“We’ve Got To Get Him The Ball More”
September 23rd, 2024
Todd Bowles wants the ball in Mike Evans’ hands.
Todd Bowles began his day-after press conference as if he didn’t know what — or why — his offensive coordinator did or didn’t do yesterday.
It was as if Bowles didn’t want to answer a question about the offense and coordinator Liam Coen. But he warmed up a minute or two later.
Asked why the Bucs, down 17, weren’t using a quicker pace on offense, Bowles admitted they wanted to pick things up. The problem, Bowles said, was the Bucs were bringing receivers in and out on plays and a hurry-up offense is tough to run with frequent substitutions.
As for the Broncos’ jailbreak of a pass rush yesterday, something that is foreign in these parts, Bowles said it was part non-blocking by the offensive line and part Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield not unloading the ball in time.
When asked about Mike Evans only getting three targets yesterday, that seemed to irk Bowles. He basically said that must not happen again.
“We’ve got to get him the ball more,” Bowles said.
Joe has to wonder whether a reason Evans was not targeted is Mayfield was spooked by the Broncos pass rush and he either didn’t have time to scan the field or he didn’t have time to throw deep?
September 23rd, 2024 at 2:08 pm
Mayfield was off on his decision making – for whatever reason, he never got comfortable which showed on some of his passes and targeting.
R White is an excellent receiving back.
B Irving should be the starting RB going forward- there’s enough seen on the field to warrant this change.
Mayfield’s production will get worse without a running game.
September 23rd, 2024 at 2:15 pm
Disgraceful
September 23rd, 2024 at 2:17 pm
And confirmed.
September 23rd, 2024 at 2:17 pm
Switch flipped
September 23rd, 2024 at 2:20 pm
Mayfield was holding the ball like a old granny holds her purse on the subway! Smh
September 23rd, 2024 at 2:24 pm
Adjustments a foreign thing these days? The play calling was very questionable!
September 23rd, 2024 at 2:28 pm
I think Sean Payton threw a lot of different looks at Baker that he was not prepared for. What was the most disappointing was the lack of adjustment after halftime. Good teams adjust at halftime.
September 23rd, 2024 at 2:30 pm
A real head coach would actually direct his subordinate to game plan Mike targets more. Period.
But the Bucs have a coordinator as a head coach, who has never taken accountability for the performance of the entire team.
When the Bucs are 2-7, it would be interesting to see Jason’s list of next head coaching candidates.
September 23rd, 2024 at 2:31 pm
Yikes check out the top 3 picks in our last 3 drafts… 2021-2023
When is that GM ring of honor induction scheduled ?
September 23rd, 2024 at 2:38 pm
The OC has been exposed. It also doesn’t help when your best player -78- is doing his best impression of Donovan Smith. Wirfs has been marginal through three games and yet no one dares calls it out?!?!
September 23rd, 2024 at 2:44 pm
Hat tip to Denver first in foremost.
This game is 100% on Baker being Baker. He is what he is, a game manager.
If the game does not go according to what you have prepared for. You gotta stop being a game manager and go make something happen.
NEWS FLASH, game plans never go entirely as planned. Maybe 50% of the time? Or maybe more like that actual record show?
Baker needs his team to carry him more often than not. Thats true of all average QBs, thats just a fact. Nothing wrong with that.
Personally, as a lifelong Bucs fan. I want to have a QB that can carry the team. And not just sporadically. The effect Brady had on fans is UNDER RATED. The expectations of the QB are very high now. Baker is in an impossible position in many ways.
Baker should have insisted on backing up Trask. That way if Kyle failed. Baker would have been a hero like his Ego so craves to be.
Funny cause the leaders of this team don’t do Ego!!!
September 23rd, 2024 at 3:02 pm
It is absolutely crazy to me how he identified the issue concerning playing offense at a higher tempo, knew the solution, yet continued to substitute receivers in and out. I’m a huge Trey Palmer guy and a little upset that JMac took his WR3 spot (not because of talent, I know JMac is better) but if the answer to running a quicker offense is to have one or the other and not sub them off, then DO IT. Don’t talk about doing it, don’t diagnose problems and then ignore the solution.
Also, maybe consider not running Rashaad White up the middle on 1st down EVERY. DRIVE.
September 23rd, 2024 at 3:08 pm
WiseCrack Says:
September 23rd, 2024 at 2:44 pm
This game is 100% on Baker being Baker. He is what he is, a game manager.
^^^^
Baker didn’t play well and cost us the game (partially), but in my eyes he’s not a game manager. I’ve seen him create too many chance for his stars, extend drives on his own, and attack 3rd downs like his life depended on it (it kinda does right now). I don’t think he’s carried by the team around him, in fact, I think he does well DESPITE some of the players around him. The fault seemed to be the play calling and lack of adjustment to what the Broncos were doing on both sides of the ball.
