Five Things
September 18th, 2023
Mike Evans and Vita Vea celebrate with Shaq Barrett after the Bucs sacks king sealed the win over the Bears with a pick-six Sunday. (Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com.)
Welcome once again to Victory Monday! All is right with the world on Victory Monday. The food tastes better. The Big Storm Brewing beer is colder. The women are hotter. It’s a beautiful thing.
So grab some coffee and attack like Vita Vea!
Shaq Barrett’s Back
Bucs sacks king Shaq Barrett and his pick-six to seal the game was wild to Joe. The Bucs were clinging to a three-point lead in a game that should not have been that close.
Both starting corners were out, Carlton Davis and Jamel Dean (Joe saw Dean jog off the field and later saw him walking in the tunnel to the locker room. He didn’t appear too hurt.) The Bears were hanging on and Chicago runaround quarterback Justin Fields was just good enough to still be in the game. And with that cannon for an arm, who knows what he could do to get the Bears into field goal range.
And if it went to overtime, all bets are off.
Shaq wasn’t having it. He made a crazy catch behind him at the Bears’ 3 yard line to pick off Fields with one hand and then got help from his teammates to barrel into the end zone.
Shaq is a cool dude and it pained Joe to see the horrible experiences he endured since October when he blew out his Achilles — and then his toddler daughter passed away in the spring.
The Bucs’ home opener had a perfect ending. Maybe that pick-six to seal a win gave Shaq some comfort, hope that things in his life might get a little closer to normal.
Mike Evans Is A Pro
How easy would it have been for Mike Evans to have sat out September demanding a trade or a new contract? Or he could have stuck around One Buc Palace, pouted and then half-assed it on the field.
That’s not Evans. If Evans is playing, he’s giving his all. Yesterday, Evans gave potential suitors a lot to think about with an awesome 171-receiving-yards day with one touchdown, catching six of eight targeted passes. He averaged 28.5 yards a catch.
Evans always says he wants to stay with the Bucs. But he also wants a fair contract. Joe gets it.
Again, how many diva receivers would have stomped out of their team’s facility and sat out if they were in Evans’ position? Quite a few, Joe figures. But Evans loves his job and was not about to pout and make a stink about things.
Instead, Evans is balling. What a pro!
Breakout For Joe Tryon-Shoyinka?
So Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, the Bucs’ first-round draft choice in 2021, finally made an impact with two sacks. It’s been a long time coming.
Yesterday, in just one game, JTS totaled 25 percent of all his previous sacks in the NFL. That’s just wild to Joe.
It may have been the result of JTS having a sitdown with Todd Bowles this past spring. Bowles showed him tape of him getting upfield and putting himself into position to make plays, but then not finishing the play.
So finishing has been a large focus for JTS all year. Yesterday, it showed.
There was also hustle. Joe remembers in the second half that Justin Fields ran left and tried to cut up the field along the sideline. Instead, Fields was tracked down by JTS and Logan Hall. Both dragged Fields down at the left sideline.
Neither JTS nor Hall got a sack of Fields on that play, but they sure hustled to drag him out of bounds.
Will The Bucs Hunt For A Running Back?
The Bucs stunk in the running game early in yesterday’s win over the Bears. What’s new? Things got better in the second half.
Is Rachaad White a breakout running back? Nobody knows. What Joe does know is that Chase Edmonds got hurt and is one of the few veteran running backs on the Bucs’ roster.
For the first time since last November in Munich, White had a nice game yesterday. If you are scoring at home, that’s two good games on the ground out of 20. That’s a pathetic ratio, sorry.
There was no doubt that yesterday Edmonds supplied the Bucs with needed energy when he came into the game.
So should the Bucs go running back shopping bow? Quite a few guys in free agency are available.
Until the current Bucs running backs get things going in a big way, and develop consistency, this Bucs team will struggle to post a winning record for the season.
Joe doesn’t have a lot of trust that White to turn things around so quickly. Joe is in the Show Me state with Sean Tucker and White.
Yes, a free agent would maybe jump-start the Bucs’ rushing attack. The Bucs don’t want to force Baker Mayfield to throw 40 times a game. So Joe expects, with Edmonds out an undisclosed amount of time, a decent free agent back could be brought in for peanuts.
