“He’s Glaringly Out Of Place A Lot”
November 29th, 2010
"Oh, man, I almost fooled the ref on another play, too."
The reality hammer came crashing down on Sabby Piscitelli during The Ron and Ian Show on WDAE-AM 620 this morning.
Co-host and former Bucs guard Ian Beckles didn’t miss a beat being all over Sabby. It felt like a flashback to last year, when Bucs fans were subject to 16 games of Sabby at safety and pundits clubbed him mercilessly.
“He’s glaringly out of place a lot. Teams will come after him,” Beckles said, among other comments about Sabby.
While Beckles said he hadn’t rewatched the game and wouldn’t point a finger at Sabby for Ravens tight end Todd Heap’s 65-yard touchdown catch and rumble, Joe has the highlight of the play here. Joe would love for readers to explain what Sabby is doing.
In discussing the play after the game, Heap said “the safety” was out of position.
For diehard Rays fans out there, when Joe sees Sabby on the field it reminds him of Shawn Camp trotting out to the mound in 2007. Sheer terror runs through Joe.
Joe would love to see Corey Lynch get some playing time. Tanard Jackson letting his team down is looming large right now.
November 29th, 2010 at 11:21 am
Just watched the highlight of that play, and now I understand why Morris put that call on himself. And I don’t blame him either.
If you watch, Sabby immediately breaks to the flat, while Ronde runs with Mason. Mason had been burning us with 8-10 yard hitches all day. If we gave him room, he’d hitch, if we played tight, he’d go deep. Sabby was covering the flat, or underneath on the hitch. Ronde was over the top. Ruud was covering (or supposed to be) Heap. Watch it again Joe. You’ll see what I’m talking about.
November 29th, 2010 at 11:38 am
Sabby and Ruud are liabilities on defense. The opposing offense goes after them routinely. Until this is fixed on defense. They will continue to struggle, unfortunately. Both looks lost, take awful angles and are out of position to make plays. Grimm looked better than both of them, after only playing a handful of games this year.
Raheem can put the call on himself. For not addressing this before this season. Which I am sure he will do after this season.
November 29th, 2010 at 11:44 am
LMAO at the excuses to why Rah cant beat a real team.
November 29th, 2010 at 11:50 am
I don’t think Sabby is Raheems favorite player. If Cory Lynch has what it takes wouldn’t he have played yesterday over Sabby? Something tells me Lynch is just a career special teamer. But then so is Sabby.
November 29th, 2010 at 11:56 am
As soon as Cody Grimm went down and Sabby went in, I turned to my brother and said (literally) “we gonna get burned on a long touchdown”.
Not a play or two later, and Heap is running down the field on his way to a touchdown.
I’m not saying Sabby is to blame (because it did appear as if he was coming down into the box for run support), but it was quite ironic.
November 29th, 2010 at 11:56 am
Rah can’t beat a real team because Rah doesn’t actually play. He’s the coach. Overall, the defense played a pretty good game yesterday, especially considering that Grimm went down with an injury. Freeman had a rare bad game. Joseph went out on the first series and was replaced by Zuttah, leaving us with 3 players on the O-line that didn’t start the season there (again). Not an excuse, we lost to the Ravens, a very good football team. Two plays kept the game out of reach, the pass interference call that is questionable (Lewis had position, didn’t grab or pull, and the WR had to go through him to get to the ball) and the missed coverage on Heap. Other than those two plays, we were in that game the whole way. I’m impressed with the young team keeping with a much more experienced team. Those two plays are not excuses, simply the two biggest errors that cost us the game.
November 29th, 2010 at 11:57 am
Bucs we supposed to be a 2-14 team this year. Why do I feel disappointed with yesterday’s loss?
November 29th, 2010 at 12:01 pm
Went back and watched that highlight. Sabby of course blew the coverage. He bit on the run. It can’t have been Sean Jones as he was clear on the other side of the field. God Sabby sucks. If Cory Lynch can’t beat this guy out then its time to raid the practice squads again. Some people mentioned Myron Rolle the other day and he is on the Titans practice squad so he can be had.
