McCoy Says He Doesn’t Want A Half-Sack
September 28th, 2011
Though their head coach says “stats are for losers” several times a week, it seems the Bucs may be a little hung up on one statistic coming out of Sunday’s Bucs-Falcons game.
The powers at One Buc Palace are pondering getting official half-credit to Gerald McCoy for Adrian Clayborn’s bone-crushing sack of Matt Ryan, so Twittered esteemed beat writer Roy Cummings of The Tampa Tribune.
@TBO_Buccaneers: Roy: The Bucs are thinking of giving Gerald McCoy half a sack as he had Matt Ryan by the ankles when Adrian Clayborn took him down Sunday.
Now Joe feels a bit uncomfortable describing the significance of a man grabbing another man’s ankles, so you can just watch the NFL.com video of the sack here. It’s pretty darn clear to Joe that this is Clayborn’s sack, though Joe is unaware of how the NFL officially scores this sort of stuff.
But there might be one problem with the Bucs dialing up the league and getting the stats changed. Gerald McCoy already said he doesn’t want any credit for the sack.
Speaking on Total Access on the Buccaneers Radio Network, McCoy made it clear to co-host Dave Moore when Moore raised the subject Tuesday evening.
McCoy explained how he knows that a rookie, especially a first-rounder with pressure to perform, builds confidence off notching a sack on the stat sheet. And McCoy said he has no interest in undoing that. McCoy said he even reached out to Clayborn on Tuesday, the players’ day off, just to let him know how proud he was of him that his steady hard work paid off Sunday.
McCoy even described the play in detail and how he didn’t know initially that Clayborn had wiped out Ryan.
Joe hopes the Bucs let it go.
September 28th, 2011 at 8:14 am
Class. McCoy knows, the way he’s blowing up O -lines this year- he’ll vet his sacks. Clayborn needs it worse. No worries. If they play like they did last week, they will get plenty of sacks.
September 28th, 2011 at 8:18 am
I don’t think Clayborn needs McCoy to reach out to him and give him encouragement , considering Clayborn is already twice the player McCoy is….
September 28th, 2011 at 8:20 am
He had 5 pressures and a hit. He was the most disruptive of any player in the passing game. McCoy did great, regardless of his sack total. He was stout in his run defense as well.
Everyone is worried about sacks, but pressure and hits are just as important. They lead to ints. If you have 4 sacks in a game but only 2 added pressures, it isn’t nearly as effective as and 10 pressures and 5 hits.
The Bucs had 4 sacks, 18 pressures and 5 QB hits against ATL and it showed on the score board.
September 28th, 2011 at 8:22 am
@Diary of a Wimpy Ruud, if it weren’t for GMC consistently blowing up the middle of the Atl O-line last week, Clayborn wouldn’t have got to Ryan nearly as much as he did. GMC was in the Atl backfield more than Michael Turner was.
September 28th, 2011 at 8:24 am
Consistently blowing up the middle of the line ?? HAHAHA keep dreaming.
Price did more in half the plays…
September 28th, 2011 at 8:24 am
I agree with flmike
September 28th, 2011 at 8:24 am
@Diary of a Wimpy Ruud I highly disagree. McCoy has more QB pressures than Clayborn and is far better against the run. At least right now. McCoy is the stud on the line so far. His presence is what allowed the sacks last week.
September 28th, 2011 at 8:26 am
lol Price had one pressure and one sack. McCoy had 5 pressures and a hit. What game were you watching?
September 28th, 2011 at 8:31 am
McCoy had zero tackles and zero sacks….AGAIN. What game were YOU watching ?? He’s an average DT , plain and simple. If you think he’s playing like a 3rd overall pick you are simply lying to yourself. Keep making excuses for non-production .
September 28th, 2011 at 8:34 am
There is no excuse. You say “non-production” but I gave you the stats already. Stop trying to discount a player by omitting stats.
September 28th, 2011 at 8:38 am
If you want to knock on McCoy, point out his penalties. BUt trying to discount him by pointing out his tackles or sacks without taking into affect his clear pressures and line penetration is ridiculous.
With your argument points you should have loved Ruud. You clearly dislike Ruud, yet he made tackles all the time. Stop being hypocritical. I bet you think Asomugha is awful as well.