Antoine Winfield Makes A Tremendous Play
No, Antoine Winfield did not have an interception. But the fourth-year Pro Bowl safety had maybe one of the most overlooked defensive plays in the game.
With 4:40 left in the second quarter, Bears runaround quarterback Justin Fields threw the ball deep down the right sideline for tight end Cole Kmet. As Kmet was trying to get both feet inbounds, Winfield came flying in and didn’t even attempt to try to hit Kmet squarely or tackle him.
Instead, Winfield went straight for the ball and put his right shoulder pad solidly on the ball, knocking it loose for an incomplete pass.
If Winfield doesn’t break up that pass, Chicago has a first down deep in Bucs territory with four minutes left in the first half while trailing 10-7.
Had Fields completed that pass, who knows what the score would have been?
Winfield’s pass breakup was a major play, an overlooked play that very easily could have saved a win.
September 18th, 2023 at 5:09 am
First to comment..go bucs
September 18th, 2023 at 6:04 am
JTS really was firing off the ball yesterday. Good thing we have a coach that has these young players moving in the right direction. Yaya was flying around, Izien, how about McCullom? This is looking like a good, young, well coached team.
September 18th, 2023 at 6:17 am
‘Joe is in the Show Me state with Sean Tucker and White.’
I’m with you on that one Joe. White had several quality runs yesterday, but on too many he seems to hesitate at just the wrong moment & it costs him. Tucker hasn’t shown me anything thus far, but he had a nice college career so maybe he just needs more opportunities.
Edmonds getting hurt stinks because he’s been the most consistent so far; hopefully it’s nothing serious & he gets back in soon. Vaughn didn’t exactly endear himself to this coaching staff I’m sure by walking out, but if he’s gonna stay on the roster I’d like to see what he can do behind this OLine. Same with Ronnie Brown BTW (assuming no one’s signed him off our PS); I thought he did very well in preseason.
Folks need to give a lot more kudos IMO to this OLine. It’s still young (in age & time together), but it’s coming together very nicely. Our run blocking looked a lot better yesterday (what little you actually can see on TV), and our pass blocking has been superb. Allowing only 1 sack total in 2 games is a beautiful thing.
September 18th, 2023 at 6:18 am
According to the “Sage’s” prediction the Bucs will only win 4 of their next 15 games…
Love seeing this team do well. Just want to see the playcalling on offense get better and better each week as you can’t just waste drives with a bad run game against good teams
September 18th, 2023 at 6:44 am
Edmund’s hurt again? If this keeps up he will be stealing the Russell Gage award from kancey.
For those who did play good job getting the win.
September 18th, 2023 at 6:52 am
We will beat the eagles. As of week 2, we should have a high ranked defense in my opinion. We’re holding up the rush,getting turnovers, and most importantly getting to the QB! Our defense held its own with Carlton Davis out yesterday. He’ll get a few extra days of rest before facing Philly.
September 18th, 2023 at 6:57 am
Bucs are winning the turnover battle- 0 turnovers by offense so far.
The D is making plays- pressure, sacks, turnovers and the offense looks well coached, especially Mayfield.
Eagles game is a big test- especially for the Defense- stopping their run game is mandatory for a chance at W.
September 18th, 2023 at 7:30 am
We left some points on the field too from untimely penalties.
White has a strange stutter-step/jump-step that, IMO causes him to hit the hole slower than he should. He had some nice runs but…
That defense was fun to watch yesterday.
September 18th, 2023 at 7:40 am
There are a lot of bright spots on the Bucs field. Enough to gloss over a few things, but I trust they will slowly get smoothed out.
Canales will keep refining his offense at a rate that will keep the team from faltering.
I am beginning to get a spark of confidence in Hot Toddie. He has shown that he has faith in his offense and might have revised his thinking on what wins games. He has been letting out more rope for them to work with.
Bowles also has shown confidence in his young defense. If they progress just a bit this week, the Eagles game will be treat.
September 18th, 2023 at 7:48 am
Fifth Thing:
Sometimes goes unnoticed but Jake Camarda punted 4 times averaging 53 yards per punt……3 were inside the 20 and the 4th was placed on the 20 after a 72 yard punt.
