Identity Found?
December 13th, 2020
Audacity.
Joe absolutely hates “leader” talk because it is the most empty, nonsensical rhetoric there is.
Right behind it (or just above it) is “identity.” What is your team’s identity?
It’s what your uniform is, or what your record is. And if a team is good, winning is your identity. If you lose (like the Bucs have way too often done in the post-Chucky era), then losing is your identity.
Well, if the Bucs have an identity, Joe will suggest it’s the balls of the coach.
Per Jenna Laine of ESPN, Bucs coach Bucco Bruce Arians, identified his team’s identity.
Bucs coach Bruce Arians on his Bucs’ 26-14 win over the Vikings: “We were asked earlier in the week what our identity is. I think we just showed our identity. We can do any damn thing we want.”
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) December 13, 2020
That’s a ballsy quote. And that comes from a ballsy man.
Too often this year, the Bucs haven’t been able to do what they want to do. Was a win over the Vikings the turning point the Bucs will need to gain steam for the playoffs?
December 13th, 2020 at 4:29 pm
They can do anything they want, they just need a mobile QB who can hit wide open receivers on third down. That’s a BS quote by BA (Bullspit Artist).
December 13th, 2020 at 4:29 pm
If only we had a leader with a unmistakable identity
🙃
December 13th, 2020 at 4:29 pm
I don’t know !!! Honestly I saw a team that doesn’t dominate. A team that you’re not sure are going to win. A team that cannot name it deep into the playoffs. It’s disappointing.
Do others see different ? If so tell me what
December 13th, 2020 at 4:31 pm
BA=BS
We can’t tackle
We can’t cover
We can’t stop a fourth down play
We miss wide open receivers
We’re hardly “doing whatever we want “
If The Vikes kicker hadn’t come down with Buc-itis we may not have eked out the win.
December 13th, 2020 at 4:32 pm
Brady is still very shaky early in games……
That last FG from Succop was critical…..even though he missed an extra point, we see what happens when your kicker struggles……
We played a pretty clean game……need to stop the offsides….
Allowed zero sacks…..good job
December 13th, 2020 at 4:32 pm
The identity i like the the one that scores. Our offense identity is that we are not ready to even move to ball when the game starts. The big reason why is Brady. He has gotta be ready and play well in first quaters. Thats not too much to ask if youre asking the Goat.
December 13th, 2020 at 4:33 pm
I think BA is drinking on the sidelines 🍸 🍸
December 13th, 2020 at 4:35 pm
The vision of BA’s nut sack hanging out of his shorts riding around in his golf cart is too much !
December 13th, 2020 at 4:36 pm
BA … “We can do any damn thing we want”. YGBSM, that’s not ballsy, that’s just downright stupid and arrogant.
Statistically, Arians’ offense crapped all over itself again, DESPITE scoring 26 points.
o Vikings had 39 mins TOP to our 21 mins. That’s putrid.
o Vikings had 76 total plays to our 49 plays. That’s ridiculous.
o Vikings had 27 first downs to our 17. Not impressed.
What saved our bacon was the Vikings kicker leaving 10 points on the field with 3 missed FGs & 1 missed XP, plus several very key Vikings penalties which kept our drives alive & allowed us to score at least 10 points. PLUS our own defense stepping up at critical times to get 6 sacks on key possessions AND to hold the Vikings to 5-of-15 third down conversions.
But for BA to claim that we can do anything we want is beyond absurd. Had already lost a lot of respect for him as a HC this season, but I’ve got even less now.
December 13th, 2020 at 4:36 pm
Send the Viking’s kicker a gift basket BA
December 13th, 2020 at 4:37 pm
For this week a win is good. But identity found? Please. brady left 7 surefire TD’s on the field. He had quite a few under and overthrows. But when you win..It’s all good. RUN THE TABLE BABY. Shout out to the Defense who never gave up.Our D line and linebackers fight their A’s off.
December 13th, 2020 at 4:37 pm
BA………………you really suck as a HC
BL………………you really suck as a OC
When you play a real team next Sunday that won’t mess up and give
away the game………………….then this team will lose and probably
by alot too.
BA is living in fantasy land
December 13th, 2020 at 4:39 pm
Our identity is the other team’s kicker being our MVP
December 13th, 2020 at 4:40 pm
He must have been watching a different game.