It was a bad QB game, yes, but all I’ve been seeing today is everyone completely flipping on Baker and throwing him under the bus, using this game to prove points that they so desperately want to be right. The fact is he’s been one of the best in the league at the end of last season/first 2 weeks of this season. Just can’t give up on him and the rest of the team when we have so many key pieces off the field and no adjustment from the coaching staff.
September 23rd, 2024 at 3:18 pm
Why he didn’t trade up for Linderbaum versus trading back and taking Hall and Otten, STILL amazes me. Missed opportunity. We’ll prob end up having to burn another first-round pick on the OLine again next season, now. It would’ve been real nice to have been in a situation to where we could trade Vea, and then make a move up for Deone Walker outta Kentucky. He and Kancey (if he can EVER get on the damn field) would be quite the pair together, for our future… With hopefully, YaYa, (possibly JTS on the cheap), & Braswell (he looked like about the only one out there ‘trying’ yesterday, & DAMM, does he not really have some very looooong arms).
September 23rd, 2024 at 3:22 pm
What you want him to be vs what he is are two different things.
You want him to be a gun slinger. But he is not and will not ever be Brett Favor.
He has the arm talent to be a Drew Brezz but Drew was a rare HOFer between the ears.
Baker is not Horrible, so he does have that going for him. But dont kid yourself, everything you see in him on the field.
Well just read everything you are saying and reading but change the name from Baker to Jamiss.
JW did have that one year with 30 ints however. Everything else. JW was and prolly still is better than Baker at.
So we don’t hate Baker. We just realized that the “Winston’s and Mayfield’s” are better suited as a law firm after Brady came and went in our faces, hearts, and minds. Perhaps some other places to around the Bay area for sure as well.
September 23rd, 2024 at 3:29 pm
Ya think? Otton got 7 catches for 6 yards a pop, then fumbles. Otton SHOULD NEVER HAVE MORE TARGETS THAN MIKE EVANS.
September 23rd, 2024 at 3:37 pm
Bowles isn’t a real head coach
September 23rd, 2024 at 3:40 pm
I’ve said this for years and years. Yes Godwin is good yes Godwin needs his catches. But in no way is he the no1 wr!! This is always a problem 4 -5 games a season. This offense runs through Mike Evans! Idc who’s guarding him no way is this team going to win when he only gets 3 targets. It should be mandatory that he gets 2 targets a quarter at worst. Idk why it’s so hard or why they need this lesson every year.
September 23rd, 2024 at 3:53 pm
Knucknbuc
Prolly cause Mike has had more OCs, HCs and AVERAGE to Below average QBs?
Just a hunch, Mike never tells them with his words but his actions like any TRUE role model of a MAN does.
September 23rd, 2024 at 4:09 pm
here is the issue i find. we always want to throw deep and yes it helps but once we get behind we have no way on methodically moving the ball down the field. it is almost as if unless we have a lead and can do some long shots, were screwed. did my earlier comment get deleted on going down on the opening drive? The team becomes listless giving up an opening drive TD to go down 7-0 and it snowballs from there. these teams know we cant run the ball so they can have extra DBs covering off any deep shots which is where mike evans gets his biggest plays. i have never thought white was a good RB and he is absolutely killing us.
September 23rd, 2024 at 4:33 pm
stinker of a game
there were a few crucial moments in the first half that decided the game — not getting the stop on the run for TD, a horrific interception, a dropped pass, a couple of 3 and outs
it’s a long season
hopefully the O line gets healthier and the D line can generate a better pass rush
2-1 is what any realistic Buc fan would have signed up for at this point
September 23rd, 2024 at 4:53 pm
We see articles with quotes like that at least 3 to 4 times a year.
How about do it and not talk about it.
Make adjustments during the game it is not against the rules.
Just like on Defense. Stop getting beaten by average rookie and backup QBS all the time with this passive Defense.
When enough is enough ? When we will realize that this aint working ?
The infamous Bent but not Break Defense. If you give up 400+ yards everytime you will not win many games. Yes you will win some but you cant compete for something more.
Go Bucs
September 23rd, 2024 at 5:15 pm
Mike Evans is the heart and soul of this team. Coach Bowles is saying they can’t let it happen again to leave Mike out. I am sorry, I really like Bowles, but how about when they came back out the 2nd half and they didn’t start throwing him the ball? They had four quarters. There was no real hurry up either. A lot of sacks though. They should have had “what if” plays ready to go.
September 23rd, 2024 at 5:24 pm
The o-line sucked out loud and Mayfield was seeing ghosts because of it. Happy feet all day. Even when he did have time, he just sat there and scrambled into a Broncos defensive player instead of throwing the ball.