November 29th, 2010 at 12:08 pm
Jon- You feel disappointed like I do, because we were watching a 7-3 team which had a chance to win – loose!
Loosing Grimm could be costly. Let’s see how we respond the rest of the way. I rather see Corey Lynch than Sabby playing the rest of the way assuming Grimm is not returning this season.
Go BUCS!!!!!!
November 29th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
The more I watch that play the more pissed I get. I don’t know if i’ve ever seen someone bite so hard on a playaction fake. He’s still just standing there staring dumbly into the backfield even as Todd Heap streaks right by him. Clearly he had a run\pass responsibility on that play and as soon as he saw Heap release from the line of scrimmage should have been step for step with him. I mean Heap did not even momentarily fake a run block. How did this guy get to the NFL with instincts like that? Is there a bigger goat in all of profoessional football?
November 29th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
gitarlvr…. watch it again. Ronde is one one one with Mason, Sabby is near the line between Mason and Heap, Jones is no where in the pre-snap picture (single high safety), Geno Hayes is opposite side LB that steps up in run support at the snap. Ruud and Black were on Heap’s side. Black took two steps with Heap then jumped up (run support???), Ruud was trailing from the middle spot the entire time. The more I watch it, the more I think it was Black’s responsibility and Ruud saw what was happening and tried to catch up. Jones then comes in from the far side of the field at the end of the play and had nothing to do with the coverage to that side other than being the lone “high” safety and not getting over fast enough. Sabby had nothing to do with that coverage as he was covering the hitch route. If they’d have thrown to Mason (like they had been doing all day), Sabby was right there for a pick 6 the other way.
This is reminiscent of the Grimm INT against the Bengals, except Sabby isn’t inside on the play, he’s over Heap. His instant break outside shows the coverage was rolled to Mason, and it was up to a LB (Black or Ruud) to cover Heap on that side.
November 29th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
Just read this on tbo.com, “Ravens TE Todd Heap caught a 65-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. Morris said the coverage was blown but would not say who missed their assignment.”
sigh…
November 29th, 2010 at 12:26 pm
I KNEW it! I sat there at watched that happen, and I thought, “Alright, who blew it?” Sabby needs to go. NOW.
November 29th, 2010 at 12:28 pm
Raheem always take the blame on “the call”. Truthfully, Sabby is out of position. Play Lynch, even if he’s not that answer, he knows where he is supposed to be – the same can’t be said for Sabby.
November 29th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
Sabby never took a step toward the backfield as if in run support. He approached the line pre-snap. At the snap, his first step was towards the sideline, on underneath coverage on Mason. Black took two steps with Heap before breaking off and taking a step UP towards the line. Ruud was in the middle and saw Flacco look to Heap and immediately took off after the uncovered TE. This was Black’s coverage, not Sabby’s.
November 29th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
@BamBam- I’m sorry but that was Sabby all the way. He just bit way too hard on the play fake. He just sat there and watched Heap run right by him. He was in perfect position to cover Heap’s route but instead he sat there staring into the backfield.
November 29th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
It was Quincy Black who bit on the Run, but I’m not sure he would have coverage responsibility anyway. Sabby rolled towards inside coverage on the WR Mason with Barber outside. I’m not sure what the scheme involved, but you would think either Ruud or Quicy Black would be responsible for Heap out of the backfield. (That is if Sabby was responsible for inside contain on the WR) Now if you believe Morris when he says Ruud sits back as the fail safe player then you would have to say it was Ruud that was responsible for Heap and not Sabby. I’m sure we’ll find out in the next couple of days.
November 29th, 2010 at 12:40 pm
Cannon and BamBamBuc say it like I would. The MINUTE Grimm went down, everyone at my house said “Chit, we are Funked now” Heap even said the safety blew coverage.
Atlanta will pick us apart w/o a good safety, we in trouble guys, big trouble ….
November 29th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
And if it was Quincy Black then he can take a seat on the bench too. I have no idea why he got his job back after Hayward and and Watson made some splash plays in relief of him.
