“We Gotta Find A Way To Crack That Code”
September 12th, 2022
“Blaine, I have a feeling Julio and Russell have ideas.”
The undermanned Cowboys were a bunch of pretenders and now they have no quarterback. Dallas belongs in the rearview mirror.
That’s where Todd Bowles clearly has them. Up next is the arch rival Slimy Saints in New Orleans on Sunday at 1 o’clock. Bucs fans know the pain the Saints have delivered over several years, minus the January 2021 playoff game.
The head coach knows it, too. “They’ve beaten us six out of seven times since we’ve been here. We understand that,” Bowles said today at One Buc Palace.
Bowles also was asked about the dominance of the Dennis Allen defense against mighty Tom Brady and playcaller Byron Leftwich. Bowles knows the ugly numbers and the hard truth, and that it’s time to end what’s certainly more than bad luck. “We gotta find a way to crack that code,” Bowles said.
Joe could throw out a feel-good line, such as ‘Tom Brady’s got this.” But after the Saints shut Brady out in Tampa late last season, Joe can’t go there.
Still, Joe is confident Brady and the offense will show great improvement against New Orleans on Sunday, and if the Slimy Saints play anything like they did against Atlanta yesterday, the Bucs will cruise to a 2-0 record.
September 12th, 2022 at 4:40 pm
Winston won’t get away with the crap he got away with against the Falcons. Our D will make him pay. I bet he throws 3 picks, and takes 4-5 sacks (because he holds the ball too long). If our offense can score 20 or so, we should be good.
September 12th, 2022 at 4:42 pm
I’m glad it’s a “regular” early game on Sunday vs prime time in any capacity. Show up…knock them around a bit and force Winny into doing Winny things.
September 12th, 2022 at 4:44 pm
We got this.
September 12th, 2022 at 4:47 pm
Off subject but was anyone else concerned when the backup quarterback came in last night? PTSD I suppose from a comeback by a nobody.
September 12th, 2022 at 4:52 pm
I’m glad CG14 won’t be playing. These slimeballs leveled a blatant hit at his knee and bingo! Who is their HC now that slime mold Payton is gone?
September 12th, 2022 at 4:56 pm
Run the ball down their throats.
September 12th, 2022 at 5:00 pm
I watched the Saint game and the Falcons were able to bring out the ugly Jamies with lots of blitzes and passrush.
Looking at how good our passrush was vs the Cowboys im sniffin multiple picks sixes.
September 12th, 2022 at 5:14 pm
If we play well against the Saints like we did with Dallas, we will win.
We have become a power running team, and if we stick to that, we will beat the Saints.
September 12th, 2022 at 5:32 pm
1. Takeaway Kamara;
2. Here’s a tough one…. when Taysom Hill is in the game, he’s running the ball 90% of the time;
3. Run Lenny 20+ times. They had a helluva time stopping Cordele Patterson. Patterson is good but he’s no Fournette
4. Mixed coverages against Jameis and don’t be afraid to blitz like you did last night. Never take your foot off the gas. Put Jameis in full meltdown mode.
September 12th, 2022 at 5:35 pm
It all makes sense for the Bucs to win vs the Aints….. however vodo makes little sense.
September 12th, 2022 at 5:50 pm
I somehow knew the Bucs would beat the Boys. Thankfully, it worked out that way. This game against the Aints? Not as sure about. I say it’s a 50/50 game and either team could win, depending on turnovers, as always.
I’d love for the Bucs to smoke them. It’s gotta be a run-heavy game, or at least 50/50 run/pass, and as I’ve been advocating, more screens.
September 12th, 2022 at 5:50 pm
Beat them in the playoffs by being more physical than them and creating turnovers. Same holds true now
September 12th, 2022 at 5:52 pm
So, I think it is wise of Bowels to consider this as a code that needs cracking.
Fortunately for him, the book is out on Americas QB just like it was for Americas team.
If knowing how to beat a Winston lead attack is not enough. Here are a few things to look for this week heading into the game on Sunday.
1. Is there a way to use our young Tight End and Full Back combo in the receiving game? This will help to eliminate the predictability of run plays and keep the LBs and DEs honest over the middle and in the flats.
2. If Scotty Miller was benched last week, will he play in CGs place due to his Hammy issue. If he plays, can we use him to free up ME and JJ on some deep post patterns.
3. DO NOT ABANDON THE RUN UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. Time of Possession will win us this game. Smash these A holes Mouth in.
4. Keep the D Fresh and unpredictable with mix blitzes and coverages. Jamis is a gun slinger. There is no throw that he won’t attempt to make. BUT it is clear from the ATL game. He still struggles reading Defenses and as long as that is his problem, he will continue to give the D chances to make plays.