He kept Chicago backed up the entire game.
September 18th, 2023 at 7:59 am
This might not be read, but oh well.
Bucs need a stadium upgrade like Miami… it won’t happen because that roofing upgrade Miami has was worth more than their stadium (I didn’t work inflation in but look it’s still expensive). Glazers nor city will pay for that kind of upgrade, but 15-20 years down the road when we talk “new” stadium, we need a dome here, or again, something like Miami.
The home opener was pathetic coming off a fantastic win in week 1, I expected the game to be packed, butts in seats and lots of crowd noise…ugh. Having recently gone to the Viking home opener, it was packed, not a free seat in the house and the sound was deafening. Such a HUGE advantage to the home team, HUGE. Again, I’m shocked we did as well as we did in pre-snap. For those fans who chose not the bake in the sun at RayJay for the 1PM game, I get it…it’s just a horrible fan experience. This heat advantage or disadvantage to the away team, I just don’t care, that can stay on the field, but being able to watch a game at the stadium under some shade is huge to filling that place up… EVERYONE I sat next to at the stadium was talking about it, even the natives struggle with it. Man, I hope there is something on the table in the next 5 years to upgrade the stadium for some more shade but realistically you take a look at that infrastructure up close they put in Miami and it’s some serious real-estate needed for the pillars and money to make that happen. For what it’s worth, I think we’d see more consistency in the fanbase during down seasons, because nobody wants to spend all that money to watch a rebuild and get their @ss kicked by the weather.
September 18th, 2023 at 8:10 am
It’s interesting to go back the to the three seasons with Tom Brady under center, including of course the Super Bowl winning season, and two division championship seasons.
During the first two games of those three seasons, the Bucs offense turned over the ball 5 times, 5 times, and 2 times, in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
This season so far: 0 giveaways by the offense.
I would say that Coach Bowles is finally making a mark with this team. It is not that Baker Mayfield is playing lights out quarterback – though he played very well yesterday for the entire game – but it is, as the Fox TV game announcers said several times, “the Bucs are playing within themselves”. Not trying too hard to play hero ball, yet playing scrappily and aggressively, which is a rather fine balance to maintain.
The biggest test of this young season is a week from tonight when the Eagles come to town for MNF. This will be must-see football. If the Bucs can produce a win against the Eagles, the doubters will have to reevaluate.
Of course, our fellow teams in the NFC South are also playing better than expected, with three teams tied for first place and undefeated so far (New Orleans being rather likely to beat Carolina tonight). That is quite a different story than what all the experts were claiming to be the weakest division in the NFL.
September 18th, 2023 at 8:15 am
I was originally thinking Eagles would blast us like 41-10 or something, I’m think now the Bucs will hang within 10… Depends whether Davis/Dean are playing
September 18th, 2023 at 8:39 am
I look at it in a different way. Yes the offense could have put up more points. They need to and are still working on it. But it was 20-10 and the defense let the Bears march right down the field and score. So it was well justified for them to get that score back.
September 18th, 2023 at 9:02 am
Annie!! Haha! Love it!!
Go Bucs!
September 18th, 2023 at 9:05 am
Good game by defense but D White disappeared AGAIN!
September 18th, 2023 at 9:15 am
Joe gets what you are saying but he didn’t disappear. He blew up a play by flying in to to hit Justin Fields. And he broke up a pass.
Joe is pretty sure he was being used as a spy on Fields (who had only three yards rushing) and if that is the case, that pretty much takes him out of a lot of plays.
Listen to the next “Ira Kaufman Podcast” and Ira has a very, very interesting insight into the defensive gameplan from none other than Todd Bowles. May explain why White didn’t dominate like Week 1.
But White wasn’t invisible.
September 18th, 2023 at 9:16 am
Based on what I saw and heard on the TV broadcast yesterday, the Bucs essentially don’t have a home game this year. Baker was having to walk around and yell out plays like it was an away game. Pathetic the amount of Bears fans there.
As to the actual game, yes we need to bring in more running backs. White isn’t going to last very long out there. Upright running style and stutter stepping is going to get him killed. There were a couple times that I didn’t think he was going to get up.
Jamel Dean should never be tasked with covering a shifty back like Moore. He’s way too tight in the hips to get in and out of those breaks. Dean should have been covering Claypool.
