“We Were Thinking That They Were Just Going To Roll The Ball Over”
September 23rd, 2024
Bucs GM Jason Licht can’t be happy about his players’ comments.
It’s been stunning to hear takes from various Bucs on how un-hungry the team collectively was yesterday while getting mauled by the Broncos and held scoreless in the second half.
Joe already shared chatter from Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans.
Now it’s time for Zyon McCollum to make Bucs fans run head first into a wall again.
“They were pissed off for a week and we were happy for a week,” McCollum said. “And that was the major difference coming into it. They had an intensity that they were going to punch us in the mouth. And we were thinking they were just going to roll the ball over.”
Joe stands in disbelief.
How does that happen in the NFL — to a team that went 3-1 last season and plummeted to 4-7.
Former Bucs defensive tackle Booger McFarland summed it up well on one of the ESPN TV affiliates late last night.
“The Bucs played like an immature team,” he said, adding the Broncos were “a more desperate team.”
Desperation can be a beautiful thing. And the Bucs should be desperate to win Sunday at home against the Eagles. A loss there would send them to Atlanta on a short week (Thursday Night Football), a brutal task for road teams.
September 23rd, 2024 at 11:00 am
It’s really a good thing this team is much more relaxed and less stressed now with Baker at the helm vs. Brady. Thank god for that. I was feeling really bad for this poor, overworked, multi-millionaires having to deal with all the stress of being prepared to play.
Now they can all be happy and laugh and sing kumbaya with each other while watching the playoffs from their couch in January.
September 23rd, 2024 at 11:02 am
This is in Bowles and the other coaches. This is on Mayfield. And Evans. And Lavonte.
It is their collective jobs to get the team ready. To lead.
Yesterday they all failed.
Everyone in life fails from time to time. I have. When I fail in my job, people suffer for the rest of their lives.
This is just football. Right? Right? No. My week got off to a lousy start. I’m miserable. Why do I let it get to me? I’m just a fan.
Imagine these guys today. Bodies beat up. Pride wounded.
Let’s see if they bounce back. I’d bet my eye teeth they will.
September 23rd, 2024 at 11:02 am
Baker’s best plays from the Lions game were out of desperation and that’s exactly what he brings to the table, but no one had that in them yesterday, it was a tough watch
September 23rd, 2024 at 11:03 am
Inmature and pitifully soft. Mentally and physically.
September 23rd, 2024 at 11:04 am
That’s a lot on coaching in my opinion. Yeah, the coaches aren’t out there playing motivated. But the fact these guys are comfortable saying how low the energy was, how much they underestimated the Broncos and how Ill prepared they were…makes me think the coaches aren’t respected. You don’t say that when you respect your coaches and your organization. Maybe it’s truth…maybe it’s unspoken, maybe we all KNOW it… but this doesn’t give me a warm fuzzy that these guys respect the top down.
September 23rd, 2024 at 11:05 am
Mess with the GOAT
Get the Horns.
September 23rd, 2024 at 11:09 am
I think it was more of the offense playing soft and slow. The offense was killing the defense the entire game. They only scored off a defensive turnover. They couldn’t convert third downs…..they couldn’t get two yards on Denver 45 yard line. And they left the defense on a short field. The defense had their own share of problems with the injuries, backups etc.
It seems like the offense would have bailed them out
But they only added to their woes..
September 23rd, 2024 at 11:12 am
Bowles is a BAD coach. He can’t handle the A list coaches like the great Sean Payton.
September 23rd, 2024 at 11:12 am
The problem with the offense is the oline first and second is Mike Evans isn’t getting enough targets. It seems like the inverse of last year. Coen knows how to use Godwin because he had Kupp, but he doesn’t know what to do with Mike because it’s the first time he has ever had an X receiver.
USE HIM.
September 23rd, 2024 at 11:15 am
The only reason to be thinking about an opposing team’s weakness is if you’re looking for an excuse to be lazy. For that matter, the only reason to worry about an opposing team’s strength is if you’re being lazy the rest of the time. Play your best game, every game, and the wins will come…or they won’t, but that’s all you can control.
