Antoine Winfield Thinks Secondary Struggles Were A Wakeup Call
September 16th, 2021
Safety Antoine Winfield
In Todd Bowles’ first two seasons as defensive coordinator, his Bucs defenses have only given up 400 yards passing twice.
The first was in a 2019 shootout with the Rams in the old Los Angeles Colesium. The second was last year to the Chiefs right before the bye week.
Already this season, Bowles’ secondary has coughed up 400 passing yards in a game — last week to Dak Prescott of the Cowboys (403 yards).
Not to overreact to Week 1 results, but was this a blip or was this an ugly sign of things to come?
Bucs safety Antoine Winfield is confident it was a blip. In fact, he said Prescott torching them under the west-central Florida night sky was more of a wakeup call to defensive backs than if a billionaire’s space rocket buzzed right over the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway.
“Yeah, just our mentalities,” Winfield told the local pen and mic club of the secondary’s problem from last week. “After the first game we were kind of like woken up.
“We know what we’ve got to do. We know we’ve got to do better. We’ve kind of just been emphasizing that in our practices.”
Joe would hope so. Winfield detail what went wrong other than to use the generic term “communication,” which could be any damn thing.
Joe is confident it isn’t the “communication” that plagued disgraced former defensive coordinator Mike Smith. When he said “communication,” he really meant it. Dudes couldn’t understand plays, which resulted in guys freelancing a whole lot.
Joe is very confident that’s not what is going now.
September 16th, 2021 at 9:22 am
Winfield is saying the DB’s thought they were so great that they could just show up & win. They name themselves The Grave Diggers after 8 good games total in their NFL lives. Pete’s medicated, red eyeballs will be hyper-focused on these CLOWNS for the entire season 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡 <—- all those BOZO's are our DB's
September 16th, 2021 at 9:41 am
Not accepting Winfield’s statement that it was a blip but we have 16 more games in which the secondary can show us.
I will say in his defense, show me a secondary in the NFL that will not have 4 really bad games out of 17 this season. I really do not think there are any.
Supposedly the Rams were a true number 1 defense in 2019 with Marcus Peters a true number 1 corner for them. We put up 55 against them mostly passing the ball.
September 16th, 2021 at 9:42 am
No rush = no pass defense for the Bucs. The secondary is our weakness. A qb who plays a Brady style game with lots of short to medium throws with 2 or 3 second releases that negate the pass rush will expose our dbs. I am worried teams with a strong run game and short quick pass routes are going to be big trouble. Dallas exposed and exploited our dbs. New Orleans with Kamara running and Jamess kept in control with quick short to medium throws could do even better than Dallas. Bucs gotta fix this. Maybe Dallas just had really superior pass blocking and a qb who made quicker than average decisions and throws. But I guarantee other teams are studying the Dallas game plan very closely.
September 16th, 2021 at 9:45 am
Can Winfield possiibly play CB?
Fix the secondary or it is shootouts.
Anyone remember last year against the Rams, short passes galore.
Anyone remember the 2nd Saints game in Tampa last year. Drew Brees through short quick passes alot.
Please stop the scared soft coverage by Dean. Why does Dean line up and concede first downs like he does when he has good speed?
Scared football is the opposite of Mr Risk it No Biscuit.
GO BUCS!!!!
September 16th, 2021 at 9:52 am
I think Dak was under estimated. They thought he couldn’t run or throw.
September 16th, 2021 at 9:56 am
I think what many fans miss is despite everyone coming back, opponens now have tape. They know tendencies. It is up to that young secondary to adjust. I believe they will.
September 16th, 2021 at 9:56 am
Dak was putting up video game numbers last year before getting hurt. Let’s face it, dude is good. Move on to the next one.
September 16th, 2021 at 9:56 am
Our secondary is being exposed when we don’t generate any pass rush.
The Dallas line handled our pass rush, and held us much of the game.
With plenty of time, Dak Prescott carved us up, as will any decent NFL QB.
September 16th, 2021 at 9:58 am
Good to have a wake-up call early. Now to put those words into action.
September 16th, 2021 at 9:59 am
“Wakeup call”? He’s new this year, right?
September 16th, 2021 at 10:02 am
please don’t go getting woke.
just get better prepared.
September 16th, 2021 at 10:14 am
C’mon it was 400 yds on 62 attempts. That’s normally 2 games on avg. Need to put that in perspective.
September 16th, 2021 at 10:43 am
I don’t expect miracles with the defensive secondary this weekend, but then Ryan will likely have limited opportunities. I expect somewhat of a repeat for Atlanta’s first game against Phili. The Atlanta OLine was already bad, but they were forced to start a rookie at LG and he got owned. I have no idea as the their quality of depth on the interior, but it is fair to say that the Buc DLine will likely thrive. That will reduce some pressure on the Buc defensive secondary.
