The Bucs And Effort
December 26th, 2011
Now the past few weeks Joe has heard a lot about players “quitting,” which is a damning accusation for a professional football player.
Joe is not one to point fingers and say “Player-X tanked it” because without foolproof evidence like that of Dallass defensive back Michael Jenkins, it’s hard to know what is in said player’s mind or heart.
But Ashley Fox of BSPN seems to be jumping on the bandwagon, saying the Bucs quit; adamantly so.
The Buccaneers did quit. It likely will cost coach Raheem Morris his job. If the players really liked playing for the 35-year-old Morris, they would not have laid down the way they did against Carolina. They allowed the Panthers to drive down the field on their opening possession, and it just got worse from there.
The Bucs trailed 20-10 at halftime but allowed Carolina to score 28 unanswered points out of the break. They allowed the Panthers to score on fourth-and-1 from the 11-yard line, gave up a 41-yard touchdown run to quarterback Cam Newton, lost a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and gave up another touchdown two plays later.
A team that wants its coach to retain his job doesn’t lose a division game 48-16.
Joe believes Fox’s last sentence the be the most accurate. You always hear Bucs players suggest they like playing for Morris and enjoy him. But it doesn’t appear they are playing with the fire to save their coach’s job.
That’s a big difference from quitting.
December 26th, 2011 at 3:07 pm
The players don’t care any more. The 2010 Bucs would have curb stomped the 2011 Bucs. Its sad but true. New regime please.
December 26th, 2011 at 3:11 pm
Joe, is there a limit on characters for a reply? My posts don’t show? If this one does, well, obviously too many characters.
December 26th, 2011 at 3:23 pm
Amar:
Joe will do some digging but you could be using certain words that triggers spam or you could be writing about something that the subject is verbotten or you included a link.
Often, very long posts will trigger a spam filter.
December 26th, 2011 at 3:49 pm
Much of football is mental, and deep down, the Bucs realize they are NOT that talented, or that good. Look at the difference between Tebow or Cam Newton and Josh Freeman ?
The Bronco’s and Panther’s believe in their national championship and Heisman Trophy winning QB’s. These 2 teams have rallied around their QB’s, because they are proven winners.
Josh Freeman was a loser at Kansas, and has done little or nothing this year to dispel that fact. He either targets only Kellen Winslow despite quadrupal coverage, or takes check downs. He is not reading defenses especially well either.
The Bucs were Paper Tigers this year, pretenders who have been exposed.
They were so good, on paper, that the “Rockstar” was able to secure a 4 year deal for himself.
Stats are for losers, and that’s exactly what the Bucs are. Losers who know they are losers. They aren’t even competitive, and they know it.
They lay down, because other more talented teams are imposing their will on us. And, deep down, the Bucs know they are powerless to stop it.
When Raheem is gone, and it won’t be long now, I hope everyone turns their wrath on the real bad guy responsible for the demise of our football team.
December 26th, 2011 at 3:51 pm
It’s sad that people worry the Bucs might keep Rah. They obviously want him to run the clock out. If they came out and admitted they plan to fire him, heck, we’d lose 70-0. Maybe we can be the first team since unification that simple forfeits the game and saves the travel expenses.
December 26th, 2011 at 4:13 pm
@apple roof cleaning Actually last time i checked freeman was the reason why we won 9 out of 10 games last season. Btw tebow is a good running back not quarterback.
December 26th, 2011 at 4:22 pm
Knowing the dire situation that Morris is in, the players respond with that lack of effort? I call it quitting also.
December 26th, 2011 at 5:34 pm
@Apple….much of posting is mental too and I found your post pretty lame. Amazing how you can evaluate a QB in his second full year of starting and say he’s a loser but two QB’s in their rookie years you have pegged as winners and yet they haven’t proved any more than Freeman proved last year. Freeman has all the tools and he’s far from the problem with this team. If we draft Trent Richardson and get a creative OC you’ll be amazed how much better Freeman suddenly is. I’m not so concerned about our offense. I put a lot of blame on just poor play calling. We didn’t execute well but we were pretty predictable and that always puts the offense at a disadvantage. Defense is where we need a major overhaul. I like our D-line when they’re healthy but we need depth. We need two new LB’s and 4 new DB’s.
December 26th, 2011 at 5:47 pm
“If the players really liked playing for the 35-year-old Morris, they would not have laid down the way they did against Carolina.”
HAHA, that’s funny. What it doesn’t say is that if these players really like having jobs in the NFL, they wouldn’t lay down like they did. Yep, that’s right, other teams look at the film and nobody will touch these players when they’re released. Way to go guys, you want your coach fired and you find yourself out of a job. Real Smart.
December 26th, 2011 at 5:48 pm
Quiting, not quiting, playing for coach, whatever.
Bottom line is nine straight losses.
December 26th, 2011 at 6:18 pm
Um, no. Bottom line is the Glazers made money anyway. It’s a business, it’s their business. For us, it’s entertainment we can choose to partake in or not. Nobody, not even the Glazers are forcing anyone to be a fan of this team. There are 31 other teams out there for those that don’t like what they do. So long as they make their money, it’s theirs to do with as they please, not the fans.
December 26th, 2011 at 7:32 pm
Bobby, Freeman’s team was not a winner in College, and he does not have the pedigree of a Cam Newton. Yes, he had one good year, against a very weak schedule. He is among the Lowest rated QB’s in the league right now, in case you haven’t looked. I agree he has potential, and I did not say he doesn’t.
I am just saying he does not have the same galvanizing effect on a team as a Cam Newton does.
I agree, with a better O Line for starters, better coaching, and some speed around him, Josh can be great. But as good as he is, he can’t throw if he has no time, and receivers who can’t get open.
I DO think we could have got him later in the draft, and had another good player to boot though.
December 26th, 2011 at 7:42 pm
@ClayBURN94 – Yes, Freeman was a reason we won many of the games we did last year, and a reason we have lost so many this year as well.
He could have played better, but his protection has sucked, we have no running game, and his receivers are seldom open.
But better days are coming for Tampa, and Josh will be just fine.
I BET the new coach is going to flat ass CUT a lot of the current Bucs, and sign a lot of free agents to replace them.
I HOPE our new coach will re sign our OLD O Line Coach, not this guy who replaced him.
Or, get us someone who will teach our guys blitz pickup, so poor Josh has time to throw.
God, with Josh’s big arm, one can only imagine what Joey Galloway would have been like playing with him.
We need a real speedster who can BURN a defense if they stack the box.