3, as the Saints showed a presnap Cover-2 look but wound up being in man coverage.
Laine also has depressing information dug up by ESPN Stats.
[N]o team has ever won a Super Bowl after losing a game by 35 points during the regular season, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. Four teams have recovered from a 30-point loss to win a championship, but all of those losses were in September or October.
Joe will guess the time of the blowouts is a non-factor (well, let’s say Joe hopes it is a non-factor) for the following reasons.
OK, those Super Bowl teams that endured those blowouts never got hammered like that in November or December. The Saints-Bucs game was Nov. 8, so it is not like it happened on Christmas Weekend.
Remember: The Bucs had no OTAs, no minicamps, no preseason games and an abbreviated training camp. So this happening on the second Sunday of November doesn’t make Joe want to go swimming in the Gulf with a sandbag tied around his neck.
Still, the seal-clubbing was so bad by the Saints, Joe’s confidence this team could do damage in the postseason is big-time rattled.
November 11th, 2020 at 4:12 pm
I saw a video of someone breaking down all-22 of the Bucs offense. The 2 big takeaways were 1) WRs were open, but the pressure was affecting Brady and 2) AB is elite at recognizing coverage. There was a play where Brady overthrew Gronk in the middle. On that one, AB had a crossing route, realized it was cover 2, then adjusted to split the coverage and was wide open.
About the pressure: Marpet is elite and raises our Oline play significantly. He wins his 1-on-1’s almost every time. That means the Bucs can have Jensen help Cappa when rushing 4 and less inside pressure when sending 5. Our O-line depth is not good enough to replace Marpet (or Jensen). They also need to help Smith with a TE on certain plays. Surprisingly, we didn’t use max protect packages despite all the pressure.
November 11th, 2020 at 4:12 pm
Time to move on….appreciate the look-back & analysis…..but, I hope the team has moved on, I certainly am trying to.
November 11th, 2020 at 4:19 pm
Good thing we have a QB that has done things no one else has done.
November 11th, 2020 at 4:20 pm
ArmChair
That’s the kind of comment that makes us all smarter. Thank you.
November 11th, 2020 at 4:21 pm
just maybe our qb has decided to coast-win or lose. now that he got his 2 friends a job…ive never seen an exp qb of that caliber totally choke play after play. its just whatever joe. whats the real story? seems to me that egos are bruised- friendships failing- and no one including our coach staff- seems to have a clue. why would you run only 8 run plays?? even high school teams know run game is dependent on pass game and vise versa.
November 11th, 2020 at 4:22 pm
Brady looked old AF on Sunday.
November 11th, 2020 at 5:01 pm
That was worse than a seal-clubbing.
That was faith-destroying.
I question everything about this team now.
November 11th, 2020 at 5:30 pm
There’re many reasons that led the Bucs to disaster. But the major ones,imho, were:
1) The Saints were way more prepared than the Bucs. Their game plan was well planned and well executed. Bucs’ coach staff had a terrible night and instead of making the proper adjustments, completely melted down.
2) Marpet’s absence was lethal. Haeg is serviceable, but he doesn’t have the talent to compensate Smith’s weaknesses.
3) Donovan Smith had his worst game ever. He’s an overpaid average LT, not a saloon door like last Sunday. I really think he won’t repeat such an awful performance this season.
4) Tom Brady also played like he was Mark Sanchez in a bad night. It simply won’t happen again. We all saw how amazing he was playing before.
5) You don’t play zone defense against Drew Brees. And all Bucs’ DBs play better man coverage. Bowles made a huge mistake.
6) JPP and Suh are veterans. It’s naïf to think they can handle 90% of the snaps all season long. They’re warriors, but humans. Nelson isn’t good enough to relief the starters. Vita Vea is arguably the best NT in the league and he’ll be missed, even if Nacho and McLendon aren’t bad.
Conclusion: sign Clay Matthews to rotate with the starters. Pass rush is the 2nd most important job in Football.
7) Stop dropping JPP and Barrett to cover the pass. It never works.
8) Devin White is great rushing the QBs and against the run, but he’s a liability covering passes. Coach him or the opponents will feast
9) The Bucs received a hard punishment for their overconfidence. The team bought the hype, lost focus and wasn’t mentally prepared to face adversity. I expect a very different mindset next Sunday.
10) 6-3 is still a very good record. No reason to push the panic button. Go Bucs!!!