Here’s the part everyone should pay attention to:
There was one weird look during the Atlanta game. Cordarrelle Patterson was used as a RB. Patterson is an outstanding return man on special teams but pretty much stinks as a WR. He has outstanding speed and moves though when he carries the ball, which will likely be to the outside. Atlanta moved the ball surprisingly well at times against Phili’s quality defensive front, though that never showed up on the scoreboard. The moral of the story is that Shaq, JPP and Tryon-Shoyinka need to be alert as to the situation as an over-aggressive pursuit of Ryan may open up opportunities for Patterson.
September 16th, 2021 at 11:07 am
I suppose my question to a SB winning team is this, Should you even need a wake up call if you know how to win a SB? Seems to me that the team that won it all should be in high gear from the start. To suggest they need a wake up call indicates their SB win might have been a fluke.
September 16th, 2021 at 11:20 am
@richbucsfan
All teams have struggles during the season, ideally you want a loss here and there to lesser teams to serve as a teaching point prior to Thanksgiving. That last leg of the season is where you need everyone on the same page before you embark on your postseason run.
I don’t really know how much of that struggle was complacency, but I give the Dallas OLine credit. They lost a Pro Bowl interior lineman, yet still did an excellent job at pass protection. It hurt their running game, but they gave Dak time to get into a passing rhythm. I saw a sizeable cushion given to the Dallas WRs and they did a great job executing. I think the game plan called for bend but don’t break and it would have worked. What made the game closer than it should have been were three Tampa Bay turnovers.
September 16th, 2021 at 11:21 am
This was the first game.
The Bucs lost their first game last year.
Things change through the season.
Probably none more than game 1 to game 3.
Relax.
September 16th, 2021 at 11:21 am
The backend was terrible last year and they are picking up where they left off. Dean is absolute putrid back there. They need some more pressure from the front but then you have to hang these guys out on an island and dean cannot play man. Then with the corners playing bad it makes winfield do more than he is supposed to and that gets him out of position. There is good and bad with the falcons game…good NO JULIO to go for 300, the bad is Kyle Pitts could have his coming out party…hope tryon barrett and JPP give ryan pressure because I think he loves playing the bucs dbs
September 16th, 2021 at 11:34 am
Cowboys have great receivers and QB, Cowboy coaches had all summer to game plan – formations Bucs hadn’t seen, without the turnovers and penalties, Bucs would’ve won by 15. Secondary is fine when healthy.
September 16th, 2021 at 12:09 pm
Todd Bowles and our other 2 Defensive coordinators LVD and Mr Get Live! 45
Will get our guys in right spots
This D will only get better
Watch
September 16th, 2021 at 12:27 pm
I think they should try Dean in safety !!! With all that speed and height I think he’s more of a safety than a coner!!
September 16th, 2021 at 12:59 pm
oneil not a bad idea he is out of position a ton at corner
September 16th, 2021 at 1:22 pm
Oneilbuc
Once again one of your many ignorant comments
Have u ever played or coached a down of football at a level higher than high school ?
Dean is a talented press man corner
All you haters keep it up
Our secondary plays better with a chip on their shoulder
September 16th, 2021 at 1:22 pm
@richbucsfan- your comment is asanine. The Bucs beat the Saints, Packers and KC in the playoffs, not to mention a game Redskins team. Go back to your New Orleans fan board!!
September 16th, 2021 at 2:42 pm
Thing is also is teams just copying Dallas won’t win you the game. The Bucs committed 4 turnovers and over 100 yards in penalties. That was a MUCH bigger reason the score was close than the defense struggling with short passes. Every other team except the Bucs in week 1 that committed 3 more turnovers lost. The offense needs to protect the football.
September 16th, 2021 at 3:16 pm
You’ll forgive this performance when you’ve seen a full season from Dak. He continues to be weirdly underrated.
September 16th, 2021 at 3:35 pm
TB12 don’t need no stinking wake up call, and he’s told anybody who would listen that this year will be different than last year.
Camp cupcake and not playing in preseason is detrimental to most who are not the GOAT.
September 16th, 2021 at 7:41 pm
let me simplify it. Just like last year you’re playing too far off the ball!!!!!!! Receivers can run 5 yards before we can give them a Biden sniff. It’s in the Bible. It’s called playing to not lose. result? 400 yards for bowling ball Dak. Chalk that game up as the 1st. lesson of the year
September 16th, 2021 at 9:04 pm
Don’tmakesince. It won’t hurt just to see what he can do at that position. It doesn’t mean he’s trash but if you are a small receiver then you have a advantage over a guy that’s taller than you because of athletes abilities. That’s why you don’t have a center in basketball holding a point guard . Because I the rules that gives a smaller receiver a advantage over a tall coner . I know Sharman but how many Sharman do you know in the NFL ? Just like Brady !!!
September 16th, 2021 at 9:09 pm
Because of the rules
September 16th, 2021 at 9:25 pm
Wake up call? It was game 1! you should’ve been awake.
They got roasted most of last year except when Bowles drew up a great game plan.
I thoroughly expect them to step up more this year