September 28th, 2011 at 8:40 am
You are a true genius Diary Wimp
September 28th, 2011 at 8:42 am
And btw, he had 3 tackles last week.
September 28th, 2011 at 8:45 am
Pressures isn’t even an official statistic kept by the NFL , lol . It proves nothing and is a judgement call. A guy can run by a QB after the ball is out , with no real chance to make a sack , and get credited with a pressure by apologists like you.
Face it , McCoy is a softie . If Price was healthy enough to play every down and you put him at Under-tackle instead of Nose , you’ll see what disruption really looks like.
Maybe you can go before the Hall of Fame COmmitee at the end of McCoy’s career and explain why a guy with 5 career sacks deserves to get in , LOL.
September 28th, 2011 at 8:48 am
It is only McCoy’s second year, and we’re only 3 games into it. Even Gaines Adams had more time to prove himself.
McCoy is better than you give him credit for. He’ll have your stats by the end of the season.
And btw…is he playing in the spot that traditionally gets sacks or helps others get sacks?
September 28th, 2011 at 8:54 am
Pete …undertackle is designed to be freed up and get the sacks. Nose is supposed to eat double-teams. McCoy is a dissappointment plain and simple.
Yes , he is young , but from a 3rd overall pick you want to at least see some flashes of beastly freakish talent . DO we ever see that from McCoy ?? No , he doesn’t have it. He is what he is : he’s a DT who’s weak and undersized with a decent 1st step. Period. End of Story.
September 28th, 2011 at 8:54 am
There are a lot of things the NFL doesn’t keep track of, but every team does.
What is it with the similar language you McCoy haters use? “apologists”? Really? I guess the Bucs stat keeper, PFF, and Football Outsiders are all McCoy “apologists”.
I never said anything about HOF. Now you are being plain comical.
It is impossible to reason with unreasonable people.
September 28th, 2011 at 8:55 am
He is playing a lot better. You’re way to wrapped up in the McCoy/Suh Comparison. That’s simply not fair for McCoy to constantly be compared to Suh. They don’t play the same way. McCoy is doing exactly what he is suppose to be doing.. Cause disruption. Sacks are icing on the cake. The cake is for him to do exactly what he has been doing. Give the guy a break.
He is suppose to cause problems for the O-line allowing the others ( LIKE CLAYBORN) to make the sacks and big plays. McCoy is doing the dirty work while others reap the benefit. He isn’t Suh nor is he Sapp. But he IS playing well for a DT.
September 28th, 2011 at 9:03 am
SRQ- McCoy and SUh were drafted back to back and are being paid almost idenditcal salaries , so it is PERFECTLY fair to compare the two.
We are talking about a top 3 draft pick . If you think we are paying him to not get sacks , you are kidding yourself. Ever notice that the best Defensive lineman DO end up with sacks ?? LOL , why is that do you think??
September 28th, 2011 at 9:03 am
Diary…you are passing judgement far too early.
September 28th, 2011 at 9:12 am
Pete … I’m not saying he is a bust . I’m just saying don’t sit here and lie and make excuses and tell me what a great disruptive player he is right now. He’s not. As of now he’s average , and we didn’t draft him that high to be average.
Want to end the Suh comparisions and the naysayers ?? Easy. Start playing like him , because that is what REAL disruption looks like…
September 28th, 2011 at 9:21 am
McCoy’s job as undertackle is to penetrate and force the QB to move backwards and to his left, right into the waiting arms of the RDE in this case Clayborn. Any sacks he gets are gravy and just prove his quickness off the ball. The middle of this line plays a game of disruption, you are comparing GMC to Sapp and Suh, which is unfair as the position has changed a bit since Sapp played the 3T and the defense was geared for him to rush and get the sacks. What happened when Rice showed up, it became Sapps job to penetrate and force the QB to move to his left. With Suh, his game is pure power, there is not subtlety to his game, its bullrush and try and stop me while VandenBosch and Williams eat dbl and triple teams so Suh can penetrate. The Lions D is schemed up for Suh to succeed, our D is not schemed for one player, and eventually that is going to hurt the Lions. Go back and watch the game GMC does his job and does it well, disruption causes caos in backfields and that what he did.
September 28th, 2011 at 9:37 am
Well said, flmike.
