Morris Will Remain Your Bucs D-Coordinator
April 2nd, 2011
Ever since Raheem Morris jettisoned the heinous Jim Bates Experiment in mid-2009, a franchise record-setting horrid defense that coughed up an average of a wretched beyond words 29 points a game, the Bucs head coach has been the de facto defensive coordinator.
Don’t expect that to change. Morris spend some quality time with eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune and said he has too much fun as a defensive coordinator to give up the reigns.
“I enjoy it so much,” Morris said of his dual role. “To game plan against great minds like (Saints head coach) Sean Payton and (Falcons offensive coordinator) Mike Mularkey – those things are exciting for me. To go up against some of the great quarterbacks in our league as defensive coordinator and be able to dictate a defensive mentality is fun.
“I want to be the very best and you want to match up against the best.”
In Joe’s eyes — though not yet to be confused with Monte Kiffin or even Dick LeBeau — Morris has done a solid job.
Consider what Morris had to work with last year: a non-existent pass rush, linebackers that either make someone throw their remote at the TV or bury their heads in their couch pillows, suspensions to his Pro Bowl-caliber defensive backs and injuries too numerous to count with holes filled often by green rookies.
Yet Morris not only always found enough duct tape and Elmer’s glue to put together a decent defense, he did a fine job in Joe’s eyes of making in-game adjustments.
Joe wonders what Morris could do with studs on the front seven.
April 2nd, 2011 at 11:34 am
Solid point about in-game adjustments. We had at least a few 2nd half shutouts last year right?
April 2nd, 2011 at 12:06 pm
Im not real big on stats, but I believe we finished with the 5th best pass defense. Impressive. Especially considering all the hurdles we had to overcome to achieve that stat.
April 2nd, 2011 at 12:30 pm
And heeeeeeere’s Thomas…….
April 2nd, 2011 at 1:23 pm
We were not 5th best vs the pass. I believe we were last in pass rush stats, near last in rushing. Scoring stats are artificially better bc running drives against eat up clock and shorten games via fewer plays.
The secondary was the strength. Now they have no strength. The d is a debacle, the coordinator should be held responsible. Worst front 7 in the league in decades.
April 2nd, 2011 at 1:27 pm
Think you are absolutely right Joe. Raheem will really shine as gets more talent, and gets rid of the last Gruden”bad apples”
April 2nd, 2011 at 1:29 pm
Never one to not deliver when summonsed. . .
April 2nd, 2011 at 1:33 pm
Great article by Ira. Raheem has done a remarkable job as DC. He’s only about 3 or 4 players away from challanging for a superbowl berth. All due respect to the Saints and Falcons, ( or maybe not) the Bucs have the better roster of the three..
April 2nd, 2011 at 1:41 pm
James, u must not get access to the bucs game in memphis, the d sucked, except for ruud the front 7 stunk. Now t jax and talib are gone and ronde is ancient, mccoy looks like a 4th rounder not a 3 overall. This team imoroved bc of free. Period.
April 2nd, 2011 at 1:41 pm
James, u must not get access to the bucs game in memphis, the d sucked, except for ruud the front 7 stunk. Now t jax and talib are gone and ronde is ancient, mccoy looks like a 4th rounder not a 3 overall. This team imoroved bc of free. Period.
April 2nd, 2011 at 2:40 pm
9th in points allowed says it all. The other stats dont really mean much compared to that one.
April 2nd, 2011 at 3:09 pm
No doubt this Defence is only a couple players away from really being good. I look forward to seeing how Raheem can continue to evolve this D. Have to improve the rush of the edge.
April 2nd, 2011 at 3:09 pm
I don’t understand why this “McCoy looks like a 4th rounder” garbage keeps coming out. You do realize, his run blocking was better that Suh’s right? You do realize his qb pressures when compared to the number of snaps Suh got was actually better right?
McCoy had a great rookie season. He was coming on strong late. New coaching this year will make him the beast we drafted him to be.
April 2nd, 2011 at 3:23 pm
Chris: i do agree that it appeared like mccoy was run “blocking” last year. The problem is: he plays defense, he is supposed to shed blocks.
Dont ever use suh and mccoy in the same sentence again – suh is beast, all pro, roy, pro bowler. Mccoy had 2.5 sacks and 20 tackles in 11plus games. His last full game atlanta: 0 tackles, 0 sacks, 0 pressures despite playing the whole game. That isnt coming on stro g. Mccoy was horrible except fof 2.5 games.
April 2nd, 2011 at 3:33 pm
Exactly D. Points allowed is the only stat that matters to me. It is the most important stat for the Defense. The Bucs were ranked 9th. This with a weak front seven for most of the year. If you look a little closer at the stats, the defense outpaced the offense.
