Raheem Wants Better From Nose, Linebackers
September 12th, 2011
So where did the Bucs go wrong on defense yesterday? There’s a lot of answers to that question, but Raheem Morris was clear on three positions and four players needing to do more.
At his Monday news conference, Raheem said he wanted more disruption up the gut.
“Roy [Miller] and [Frank] Okam, we didn’t get very good get-off. We didn’t get very good play out of our nosetackle yesterday,” Raheem said. “And I’ll address that with them. There’s not an indictment on them or anything of that nature. But we’ve go to get better play from our nose tackle position with our get-off the way we want to play the game.”
Per TampaBay.com, Raheem also said he wants more production from Geno Hayes and Quincy Black.
Joe was surprised Roy Miller even got the start over Okam, who was much better in preseason. But each guy got plenty of snaps and both looked a step slow.
As for the linebackers, Joe’s not going to come down on Black again now.
September 12th, 2011 at 3:43 pm
What about our $80 Million offensive line??????? They were one of the biggest reasons our defense was on the field so much!, C’Mon Rah! Somebody……..Anybody needs to light a fire under those four!
September 12th, 2011 at 3:54 pm
You’re right, Frank the Tank should be starting over Roy Miller right now. He’s a monster.
September 12th, 2011 at 3:55 pm
jb, did you watch the game? the lions d didn’t sniff freeman. we didn’t exactly have any gaping holes for blount to run through, but i blame that on a lack of committment to the run. our o line played just fine. receivers had trouble getting open during the first half.
September 12th, 2011 at 4:06 pm
i Agree, it wasn’t really the O-Lines fault. Ironically, what everyone thought was the Detriots biggest weakness. Actually in turn was a strength of thiers this game. The DB’s had almost all receivers blanketed the whole time. One thing is for sure tho… TALIB NEEDS TO STOP GAMBLING against Elite wide outs… almost always it turns out bad.
September 12th, 2011 at 4:08 pm
I also want to know where Briscoe was ? … he had a stellar preseason can’t imagine why he wasn’t on the field a bit more after Stroughter got hurt.
September 12th, 2011 at 4:11 pm
Watching this game I thought of an interview I had just heard with Eric WInston of the Texans, two years ago they were just about where we are now, everyone expected them to be a playoff team, all the expectations we have heard all off season they heard the same ones back then, come game one, they came out flat as a pancake, they couldn’t breath air into that team that day if someone stood on them and pumped their chests, simply put, they vapor locked, all that expectation caught up with them that day. Winston says that they all just froze, flat out 53 men en mass. I think we saw some of that very same vapor lock yesterday.
September 12th, 2011 at 4:42 pm
Espo, So you’re saying because the Lions only sacked Free twice they played well?
They had him running like crazy all day and I’m too disgusted to bring up their performance in those short yardage situations! I realize the Lions secondary was doing a good job of coverage………..but the offensive line is supposed to be one of our strengths! These guys are making $80 Million Plus between them! If what they did this past Sunday is indicative of what we have to look forward to in the future we’ll be lucky to win 5 games………….and WHAT ABOUT NEXT SEASON, since we just re-signed all of them?
September 12th, 2011 at 4:48 pm
Detroit’s “No Name” O Line made our guys look almost silly yesterday. Stafford had all day to pick us apart, and allow his receivers to get open. They ran on us at will.
September 12th, 2011 at 5:04 pm
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/09/12/legarrette-blount-complains-about-his-playing-time/
September 12th, 2011 at 5:06 pm
Blount should not run his mouth to the press. Make your feeling known behind closed doors.
Total lack of respect.
September 12th, 2011 at 5:11 pm
They need to give the ball to Legarrett. That was ridiculous!!! 5 carries. If he doesn’t have 20-25 carries a game. Something is wrong. We were never down enough to go into the 2 minute drill in the 3rd. Terrible coaching. I wasn’t expecting to say that this soon or hopefully at all, but damn. 5 carries for real???? I wonder why we lost. You can’t pass successful if you can’t get the ground game going….point blank period!!!!