September 28th, 2011 at 9:42 am
With all of this arguing about Suh vs. McCoy, we shouldn’t lose sight of what Dave Moore said in that film. The young Bucs are beginning to figure out how to solve the quick snap by the offense which plagued them in the Detroit and Minnesota games. In the play shown on the film, Dave Moore said that Ryan was preparing to throw the quick snap, and the Bucs defensive line made him pay.
September 28th, 2011 at 9:48 am
Sorry, guys, I meant quick pass
September 28th, 2011 at 10:01 am
Those of you blasting McCoy………. SRIOSULY, what is the issue. The guy has been THE MOST CONSISTENT D-Lineman so far this year. He has had ALOT of QB pressures and is constantly blowing up the middle of the line.
Many of you obviously have no clue what a DT does and is supposed to do.
I will bet ANYONE that he has 7+ sacks by the end of the year the way he is playing. And you show me a DT who gets 7 sacks a year and I’ll give you an all-pro. NO, I am not saying he is that yet, but he has shown all the signs that he has the potential to be that.
As teams account more for Clayborne and Bennett and Bowers, McCoy is going to blow up.
Anyway, on that play mcCoy was awesome and is the reason Ryan did not see Clayborne until the last second. he was busy trying to get out of there because McCoy blew the middle up AND got a holding call while doing it.
Stop being haters and just enjoy watching these young D-Lineman come into their own. They are going to be dominant for a long time.
September 28th, 2011 at 10:05 am
Wimpy Ruud obviously doesnt know football. Too many people get lost in stats thats how readers who played the game know that you dont know anything about football. Football is a team sport it takes teamwork to get sacks in the NFL these guys are professionals. Without GMC there is no way we would get to ryan that many times last game. Yea he is not SUH but GMC still does his thing in the trenches. Stop hating on the man and get behind our TEAM its fans like you that need to hop off the bandwagon.
September 28th, 2011 at 10:10 am
Whimpy- you have officially joined the ranks of the totally clueless. McCoyis playing at a very high level this year, and it has been noticed by at least 3 of the pro scouting reports. They are all saying that teams have to account for McCoys speed up the Middle, and he is starting to dictate what offenses try to do against the Bucs.
But it’s good to see Thomas now has friend. You two can bash McCoy all year, then complain how he looked outclassed at the ProBowl, which is where he and Suh are going be hanging out together for years. Hopefully with Clayborn!
September 28th, 2011 at 10:30 am
Stats are for Losers.
Suh is build on power, and like flmike said, the Detroit D is built for Suh to succeed.
McCoy is playing his tail off, working hard in practice and helping the other young guys come along. I am happy to have McCoy on this team.
McCoy is playing Point Guard for the Buc’s D, and allowing others to succeed from his efforts and penetration.
The Bucs are on the upswing, watch out NFL.
@ Diary, get a clue and have some patience. McCoy is getting better each week and is becoming a consistent force. Michael Tjurner had 30 yards rushing, and most importantly the Bucs Won.
I am more impressed with our Run D, and you can take your Ruud Diary to to the Titans.
September 28th, 2011 at 10:33 am
McCoy’s pressure was a major reason Clayborn got that sack. I’ll take McCoy’s pressure all day rather than a few tackles you guys seem so hung up on. Props to Clayborn winning his one on one. LT’s should start getting nervous going up against this guy.
September 28th, 2011 at 10:39 am
Watching the clip, Clayborn got to Ryan a split second before McCoy and should get full credit for the sack because he blew Ryan up. McCoy was wrapped around his ankles and MAY have brought him down himself, but a QB can generally find somewhere to dump the ball if a lineman is around his ankles. He can’t do anything with the ball when someone is blowing up in his face. Great play!
September 28th, 2011 at 10:58 am
Why would the org try to steal from one player in order to promote another? Because his play doesnt earn stats, they must be given. These gmc excuses and fraud to inflate his stats and impact needs to stop.
September 28th, 2011 at 11:16 am
@Thomas2.2 now you’re just being contrary to be contrary.
September 28th, 2011 at 11:17 am
Look at Clayborns sack in the video link. He would not have gotten it had GMC not beat his man and forced Ryan to hesitate and start moving to his left. He forced Ryan directly into the path of Clayborn. Arguing this fact is pointless and shows much effort to discredit his game, something fans of the team do not do.
