Ronde Barber Calls Bucs “Average.”
November 7th, 2011
To quote the immortal Herm Edwards, “you play to win the game.” At the end of the season, you hope either you have enough wins to make the playoffs or, this season, you have enough losses to qualify for Suck for Luck and draft Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck in next spring’s draft.
This season, it appears the Bucs will be in neither category. Veteran Bucs cornerback Ronde Barber went so far as to call the Bucs “average” while trying to explain how the team has found itself in it’s current predicament, per quotes obtained via the Bucs media relations staff.
When speaking of the perpetual slow starts, Barber hinted he doesn’t see the Bucs breaking out of this habit any time soon.
“It’s not a problem you correct in two weeks,” Barber said. “That has to be a mentality. We know what our issues are. They affect the outcome of the game, and they did today. It’s not like we don’t know what they are. We know what they are. We just have to get better at it.”
“[The Bucs] play kind of average to start the game and try to get back in it late. You can’t start slow versus good teams. We know that. We are 4-4. It’s an average record. We played average at times today. It is probably where we should be. You generally get what you deserve in this game. We don’t deserve to be top of the division right now, we aren’t playing like it.”
Props to Barber for keeping it real and not searching for the now tired cliches of how the team is “youngry” or that the coaches will go “back to the lab” and correct everything.
It’s high time for specific players that Joe doesn’t have to name, specifically on defense, to look in the mirror and ask themselves what they need to do in order to help their teammates out.
November 7th, 2011 at 8:25 am
It’s what I expected this year. I said that if we lost caddy and Ruud, we would be a .500 team. I said Freeman might pull out an upset, to get us to 9-7, but predicted 8-8.
The problems now are the same ones we had in the spring. Horrible OLBers, bad CBs( not including the great Ronde- Barber), inexperienced play caller on defense( that really showed up yesterday). And a young team full of apprentices , no journeymen
We new this. We did nothing. No surprise here. Knew we wouldn’t make the playoffs this year. Sad, but true.
I support the move to Foster, but it has cost us. We should have kept Ruud around to make the transition easier. Plus even Ruud is a huge upgrade over Hayes or Black, both of whom do nothing at all to help this team. At Least they finally put Hayes on the bench!
November 7th, 2011 at 8:32 am
Someone answer a question for me. These 4th quarter comebacks… are they comebacks or does the leading team switch up to more of a prevent allowing the Bucs to run a little more time off the clock but preventing repetitive scores? I haven’t seen the same style play in the 4th quarter as we did last year. The precision and swagger isn’t there. They eventually get a score and then our defense gets handled and finally the offense staggers down the field getting a bunch of underneath passes to run out the clock. I really don’t think it is 4th quarter comeback worthy play this year. Just bend don’t break by the opposing defense. Just my 2 cents.
November 7th, 2011 at 8:49 am
Can you imagine what this team’s record would be without Barber? He is the only player on defense that is consistantly showing up for games! We’d be looking more like 2-6 rather than 4-4. He looked pretty good wearing those head phones a couple of weeks ago; maybe we should be thinking about hiring him for DC. As far a Foster goes; even as a rookie he’s considerably better than Ruud.
November 7th, 2011 at 9:02 am
This is about right however i feel with some better coaching we definitely could have a better record. we have been in every game except one, we should atleast have 5 wins if not 6 under our belt. The defense is playing horrible nobody is making plays clayborn gets double or even triple teamed because he is the only one getting a constant pressure, even on run plays the guy gets double teamed. our linebackers are horrid besides foster, as for ruud i would of like to keep him as well and get rid of black and have foster play olb. ROY MILLER cant tackle anybody even if they are half his size.
November 7th, 2011 at 9:15 am
I thought Raheem did not give up on his players um um geno Hayes . Should have gave up black before him good points captin Tim. I see the bucs being lucky for having the record we do lions vikings games we could have been blown out (if not for them stop running Ap and getting onside kick) falcons and saints we had to draw them offsides to hold on to the win
November 7th, 2011 at 9:26 am
Since when did Ronde become the optimist?
November 7th, 2011 at 9:29 am
Joe, we need a full time head coach and a full time DC, we have neither. Maybe this would produce better play calling.
November 7th, 2011 at 9:30 am
I’m giving a pass to Clayborn, Bowers, Price, and Foster…..the rest of them have no excuse.