September 23rd, 2024 at 11:16 am
*laughs in Dave Canales*
He’s going to sign Trask you know.
Made Andy Dalton look like a pro bowler (a real one) with far fewer weapons than the Bucs have.
A decade of misery is in store for Tampa.
All because a coach on a hot seat wanted Neo-Moxie-Zoom-Dweebie plucked off the trash heap to be the guy.
It’s a Buc’s life.
September 23rd, 2024 at 11:20 am
Bucs 1st 4 possessions in 1st half:
3 and out
1 1st down, then interception
3 and out
1 1st down then turnover on downs
Coen had no answer for Broncos’ defense – Bowles said it- starts with coaches
September 23rd, 2024 at 11:20 am
ModHairKen Says:
September 23rd, 2024 at 11:02 Let’s see if they bounce back. I’d bet my eye teeth they will.
^^^^^
I’m glad to still have all my teeth and there is no way I would wager any one of them on next weeks game.
September 23rd, 2024 at 11:24 am
Same crap every year.
September 23rd, 2024 at 11:24 am
“They were pissed off for a week and we were happy for a week,” McCollum said. “And that was the major difference coming into it. They had an intensity that they were going to punch us in the mouth. And we were thinking they were just going to roll the ball over.”
^^^^^
Face it, we got LUCKY last week, nothing more, nothing less.
September 23rd, 2024 at 11:26 am
Mostly Peaceful Trask Fan Says:
September 23rd, 2024 at 11:16 am
*laughs in Dave Canales*
He’s going to sign Trask you know.
^^^^^
You just may be right.
September 23rd, 2024 at 11:27 am
THe Bucs have started 2-0 4 years in a row, once when Bowles was DC and 3 in a row as head coach. Each year the team has collectively grabbed their ankles in game 3 and lost. Bowles is the HC, this is on him. How could he allow this team to come out so, so flat when he warned everyone about the dangers of a letdown or reading one’s own press clippings. No one had a good day yesterday except for Bucky and the punter…… BTW: about Bucky: memo to Bowles, even though you have said you would keep your hands off of the offense, perhaps you should tell your new OC that running White up the gut for 1 yard is something one would expect from Leftwich or Canales. Leaving White as the starter would be as irresponsible as it was for Bowles last year to allow Ryan Neal to sabotage the D for way too many games before he finally got the memo and made a change.
September 23rd, 2024 at 11:27 am
Honestly, I did not expect such a poor display from our Buccaneers! This was a replay of the last season. The bucks start out to oh and then got their ass handed to them by the Eagles and the Lions. I thought this team had more heart and a veteran mindset, very disappointing. Todd Boles gets all the credit for this because he is the coach . The next three games are going to be very pivotal, I hope the bucks come out and play and show some heart !
September 23rd, 2024 at 11:41 am
Wow, just, Wow…un effin’ believable…
September 23rd, 2024 at 11:41 am
Every single team captain they have are nice guys except Mike Evans when he plays the saints. They say on the sidelines and let it happen. Someone like a JPP would have called a huddle on that sideline and called them out.
They need an A hole veteran. How sorry can you be to feel yourself like that only after going 2-0 with the spate of games they have coming off how weak minded can you be and that’s 100% coaches fault for letting it happen every year. Mr nice Jason licht
September 23rd, 2024 at 11:46 am
I’m not concerned about one bad game. Even in the best seasons, the Bucs have had a horrible game. Only if it happens again would I be concerned.
If the team needed a wake-up call, they got exactly what was needed. 😉
What I AM concerned about is that the NFC South is much stronger than almost everyone predicted. The Bucs schedule is much tougher than I thought pre-season. Even the Panthers looked like an NFL team last night leading by 20 points over the Raiders entering the 4th quarter.
September 23rd, 2024 at 11:55 am
Two words explain this.
1. Todd
2. Bowels
Yesterday was his chance to prove he is a winner.
Fail.
September 23rd, 2024 at 12:13 pm
Wow. I cannot believe I just read that from Zyon. It almost sounds like they basically took the week off for this game while happily thinking that the Broncos were going to just roll the ball over. Very disappointing to hear all this.