OFFENSIVE RANKINGS
Points scored: 20th
Total yards: 19th
First downs: 24th
Passing yards: 23rd
Rushing yards: 8th
DEFENSIVE RANKINGS
Points allowed: 9th
Yards allowed: 17th
First downs allowed: 17th
Passing yards allowed: 7th
Rushing yards allowed: 28th
These stats were provided by pro-footballreference.com
Obviously we sucked against the run, but excelled against the pass. All in all, the defense was statistically better than the offense. If we can add some talent to the edges of our d-line and revamp the LB corp., this defense will be a force! Coach Morris has done an excellent job considering the talent he has had to work with.
April 2nd, 2011 at 3:56 pm
3 sacks
2 forced fumbles
22 total tackles, plus 6 combined
13 game starts
Suh certainly had the better rookie year, but it’s not like we had any chance at all to get him. Still, that doesn’t mean McCoy will be a worse player overall. He could well catch up to Suh’s stats in a year or two, especially if Suh suffers a setback (such as missing some games) and McCoy steps it up.
April 2nd, 2011 at 5:41 pm
U left out pass rushing stats. Those mccoy numbers pale to suhs. Post suhs
April 2nd, 2011 at 5:47 pm
So Thomas, what is you reasoning as to why the Bucs gave up the 9th fewest points this past year? I’d like to hear your conspiracy theory about it.
April 2nd, 2011 at 5:59 pm
If u dont know the answer u r lost, it is: matt moore, jimmy clausen, charlie w., max hall, troy smith, charlie batch etc etc.
April 2nd, 2011 at 6:03 pm
If u dont know the answer u r lost, it is: matt moore, jimmy clausen, charlie w., max hall, troy smith, charlie batch etc etc. With the lineup of second and third string qbs they were blessed with facing i am shocked they werent 1st. It also influences passing d stats
April 2nd, 2011 at 6:12 pm
Bucs could win the superbowl and people would still complain about not being #1 overall in defense and offense if we werent.
April 2nd, 2011 at 6:22 pm
Well u have gone 13-19, never made the playoffs (7th in conference), never above third in the division, multiple suspensions and arrests of key players – so u will hear legit criticism. Some of u want rah to appear legit so bad that u pull one decent stat out of 10 bad ones to argue that rahs d is good. Ridiculous.
April 2nd, 2011 at 7:07 pm
Youngest team in the league- starting 10 rookies, 10-6, and I think it was 13 guys on IR. Rah is a pretty terrible coach, we should fire him now.
April 2nd, 2011 at 8:21 pm
the team is young, the coaching staff is young, the gm is young. it’s still way too early to determine anything really about this team. it appears we have a franchise qb, having that in place means this staff has already done more than most others.
April 2nd, 2011 at 8:51 pm
Good freaking lord Thomas, shut up.
Post McCoy’s stats next to Sapp’s rookie year stats.
April 2nd, 2011 at 9:17 pm
judging players off of rookie seasons is idiotic at best. nfl history is full of guys with awful rookie years and hof careers and great rookie years and awful careers.
April 2nd, 2011 at 10:09 pm
Who summoned that @$$ from his hole? And Winter continues.
April 2nd, 2011 at 10:23 pm
gotbucs: the converse of your aargument is more true: there are many more first round picks with bad rookie years who washed out of the league in four years than made it to the hall of fame.
I love when I pound you into submission then you tap out by saying “we are young.” You are young and third in the division – what an accomplishment! If you miss the playoffs again – changes must be made – or u guys are bigger sheep than I thought.
You really dont believe that this D is improved – did you watch the redskin game? They ran on this D like we werent coached – it was embarrassing! Your genius d coordinator just stood there looking clueless as usual – I was laughing my a– off!
April 2nd, 2011 at 10:52 pm
thomas 2.2 Says:
They ran on this D like we werent coached – it was embarrassing! Your genius d coordinator just stood there looking clueless as usual – I was laughing my a– off!
He was laughing at his team (supposedly) get run on. I don’t know what the hell he is, but he sure as Hell ain’t a Buc Fan. That isn’t hating on the coach, that is hating on the team. I thought this site was for Buc Fans. Where does this punk get off? Does it ever end? Worse than a 2 year old. Mommy this, mommy that, wah wah wah, like a little freakin bitch.
April 2nd, 2011 at 11:03 pm
point of clarification bigmac: laughing at the stupid look on his face, not laughing at how badly they were geetting run on – that was infuriating.
This is a blog that last time I checked you were allowed to provide criticism of the 13-19 regime and third place team in the division.