December 13th, 2020 at 4:41 pm
OMG he really said that? What a fool. He’s too old to learn. Too stubborn to bother.
December 13th, 2020 at 4:46 pm
Joe I come to this site to laugh and criticize your funny opinions on football … your long list of names for each player is cute … your opinion on the COVID and the season is as funny as trump followers … your thought on leadership is funny as I’m SNL funny … but I applaud you because I have to admit you have a pretty good number of followers on here and they believe and are entertained by your words like trump is to his followers
December 13th, 2020 at 4:50 pm
BA thinks if it weren’t for the players’ mistakes, the team would be perfect.
He’s delusional.
December 13th, 2020 at 4:57 pm
Folks have trouble with literal and figurative…it is leadership
December 13th, 2020 at 5:02 pm
fire Licht tonight!
spending a 3 Round pick on an overaged TE…
it only makes sense, if they win the gid damn Super Bowl
otherwise he sacreficed the future for nothing.. as i think he did..
this team is nowhere ready to make an SuperBowl run…
and Licht is at fault as he build this undertalented team…
Drafting Donovan Smith and then even resigning to big money contract
such stupids move over and over again…
i know armchair GM that would do better than this Clown
beeep that shhhhhh and thats it
peace
shout out to all Donald Trump and Eppstein Haters
December 13th, 2020 at 5:05 pm
Either you guys are all trolls or your the worst fan base in football.
December 13th, 2020 at 5:11 pm
@Jedleman: Make no mistake, we Buc fans ARE the worst. Period.
December 13th, 2020 at 5:15 pm
“Defense Rules Says:
December 13th, 2020 at 4:36 pm
BA … “We can do any damn thing we want”. YGBSM, that’s not ballsy, that’s just downright stupid and arrogant.
Statistically, Arians’ offense crapped all over itself again, DESPITE scoring 26 points.
o Vikings had 39 mins TOP to our 21 mins. That’s putrid.
o Vikings had 76 total plays to our 49 plays. That’s ridiculous.
o Vikings had 27 first downs to our 17. Not impressed.
What saved our bacon was the Vikings kicker leaving 10 points on the field with 3 missed FGs & 1 missed XP, plus several very key Vikings penalties which kept our drives alive & allowed us to score at least 10 points. PLUS our own defense stepping up at critical times to get 6 sacks on key possessions AND to hold the Vikings to 5-of-15 third down conversions.
But for BA to claim that we can do anything we want is beyond absurd. Had already lost a lot of respect for him as a HC this season, but I’ve got even less now.”
THIS IS SO GOOD THAT IT DESERVED TO BE POSTED AGAIN!
December 13th, 2020 at 5:22 pm
Yeah, BA, uh no.
December 13th, 2020 at 5:38 pm
First of all, I apologize to Mike Johnson, you were correct about Kirk Cousins hurting the Bucs defense by running the ball.
Second of all, a win is a win, and I’m going to celebrate every Bucs win. As I said at the beginning of the year, I’m happy with the Bucs being a playoff contender again. It’s been a long time.
December 13th, 2020 at 5:38 pm
Jedelman I don’t know where the f you are from but you don’t just celebrate a W when you are not seeing your team have any distinctive dominant plays they regularly execute in most games ! The W is awesome, Jameis gonna eat a W for us !!! But we’re looking for the team to show a sign it can make a deep run in the playoffs at this point.
The Vikings easily leaving 10 points on the board was a gift to our team.
This wasn’t a game that excites the fan base because we saw some consistency.
December 13th, 2020 at 5:39 pm
Winning a game with 21 mins TOP is almost unheard in the annals of NFL history. There was a study done in 2017 that determined that “TOP is actually more correlated to wins than total yards, which is a pretty good metric”.
They looked at games played this century, and went on to say …
“If we go back to 2000 and look at how well teams played when they had 35-plus minutes TOP in non-OT regular season games, NFL teams compiled an impressive 83.7 winning percentage when they had the ball for that length of time.
Since 2000, there have been 86 games where one team had 40 or more minutes TOP in a non-OT game. Those teams were 80-6 (a .930 winning percentage).”