November 7th, 2011 at 9:39 am
tanard also gets a pass should have sacked brees but the guy is a playmaker normally
November 7th, 2011 at 9:46 am
I don’t know if I’ve ever been as disgusted with the effort on defense as I was yesterday. A few plays come to mind
The first was Darren Sproles’ long run down the middle of the field…..Aqib Talib just kind of running right next to him, apparently scared to jump on Sproles and bring him down. The second was a tough run up the middle of the defense by Pierre Thomas…I think it was Foster who had him wrapped up, but not down and all 10 other guys were just standing there watching him break tackles. It was disgusting
You know, earlier this decade the TB defense played like they were insulted opposing offenses would even dare to step on the field with them….disgusted that they were even trying to gain yards. This D seems comfortable with mediocrity. I don’t like the attitude I’m seeing on defense right now at all. There is no aggression. There is no attitude. There is no tenacity. I don’t like it at all
November 7th, 2011 at 9:52 am
One could imply “Average” to mean .500. As much as I love this team, I am honestly having difficulty naming 4 teams on our remaining scedule that we will definitely beat. Carolina is no longer a gimme. Maybe the Jags and Titans, but I’m not sure the team that played yesterday could beat those teams!
November 7th, 2011 at 9:53 am
Dear Joe:
I believe this means it is time to bring back JoeBoltsFan.com Let’s read about a team with a solid coach, star players and a team that rebounds from a tough start before the last few minutes.
I have defended Rah Rah and the Bucs this season, but I am done. Poor coaching and play calling is apparent. I would fire Olsen first and see if a better play caller has any effect. I don’t think Rah Rah is long for this team either unless the Glazers just don’t care any more.
November 7th, 2011 at 9:55 am
Andrew:
Joe never made a dime off of JoeBoltsFan and it actually took away precious time from working on JoeBucsFan. So, sadly, with only so much time in the day, Joe decided to refocus his efforts on JoeBucsFan.
it was a smart decision.
November 7th, 2011 at 9:59 am
Raheem Coached his butt off last year cause he was on the hot seat now he has gotten more cocky and full of himself . How can this coach who is learning on the Job still ,yell at blount for throwing a punch but not in any way punish Talib who has been punching people since he has been a rookie. By the way BUcs fans just found out tha Olsen besides laset year never really called plays With the Lions Steve marricai called the plays and the rams Scott linenien called the plays so we have two inexperienced Cordinators
November 7th, 2011 at 10:03 am
Dear Joe:
I understand but this makes me sad…especially missing Amanda Harris (smart and cute for crying out loud). It was nice though to feel sick through the Bucs game only to have the Lightning provide the cure.
I still like Raheem, but he is reminding me too much of how Chucky would pull excuses out of his rear that were absurd. I would rather he come out and say, we sucked and I am going to run these guys like sled dogs during the week. I am going to make Greg Olsen play Madden until he can out play call ten year olds……
November 7th, 2011 at 10:39 am
Actually, we are 26th against the rush, 27th against the pass, with an overall defensive ranking of 29th.
That is not “average”.
Consistently bad, but not average.
This, after a slew of high draft choices to address these shortcomings and the hiring of a defensive oriented head coach.
So, why is Greg Olson the problem but not Raheem Morris?
November 7th, 2011 at 10:40 am
Fire Greg Olsen RIGHT NOW…
November 7th, 2011 at 10:49 am
Ronde knows Tiki could have helped this team which is why he is upset. I couldn’t agree with him more. A wasted season thanks to Dom.
And Denny I agree. Fire Greg Olsen RIGHT NOW…
November 7th, 2011 at 11:01 am
Heard this thru the grapevine, then read it another site.
This is the last year the Glazers have had to pay the wretched Chucky his 4 mil. They have gotten away with paying Less than 2 mil for a head coach/ Defensive coordinator. Now that they aren’t paying Chucky, they plan to bring in a big name coach, as they are disappointed with the teams lack of discipline. They want to maintain the Line coaches, but the rest will be up to the new coach.
And it aint Bill Cowher
It’s Jeff Fischer- former titans Guru.
Unless Raheem pulls off a playoff miracle, and the team quits accruing stupid penalties, it’s a done deal.
Not sure I agree with it, but there it is.
November 7th, 2011 at 11:09 am
Sorry, damn not so smart phone” Jeff Fisher”
Between Chucky and Monte Kiffin, Glazers have been dishing out 6-7 million.
You can buy a heck of head coach for that price.
Not sure I want to give up on Raheem yet. I think he needs a DC, and Meybe a new OC, but I think Raheem has potential.