November 29th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
gitarlvr,
I think you are mistaken Black for Sabby. Don’t get me wrong I don’t care for him at all, but Heap is lined up on the left side of the line and Sabby is outside coverage with Mason along with Barber. Heap cruises past Black who has bit on play action and gets into the secondary. Now like I said I’m not sure if Sabby was supposed to be inside coverage on the WR or not, but he is in no position to make that play on Heap who basically ran right up the middle of the field.
November 29th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
BamBam….your wasting your time, regardless of whether or not it was Sabbys bad play or not, people are going to continue to bash him over his previous play.
I rewatched the play to over and over again and your right, it sure looks like the LB was supposed to run with Heap with Sabby covering the flat, but its easier to blame Sabby for every bad play.
November 29th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
I completely agree on Hayward and Watson!!!!!
November 29th, 2010 at 12:54 pm
BamBam…I think you are reading this exactly right. We all want to blame Sabby, but I agree that this one was not on him.
November 29th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
i dont know who blew the coverage but it also looked to me like white was supposed to at least post heap up at the los but instead froze and didnt do anything
November 29th, 2010 at 1:23 pm
C’mon Joe, bring back the goat. You know your dying to………………
November 29th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
with sabby in the lineup, the rest of the team shades their position trying to protect the weakness. If he continues to play we may only win one more game. Someone suggested Myron Rolle from the Titans practice squad? at least he has the brain power to absorb the play book in quick order.
November 29th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
I can see passthebuc‘s point. Whatever the specifics of THAT play, it does seem that if other position players have to shade to cover for Sabby’s now infamous bonehead play, no one can do their own job with confidence. There was an IMMEDIATE reduction in the quality of the defense when Grimm went down.
Let’s replace Sabby now, and hope Grimm is back strong and ready next season.
*sigh*
November 29th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
Ronde Barber to safty and give biggers a chance at starting corner. Barber tackles better than Sabby anyway so this may be a good option.
November 29th, 2010 at 2:20 pm
I like the Ronde to safety move…It gives him a better chance to get the INTs he needs.
November 29th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
Possible replacement for grimm
Da’Mon Cromartie-Smith from the Pittsburgh practice squad. the read on him is he likes to hit people.
Bio: Cromartie-Smith He is 6’11/2”, 206 pounds, ran the 40 yard dash in 4.46 seconds, the short shuttle in 4.47 seconds, and the three-cone drill in 7.24 seconds. He measured a 32-inch vertical jump, a 9’9” broad jump and did 20 bench press repetitions at 225 pounds.
“I like to be physical. I like to play in the box and I don’t worry about taking on pulling offensive linemen,” said Cromartie-Smith. “I like to read the play and then attack it.
November 29th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Let’s go GET him PassTheBuc, except wait, there’s more, we can’t because Raheem will never rip off Mike Tomlin. I think we in trouble with Sabby back there
November 29th, 2010 at 3:47 pm
Nice Shawn camp analogy. Love it. Umm. Sabby was covering an already covered man. I think he ran to the sidelines to hide instead of chasing down the tight end. I hate it for him.
November 29th, 2010 at 4:38 pm
Chris…that is called a “double team”, it is pretty common on receivers that are snagging a bunch of balls.
November 29th, 2010 at 5:54 pm
Mcbuc… I get the concept of a double team but looking at the particular play it looks like there is some confusion on what to do in general mostly between Rudd and Sabby. And if you watch Sabby’s oh crap reaction when he goes to help on Rhonde’s man you may see where I came to that conclusion. He starts by helping with rhonde and then doubling back to catch up to the streaking tight end. maybe it was a well designed play. However, I find it ironic that within minutes of Grimms injury that a big play occured on Sabby’s side. Just saying. I really hope Sabby can play well becasue in reality if he does the bucs will do well.
November 29th, 2010 at 6:07 pm
apple you forget that we got the dlineman woods from pitt. don’t think we won’t go after someone on pitts practice squad. i wish donnie abraham was still wearing 21.
November 29th, 2010 at 6:33 pm
Hoping they move Ronde back there and start Biggers. Sabbi is horriable
November 29th, 2010 at 8:18 pm
What I saw is Sabby being asked to play a safety/linebacker hybrid role like Grimm does, but Sabby lacks the instincts so instead of turning and running with Heap, he just stood in the flat doing nothing. Not blitzing. Not covering anyone. Just standing there.