Since the Bucs had a tad less than 21 mins TOP today, our odds of winning today’s game were probably right around 10%. And yet we won by more than 10 pts today. Since our defense was on the field for almost two-thirds of the game and only gave up 14 points, I’d be inclined to give the game ball to our defense, assuming of course that the Minnesota kicker declined the award.
As for our offense, still not impressed. In the 1st qtr of play, Vikings had the ball for 12:37 mins to our 2:37 mins … 21 plays to our 6 plays. Wasn’t all that much better in the 2nd qtr, although the Bucs did score 2 TDs, BOTH after the Vikings’ kicker missed FG tries (and we got decent field position). Then of course our last second FG (literally) which was a nice gift to end the half with. All in all a bizarre game from my perspective.
December 13th, 2020 at 5:47 pm
@DR: sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.
Cousins is an underrated QB, and MN uses 100% of what he brings to a team.
Very bizarre game, for sure.
Bucs win, but I was less than impressed.
December 13th, 2020 at 5:51 pm
8-5. It is what it is.
December 13th, 2020 at 6:16 pm
Happy with the win. Minnesota had won 5 of 6.
December 13th, 2020 at 6:22 pm
DR
Defense was far from spectacular today. 5 for 15 on third down, but Vikes converted 4 of 5 fourth downs. Takes some of the shine off of that stat.
Still concerned that we can’t tackle worth a damn, or cover. That and we can’t stop anybody on the first two opposing possessions. Third quarter the offense came out.. scored a TD and used half the quarter. Our D responds by allowing a 15 play drive….and a score. Couldn’t have been tired there, either.
This is an average defense.. at very best.
None of that changes the fact that BA is full of $hit, However.
December 13th, 2020 at 6:41 pm
“We can do any damn thing we want.”
Damn right. That’s the attitude I’ve been waiting to hear.
December 13th, 2020 at 6:54 pm
There’s Mr excuses again. Who the hell let that team drive up and down the field at will to get in field goal range from the beginning? Very first drive!!! And the offense needs to start faster??? This is common with this defense. Quit blaming the offense all the time. You sound like Ndog. It’s everybody else’s fault they get their sax run over and the secondary is as bad as it is.
December 13th, 2020 at 6:55 pm
The writer of this entry (notice how I don’t refer to him as “Joe” in a tired third person fashion) hates leader talk and refers to it as empty nonsensical rhetoric because the writing staff of this website sit on the sidelines or in the stands is devoid of any leadership qualities. They write commentary on the performance of the “men in the arena.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
Teddy Roosevelt
December 13th, 2020 at 7:09 pm
Jmarkbuc: Your post is correct in that the Bucs defense is average, at best. That also can be said for the majority of defenses in the NFL. The rules are stacked in favor of offenses. I liked what Shaq and JPP did today.
December 13th, 2020 at 7:30 pm
Jeff, how inspiring your quote ! Snore…….. what are you even trying to say. We are talking about how they played today. Your quoting Roosevelt is irrelevant to this post. We’re expecting our team to show they are capable of a deep playoff run, the analysis is how did JL assemble the team, how are BA , BL and TB coaching the team and what is the meaningful production from the team. You’re quote is more apropos to a pop Warner game son.
December 13th, 2020 at 7:34 pm
I am commenting on joes assessment of the value of leadership. Thanks for your feedback Buxszntkt!
December 13th, 2020 at 7:34 pm
Last winning record = 2016.
Last playoff game = 2008.
Bucs break both droughts this year.
Licht should win GM of the year and WTF-has-taken-so-long of the year.
December 13th, 2020 at 7:41 pm
Cobraboy … I simply don’t know what to make of this team. The Bucs’ defense finished #29 last season and we really didn’t add all that many new pieces. One rookie Safety and that’s really about it. And that was with Vea playing over two-thirds of the def snaps & with Carl Nassib spelling our DEs regularly on over half of the def snaps. Yet right now we’re ranked #11 and may actually move up into the Top-10 after today’s game. It still boggles my mind when I see them struggle on long drives in many games.
At the same time our offense finished #3 last year and they added several new pieces … many of those new pieces with All-Pro credentials like Brady, Gronk, Brown, plus an outstanding rookie in Tristan Wirfs. We’re rated #6 right now, but this offense has been erratic as all git-out. It can look unstoppable one minute, but at other times never leave the station for quarters & halves at a whack. TOP is plummeting in recent games against some of the better teams. What should be our strength spends far too much time sitting on the bench.