September 12th, 2011 at 5:12 pm
I do agree with @eric. No need to put that in the press. Tell Ra and let that be the end of it!!! In house is always the best!!
September 12th, 2011 at 5:18 pm
Ruud had 14 tackles yesterday. Just sayin’.
September 12th, 2011 at 5:25 pm
I hear you D-Rome. But yeah you aren’t winning many games when you get dominated on the line of scrimmage. For all the excuses i’ve seen for Geraldine McCoy & co, they got worked, and Freeman was throwing off his back foot/ running 4 his life on O.
September 12th, 2011 at 5:35 pm
I saw Price and McCoy multiple times in the back field. Never did I see Okam or Miller. I did see miller laying on his ass a couple times. He had a horrible game.
Maybe these guys need to hit the gym some more and focus on their lower bodies because they looked weak all day.
September 12th, 2011 at 6:03 pm
blah..blah..blah…..
September 12th, 2011 at 6:10 pm
According to nfl.com, Price actually got the start. Didn’t notice how much they all rotated.
September 12th, 2011 at 6:38 pm
Part of the running game problem is the lack of a legit fullback to penetrate the hole (small as it may be) and take out the second level of defense. The few times we ran the ball the linebacker were there to plug the hole.
September 12th, 2011 at 6:44 pm
um what about the safety play? sean jones had a couple tackles and the one Forced Fumble, but POOOR coverage.
Grim? one tackle on a run play. im sure his coverage and pursuit was awesome as well
^sarcasm.
September 12th, 2011 at 6:44 pm
@Phil…..the biggest part of the running game problem is the swayback trail horses the franchise leads out on game day…only to watch the horses looking fonding back at the bench…..
September 12th, 2011 at 7:06 pm
Ruud had 14 tackles yesterday. Just sayin’.
LOL
September 12th, 2011 at 7:23 pm
D-Rome,
Yeah, Ruud had a ton of tackles, and the Jaguars still ran for nearly 160 yards.. Same ol’ Ruud. Tackles Schmackles, who cares when a team is running up and down the field on us?
If anything, the run defense was pretty darn good, holding the Lions to 3.6 yards per rush.
My concern are the wide receivers. THe O-line gave Freeman plenty of time, but he was very hestitant to pull the trigger… either he’s gun shy or the receivers got no separation. Considering what he did last season and the fact that the Bucs have invested frequently in bigger, less explosive WRs, I’m thinking it’s the receivers. I think this team needs a burner at WR.
September 12th, 2011 at 7:26 pm
@WeNeedADef And Jacksonville ran for 163 yards. Looks eerily similar to the Ruud the Bucs had.
September 12th, 2011 at 7:29 pm
@Brandon I am always baffled at your game critiques. The OL was allowing pressure all day. Joesph and Penn were like swiss cheese. Watch the game on NFL replay. Look at the center pocket Stafford had at times. Freeman never had a pocket the entire game. OL played garbage. Freeman had pressure in his face all day.
September 12th, 2011 at 7:40 pm
That is rah’s version of revisionist history: Price was the best d lineman on the field before he got hurt. McCoy had two offsides penalties and 2 inconsequential tackles. Sgw said that McCoy appears confused in his pass rushing game, confused was being kind.
Sgw stated what we all saw, on many throws stafford dropped to 10 yards and camped out as if he was the designated qb.
402 yards of offense though 3 quarters until Schwartz took the air out of the football, which was stupid. They may have had 500-600 yards of offense if they stayed in their base offense plan.
The Bucs had 20 points with a defensive score and 80 yard kickoff return. Those plays count but teams who are otherwise equal almost win if you get these 2 big plays in a game at home. To lose by 7 after a TD being down by 14 with under 2 minutes left is an indictment that you got your a– whipped.
The team was I’ll-prepared: bottom line. The Lions weren’t, if the heat was an advantage to us as many of you suggest, how bad would it have otherwise been?
If they lose to the Vikes, which is a real possibility, maybe a probability, lookout kids – the last, minus indy and the colts at home, 14 look very bleak for the home team.
This Vikings game just got much more important.
September 12th, 2011 at 7:41 pm
I meant Indy and panthers . .