Shout-out to Joe for calling this last week, the Bucs came out blitzing and Fields absolutely chewed up the defense on the opening drive. After that they sat back in coverage and Fields couldn’t read the field. You called it, Joe.
The offense went way too conservative in the 2nd half and it almost cost us the game. I have never understood the concept of not dropping the hammer and putting your foot on the throat of an opponent that you have on the ropes. You can’t count on Shaq Barrett getting a pick-6 every week to break a slump. We were up on the scoreboard and the Bears were playing the run and their secondary was gased. Unleash the dogs.
September 18th, 2023 at 9:21 am
Zoocomics – I hate that I agree with you, if only because outdoor stadiums just look better and they look better on TV. There’s something very sterile and corporate about domes, ESPECIALLY when CARPET is used and not real grass. Aesthetically it’s hideous. But…blame it on climate change, blame it on your god, blame Donovan Smith, but whatever the reason it – it is somehow even more oppressive in Tampa than 10yrs ago. I couldn’t even go putt putt with my kid in the early evening without being soaked in sweat and feeling miserable and I am fit. Can’t imagine being overweight and sitting outside (in Tampa?!) in the middle of the day. Not fun. F that. Also – snow games are fun, quality of play doesn’t really drop in snow games. Rain soaked games – not fun/unwatchable. Between television, the league, gambling/fantasy or WHATEVER, you want optimal conditions to determine who the best team is. Fair or not discussions will eventually get louder and louder for a stadium upgrade. As an aside, I see endless videos on social media with fat/broke man baby jersey wearers getting in fist fights at games and it makes me embarassed to be as big of a football fan as I am because I really don’t want to be lumped in with these lowest common denominator football fans. Way too many mongoloid iq level losers out there, and sitting in 95 degree heat with a thousand percent humidity gives me even less incentive to go to an actual game
September 18th, 2023 at 9:43 am
Climate change has been here for quite sometime, is for real, and getting worse. Bears tried to adapt by changing their uni colors. Notice all the white? The storms are intensifying, too. That includes thunderstorms as well as hurricanes. Not sure what the answer is. I remember the losing days at Tampa Stadium, and the heat index barely existed. Sigh……anyway, go Bucs!!
September 18th, 2023 at 9:55 am
Dean looked slow and out of position most of the game!!
September 18th, 2023 at 10:38 am
White ran at a 4.3 ypc clip. and every run is pretty much up the middle. Seemed to do pretty well. not to mention how smooth he is catching the ball.
September 18th, 2023 at 10:50 am
orlbucfan – ya, but the core issue i have with people that are absolute FREAKS about it (AKA the deodorant-less, smelly hippies staging protests) act like climate change is a new thing. The earth itself will be fine, will always be fine and will adapt. Continental drift, poles shifting, asteroids, causing the earth to turn in to a literal fireball is infinitely worse. ITs not about earth, its how long will the virus known as humans continue to exist until we kill ourselves off, and the absolute hypocrisy of the global elite “activists” using the issue for personal gain or baking it in to bills to push hidden agendas
September 18th, 2023 at 10:54 am
Thanks to YouTube, I missed the whole game. And, JTS finally shows up. Say it isn’t so!
September 18th, 2023 at 10:56 am
@GoForTheFace30…dude, I’ve only been to two away games in my life, first in Denver (for that game, nothing special about their stadium noise) and the second was week 1’s game vs Vikings, they have 4 thousand less seats than RayJay on gameday, not an empty seat available, and they average 115 decibels on opposing teams’ offense, it’s just outstanding 12th man type sh!t. I’m an out-of-towner that’s been to about 20 RayJay games since 2009, not one of those games came close to the noise that was created in that Vikings Stadium, and it’s not for the lack of Tampa fan far, I think we have great fans, but we tend to hit the tunnels or club section for air conditioning just to cool off, the conditions just suck man. Especially when there’s so much uncertainty surrounded with this team, I can season ticket holders selling those 1 pm tickets in order to not bake in the sun for 3 hours. I think Fandom only goes so far.