Evans was in a ton of single coverage and was open on many plays. Yet only 3 targets, one of which was a terrible pass behind him into double coverage.
You get Mike involved early and often. ALWAYS. Whether it was Jameis, Brady or Mayfield, this has always been the formula for success.
And how many more average games do we need to see from Tristan Wirfs before someone in the media actually grows a pair and calls hm out? Dude got made the highest paid left tackle in league history and has been completely average through 3 games. Pathetic. That’s the opposite of leadership.
September 23rd, 2024 at 5:39 pm
unbelievable – I am disappointed with Wirf. Mauch too. Mike has always been the guy that has made many QBs look really good. He didn’t get a chance yesterday.
We are all frustrated. I can only imagine how they are all feeling too. Hopefully, we come back this Sunday with a win.
September 23rd, 2024 at 6:42 pm
did mike even break a sweat ?…did he even have to take a shower after the game ?…or did he just slip into his civilian clothes, do a couple low key interviews, then go grab a meal…
did someone slip melatonin in their morning breakfast buffet at one buc ?
September 23rd, 2024 at 7:01 pm
You guys just seem to completely overlook the fact the Broncos have an elite corner, probably the 2nd best corner in the NFL, who was shadowing Evans all day. That doesn’t mean you couldn’t feed Evans if you needed to, but why risk it when you have Godwin going against a much lesser corner.
I’m pretty sure that was the plan, and it makes sense to take the easy completions over forcing the ball.
With that said, by QBR, Baker had a 10.1 rating – it was his worst game as a Buc – so it’s not exactly like anyone was going to look good when trash Baker shows up.
Hopefully, next week, things are different.
But if Luke is still out, don’t even bother showing up, because the Bucs will get blown out again.
September 23rd, 2024 at 7:53 pm
Can’t make an easy completion when you’re just running around in the pocket taking sacks all day… And if your plan it to simply ignore your best WR b/c the other team has good cornerback, you’re a loser. That’s is a pathetically soft mentality. I’m not saying you have to force the ball to Evans in triple coverage, but you gotta take some shots. He EXCELS at making contested catches. 3 targets is unforgiveable.
@Heyjude – I agree. Mauch has been getting blown up all year. And Wirfs looks like just a guy after getting paid tens of millions.
But hey- they’re not stressed out anymore by having a QB who demands excellence from them. So at least their fragile psyches are intact.
September 23rd, 2024 at 8:03 pm
It’s like everyone Bucs was asleep
September 23rd, 2024 at 8:38 pm
unbelievable Says:
September 23rd, 2024 at 7:53 pm
Can’t make an easy completion when you’re just running around in the pocket taking sacks all day… And if your plan it to simply ignore your best WR b/c the other team has good cornerback, you’re a loser.
———–
No, not a good corner, an elite corner who is the highest paid corner in the NFL for a reason.
There’s nothing wrong with taking the easier play so long as you’re picking up 1st downs and moving the ball. NOTE – this doesn’t mean you dump it off for 3 yards on 3rd and 9 like Baker started out the game doing.
Brady did that for 3 years, he just threw to the open guy, even though I wish he would have forced the ball more to Evans at times, in particular when he was playing non-elite corners.
In any case I’m talking about the gameplan – obviously from play to play you see how things go. But it didn’t matter yesterday as Baker was trash – and forcing the ball would have just meant a bunch of INTs. Of course I’ll take INTs if it means you’re scoring points – and I’d much rather lose a Winston style game 35-31 over what we saw yesterday.
With that said, again, just get Luke back and I think things will settle down. Hopefully. Although Baker, when he goes bad, tends to stay bad for several weeks, and if that is true, it won’t matter who is blocking for him. Hopefully I’m wrong – and I’d love to be wrong and see Baker have a great game vs the Eagles.
September 23rd, 2024 at 10:35 pm
Rods right on. Payton did the same thing to Evans with Surtain that he’s spent his career doing to him w lattimore. Payton is very aware of our team and it played to his advantage. Baker held the ball to long but the oline was atrocious. By the time he dropped back there were defenders in his face. Bakers been playing great but i think they rattled him with the pressure. He lost his vision of the field and became indecisive. That early interception hurt his confidence as well. It was as a rough week for mayfield.
September 23rd, 2024 at 11:39 pm
I hear you Rod, but there’s gotta be some middle ground between 33-30 Jameis and Captain Checkdown.
Mike was in single coverage a lot. He can win those, even against an elite corner. He’s had big games against Lattimore, even if Lattimore has won more of the time than not. You gotta at least try more than twice.
People still throw against Winfield even though he’s the highest paid safety.
People still rush against Wirfs even though he’s the highest paid LT.
Etc.
Whatever, I’m over it now. The whole team sucked.