September 12th, 2011 at 7:45 pm
I hate when I completely agree with Thomas.
September 12th, 2011 at 7:46 pm
Mauha deeb: I believe the titans gave up all of 16 points, should be enough to win.
September 12th, 2011 at 7:50 pm
@Thomas Yes… And…
September 12th, 2011 at 7:56 pm
I thought that after a full day to digest the game, I’d be a little more optimistic about the rest of the year…I was wrong.
I just hope this team, from the HC down, got their first game jitters out of their system so they can get back to basics with minnesota.
September 12th, 2011 at 8:02 pm
That’s not true, Espo. Throughout the game, Freeman was under pressure. And he was slow on his release. I was surprised at how good Stafford played.
The offensive line should open holes to run through on EVERY running play…and on some passing plays as well in case Freeman needs to run. It was clear he was trying to be a pocket passer yesterday…trying to step up that part of his game. But he shouldn’t ignore the running aspect either.
Our Oline sucked. Badly. There simply is ZERO excuse for it.
OUR DEFENSE on the other hand played better than I expected. I knew they would struggle in the first 4-6 games…but they were more developed than I thought they would be in the first game.
No…they could not stop the run…but then, neither could the line in Dungy’s years either. I use to hate seeing guys run on us back then.
GMC actually did well…he just could not do it all. Remember, he’s not just playing for himself…he’s trying to make up for the rookie next to him as well. He was getting more penetration than last year though…so its clear he’s improving. I think he will have a good year once the other linemen are pulling their weight.
I missed Okam playing. Joe mentioned he got lots of playing time, but I didn’t even see him. I do know he should be getting starting reps. Just not in place of GMC. Miller is usually solid…but he was man-handled yesterday.
I also didn’t see Bowers. Part of the problem is I have not memorized the player numbers yet…gotta get to that!
All-in-all, I was not too disappointed. I expected worse than I saw…and that’s encouraging. Of course the bashers will find any excuse to bash…but it isn’t as bad as people think.
Remember…the Bucs ALWAYS struggle at the start of the year…even if they pull of a win or two. They’ll get it together.
September 12th, 2011 at 8:12 pm
I saw a pretty poorly coached, poorly executed game.
Not trying to single anything out, but I’m seriously hoping that the team is better prepared for the next game.
Another perspective that we may find out as the season progresses is that Detroit might just be a pretty damn good team. Even though it was only preaseason, they really laid the wood to the mighty Patriots… just saying.
Bradford was a #1 pick for a reason… Calvin Johnson is a freak of nature… and Detroit might possibly have one of the strongest D-Lines in the league.
Take these facts, run them against a talented, but young (and seemingly ill-prepared Bucs team) and what you get is what you saw on the field last Sunday.
September 12th, 2011 at 8:38 pm
I saw the cheapest payroll in the NFL with that performance yesterday.
They played like they knew it would be blacked out and no one would be watching.
September 12th, 2011 at 8:49 pm
“Raheem also said he wants more production from Geno Hayes and Quincy Black.”
Hey Raheem, you ever thought that your boys Geno Hayes and Quincy Black aren’t THAT good? So much money invested in this defense and we little/not enough production.
September 12th, 2011 at 8:52 pm
Pete:
You expected the defense to be worse than giving up 400 yards through 3 quarters, time of possession at half was 22-8 in favor of the Lions bc the Bucs couldn’t stop them on third down, and they had 0 sacks.
Did you actually watch the game? Through 3 quarters the lions did whatever they wanted, however they wanted. Then Schwartz went into clock-burn mode.
I dont’t know how you can put anything positive on that performance. I am not sure if the Bucs had 1 game last year where their statistics were that bad through 3 quarters with T.O.P. against, no sacks and yardage allowed.
Yes T.O.P. can involve offensive ineptitude also but if both teams are going 3 and out for a half, the T.O.P. will be close. It takes a poor offense and siv defense to end up with that lopsided of a TOP at half.