I’m totally bewildered by what I’m seeing. You got any answers? Wisdom? Anything to explain what’s going on?
December 13th, 2020 at 7:49 pm
DR
We suffer from either a lack of coaching or too many, with no clear path.
Believe it or not, at least offensively , Kyle Brandt from GMFB might be right. He calls them an episode of “ The Real World “ … put a bunch of strangers together in a house and see what hi jinx ensue. No family, no cohesion.
Whatever the case, we are being out coached on Both sides of the ball.
December 13th, 2020 at 8:02 pm
DBS … I’m not sure what you saw today, but what I saw was a defense that surrendered 14 points. Had the Vikes’ kicker hit on those 3 FG attempts & not missed the XP that would’ve given them 10 more points … up to a max of 24 pts for the game. That’s pretty much on a par with what they surrendered against the Rams & the Chiefs, 2 very good offenses.
Were they pushed around? For sure. But I’ll bet that if you look at how defensive snaps each player got, you’ll find that our starters were on the field A BUNCH. And since we don’t have all that much depth on defense, those guys were probably whooped after the 1st qtr. And yet they still held the league’s #1 rusher to about 100 yds rushing. More than that, they pressured Cousins quite a bit, and even sacked him 6 times … at critical points.
Gut feel is that they sacrificed some of their run defense to improve their pass rush. No real way for me to know, but it seems strange that their run defense wasn’t nearly as good as it has been, yet their pressure on the QB … and their pass defense … was better today than it has been.
December 13th, 2020 at 8:34 pm
Being an Original Buc fan, I live and breathe Defense. I’m with DBS. The reason there whipped after the first quarter is because, well, they get whipped on the first quarter. Want to get off the field? Play better.
Sure offensive T.O.P. Is important and needs to be better, but making excuses for the defense on the first (or second) opponents possession is ridiculous.
Once again what’s the excuse for the third quarter? Bottom line is we are not stellar on any level, and D white should never be allowed to attempted coverage, it’s a shame a # 5 pick isn’t capable, but hey, J Licht.
Thankfully, somehow JPP manages to make a play in each game…
December 13th, 2020 at 8:41 pm
Quit with the excuses DR. The other team gets tired too. This defense lets teams run up and down the field. Tired and young it’s the offenses fault is your go to. If they were on the field to long it was their own fault. Yes they had some good stops and plays. I saw a defense that could have lost us this game today because easy. Because they do what they do.
December 13th, 2020 at 8:42 pm
“What saved our bacon was the Vikings kicker leaving 10 points on the field with 3 missed FGs & 1 missed XP, plus several very key Vikings penalties which kept our drives alive & allowed us to score at least 10 points.”
But DR you could make the same case for the Bucs. What saved the Vikes was Suh’s moronic defensive offsides that turned a 4th down punt or unmakeable FG into a TD…that’s on OUR D!!
You could say that Ali Marpet’s moronic offsides on the first play of a drive that we simply couldn’t go three and out after our gassed D just gave up a long Viking drive…that three and out gave luck to the Vikes.
Although in fairness do we count stupidity on either side as luck or stupidity?
IMHO I think the Bucs brought their B maybe B- game on offense and defense.
I thought that would cost them but Minnesota only responded with a B- game of their own so we win.
December 13th, 2020 at 8:46 pm
BTW I think we have found our identity.
We are an inconsistently great team. Maybe we can improve enough to emulate 1980’s Cleveland Browns…known as the Kardiac Kids. They ended up winning eleven.
If we get in the playoffs nobody will wish to face us. We are inconsistently great and sometime just mediocre and occasionally horrid…they will not want to risk the chance that the great team shows up.
December 13th, 2020 at 8:46 pm
Had JPP not made that play you can bet your bottom dollar what was going to happen and where. In the secondary wide open.
December 13th, 2020 at 8:58 pm
Glad the Bucs won, but it’s pretty clear Brady is struggling in this offense. He isn’t used to a vertical game and was missing receivers today. The guy has zero mobility and a limited skill set in this offense. We can’t do anything we damn want against good teams and still struggle to beat teams with losing records. After watching today’s game it’s pretty clear the offense is out of synch. I don’t expect BA to make any adjustments… and foresee an early playoff exit.