5. Finally, SCORE a TD when you get into the RED AREA. See thought “1” for some ideas on how to do that.
Oh and ME13 is off to a torrid start. KEEP FEEDING our HOME GROWN HOFer. The Aints can not stop him!!! This week is the week that I think he goes for 150 yards and 2 TDs.
September 12th, 2022 at 5:55 pm
@D-Rok
I get you 50/50 take on the game. However, if you watched the game against ATL. There is no way they should have lost OTHER than, they still suffer from the post-super bowl collapse syndrome.
I am more concerned with how we are going to beat ATL at this point. Marcus Mariota looked totally legit.
September 12th, 2022 at 6:00 pm
In the immortal words of Bootney Farnsworth……WIN!!!!!
September 12th, 2022 at 6:02 pm
Crack,
The Bucs possess more talent and should be a win. However, the Aints just seem to have our number, so I’m skewing my prediction a tad towards either team winning.
Agree that we need to run more than we did last year. We had a good, perhaps very good rushing attack against a solid Boys front, so I’m hopeful we can have success. The best way to slow down an aggressive front? Screen ’em.
September 12th, 2022 at 6:05 pm
CG’s catch that went for 24 yards was a simple WR screen on perimeter. I’d like to see a few more full screens with backs. I don’t think those Benn’ds around is gonna work on the Aints, so run some screens and have a pulling lineman feast on some tiny DB’s – that’ll fix ’em.
September 12th, 2022 at 6:07 pm
With Mike Evans and Julio Jones constantly pressuring defenses deep, someone has got to start getting open underneath. Every single pass can’t be a 20+ yard, 0 Yac attempt.
Godwin is out for a couple weeks at least, so the little speed screens aren’t there. They have got to figure out how to get Russell Gage open in the intermediate or what was the point of signing him? Put Gio Bernard in the slot for all I care. They have to complete some passes that give guys a chance to run afterwards.
As far as the Saints. Lock down Kamara and go after Winston early. He’s due for a classic Jameis Winston game.
September 12th, 2022 at 6:13 pm
Right, gotbbucs. That speed screen worked well because, well, it was using CG and ME and they guys have played with each other for a minute or two. I agree we need to take a page from Slant Boy’s book and throw some quick slants ourselves. Gage seems like a good candidate to me.
As an after-thought, guess who the Aints would never expect to have a good game? Our rookie, White. They will ignore him until he burns them a few times. Just speculating here…but we do need a few wrinkles that will catch the NOLA crowd off-guard.
September 12th, 2022 at 6:14 pm
not ‘they’ guys….I meant to type those guys. Silly fingers.
September 12th, 2022 at 6:16 pm
Somebody sneak in a voodoo doll thats dressed in Saints gear, filled with a thousand needles, and bury it under their team bench, or maybe hidden in a water bottle thats been hidden in the back of there to blend in.
As you’re filling it with needles, in a dark room lit with candles, repeat “Who dat, da Bucs, dats who!” over and over. Then with the final needle, say my name 3 times….”MADMAX, MADMAX, MADMAX”.
The hex will now be on them!! 🙂
September 12th, 2022 at 6:32 pm
We need to go to our backs & TEs more on short passes…..we only had 2 targets to TE & 4 to backs in the entire Dallas game…..
I think our defense is strong enough to carry us Sunday…….
We need a ferocious pass rush…..that will rattle Winston.
September 12th, 2022 at 7:03 pm
Joe…’if the Slimy Saints play anything like they did against Atlanta yesterday, the Bucs will cruise to a 2-0 record.’
If you’re talking about the first 3 quarters of that game, I agree with you Joe. If you’re talking about the last quarter, we could very well get our asses kicked … again.
For roughly the first 3 qtrs, the Falcons kicked butt. They constantly pressured Jameis and had him discombobulated. What helped was that Dennis Allen & Pete Carmichael kept Jameis on a short rein … he only threw 2 deep balls in those first 3 qtrs, both incomplete. They had him doing a lot of dinking & dunking (and scrambling), and Jameis fared very poorly. Falcons were ahead 26-10 with less than 13 mins to go in the game.
Then Allen & Carmichael unleashed Jameis; they had nothing more to lose. Saints never ran the ball again. They had 15 plays after they got the ball back with 12:41 remaining, plus 1 FG try, 2 spikes, and 2 two-point plays after TDs (both successful). Jameis threw on ALL 15 of those plays … completing 13 of them. Of those, 8 were deep balls … he completed all 8 of them. Saints had the ball for 3 drives that quarter … 2 TDs & 1 FG resulted, allowing them to win by 1 point.
The real question is: WHICH Saints team will we face Sunday? The one they fielded for 3 quarters, or the one which showed up in the 4th quarter?
