The Lousy Three-Man Rush
October 21st, 2012
Joe was banging his head against the wall after the Bucs’ decision to go with a three-man rush on Drew Brees in the first half on two key third-down plays.
First it was the Bucs leading 21-7 early in the second quarter. The Saints had a 3rd-and-10 on their own 20 yard line. The crowd was going nuts. And the Bucs sent only three to rush Brees with no luck. Brees relaxed in the pocket and fired a 13-yard strike to Lance Moore over the middle.
First down. And the Saints march down for a score.
OK. It didn’t work. But then the Bucs came right back to it.
On the next Saints drive, again the Bucs had the Saints in 3rd-and-long, this time from their own 36 yard line following a Lavonte David four-yard tackle for loss and the Bucs faithful going wild. And there came that heinous three-man rush again with Brees hitting Lance Moore for 16 yards and a first down. Then the Saints scored on a bomb — and ugly tackling — on the next play.
Tie game, 21-21.
Then AGAIN, with New Orleans with 3rd-and-long early in the third quarter, the Bucs went back to the three-man rush. And you guessed it, Drew Brees had time to pump and let good ol’ Lance Moore settle into space for a 35-yard gain.
Joe’s not sure what was being missed by the defensive coaches, but it was inexcusable. Pressuring Brees was working far better than the three-man rush, yet the Bucs chose to give Brees the precious gift of time and got burned repeatedly.
October 21st, 2012 at 4:35 pm
I know this may be the wrong thread but here is the rule for last play of the game.
A receiver running a downfield pattern can not intentionally go out of bounds and then come back into the field of play to catch the football. If this occurs, the catch will be negated by the official, who will call a penalty for illegal touching. However, if the receiver gets bumped out of bounds by a defender, he can re-establish his field position by getting back into the field of play as quickly as possible. He must also step in bounds with both feet before he catches the pass. The official must determine that the receiver was indeed shoved out of bounds, and that he got back into the field of play as fast as he possibly could.
THE BUCS GOT ROBBED
October 21st, 2012 at 4:39 pm
Yes-yes-yes. Check VJ’s toes on the other rob.
October 21st, 2012 at 4:40 pm
ref’s blew that call
October 21st, 2012 at 4:42 pm
Nice of the refs to give the saints the game.
October 21st, 2012 at 4:44 pm
Bucs on the 12, if mike will was pushed out it was illegal contact on the D. TD counts
October 21st, 2012 at 4:45 pm
And for the relevance of this thread. Why the hell did we keep doing that?! I’m glad they adjusted in the second half but that was poor planning. Lesson learned. Hopefully we can start off better next time.
October 21st, 2012 at 4:46 pm
I agree with this post as well. 3 man rush was completely ineffective. When we got after Brees he made mistakes
October 21st, 2012 at 4:47 pm
This drove me crazy as well… but look at it this way… the Bucs can’t get pressure with a 4 man rush… or any kind of blitz. So why not drop 8 and try to cover everyone?
October 21st, 2012 at 4:49 pm
I agree Joe, the three man rush was ridiculous.
I think we also saw how much we miss Adrian Clayborn & Da’quan Bowers today. I like this defensive scheme, but it needs a pass rush.
October 21st, 2012 at 4:54 pm
3 man was a joke today, but more importantly, Wright and Macdonald were getting abused.
October 21st, 2012 at 4:58 pm
This is the exact opposite end of the spectrum from the Giants game. We rushed everyone on the Giants game, but 3 on this one?! Call me crazy, but maybe we should meet in the middle, like rushing 4 or 5?????
Our defensive line was less than impressive today. I thought GMC and Bennett would have a big game, but they were virtually invisible. Our D-Line has got to get better if we are going to stop a high powered offense like NO.
October 21st, 2012 at 5:05 pm
The fastest I saw McCoy move was after the game when he ran over to give Brees a big hug. WTF MCCOY this make me sick, woulda thought it was Freeman or one of our guys, but no it was the opposition and the freakin QB at that. Wish he coulda moved that fast during the game, but apparently didnt want to hurt his BFF Brees. Guy wears a dress when he gets home!
October 21st, 2012 at 5:06 pm
@bucyea,
He played crappy, but that’s a stupid post.
October 21st, 2012 at 5:11 pm
The thing with Drew Brees is you can have 20 DB’s all over the field and he can still fit the ball into a tiny window if you give him time. Our three-man rush gave him enough time to eat a sandwich, take a sh-t, wash his hands and then start looking down the field for a WR. Sheridan called those plays on defense and he should be publicly flogged for giving a QB like Brees that much time. This isn’t Brady Quinn we’re talking about here, and for some reason Sheridan forgot that crucial fact at exactly the wrong time.
October 21st, 2012 at 5:12 pm
^That is true, except if the quarterback is outside the pocket, which Freeman was
October 21st, 2012 at 5:16 pm
@Gus
THAT RULE ONLY APPLIES IF THE QB IS IN THE POCKET. FREEMAN ROLLED OUT OF THE POCKET THEREFORE ITS ILLEGAL TOUCHING.
THE BUCS DIDNT GET ROBBED!!!!
but in all seriousness it was shoddy defensive play and inability to capitalize on scoring opportunities the did the bucs in.
October 21st, 2012 at 5:18 pm
The loss of Clayborn has affected this line more than we initially thought it would. With no one for the opposing OL to worry about on that side they can devote more resources to McCoy and Bennett, which they are definitely doing. We really need Bowers back as soon as he’s cleared to go or this trend will continue. Johnson and Te’o-Neisheim simply aren’t good enough to gameplan for or to worry about.
October 21st, 2012 at 6:07 pm
Sending 3 d linemen against Brees is giving the game away, which is what the Bucs defensive coach did. Shame on him and shame on Schiano.
October 21st, 2012 at 8:52 pm
FlBoy you forgot to add in pull out his phone and text the receiver the ball is on the way. What this shows is where this defense still is against top QB’s.