September 24th, 2024 at 1:29 am
Thisisouryear!! Says:
September 23rd, 2024 at 10:35 pm
Rods right on. Payton did the same thing to Evans with Surtain that he’s spent his career doing to him w lattimore.
——-
Yeah but Surtain is actually an elite corner, not just a guy like Lattimore that commits pass interference on literally every play knowing the refs aren’t going to throw 15 PI calls in a game. Also for all the “shut down” games vs Evans, Lattimore would have like 60 yards in PI calls that were called. So Evans would have like a 3-36-1 line and people would act like Lattimore did a good job.
Surtain is a legit top elite corner, and, as you said, Payton is a top tier coach, certainly against the Bucs he is (unless it’s in the playoffs and his QB has a noodle for an arm).
As for Baker, I don’t totally blame him for this loss – but he did nothing to help the team. Last year he was completely inconsistent and this would be the start of a 4-5 game of awful to middling games. Hopefully that isn’t the case here. We will find out soon enough.
September 24th, 2024 at 1:32 am
unbelievable Says:
Mike was in single coverage a lot. He can win those, even against an elite corner. He’s had big games against Lattimore
————–
Lattimore is not an elite corner, he’s just a guy that commits a lot of pass interference knowing people won’t check the box scores and see all the PI calls against him.
Surtain is in a completely different class.
And I agree, if Evans is one-on-one with anyone you should get him some looks – but Godwin was also open vs a non-future HOF corner, and he was picking up yards as well. The issue was Baker was just terrible – and in fairness the line didn’t help – but it was the same stuff we saw last year where Baker is completely inconsistent, goes from very good games, to awful games, from week to week and you rarely knew what you’d get. And yesterday, was awful Baker time.
September 24th, 2024 at 9:50 am
Rod … ‘Baker is completely inconsistent, goes from very good games, to awful games, from week to week and you rarely knew what you’d get. And yesterday, was awful Baker time.’
We both watched the same game Rod, but the loss isn’t on Baker IMO. The Denver defense played him perfectly all game, and completely neutralized him. Our OC should’ve adjusted starting in the 1st qtr, but he didn’t. We let the Broncos execute their defensive game plan to perfection, and it doomed us.
Baker had only ONE deep throw all game (an interception) in the 1st qtr, plus another late in the 4th qtr that resulted in a DPI (and thus didn’t count in the stats). After that INT we chickened out on going deep. Denver stymied our running game early by (1) corraling Baker in the pocket so that he had 0 rushes; (2) shutting down our RBs between the tackles early (9 of our 17 runs were over the Guards or Middle and they gained a total of 27 yards); (3) getting way ahead early so we had to play catch-up via the pass.
So instead of doing what we’d been doing in Games 1 & 2 (balanced attack), we skewed heavily towards the short pass (only 28% runs). And while trying to play catch-up in the 3rd & 4th qtrs, Denver’s DLine just teed off, sacking Baker 6 times in the 2nd half. He STILL completed over 75% of his passes, but they were all dink & dunk jobs (the LONGEST one on the day was only 13 yards). Baker was 2-for-5 passing on 3rd downs in the 1st half … for 10 yards, 1 INT & 1 first down. He was 4-for-5 passing on 3rd downs in the 2nd half … for 11 yards, 0 INT & 1 first down. High completion rates, but not nearly enough to move the chains.
September 24th, 2024 at 11:04 am
Defense Rules, your posts are always spot on. But Rod was right about Baker not being on his game last week. But he’s wrong about Baker being completely inconsistent. I don’t care where you are getting your info Rod – you’re dead wrong. Go ahead and research that Rod. Except for that 1 -6 stretch last year and it’s a team game anyway. It had nothing to do with consistency. This team is better than last year. It’ll take a little while but we’ll be hitting on all cylinders soon. And for now we better get Luke back and start planning on more depth on the OLine. And if we don’t get more pressure on opponents QBs, whether it’s healing up or running different stunts or outright paying new blood – We Need Sacks. We’ll get it done. We’ll lose some games – but not many.
September 24th, 2024 at 5:14 pm
I said after the game they were gonna say “ WE GOTTA GET MIKE THE BALL MORE “ a saying that should never ever be said cause no matter who’s checking Mike if it’s 1on1 go for it it’s Mike Evans one of few HOF’ers still playing. It’s sad as heck that this has been said every darn yr it’s old and bs. My 9 yr old knows to give Mike “HOF” Evans the ball or find ways to do that. We get stuck with these trash offensive coordinator’s. Baker no excuse on why you didn’t find Mike “HOF” Evans more when you just said” Mike against anyone 1on1 I’m trusting Mike” see that was all talk. Mr Buccaneer himself and the organization can’t find ways to get A HALL OF FAMER the ball this franchise is pathetic