September 12th, 2022 at 7:04 pm
On Defense:
Stay in Jameis’ face all day
Keep check on Kamara and a spy on Taysom when he is in
On Offense:
Run two fast receivers long every ten to twelve snaps. Then run a delayed slant behind them.
Run, Lenny, run.
September 12th, 2022 at 7:34 pm
The Saints are lucky we have Bowles instead of Payton and his former…I hope..career of headhunters and cheap shots.
If Payton was coaching us the code would be simple to crack. If you watched the game JW was not trotting off the field comfortably in the 4th despite his success.
His knee seemed to be either psyching him or actually hurting.
So if every Bucs DL trying for the sack goes low they may be able to give JW a Chris Godwin knee just like the Saints did to the Bucs. Have to perhaps fake falling and “accidentally” rolling into his knees to avoid penalties. I’m not advocating that just venting at scumbag Payton.
September 12th, 2022 at 7:44 pm
Defense Rules
The two incompletions should or could have been INTs if memory serves me correctly.
Additionally, I saw ATL stop pressuring JW.
Personally, I believe ATL stole defeat from the jaw of victory more so than the Saints do anything special.
Yes, it was a nice 4th quarter/15 play stretch that they took full advantage of. HOWEVER, I don’t see JW pulling that off against a loaded Bucs D.
Could it happen, sure. The likely hood of it happening, IDK, I like our chances in a two-score game heading into the middle to late part of the 4th quarter against the Saints.
If nothing else, we should be able to score more than zero points this game.
September 12th, 2022 at 8:07 pm
Again the formula is run the ball down their throats like last night. The Falcons pounded the Saints but then decided to quit in the 4’th quarter.
September 12th, 2022 at 9:02 pm
If Jameis has one of his three games per year where he looks like a legit franchise qb next Sunday we are in for a long game. If we get any other version of Jameis (barely average, buffoon, etc.) we should finally get this regular season monkey off our back.
September 12th, 2022 at 9:26 pm
I’m not too worried about the Saints. I’m more interested in seeing younger guys step up getting reps & opportunities. Idc if we lose or win r.n TBh. It’s week 2 and we’re squaring off against a division rival and top opponent. I’m not sweating it. We’re 1-0 and have a great team. Chemistry, experience, and team reps is what’s most important right now especially on that O-Line. It needs to become a strength and fast. Run blocking they looked great. Pass blocking was pretty solid with Smith in there. When he came out that line folded. Need a real backup LT. Not Josh Wells’s. Been saying that though for 3 years. 🙄
September 12th, 2022 at 10:10 pm
BigMacAttack … Agree wholeheartedly. I remember though that we’ve tried that before & gave up real early rather than persevere. Sometimes establishing a running game takes time.
If you look at last year’s first game against the Saints, Bucs only ran 14 times: 5 times in the 1st qtr; 5 times in the 2nd qtr; 1 time in the 3rd & 3 times in the 4th. Half of them (7) gained over 3 yards, but the other 7 turned out to be critical. We gave up on the run prematurely. Almost three-fourths were on 1st down.
In last year’s second game, we ran it more (21 times) for excellent yardage (118 yards), but it was a strange game plan. Bucs didn’t run it at all in the 1st qtr; 8 times in the 2nd; 9 times in the 3rd; then 3 times in the 4th. Over two-thirds of the rushes were on 1st down.
Persistence can sometimes work wonders, but predictability can be bad thing. We were much too predictable last year. Based on last night’s game, that hopefully changed.
September 13th, 2022 at 7:04 am
Just mix it up on first down. If the Bucs run it 75% of the time on first down, the Aints will win.
September 13th, 2022 at 1:36 pm
Not with only one touchdown Shady brady and with lol them weapons
September 13th, 2022 at 2:36 pm
Pound the rock from the get go. If they can’t stop the run stay with it. Add in the play fake once the run is established and their defense is focused on stopping the run. Smash mouth worked good against Dallas. Give it serious go against the Saints. We got the horses now, use them! Get them leaning in and mix in the pass. The Bucs have been too much of a finess team. Take the pressure off Brady early on. Our young studs block better going forward vs pass blocking. Pound that defense early and let Brady take over later.
September 13th, 2022 at 6:07 pm
Balanced offensive attack with plenty of play action and creative run designs.
Defensively, don’t blitz too often play tight man coverage and force Jameis to beat the defense.
Solid special teams which, would include and inactive Darden.
Talk to James, a lot!
September 15th, 2022 at 5:23 pm
The Saints are built to beat the BUCS.. Don’t think y’all are going to be able to do what Atlanta was able to do. Mariota is a noble QB. Brady just sits in the pocket and we’re going to beat him up. Y’all won’t even get a 100 rushing in the game. Jameis is gonna tear your secondary to shreds. The Falcons is our biggest rival, and they always play their best against us. We’ll get at least 2-4 turnovers in the game.