September 28th, 2011 at 11:19 am
There is a great article on bucsnation.com that charts the d line play during the falcons game. It was posted yesterday, and it offers tremendous insight, I feel, into the roles each of the d line players.
If you couple the data from that article with coach Miillard’s team-oriented pass rush philosophy, its pretty obvious that McCoy is doing exactly what we Bucs fans want him to do.
The guy played out of his mind against the falcons. I was sceptical about him at first, but now I am pumped that he is with us.
The lions can keep Suh. I like our guy, our scheme, and our whole damn line.
September 28th, 2011 at 11:22 am
Diary of an idiot/Thomas/javaray are the same person. Stop biting their bait. I mean in one comment he says McCoy has no tackles and after we prove to him he had 3 tackles, where is he to be found? Nowhere
McCoy is a stud!
September 28th, 2011 at 11:49 am
Ignore Wimpy Thomas . . . they obviously know not what they speak of.
It is like talking to baseball stat guy. I love stats but there are ALOT of times when they do not matter one bit.
Wimpy Thomas wants to blame McCoy for AP running wild in a half but then doesn’t give him credit for stuffing the ATL run attack.
Whatever….
I do not know what McCoy will become, but all the measureables and intangibles and work ethic are there for him to be a great DT.
Personally, I think he has been the most consistent D-Lineman all year.
I do agree that the Bucs should not even try to get a 1/2 sack credit to McCoy. He does not need it and it takes away from Clayborne.
What I do know is this: I am not ignorant enough to proclaim a DT a bust after he just played in his 16th NFL game.
September 28th, 2011 at 12:02 pm
McCoy played his best game and made Matt Ryan’s life hell. He gave him nowhere 2 step up and throw and alter their run game. He’s tha sole reason that Clayborn was able 2 make his play on tha QB
September 28th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
GMC is the most explosive off the snap of anyone on the D-line. If you watch the game, it is obvious. His stats will come and many of these “expert” posters will have to move on to bitching about somebody else.
September 28th, 2011 at 12:29 pm
I grew up in Michigan so I follow the Lions on the NFL ticket each week as a secondary team behind the Bucs. It is hard to compare Suh to McCoy because of the talent on the d-line that Suh inherited. Avril, Willams, VDB are all very good experienced lineman. McCoy had little talent or inexperienced people around him last year and now. I can say with supreme confidence that Suh would not of had the type of year he had last year if he was in McCoy’s position and played the same 13 games or so on the Bucs. Suh is an up field rushing lineman that doesn’t secure his run gaps very well. If the Bucs would have tried to establish the run the game it may have turned out a little different against the Lions similar to last year. AP last week against the Lions looked just like he did against the Bucs in the 1st half; most of those runs were right at Suh. Just like against the Bucs the Vikings stopped giving the ball to AP in the second half for some reason. A good running should expose the Lions at various games this year if nothing else to keep their offense off of the field and control the clock.
I do see flashes and some definite all around improvement with McCoy. I think he and this young d-line will continue to improve and grow together. I know Suh has better pass rushing skills and is a better finisher then McCoy at this point. Time will tell if McCoy can develop into a Pro Bowl level DT that most of us hope that he will. A lot of that will also depend on the development of Clayborn, Price, Okam, Bowers, etc.
September 28th, 2011 at 12:34 pm
@patrickbucs
Well said analysis my friend
September 28th, 2011 at 12:36 pm
While McCoy haters keep hating I’ll keep enjoying the dominating DL play. Don’t hate appreciate! Save your breath McCoy supporters, some people never like to loose an argument!
September 28th, 2011 at 1:07 pm
@IHMO & patrickbucs, totally agree. The Lions are in Win Now mode, especially with Stafford being healthy right now (god only knows how long before he goes down again). They really need LaShoure back, with him, they win the North, even with their crappy secondary, they can put points up with the best of them, can’t wait to see them play the Saints.
September 28th, 2011 at 1:12 pm
Some of the excusrs for mccoy:
His teammates arent good;
He isnt supposed to make tackles or sacks;
He is just a second year player;
His coaching isnt good;
What next? Come on be creative.