September 12th, 2011 at 9:28 pm
@Joe stop coming at Quincy black. He was probably one of our only defenders along with talib and clayborn that played a half decent game yesterday. If you wanna write about a defender that played horrible its sean jones. He dropped 2 ints and was late in coverage on that talib tip that cj caught. Take that away from cj’s stats and he has 6 catches and what 50 somethin yards. Sean Jones was by far the worst player yesterday on defense and I cant wait for tanard to come back, because hopefully they move Grimm over and put Tanard in his old spot. Sean Jones = weak link.
September 12th, 2011 at 9:38 pm
Our linebackers are horrific. Black did nothing, Foster played like a college freshman instead of the stud who’s supposed to save us from the horrors of Ruud (who by the way had 14 tackles yesterday), and I couldn’t even tell you if Hayes was on the field at all yesterday. I thought it was their job to stop the short stuff and the runs that tore us apart all day. What a waste of the 1/2 of the salary cap we actually spend.
September 12th, 2011 at 9:54 pm
Watching the game last night reminded me of the dallas game the season we went 3-13. These types of games are supposed to be a thing of the past. We were not even competitive. Poor coaching, poor offense, poor defense. I am beginning to believe the coaching is holding these guys back. Blount should be playing period. You say we are gonna put the best players on the field, yet we see them sitting on the sideline. Okam should be starting over miller, zuttah over larsen. This is sickening, I know it is only one game, but damn. And if I hear Raheem say we ran out of time again I’m gonna go crazy. We had the same amount of time as detroit, 4 quarters. Detroit made the most of their time, we wasted ours. Is detroit better than we thought, maybe, but that’s still no excuse for what we saw yesterday. Raheem needs to stop making excuses and get these guys playing, I don’t want to hear anymore talk about what we need to do, just do it.
September 12th, 2011 at 10:01 pm
@Thomas 2.2
Sorry, bud…you are permanantly on /ignore so I don’t give you the attention you crave.
@Z-Buc fan
Black did some things. Foster played like a college player because it was his first real outing. There are a lot of things he saw yesterday that he would never see in a preseason game. Did you really expect him or hte rest of the D-line to excel right away?
Give it a few games for the defense. Be patient. If you need to direct anger, direct it at the offensive line and a few of the pass catchers…and a coach that seems to think he went to two minute too quickly when they didn’t do it until the end of the game.
Although, to be fair…Morris doesn’t call offensive plays.
There were good things happening on the field for the defense…it just wasn’t consistent enough. When one player did a good job, the others didn’t. It rarely happened that everyone was on the same page…and that comes with experience.
Give the defense a pass for at least 6 games…provided they should a little improvement with each game.
But I can tell you…I expect a better showing by the Bucs this week…and they might even win it in the last quarter.
September 12th, 2011 at 10:23 pm
Buc_The_World Says:
“I am beginning to believe the coaching is holding these guys back.”
Without a doubt. You’d think that into his 3rd year, Raheem could at least know how to prepare for a game proplerly. Look at what Schwartz is doing in his 3rd year, we took a huge step back to year one.
September 12th, 2011 at 10:45 pm
“They are who we thought they were, and we let them off the hook”
#burfict&teoin2012
September 13th, 2011 at 12:18 am
Not the line??? What was our average per carry? Like. 2.1 yds? Freeman scrambling every single passing down!
Did you guys see the game?? The line sucked- as usual. Caddy ran for 90 yds yesterday, and they said he was laughing the whole time!! So Happy not to be running behind Faine-Joseph- TrueBlood!! The only hole they ever made was this year, in our salary cap money. This line is bad, and has never been any better than bad. Sunday looked just like the first 8 games last year. No running room, no time to pass. Check last years running stats if you don’t believe me. We couldn’t run until those three were on I.R. Then the line play improved.
Horrible mistake not upgrading the O-line this off season.
September 13th, 2011 at 12:33 am
I blame Mark Dominck for this mess, even more than Raheem. He refused to upgrade this team’s talent. He let Caddy and Ruud go. He’s left this team so young and inexperienced, that it panics if things go wrong. He way overpaid the biggest underachieving Slackers on the squad( Black, Joseph, Trueblood), and we are stuck with 3 players who have never lived up to their Rep.,
He knew our starting line and LBers were a train wreck, yet he refused to to improve those areas, despite having more money than any other team, in the most talent rich Free agent class ever.
