Heap Of Blame Tossed At Sabby
November 30th, 2010
There was spirited debate in the comments section of these here pages yesterday as to who was to blame on Ravens tight end Todd Heap’s 65-yard TD catch and run.
Some blamed Sabby Piscitelli for being the out-of-position culprit on the blown coverage. Some didn’t. Joe offered the video evidence and, frankly, was quite surprised so many didn’t finger Sabby as the goat. Raheem Morris wouldn’t blame a specific player after the game but Heap was quoted saying the safety [Sabby] was out of position.
In his must-read, detailed breakdown of all things Bucs-Ravens, former Bucs defensive end Steve White offers his take on what went wrong on that critical play.
I have watched the play where the Ravens tight end Todd Heap catches the 65 yard touchdown and in my mind there is only one explanation. Everyone in the secondary appears to be playing cover 2. Everyone that is but Sabby Piscitelli. He rolled up in the box and then kind of stood flat footed at the snap while Heap ran right by him. I don’t know how he ended up that out of position but with both corners rolled up and with Sean Jones on the opposite hash at cover 2 depth its hard to see how the call was anything but cover 2.
No matter what it was an embarrassing play on a day when the defense didn’t play bad at all otherwise.
On The Raheem Morris Show on WDAE-AM 620 Monday, the Bucs head coach again wouldn’t name Sabby but made it clear the other Bucs around the play didn’t screw up.
“A miscommunication from safety to corner” was how Morris described busted coverage to his radio audience.
“We had run a coverage the whole game and it had been effective. In that time, at that instance, we weren’t able to communicate it and get it across to each other. We had a busted coverage and we get a tight end running from down our zone,” Raheem said. “People wanted to blame Barrett [Ruud] but he really had nothing to do with it. He was just hustling and chasing. And Ronde as well. We just got to go out and keep playing.”
Clearly, Sabby blew the play. Joe just can’t see how the Bucs keep him starting at safety for the stretch run.
November 30th, 2010 at 9:30 am
How can anyone justify that Corey Lynch is not, at the very least, just as good as Sabby? The goat needs to be on the bench where he can eat some green grass.
November 30th, 2010 at 9:31 am
I hope Lynch gets a shot. If he isn’t worthy, then Barber to FS.
Sabby shouldn’t even be on the roster. I’d rather have this Anderson guy in there, or steal Larry Asante from the Browns practice squad. Anyone but Sabby.
November 30th, 2010 at 9:49 am
So just many plays did Sabby get in before allowing a touchdown?
November 30th, 2010 at 9:52 am
That should have read “So just how many plays did Sabby get in before allowing touchdown”.
November 30th, 2010 at 9:54 am
I will stand corrected, I thought Black messed up. Let’s hope they get Lynch in, or go out and find someone else.
November 30th, 2010 at 9:57 am
BTW, I love how there is not a single mention of the word “GOAT” in this post but a pic of Sabby’s likeness to say it all!
November 30th, 2010 at 9:57 am
Why is my comment waiting for moderation? Just kidding Joe, but is that something new?
November 30th, 2010 at 9:57 am
McBuc:
No. You using a different computer?
November 30th, 2010 at 9:58 am
Oh, you did mention “goat” but not directly describing him.
November 30th, 2010 at 11:03 am
Sabby must not have got the text on that play that they were playing cover 2.
November 30th, 2010 at 11:13 am
“Heap” of blame, Homer Simpson and a goat reference. Plus an insightful comment from a NFL expert.
Thats why I love JBF!
November 30th, 2010 at 11:51 am
My hatred of Sabby’s play on the field has been well documented on this site. Here is just more proof. He is just awful. PLEASE start Corey Lynch. PLEASE!
November 30th, 2010 at 12:03 pm
The replay is funny where Sabby is caught looking in then turns, see’s Heap, then makes a move in that direction only to immediatly run AWAY from the play to pretend he wasn’t part of the play… COVER UP SABBY!
November 30th, 2010 at 12:23 pm
Eric,
I’d buy that for a dollar!
November 30th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
Obviously Morris would know the call. It looked to me like Cover 1 Man with a double on Mason. I thought Black looked to be covering Heap. I can only go with what I see on tape. If it was Cover 2, and Sabby was up at the line, he obviously blew the coverage. The coaches know who was at fault and will make adjustments for the next game, whether that be get Sabby listening to the play call or putting Lynch in at FS.
November 30th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
I did like Steve’s write up about Olson and the game plan/play calling. He had many examples of where there were other WRs on the field that weren’t running a go route that Freeman had the option to go to for a first down. I would figure sometimes it’s the play-call, sometimes the QB read, sometimes forced by the D, but I think Freeman was more off on his reads than he was on his passing accuracy. That’s not a knock on Free, he was under a lot of pressure from the Ravens D and had to make snap decisions. He’ll get better with more experience.
November 30th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
Sabby is cut, as per http://www.buccaneers.com/news/article-1/Moore-to-IR-Piscitelli-Released-in-Flurry-of-Moves/95e92ab7-72ac-46fb-841b-841a479f3c6b