Now, I went to Miami this past Mar for the Miami Open Tennis event, and that overhang structure is impressive and its perfect retrofit on an older stadium, and to me it changes the whole game experience for the fans. They actually have giant fans in that overhang that push air. I know Florida is hot in and out of the shade, but in mid Sept through the rest of the season, it’s not that bad in the shade. Yesterday at the game for 3/4 quarters of it, I was in the shade, and I was very comfortable cheering on the team. A little sweating isn’t so bad, but that sun is brutal at 1pm though. It would be cool to hear something like what miami has is coming to RayJay.
September 18th, 2023 at 10:56 am
@GoForTheFace30…dude, I’ve only been to two away games in my life, first in Denver (for that game, nothing special about their stadium noise) and the second was week 1’s game vs Vikings, they have 4 thousand less seats than RayJay on gameday, not an empty seat available, and they average 115 decibels on opposing teams’ offense, it’s just outstanding 12th man type sh!t. I’m an out-of-towner that’s been to about 20 RayJay games since 2009, not one of those games came close to the noise that was created in that Vikings Stadium, and it’s not for the lack of Tampa fan far, I think we have great fans, but we tend to hit the tunnels or club section for air conditioning just to cool off, the conditions just suck man. Especially when there’s so much uncertainty surrounded with this team, I can season ticket holders selling those 1 pm tickets in order to not bake in the sun for 3 hours. I think Fandom only goes so far.
Now, I went to Miami this past Mar for the Miami Open Tennis event, and that overhang structure is impressive and its perfect retrofit on an older stadium, and to me it changes the whole game experience for the fans. They actually have giant fans in that overhang that push air. I know Florida is hot in and out of the shade, but in mid Sept through the rest of the season, it’s not that bad in the shade. Yesterday at the game for 3/4 quarters of it, I was in the shade, and I was very comfortable cheering on the team. A little sweating isn’t so bad, but that sun is brutal at 1pm though. It would be cool to hear something like what miami has is coming to RayJay.
September 18th, 2023 at 12:02 pm
People have missing the fact that JTS since a rookie has been showing some good instincts in his play but because he hasn’t made the impact everybody expected so they call him a bust. If I’m correct he was in on a tackle way down field on a big play buy da Bears. I hope the young man has turned the corner we need our high draft picks to pan out
September 18th, 2023 at 1:46 pm
Can someone go into detail on how bad Dean looked yesterday.
He wasn’t even close to the wide receivers on thier breaks and his footwork was atrocious…
When Davis gets back I wouldn’t mind seeing #27 line up on the other side…
Kid has something…
That is all…
September 18th, 2023 at 4:04 pm
Dean has improved but will never be worth 11M a year. He is a nickel or slot cover at best. He is always 10 yards off the WR and lost on most of the plays. If I’m the other team i would throw it his way every play. Especially with Carlon Davis out. I think the younger guys are going to replace him by the end of the season and he will be cut or traded before 2025 season.
September 18th, 2023 at 4:27 pm
I’ve been saying for years the Bucs should create shade with awnings or some kind of overhang because very few of us can handle the direct sunlight for 3 hours during all of Sept and into Oct games. On the east side its unbearable.
No amount of sunscreen can protect you from what yesterday brought.
Every Buc home game should be late games until November. It would be outstanding if solar screens could be installed for the early season games. Anything that can protect the fans and players would be a boost to attendance.
September 19th, 2023 at 3:15 am
Do we possibly have a good team after all this bullspit talked all year about how bad we are gonna suck. Man, you can sit back and listen to the crunching of crow in the mouths of many. GOD BUCS
September 19th, 2023 at 3:17 am
Sorry: Go Bucs. God cares nothing of football
September 19th, 2023 at 4:20 am
A bit harsh on the running game Joe. It’s no secret that you want us to dip into the free agent RB bunch.
We had an established RB who refused to stop dancing in the backfield. White tried that crap last week and I am pretty sure got read the riot act post game. Did not see much of that from him this week. Our O Line, despite looking better this week is still a work in progress. Crap officiating did not help.
Tucker got hit before he could get a second step. I believe they were keying on him and Canales needs to fix that. Laird looked a lot better than a 4th string practice squad player to me. Vaughn is lucky to have a roster spot so if I insisted on criticizing the RBs. He is the only one I could point at.
Go Bucs!