April 3rd, 2011 at 12:15 am
Newsflash, Rah inherited a team with nothing going for it. We will make the playoffs this season and possibly win a playoff game, but people will still complain. Also, Washington ran all over us because McCoy went down on the first or second series. Before that game, he helped the defense shut down Frank Gore, Ray Rice, and Michael Turner. He went down and our run D went back to being terrible. Not hard to understand
April 3rd, 2011 at 1:22 am
My God you are stupid Thomas. You were laughing at the Redskins game? You mean the one that we won? Oh wait, but we were lucky, I know. We were lucky every game, huh? We were lucky 10 times in one season. That must be some sort of record. Funny, I checked NFL.com and they didn’t put an asterisk by our record. Everyone knows that wins don’t really count unless you shut out a Pro Bowl QB by at least 3 TD’s. I mean, winning close games late in the fourth quarter consistently should just be considered a loss.
Your perception of football is so unbelievably clouded by your hatred of one man that you can’t see what everyone else can. You won’t find one expert (local or national) to agree with any of the garbage you write. In fact, the only ones on this board that will agree with you are the ones that already made up their opinion of him long ago and will never change their mind regardless of what he does (and there aren’t many of those left). This is why nobody ever defends you. But nah, you are right and everyone else is wrong because we are all “sheep”. Your football knowledge is obviously far better than the rest of us, since you have so much experience both playing, coaching, and running a professional football team. You are nothing more than a big joke to every logical person on this board. Congratulations.
April 3rd, 2011 at 1:26 am
And yes, Thomas, you are allowed to criticize whatever the hell you want to on this blog. No argument there? My question is, why do you want to hang around a blog where literally nobody wants you here? Is that fun for you? What exactly do you get out of that? Why don’t you start your own blog about how much you hate the coach of the Bucs?
April 3rd, 2011 at 5:16 am
Or go seek medical extension for that 2.2″ inches. I mean, with that kinda problem, I understand your bitterness, but crying here won’t help. You need medical advice- and probably conciling. Good luck they, tiny!
April 3rd, 2011 at 8:36 am
And you seem to have breezed over the fact that I agreed Suh had a better rookie year. You are arguing with me when there is no point…which means you are arguing for the sake of arguing.
Yet more proof that you are not a Bucs fan and are probably a child (teenager).
The Bucs defense did improve…they addressed positions of need…DT. But no unit is rebuilt in a year.There are not enough draft picks given to a team for that to happen.
Give guys time to develop and address the other holes…then you have a right to complain if things do not get better.
And, incidently, how many decades have the Lions been rebuilding? With all the top 5 picks they’ve had in the last 10 years, you would think they’d be the best team in the nfl by now.
Yet the Bucs have taken giant leaps in offense…and will in defense. Within two seasons, assuming there are no more arrests, the Bucs could well be one of the best teams in the NFL, unlike the Lions, who will likely not be.
Heck, the Lions have a bust for a quarterback even. Taken the same year as Freeman, he hasn’t even completed a season healthy yet.
April 3rd, 2011 at 8:46 am
Spit a perfectly good Budweiser on my laptop keyboard on that last one Capt. Tim. Thanks I needed that !
April 3rd, 2011 at 9:14 am
????????? WTF? A victim of child abuse? Priest abuse? 40 yr old virgin? Parental Sponge? Closet? 600 Lbs? Prison Bitch? Biggest Loser? Car Wreck? Red Hair? Freckles? Albinism? No one will hire you? 2.2″ for real? 1.2″? What makes a person like this?
April 3rd, 2011 at 10:52 am
Big Mac we make a person like this by responding to him,he loves it.But the point is that Morris has exceeded every PRO sportswriters expectations,unless someone had us winning 11 games?
April 3rd, 2011 at 12:46 pm
1) the lions beat the bucs without there “bust” qb and without his backup at home with the season in balance, pete.
Wesley- well i dont think many people picked 11 wins last year since it has taken 2 years to win 13. Also, the reason rah “exceeded” expectations is bc they were SO bad the year before.
April 3rd, 2011 at 12:54 pm
and why were they so bad the year ago?Expectations last year was three to four wins.
April 3rd, 2011 at 1:27 pm
But the Lions still had Megatron while we were missing Talib and had the refs on their side. Also the all mighty Suh had 3 whole tackles and got a nasty stiff arm from Freeman who then ran for the first down.
April 3rd, 2011 at 7:32 pm
Suh is a moot point…Thomas is not a fan, just likes to rile us up. I am sure he is 17 or so and bored with his life. We all started to ignore him a while back, lets get back to it…