Booger is right. Desperation is where the Broncos were. We all knew on here that Payton needed and wanted this win very badly. We knew Surtain would be all over Mike. We knew we had injuries. We read here how Bo used his legs in college games before the NFL. We all know any given Sunday any team can win. Sorry, this is on the coaches too. It’s not a party, it’s an NFL game.
I thought for sure we were going to turn it around and that the Broncos would get tired and overheat, end up losing. The refs were not helping us out either. Blatant face mask not being called out didn’t help our momentum. Bo getting the TD was their early momentum.
In the end, this was a wake-up call. The Bucs can win this Sunday. Go Bucs!
September 23rd, 2024 at 12:19 pm
Sean Payton had an Outstanding game plan. i watched his interview earlier in the week on the Denver Bronc website. he said, We have watched film and are very confident in our game plan. They jumped on us hard and early. They never let up. We did not have one decent qtr. Not one. Give them credit. They came into our house and gave us an ole fashioned A..Whippin..Period. We thought, They are 0-2. How hard can it be. They were ready.
September 23rd, 2024 at 12:30 pm
Very poor coaching….Bowles & Cohen
September 23rd, 2024 at 12:34 pm
This is what makes no sense to me… ZERO Sense. You would THINK they would be just ‘chomping at the BIT’ to play opponents/games like this, if not for anything else, but an opportunity to rack up BIG Numbers, & pad your stats. You have to dominate these types of games!!!! They just showed ‘who’ they truly are now, as a TEAM. It was definitely, a TEAM effort. Just very disappointing. They threw away, WASTED what was such a great opportunity to put some more distance between themselves, & the rest of the league. Very telling.
September 23rd, 2024 at 12:40 pm
It also, makes NO sense that Bowles would just allow NIX to complete passes underneath like that, from FEAR of being beaten deep. Hell, make him PROVE that he even can FIRST, before just allowing HIM to dink and dunk his way all the way down the FIELD. Lord. Embarrassing. NOBODY else is scared of their WR’s… Is not like THEY are elite!? And, for Cohen… That Offense yesterday, looked 💯 EXACTLY like, watching KENTUCKY all last season. A mirror image of it. I felt-like I was back in the twilight zone. Was afraid of that.
September 23rd, 2024 at 12:48 pm
How does that happen? Poor coaching. But we won’t hold Bowles accountable, never do.
September 23rd, 2024 at 12:50 pm
Tampabaybucfan Says:
September 23rd, 2024 at 12:30 pm
Very poor coaching….Bowles & Cohen
^^^^^^^^
The players sucked, too.
September 23rd, 2024 at 12:55 pm
Mostly Peaceful Trask Fan Says:
September 23rd, 2024 at 11:16 am
*laughs in Dave Canales*
He’s going to sign Trask you know.
^^^^^^^^^^
Yes, please go follow the Panthers once Trask gets a backup job there.
September 23rd, 2024 at 12:57 pm
ModHairKen Says:
This is on Bowles, Mayfield, Evans, Lavonte.
^^^^^^^^^
EVERYONE PAY ATTENTION TO MHK. He’s right! Leadership. Who were the team leaders in 2020. Arians, Brady, Suh, JPP … Mean, spirited, competitive.
Now we have Bowles, Mayfield, Evans, LVD … They’re all laidback. They don’t have fire. They all got paid. This team is desperately in need of leadership.
September 23rd, 2024 at 12:58 pm
Maybe that was the Real Bucs Team Sunday.
September 23rd, 2024 at 1:29 pm
I’ve been a Bucs fan since 1978, and for the most part this team just does not know how to handle success. Even the Super Bowl seasons saw some inexplicable lapses. They just buy into their own hype far too easily, and that’s on the coaching.