December 13th, 2020 at 9:45 pm
@DR: I have no idea what to make of this team.
For the first time as a Buc fan…which goes back to Day 1 and a failed physical from becoming a second-year Buc…I don’t feel exhilaration when they win because it seems shallow and sort of smoke-nad-mirrors.
That doesn’t mean I am not happy, but more sober.
December 13th, 2020 at 10:13 pm
DBS the only one making excuses is you … for the offense. It isn’t stepping up to the plate early in games, and that’s when it’s needed the most. Today’s game was another good example. On their opening drive, Vikes got 3 first downs using 8 plays then had to punt. Key play was the 3rd down sack by Shaq. Bucs defense did their job.
Bucs offense then responded with a 5-play drive that included one 1st down. RoJo was running well, but then on the 3rd-and-3 Brady passed & missed Gronk. Bucs were forced to punt but had taken very little time off the clock (2:37 mins to be exact).
Out trotted the Bucs defense again. Vikes put together a nice 14-play drive for a TD but missed the XP. Lots of key plays for the Bucs on that drive … almost all bad (Suh’s offside penalty, several key missed tackles, etc. That whole drive took up a boatload of time.
So how did our offense respond after the Vikings kicked off after their TD? Bucs offense went 3-and-out, and took almost no time off the clock. Run-Pass-Pass-Punt … seen that act far too often. And those 2 passes were not even close.
Out trots the Bucs offense yet again. To this point in the ballgame, the Bucs offense had been on the field for 2 drives TOTALING 3:23 mins and we’re already into the 2nd qtr. Vikings then put together another 7-play drive that ends in a missed FG try. Key play IMO was the 3rd down sack by Suh.
Bucs offense got the ball in decent field position and put together a 4-play drive that ended with a 48-yard 3rd down beautiful deep pass to Miller for a TD. XP good and we were ahead 7-6. Very little time taken off the clock though.
Back out trots the Bucs offense after the touchback. Held the Vikes to a 6-play drive that ends in another missed FG. Key play was an excellent pass breakup on 3rd down by Davis.
Bucs offense gets the ball in great field position after the missed FG and finally puts together a nice 11-play drive that ends in a RoJo TD. Key plays on that drive BTW was a helmet-to-helmet penalty on the Vikings on our 3rd down that gave us a 1st down, plus a pass interference call on the Vikes that gave us a 1st down on the 1-yard line. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good huh.
Bucs defense then held the Vikings to a Pass-Run-Pass-Punt 4-plays and our offense took over. On our 3rd pass, a Hail Mary, Vikings got yet another PI penalty and we kicked a FG. Bucs ahead at halftime 17-6.
Say what you want about the Bucs’ defense, but they fought tooth-and-nail and only gave up 6 points in the half, spending over two-thirds of the half on the field. Would’ve been nice if the offense had put together a couple of consistent marches that ate up some of that time. Just sayin …
December 13th, 2020 at 10:18 pm
@Cobraboy … “I don’t feel exhilaration when they win because it seems shallow and sort of smoke-nad-mirrors. That doesn’t mean I am not happy, but more sober.”
I know EXACTLY what you mean. Feel the same way. Maybe it’s the sober part we both need to work on?
December 13th, 2020 at 10:28 pm
DR
They spent two thirds of the half on the field because the Vikes were 4/5 on fourth down…keeping drives alive.
Geez man you’re approaching Trump-tastical delusion.
And Cobraboy, it’s not even smoke and Mirrors… but I get what you mean about unfulfilling victory.
December 14th, 2020 at 9:19 am
Say what now BA?? Yall wasnt doing whatever yall wanted yesterday.
December 14th, 2020 at 10:29 pm
Leaders are important…. Tell me JPP isn’t the spark that guy this defense going… Tell me Hardy wasn’t a long time ago… Tell me BRADY leadership isn’t worth anything ….. You must have never been in the locker room and had that one guy the whole team trusted in!! When he had a bad day it hurt the whole team because he led the way… When he got hurt we all got hurt!!… That’s what a leader is and it’s more than play and it means a hell of a lot!!!