September 28th, 2011 at 1:16 pm
Diary,
You are a moron…plain and simple. You judge players by statistics so I’ll use coach Morris’ own words…you’re a loser. You clearly were watching a different game or you have a bias on McCoy that you just can’t let go of. McCoy has been disruptive for 3 games now and he is just starting to get a supporting cast to cash in on the havoc he creates. McCoy was in Ryan’s grill ALL DAY and forced Ryan to throw early on a number of occasions. On one play Ryan threw and I swear McCoy had his hands on Ryan’s should pads. That was the QB hit. If you don’t like McCoy…fine. Just say “I don’t like McCoy because I thought he was going to be a bust and I’m too stupid to admit he’s not” and get on with life but to just ignore his impact on the defense makes you look like a child.
September 28th, 2011 at 1:34 pm
Again Thomas, how come your only posts have been about GMC? I’m beginning to think you have some kind of secret special feelings for him. There is not one post in the last 2 weeks from you except for the ones about GMC. I know you are sad about the win, but you can usually do a better job of discounting a win. You are losing your edge. Now you’ve got a new loser stealing your thunder. That must make you really upset, because you aren’t getting all the attention you so desperately need.
And by the way genius, all NFL teams evaluate the game and take their own stats. McCoy obviously doesn’t care about stats, which says a lot about him. A blind man could see he (and Price) were creatic havoc on Sunday. You don’t hold Turner to 20 yards rushing without playing great inside. (you see how I just gave credit to more than one person for our team’s success. That’s the case in a team sport, in case you didn’t know.)
September 28th, 2011 at 1:45 pm
Anyone who watched the game closely doesn’t need to care what 2.2 or anyone else thinks about McCoy. He was in the Falcons backfield more frequently than anyone else on the d-line, and that’s saying a lot because our d-linemen were back there frequently. McCoy came close to several sacks, redirected the RB numerous times and generally caused a lot of trouble for the Falcons. He’s looking superb and is going to be a star.
Ignore the trolls, haters and pessimists. They’ve proven they don’t have a clue about football. All they know is their own misguided emotions and psychological issues. Let them starve.
September 28th, 2011 at 1:48 pm
I agree with Dave’s comment above.
Clayborn and Bowers are still wet behind the ears, just like McCoy was a year ago. Next year will be McCoy’s best year with a 100% Brian Price and a year under the belts of Clayborn and Bowers. Clayborn needs to learn a swim move. One bullrush doesn’t cut it in the NFL.
That was spot on in one of the above comments about sticking Suh in our Dline last year and he wouldn’t have seen the production b/c of the stellar line he is with now.
I’d love to see the sacks NOW, however, we’re still in rebuilding mode. They’re double teaming McCoy and putting one person on Clayborn b/c he’s still a pup.
I’m very excited to see what the Dline will develop into.
September 28th, 2011 at 5:19 pm
I don’t care who did what on the D line. I don’t care what the usual clueless hater crowd thinks either. You guys really aren’t Buc fans if you are bashing a win like this one, and as far as I’m concerned you can suck it. Ledge said it loud and clear today on the radio to the BSPN crowd, “Suck It!”
The O line did a great job. The D line did a great job. What the hell more could you ask for, other than maybe not an injury to Cody Grimm.
September 28th, 2011 at 5:50 pm
Keep making excuses for the Girl-Kitten , McCoy. ( opposite of Boy-dog)
The only thing he is disrupting is everyone’s twitter feed…
September 28th, 2011 at 6:12 pm
Sometimes I wonder if these characters are Joe getting a rise out of people.
September 28th, 2011 at 6:41 pm
Thanks for the clarification that a girl kitten is the opposite of a boy dog (both of which make no sense once you get past the second grade by the way). I make it a point to never argue with someone who has yet to reach puberty.
September 29th, 2011 at 8:19 am
Raheem has not reached puberty ?? Boy-dog is his term not my mine , lol.
Girl-kitten makes perfect sense when desribing McCoy . It fits like using the word “blue” to desribe the sky….
September 29th, 2011 at 2:16 pm
The only thing he is disrupting is everyone’s twitter feed…
Now I know you’re a schmuck, I follow GMC and he hasn’t tweeted in a week. So basically you are a liar, you are taking stories you’ve either heard, read or made up, stats that you have either made up (zero tackles against the Falcons, actually credited with 3) or think you heard from T2.2. Next week try watching the game and maybe chart GMC and the rest of the D-line, keep your own stats, then come and make proclamations, but make them based on facts, not your obvious bias. Remember you can have your own opinion, just not you own facts.