September 23rd, 2024 at 1:36 pm
That was a very typical Kentucky-start’ last season, Alanbucsfan! And, it all started with the run up the gut, then only downhill from there… It just set the tone & I knew it and saw it, IMMEDIATELY. Slow. No pace. No tempo. NO rhythm. It’s pathetic. And, it is exactly HOW Kentucky was dead LAST in the entire NATION last season in ‘number of plays ran’ per game last season. Dead. Last. EVEN, during the 4th Quarter yesterday (training big-time), they continued to run the play-clock all the way down before finally snapping the damm BALL. And, in doing so, allowing the Broncos pass rushers to just pin their ears back and anticipate the SNAP. We never stood a chance. Ever.
September 23rd, 2024 at 2:24 pm
I was at the Atlanta/Chiefs game last night. If Cousins has time, he is dangerous. Get pressure on him and he struggles. Bucs need to be healthy to win that game.
September 23rd, 2024 at 2:29 pm
Yikes check out the top 3 picks in our last 3 drafts… 2021-2023
September 23rd, 2024 at 3:51 pm
With the inconsistency that this team displays from time to time, don’t be surprised if they go on a four game loosing streak.
September 23rd, 2024 at 4:04 pm
Joe in Michigan – if Trask becomes a franchise QB in Carolina it will be a humiliation for the franchise that I don’t see how they could ever exorcise.
You had the hometown kid in your building for 4 years and didn’t do anything with him.
Now he’s with the Panthers starching you twice a year for several years.
Every Gator fan will hate the Bucs. Every Buc fan will be nuclear P’Oed.
You let this kid walk you better be damn sure he’s not the none. You’ve already put the screws to him. You can bet your house he’s going to a NFC South team – and all are hungry for QBs.
September 23rd, 2024 at 4:18 pm
Bucs loss secondary to poor coaching, player motivation especially Denver wanting it more. Going for 1st down on 4th down in a game 3 scores down rather than kicking a relatively easy field goal to make it a 2 score deficit with~ 10 min left in game was very foolish.
September 23rd, 2024 at 5:07 pm
This culture does not occur with winning franchises.
Our culture will never change until we have top to bottom leadership to hold everyone accountable. Sad.
September 23rd, 2024 at 5:13 pm
^ Well they had an accountable culture for a few years, but you know, these multi-millionaires were way too stressed out from it. God forbid someone holds you to a standard and asks you to do your job consistently.
Do now everyone is relaxed and having fun, which is all that matters you guys! They can all smile and count their money while sitting on the couch watching the Saints and/or Falcons in the playoffs. Wirfs is laughing all the way to the bank while looking like the most average left tackle in the league.
September 23rd, 2024 at 6:17 pm
Game plan, coaching all B.S..The Bucs lost because they couldn’t beat the man in front of him across the board. I rewatched the game. YaYa couldn’t win against a backup tackle, neither could JTS. Mauch was abused all game, couldn’t win. Could the game plan been better, coaching sure, but you still have to win your individual battles, Buc players couldn’t.
September 23rd, 2024 at 6:39 pm
i mentioned it a few times last season, as the bucs after the decent start, slumped into that big losing streak…
zombie mode was in full effect…
and yesterday i saw it again…most guys on the team slipped back into “zombie mode”
i didn’t expect to see that after knowing they slipped into it last season…but it happened again…
#ZombieModeWasBack
September 24th, 2024 at 5:10 pm
It’s funny how after one loss all these so-called books fans turn on the team oh coach bowles suck oh this team sucks. no the fan base sucks, three games in and you already gave up on the team this site is so funny I laugh every time I come on here one week you praise everybody the next week oh I give up I hate this team shut the f up go find another team if you don’t like the bucs sincerely yours ya momma
September 24th, 2024 at 5:14 pm
I meant bucs not books. Oh yeah every week is the same guys preaching that they hate Todd bowles same guys every week Dave Pear and his bunch of moronic friends I think you just might not like having a black coach because winning the division going to the playoffs after everything that we’ve been through with the bucs over the last 48 years I think that should be enough to say happy just to be winning games and having a chace
September 26th, 2024 at 10:34 pm
All will be well . Learning curve. It’s a 17 game season. Weren’t Bucs 4-7 last year? What happened? Things fell into place.the talent is there.health will come. Settle down, petulant children.