November 7th, 2011 at 11:32 am
I agree with Capt Tim. He needs two tough Coordinators and to bring the hammer down on those that need it. I learned when I was in the military that if you don’t punish the bad immediately, the good wonder why try because it doesn’t matter. This is what is going on in the Bucs. Tuesday should be a “Come to ….. day” for those idiots, including the play calling, for the last chance at doing anything, but the flip side is a higher draft choice. The games are going to be blacked out anyhow and this will cause the changes because it is money out of pocket.
November 7th, 2011 at 11:38 am
Capt. Tim,
Didn’t Monte resign?
So, the Glazer boys haveen’t been paying him, if thats what you meant.
Actually, as much as I havent been a Rah supporter, the man does deserve to play out these last eight games and see where we are.
Strange league, Jets were DOA and now on top, Patriots have fallen back, Falcons suddenly making a run, so its a bit early to throw dirt on Rah IMO, to be fair.
But, it is beginning to look similar to Wyche’s last season.
November 7th, 2011 at 1:34 pm
Fisher huh? Interesting rumor. Have any sources at all for that Capt. Tim?
November 7th, 2011 at 1:36 pm
Eric, he’ll get his last eight games. It doesn’t do any good to change in mid season. But if you’ve followed the Glazers, they don’t cut coaches much slack.
It’s not wins and loses this season that will decide his fate. It’s putting an undisciplined, foul prone team on the field that will be the deciding factor
Domminick apparently isn’t part of the change. But I think he has some accountability in this also. He decided to cut Ruud and caddy, which really hurt both offense and defense. Its his refusal to sign vets that keeps this team from having vet leadership- which would prevent some of the stupid mistakes
It’s like construction. I don’t care how much potential they have. I don’t care how much you pay them. You can’t build a skyscraper with a crew of appentices! You better have some journeymen around, who have done this before! Dom is trying to force Raheem to win with nothing but apprentices. And the Rockstars Drafts aren’t as shiny as they used to be! Biggers and some other late rounders are playing. But they aren’t playing good enough to be starting. He did nothing to strengthen an obvious weakness at OLB. He did nothing to strengthen an obvious lack of talent in our”team Strenght” secondary. Nothing to add depth at RB .
He’s hurt Raheem this year. A lot more than he helped him. And that’s not what he’s paid to do!!
November 7th, 2011 at 1:38 pm
Don’t rat out my buddy. But very similar is posted at ” walterFootball” which is a draft site. It listed under 2012 draft rumors
November 7th, 2011 at 1:42 pm
Ya I know walterfootball. They have some ins with the Bucs, and honestly a rumor there carries some weight with me. I think it is too early to believe specific name rumors, but it is interesting that they’re beginning to swirl.
Oh and I completely agree that Dom shares the blame here. Stubborn refusal to upgrade via FA (beyond the solid punter signing) despite tons of cap room. Bad contracts like Clayton and Black.
November 7th, 2011 at 1:44 pm
Found the post at walterfootball but no mention of Fisher specifically. It will be interesting to hear what names surface if we continue to play this poorly.
November 7th, 2011 at 2:57 pm
Only because of the maddening inconsistency and total lack of discipline, I won’t cry if Raheem is let go. He was brought up from being a position coach to head coach overnight. He’s learning on the job but there might not be enough patience remaining upstairs at One Buc to let him continue learning.
As for Fisher…I would take him over Cowher any day, all day. He’s a good guy and his teams were always very disciplined. Plus I believe he’s more talented than Cowher. Anyway…we’ll see.
It’s starting to sound like the Raheem hot seat watch has already started.
November 7th, 2011 at 3:55 pm
I like Fisher, I’ve always thought he was a good coach. Minus that whole Vince Young debacle. He had a play off team year in and year out. Plus i don’t care who you are. Playing in a division against Peyton Manning would just suck and make you feel like you fly under the radar.
Plus it is kind of fitting. He lost LGB to Tampa which he considers one of the biggest mistakes he has made as a coach. I bet you he would love a second chance at coaching him up. and might even have some pull bring CJ2k in as tandem back with LGB.
I’ve never been on board with the Cowher call tho. He was an avg coach at best. And only brought his team to the SB one time at the very end of his career. It took Thomlin to turn that team around.
I would prefer to see Fisher, Parcelles, or Holmgrim, Hell even go Beg Monte to come back and be a HC.
November 7th, 2011 at 9:14 pm
Barber is the only one left on this roster that has ever WON anything. So yeah, listen to him!