Yeah, we know Mark doesn’t like vets or Free agents. Well guess what Mark, We don’t like losing or being embarrassed at home , like we were yesterday. This team is all your Vision. You better figure out how to win with it, or Heads should roll this year.
And yer neck should be on the Block
September 13th, 2011 at 12:40 am
@Capt Tim On Faine-Joseph-Trueblood, I totally agree. On the neck on the block, Really? After one friggen game? Come on, dude. It it the first game of the season. Why don’t give it a second before calling it quits? Can you give it a second? Just one friggen second? Holy hell!
You quitters are ridiculous. Type of guys that would give up on their kids for trying to walk and tripping up.
September 13th, 2011 at 7:33 am
Quitters! Lmfao!!
Listen. If I, who has never coached at the pro level, can break down tape with my basic little set up, an see that the O-line and LBers are terrible, then it’s obvious. When ever Draft report says ( besides DE) we need LBers and O-line, then it’s not just me. We were talking about this in January!!!
Then, the draft. One LB is a good start, but not enough. Free agency . We resign the underachievers( ????), and do nothing to fortify obvious weaknesses. Despite the money and opportunity to do so!
Then the season starts- backs average 2.1 yds a carry, Freeman is scrambling for his life, and Detriot can run or throw at will.
I have agreed with all the management teams decisions up to this off season. But this year, they did nothing to improve the team. They actually weakened the team- by losing Caddy and caving in to Beckles followers and not resigning Ruud.
The last two years, they looked like they were honestly trying to build a championship team. This offseason- looks like they thought they had done enough, and just wanted to play it cheap.
By the looks of things Sunday, it didn’t work
September 13th, 2011 at 7:36 am
This game is what you get from a “learning on the job” for 3 years HC/DC.
What is better is the article in TBO where McCoy is claiming Detroit’s line “had” to be cheating because he couldn’t get through it! Reminded me of last year when he claimed (after 10 games) the the D-line coach was not teaching him. Well, the d-line coach was fired for McCoy, but he still sucks this year too. It is what it is Buc Fans. Until we get an experienced Coach in here this game will be about as good as it gets this year!
September 13th, 2011 at 8:04 am
@capt tim Like I said, I agree with you about the OL. But you are already talking about heads rolling. At least give it till mid season.
September 13th, 2011 at 8:27 am
Glad to see others noticed just how pathetic the play of our $80Million offensive line was! Everyone seems to want to blame the defense! The O-line was the primary reason the defense was on the field so long! Don’t we have a new O-Line coach?
He along with the 4 stiffs that played all deserve a BIG F for Sunday’s performance!
September 13th, 2011 at 4:36 pm
@Capt.Tim
I’m with you completely. This team looked real good last year and I thought we could really push it over the top this offseason. But they didn’t. They made the team worse.
This team could be SO MUCH better right now! Really, it should. Our linebackers sucked, yet they go after no one and just give mediocre Black a way overpaid contract. When this team is playoff “caliber” and should be trying to make a serious push for the playoffs, we let Ruud go and let a 3rd round rookie Foster patrol the middle of our defense. Oh yeah, maybe it’ll help us in “the long run”, but what about THIS year? How much longer are Raheem and Dom always going to be thinking about the long run? Back in 2009 I could understand that, as that was an obvious rebuilding year, but now it’s different. We’re in a position where we can be in the playoffs if we really want to, but we’re not doing it. Pretty disappointing.
Also, this free agency approach of Dominck’s is getting to be really retarded. 2 years ago….maybe not. But now, there’s no excuse. We had our draft….yes. But there was a serious lack of talent in so many areas (LB, OL, now RB), and we did nothing. I don’t want to hear about how the free agents cost too much money or that they’re too old or any of that nonsense…. A good player is a good player. Sure, we don’t want 35 or 40 year olds, but what’s wrong with a 30 year old here and there? Not everyone on the team has to be rookies or 2nd year players.
Your thoughts?