No Need To Freak Out
December 12th, 2020
No worries.
The offense of the Bucs sputtered throughout November and to hear the three guys directly responsible for what gets called on offense, it sounds like a cluster.
The cherry atop the whipped cream was when offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich said he doesn’t know why he doesn’t call play-action passes. 🤦‍♂️ That’s right up there with when Lovie Smith said he didn’t want to score points when his team neared midfield in the final minute of a first half.
#ItsABucsLife
Now in midseason, when park-violating, home-invading, NFLPA-ignoring, down-forgetting, handshake-stiffing, jet-ski-losing, biscuit-baking Bucs quarterback Tom Brady went through a horrible slump throwing the ball deep, Bucs fans rightly became concerned.
Hey, the dude is human. He still bleeds red. And he is 43.
Was he shot? Joe can understand how some fans were beginning to sweat.
Brady has since rebounded and Seth Galina, typing for BSPN, claims Brady’s is not washed up. He’s just a tad inconsistent.
There were warning signs after the Bears game, in which he put up a goose egg in the deep pass completions column, but he followed that game by going 4-of-9 in his next two. However, his next four games were abysmal, as he completed only one deep ball on 23 attempts. The Tampa Bay offense suffered as a result, because this is an Arians offense that thrives off these types of plays. It’s not the surgical dink-and-dunk stuff of late-era-Patriots Brady.
Still, we believe deep-ball passing tends to fluctuate year to year and even game to game. Brady responded by completing four deep passes against Kansas City for 152 yards. Brady probably sits somewhere between his dreadful four-game stretch recently and his great four-game stretch to start the season, so the chances are that he’ll be fine going forward.
So yeah, Galina thinks Brady is good to go for the playoffs. Let’s hope so.
It could help if Brady’s coaches could guide him to stop the first quarter scoring droughts. In the five games the Bucs played in November, the team scored one touchdown in the first quarter.
That may not cut it in the stretch run to the playoffs and it sure as hell won’t cut it in the playoffs.
December 12th, 2020 at 10:32 am
A thought just occurred to me and I’m curious what the Joe’s and other posters think. I wonder if we have been reluctant to run the ball because they have been trying to protect Godwin’s hand. I know he’s a fierce blocker who’s usually involved. Also, is AB perceived as a good contributor in the run game or is that something he naturally avoids?
December 12th, 2020 at 10:48 am
Nothing to worry about. Offensive guru Leftwhich will get the offensive firing on all cylinders.
December 12th, 2020 at 10:52 am
You might be on to something Cleanhouse with the Godwin theory
December 12th, 2020 at 10:55 am
Not sayin we gotta just do dink and dunk but damn! We gotta start movin the chains in the first quarter!
Get Rojo involved and keep him involved! Move the chains and the deep stuff will open up on it’s own.
Quit tryin ta force it so much, just let it flow!
December 12th, 2020 at 11:00 am
I’m more worried about the defense, they’re giving up 390 a game the last month
December 12th, 2020 at 11:13 am
Tom Brady has NEVER lost 3 games in a row.
Plus, he just bought a really nice Boat!
I think he is gonna light up Minnesota tomorrow.
December 12th, 2020 at 11:24 am
Let me make sure I’ve got this right Joe. There’s ‘No Need to Freak Out’ BUT –
“In the five games the Bucs played in November, the team scored one touchdown in the first quarter. That may not cut it in the stretch run to the playoffs and it sure as hell won’t cut it in the playoffs.”
Your closing argument made me feel soooo much better. Thanks. I won’t freak out now.
December 12th, 2020 at 11:28 am
The bye week is the time to make adjustments. We should see adjustments. Things I’d rather never see again:
1) Brady throwing desperation passes up in the air, which are usually intercepted
2) Throwing deep balls to Cam Brate when he’s covered
3) Fournette dropping passes, then smiling
4) Donovan Smith being indifferent about blocking the guy in front of him
5) Shaq Barrett in coverage
6) Leaving their 4.2 speedster one-on-one with our 4.5 CB
7) SMB missing tackles
It’s a mixture of the players and coaches doing better.
December 12th, 2020 at 11:37 am
@Beeej … “I’m more worried about the defense, they’re giving up 390 a game the last month”.
Interesting perspective Beeej. Our defense had given up 115 points in the last 4 games (28.8 PPG average), with 38 of those coming in our loss to the Saints. Our offense has scored 97 points in our last 4 games (24.3 PPG average), with 46 of those (almost half) coming in our 1 win against the Panthers. Had our offense just scored its average for the season (28.7 PPG) we would’ve won 3 of those 4 games (sorry, but the Saints whomped us).
