Raheem Grades The Offensive Line
August 19th, 2011
As Joe wrote immediately following the Bucs’ crushing defeat at the hands of the Patriots, the Bucs’ high-priced offensive line was the greatest disappointment last night.
It’s unthinkable for that unit to be manhandled like that over five series.
During his Friday news conference after reviewing game tape, Raheem Morris was candid grading the unit.
“Maybe Larsen had a little bit of built up emotion, jumped off sides, completely whiffed a guy on a run early, then he settled down and played a little bit better. He took turns messing up a little bit,” Raheem said.
“Trueblood played probably his most solid game that we’ve seen in a while. He looked very productive.
“Davin looked okay. He made one mistake that’s very correctable.
“Penn didn’t play great. It was kind of a dragover from kind of his week that he had. It’s a good teaching moment for Penn. He didn’t play awesome. He didn’t play terrible, but he didn’t play great by any means.
“Faine was very solid. Zuttah came in and did a nice job for us at the backup center.
“James Lee didn’t play particularly well, as well as he did towards the end of the season when he was really competing. We want to get him better.”
Hearing this it’s safe to say Trueblood has the starting right tackle job all but locked up. And if you’re keeping score, four the big seven above had issues. On the upside, Raheem also later credited Faine for excellent adjustments.
The Bucs are going to go as far as the O-line and Freeman can take them, so Joe can’t help but obsess about their performance.
August 20th, 2011 at 12:05 am
Great picture Joe.
August 20th, 2011 at 7:12 am
Guess that picture would define”In Yer Grill!” who is that poor bastard getting read the riot act??
August 20th, 2011 at 7:41 am
Joe here,
This is an old photo of Raheem and Penn — 2009.
August 20th, 2011 at 8:01 am
I didn’t like the end result, but I was totally amused by Penn’s now infamous butt block – if Penn had hit the tackler at the point-of-attack with a big gust of air, it would have discouraged his attack and the results might have been different!! When you have no game plan….try something different!!
August 20th, 2011 at 8:40 am
In what world did Faine play well? How about that replay where two patriots blow right past Faine while he reaches forward and basically blocks air/ground. Pats were getting pressure right up the gut. That has a lot to do with Faine.
August 20th, 2011 at 8:54 am
F- on the Bucs ¡Olé!’ line.
One of the worst Oline performances I’ve ever had the displeasure to watch in person, preseason or not. It looked like if the UFL and NFL played against each other in a Bowl game. The Bucs played the role of the Sacramento Mountain Lions.
I pray for 8-8.
August 20th, 2011 at 9:09 am
Macabee- lmao! You aren’t suggesting that Penn , um, “fart” on the patriot player, are you? Well, that certainly would repulse even the most zealous defender. Problem is, if that strategy works, pat morris will have all the o- linemen filling up on cabbage and retried beans! Freeman could be seriously injured, and would demand to work out of the shotgun formation only( I ain’t sticking my hands in there!). Plus, that would only further create attendance problems( the stadium isn’t that big).
If you could wear a clothespin on yer nose, bet you could get lower bowl tickets cheap!! Lol
Raheem made that sound like a not so bad performance by the o-line. Bet that’s not what he said to ’em in private! The entire line pretty much sucked- vet to rookie FA. Except fir(gulp) Trueblood!! Way to go Jeremy! Glad to see it!
August 20th, 2011 at 9:28 am
Capt. Tim, You could smell that one coming a mile away. lol. By the way, everybody should read your post on Shaun King this AM. It helps to put things in perspective.
August 20th, 2011 at 9:53 am
What got me was Wilfork was using the swim move, that is the oldest move in the book, and at one point he and the DT did it at the same time and both were on top of Josh with no Buc in sight.
August 20th, 2011 at 10:10 am
To this day I’ve considered the fact that Donald Penn is a pro-bowler absolutely laughable. Pro bowl left tackles don’t get spun around and embarassed like Andre Carter did to Penn. Preseason or not. I won’t put it all on the o-line. I saw Earnest GRaham completely blow a couple of protections allowing free runners on Freeman. Im not sure what effect the fact that the Pats played the whole game in 4-3 when they were exclusively a 3-4 team last year had on the game. It certainly meant the Bucs probably were expecting a different defensive scheme than what they saw. Still the Bucs play primarily 4-3 defenses and should have had a little more of an answer. Even in preseason. I sincerely hope this line gels a little more and a competent 3rd down back is found throughout the rest of preseason. I know Freeman is great under pressure but it would be nice to see what he can do when he has all day to throw the ball.
August 20th, 2011 at 11:40 am
Becklesheartwhatever- you find it laughable, because you don’t know what you’re looking at. Penn is, by mist accounts, the most talented Buccaneer on the roster. Andre Carter has a lot to prove- he was balls out all night, and made everyone look bad. Penn is a Vetern. No matter what lie they feed you, Penn knows that the most important thin in preseason is to get thru it uninjured. All Vets( except those with something to prove) are honing technique, not intensity. Penn is the best lineman we have. I believe he is the only above average linemen we have. He Carter is trying to prove he still belongs. It’s a dangerous senario in the preseason. Don’t think he’ll be quite such a force in the regular season.
Besides, macabee has developed this new blocking technique!! I think it’s gonna turn our line play around!! I’m all for it, even though I won’t stand behind it!!
August 20th, 2011 at 12:39 pm
LoL Capt Tim can’t even pick Donald Penn out of a lineup. Doesn’t surprise me.
August 20th, 2011 at 3:16 pm
HGO- you are such a happy dude! You know, it’s really rare for a guy in my line of work to say this, but you may be one of the the few people that need to smoke a lil herb once in a while. I bet your doctor would even Prescibe some for you! You just seem so tight wrapped all the time. Meybe decaf? I don’t know, something to get you off the edge once in a while. You’re a smart, if bitter, guy. I’m worried about you having an stroke or something. Or Meybe a career with more violence- like a detective or something. Keeps me mellow. Your right, I didn’t recognize Penn. But it was a pretty bad angle, and IPhone pictures are pretty small- couldn’t even see the beard. But if it amused you that much, I’m glad I bright a lil happiness to your Sunday,
Your friend,
Capt. Tim
Oh, if you wanna be really pissed, try living in Virginia for a while. You got state taxes, NO bikinis, and you gotta listen to Redskin news. I’m surprised I haven’t gone postal!!
August 20th, 2011 at 10:49 pm
Larsen really didn’t play well at all. Brandon Carter came in against the same Pat DL and actually held Warren at bay. He blocked him well. Zuttah played well also, perhaps the change needs to be made. Zuttah’s snaps look 100% better, Carter did a good job on Warren who was giving Larsen fits on every play. Time to see them both with the #1s.
August 21st, 2011 at 1:34 am
Why does it always seem that every time Tampa plays a 3/4 defense AFC team, we seem to struggle ?
I think our defense was unsure with the calls, and we were not prepared (coached) for the Patriots.