November 11th, 2020 at 5:32 pm
Enough. We got an old fashioned A..Whippin beatdown period. Lets move on. Saints are the no 1 team in our conference..no question. I am concerned about our O line and Brady though. He looked like old man father time back there. dazed and confused with 3 interceptions. Thats almost..Jameis like. 9-7 probably will not cut a wildcard berth. We gotta finish at least 10-6 which means we need to win 4 more. Raheem got them dirtybirds looking like an improved team. And do not count out the Panthers this weak. Batter up Bucs.
November 11th, 2020 at 5:40 pm
I thought we lost to the Raiders 45 to 0 our Superbowl year ???
November 11th, 2020 at 5:46 pm
Disregard…my bad
November 11th, 2020 at 6:13 pm
They should’ve got a few more points.
November 11th, 2020 at 6:30 pm
First question. did D. Smith get credit for that sack of Brady?
N.O. Defensive coordinator saw how out of sync the Bucs line was and targeted it. The Bucs could not make any adjustment that mattered.
D. Smith is not a bad LT, but our backups did nothing to help and, basically, just got in the way. Someone needs to coach them up and, at least, give them some practice time before that happens again.
November 11th, 2020 at 6:38 pm
It was a bad loss, but we also pistol whipped the Packers. If this team and the coaches pull their heads out of their butts, we have the talent to beat anyone.
November 11th, 2020 at 6:48 pm
Good point that the Saints’ disguised coverages got Brady and the receivers on different pages–maybe this requires elevating their ability to read defensive shifts together to a new level as the team’s growth continues.
Brady appears not to be a fan of Evans’ routes or lack of separation. I fear he prefers Brown, who is famous for great route running and separation. What concerns me is that BA seems to feuding with Tom over this in the media instead of man to man. How else to explain BA coming right out and saying Mike is open but Brown is getting too many snaps? this is crazy for a head coach to talk like this, especially when Mike’s not open and who determines personnel on the field if not BA?
November 11th, 2020 at 6:56 pm
Cobraboy … As I’m sure both of us have experienced, anyone who plays sports eventually experiences a seal-clubbing. Disheartening? Oh yes. Embarrassing? For sure. Faith-destroying? Very rarely. Sometimes the lesson of being humiliated can be the longest-lasting lesson of all IMO. HOPEFULLY it leads to to a staunch desire in each & every Bucs player that it’ll NEVER happen again.
As CS Lewis is quoted as saying … ‘Experience is a brutal teacher. But you learn; my God do you learn’. Our Bucs just experienced a brutal lesson.
November 11th, 2020 at 7:12 pm
I’m convinced that the saints have the playbook and other intel given to them. This is rarely mentioned if at all on many sites.
November 11th, 2020 at 8:50 pm
D.R.
Brutal lesson indeed. I’m ready to move on. It was such a TOTAL shellacking that it’s hard to pick any one group…they all sucked.
Perhaps just as frightening it’s beginning to look like a coaching choke as well.
BA…TB..Licht and group have all been around for quite awhile. They didn’t suddenly forget everything they knew that got them here. At least that’s what the optimist in me hopes.
November 11th, 2020 at 9:45 pm
StPete … I just want to see them play some solid football from here on out. Not a big one for excuses. I love the strategy & tactics involved in great football games. Saw a lot of that from the Saints Sunday night. From the Bucs? Not so much.
November 11th, 2020 at 10:35 pm
DR, I have never been in a lockerroom after a seal-clubbing, but know a bunch who have.
The demoralization and quiet finger-pointing are toxic, especially if the finger start to point up.
We shall see what happens in Charlotte.
November 11th, 2020 at 11:59 pm
More… excuses for Brady? Child Please!
November 12th, 2020 at 12:06 am
Well we have a playoff preveiw coming up with KC. That being said we still have the talent and the QB to win it all. So based on that stat Joe about no team winning the SB, well I guess we will see if they are the first one. I am not sandbagging on this team, especially during the best season in almost 2 decades. No one saw the beatdown coming that they put on GB after the Chi- Town give away. So on to the Panthers. GO BUCS!!!! KEEP TOM ALIVE FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP DRIVE!!!!!
November 12th, 2020 at 7:25 am
Please stop with the Super Bowl talk, Bucs will be lucky to get into the playoffs.
November 12th, 2020 at 10:55 am
Joe, you’ve posted before that the absence of OTAs, mini-camp, etc. should not be used as an excuse, because all the other teams are dealing with the same thing. Granted, we’ve got a new QB under center, but still after 8 games, you’d expect that everyone would be on the same page. Based on Laine’s reporting, it looks like the Bucs just got out coached.