I pray Lynch or even Anderson get the nod over Sabby. Or perhaps Rah will move Barber to FS for the remainder of the year, with Talib, Biggers, and Lewis as our CBs.
Just no more Sabby. PLEASE!!!
November 29th, 2010 at 8:20 pm
Also, we already know Ruud is not a thumper or a hard hitter or a good pass rusher….if he can’t catch Todd Heap when he is 2 ft behind him for 65 yards, then he is also very slow and basicly useless. Time for an upgrade.
November 29th, 2010 at 8:50 pm
I have to agree with those that said Ronde to safety. Biggers is usually acting as the #2 corner in nickel, dime, and 3-3-5 anyway. If the Bucs were not competing for a playoff spot I would just say bring in another newbie and let him develop for the future or even just let Sabby play and hope he wisens up(as really just reading plays seems to be his problem not anything to do with athletic talent). However, the Bucs are competing for a playoff run RIGHT NOW and you have to do whatever you can to win in that situation. Ronde should not have any trouble making the transition except for one thing- making that transition in the middle of a season might be a quite a bit harder.
November 29th, 2010 at 9:16 pm
can anyone see if Jack Tatum is available.
November 29th, 2010 at 10:08 pm
Sabby “kind of ” threw an arm out in Heaps direction, as if to give the impression he was covering him, the went instantly to the flat and turned in to look at the QB, in case it was a hitch route to Mason. Heap, coming off the “arm fake” by Sabby blew past Black, who back-pedaled a couple steps then sucked up to stop “the run”. Ruud, in the middle and looking into the backfield the whole time, saw Flacco look and begin to throw left and bolted towards Heap, in hopes he could catch up if Heap had to adjust to make the catch. Both Ronde and Sabby were in catch up mode at that point as well. Jones, coming from the high safety spot was too late getting across (I couldn’t tell if he stepped up on the “run fake” as well, which may explain why he was also late getting across to stop the TD).
November 29th, 2010 at 10:20 pm
Some people in this thread seem to want to throw Ruud under the bus on this one. Clearly Heap was not Ruud’s responsibility on this play. If anything give Ruud credit for being the first guy to diagnose the play fake and try to recover.
November 29th, 2010 at 11:00 pm
Ruud is one of three people (along with Sabby and Black) who COULD be responsible for letting Heap go through uncovered. The majority of the defensive schemes the Bucs run; Ruud does cover the TE on passing downs. It is only natural to think that he could be the one who missed coverage. Like I said if Sabby wasn’t supposed to be in the flat with Mason then yes it was his fault, but Ruud had position in the middle to pick up Heap streaking down the field, but was too late diagnosing play action. Both he and Quincy Black were frozen with the run fake. He is the fail safe guy though isn’t he?
November 30th, 2010 at 12:29 am
I think it is glaringly obvious who’s fault the Heap TD was. When the 3 players that attempted to run him down immediately turn and look at one play it kinda gives it away. You don’t have to know what coverage they were playing. I doubt they were playing man. Even if they were the #2 receiver is generally the safety’s responsibility. I don’t think they were playing 3 deep otherwise Rhonde would’ve had deep third and which would have Shabby or an LB underneath. There is no way Ruud has deep anything. Obviously wasn’t Cover 1 cause Sean Jones immediately leans left on the snap. Looks like it was a 2 deep and the Safety was Toast as usual. Shabby needs to be relegated to special teams only. Even an average safety gives us a better chance to win!
November 30th, 2010 at 12:35 am
@ Bucnjim
True the LB generally will have underneath coverage on a TE. Only in man coverage would a LB be responsible for over the top coverage on the TE. I guess they could have been rolling the coverage to Mason to give Rhonde some help since Mason had been catching the 7-10 yard hitches, but I wouldn’t expect Sean Jones to immediately cover deep left on the read. Take a look at the second replay in the clip above. Rhonde and Ruud immediately look back at Shabby after the TD. Dead give away.
November 30th, 2010 at 4:07 am
Sometimes you gotta just shake your head and understand the guys in purple are paid professional football players and coaches too. Damn!