Don’t get me wrong; our defense can & must play a lot better than they’ve played in these last 4 games for us to make any noise in the playoffs. But our offense needs to get its act together even more-so. And it’d really help if our offense could start each game with a bit more fire than they’ve been showing. But then again, that might take some game-planning & we don’t want to put any undue pressure on them, do we.
December 12th, 2020 at 11:43 am
Joe in Michigan
#5 drives me nuts the most.
December 12th, 2020 at 11:45 am
33-15 versus 19-29! That is a giant difference in the record of our last four opponents compared to our next four.
I get the concern but it’s far too soon to panic.
Here is the legitimate concern. We’re good enough to make the playoffs and even do some damage but at the end of the day New Orleans still owns us. Until we can beat NO there’s no way to get back to Tampa for the SB.
December 12th, 2020 at 11:58 am
Jason: Yes! Don’t rush your pass rusher, put him in coverage. Who or what can Shaq cover?
December 12th, 2020 at 12:00 pm
I tried to warn all of you Bucs defense truthers to not fall for the late 2019 stretch of good play but some of y’all made the same mistake from the 2016 season.
This defense was drastically overrated from the very beginning and more Bucs fans should’ve been aware to be skeptical of the young and unproven defensive backs but no the off season hype of a new and improved Bucs defense was once again a major letdown.
December 12th, 2020 at 12:13 pm
If the Bucs run the schedule and win four in a row will that make the majority of JBF posters look dumb?
I’ll say this. If the Bucs lose 2 or more of the last four I count myself among the dumb. We should win three and four is nowhere near out of the question.
If the Bucs are embarrassed the final four I’m the dummy. If the Bucs win three and make the playoffs whose the dummy?
We can all see the teams strengths and shortcomings. Give me record prediction. Put your rep on the line right here right now at the pivotal point of the season.
I think we win 3.5 of the final four. IE…we win three and possibly four.
What say ye? Pick a number not an excuse.
December 12th, 2020 at 12:18 pm
It’s time to run behind Cappa, Wirf, and Gronk.
Student body right
December 12th, 2020 at 12:23 pm
Ted Larsen is a nice bit of insurance
December 12th, 2020 at 12:24 pm
IF our Defense shows up? We win going away. But if you let Cousins rolling and out of that pocket with his scrambling? We are in for a long day. I hope our defense is fired up. They are the Key to this one.
December 12th, 2020 at 1:09 pm
If tha team ad a competent offensive coach, he would see that we have a 5 yard pwr carry rb who can catch just as good as fournette, and a qb that willl use play action and check downs to draw the defense in setting up the deep ball. However our genius OC and head coach seem to think its a great game plan to run it up the middle every first down, followed by a deep ball 20 to 30 yards incomplete on second down, leaving a predictable 3rd and 7 every third down.
This dude is clueless and its so funny that people were actually defending him up until recently calling him a head coaching candidate. Brady is choosing plays about as often as it snows in Miami.
December 12th, 2020 at 1:20 pm
stpete- I’ll cast my vote for 3 of 4.
The Vikings feel like a “trap” game, and I’m not 100% on beating the Falcons twice.
I’m going on sheer Brady-ness, and the Bucs stop over-complicating things.
Simplicity is the key. We have the talent…allegedly.
December 12th, 2020 at 2:36 pm
The problems on offense is inconsistency. Its not just scoring we cant even move the danged ball for entores halves at a time.
But Im sticking to my guns and saying this team started clicking and figuring it out against K.C. The offense is gonna come out ready to rock and roll and they will build on it to finish the regular season.
The defense hasent really played with the lead all year. And they will answer the bell when our offense takes the field and leads the way………I wanna see this team start peaking. Those are usually the scariest teams come playoff time.
GO BUCS!!!
December 12th, 2020 at 2:47 pm
Stpete, 4 the Bucs win out. 3 of the for by 10 or more. That is if Brady stays healthy.
THIS IS NOT A TRAP GAME- we’ve lost the last two, the Vikings are one game behind us, our next opponent is Atl. A trap game is a game where your playing an inferior opponent the week before a big game and you over look them because your focus is on the next team. There are no trap games the rest of the season
December 12th, 2020 at 2:50 pm
And that’s three of the four* by 10 points or more
December 12th, 2020 at 4:46 pm
Mike Johnson: Cousins has 89 rushing yards in 12 games, an average of 7.4 yards per game. He’s been sacked 9 more times than Brady. Are you thinking of Kyler Murray? He plays for Arizona.