Eric And Aqib Who?
November 11th, 2012
Look, Joe knows it was a team victory today against the Chargers, but it’s darn interesting that the Bucs beat the San Diego primarily without cornerback Eric Wright, who left the game early with what was announced as an ankle injury, and without helmet-wielding, cabbie-slugging, Adderrall-popping, coach-cussing, referee-charging, pistol-friendly, granny-hassling Aqib Talib.
The Bucs are now 4-1 without Talib.
The patchwork unit of E.J. Biggers, LeQuan Lewis, Leonard Johnson, and Myron Lewis, did enough, with some very savvy anticipation by Ronde Barber and a decent day from Mark Barron.
Joe still has no illusions that the Bucs have a good secondary, but only small improvement is needed among this group when they continue to force turnovers and they have a punishing offense to rely on.
Joe’s confident the Bucs can light up the scoreboard with anyone. If the defensive backs can progress, that might just be enough to get this team to the playoffs.
November 11th, 2012 at 5:17 pm
Agree, I say we try to get a draft pick for Eric Wright and write off that mistake in the offseason.
November 11th, 2012 at 5:17 pm
Joe, GREAT pojnt, I also would like to say the Bucs D held the Chargers to 3 second half points. See what GOOD coaching can do, some great adjustments, and great coaching and all around win.
November 11th, 2012 at 5:17 pm
matt ryan had 400+ yards vs the saints. what will he do against the worst pass d in the league?
November 11th, 2012 at 5:17 pm
If the bucs had an above average secondary this team would be very dangerous, at this point I wish we could have some games back because I don’t think we lose 4 with the team that’s on the field now.
The best part about winning is the team continues to buy more and more into schiano. We already have more wins than last year. Schiano went from the media calling him a college coach who doesn’t have a clue to a hard nosed great up and coming coach who has instilled discipline. Wins even change the medias attitude.
November 11th, 2012 at 5:19 pm
Biggers downright sucked in this game. When does Wright come back?
If we can manage to beat the Falcons both games, we would win a tie-breaker…important games there.
November 11th, 2012 at 5:23 pm
Leonard Johnson, 3 picks in the last 3 games. Undrafted free agent, BEAST MODE!!!
November 11th, 2012 at 5:24 pm
Biggers and Lewis both need to be YUNEMPLOYED!
November 11th, 2012 at 5:24 pm
Eric and Talib? Do they play football? Should I know those guys?
Johnson, Biggers, and L. Lewis are the guys I’m watching…
November 11th, 2012 at 5:24 pm
Beautiful pick by Lequan Lewis
November 11th, 2012 at 5:25 pm
O-town, the Bucs have been in every single game. We could have won any of our losses.
I like the Bucs alot. They are tough, score points and are fun to watch.
Pretty good team we got here, play offs or not. Solid team.
November 11th, 2012 at 5:28 pm
lol…Lewis had that ball thrown right to him. Right to his mid section. Let’s not pretend he earned that one. That doesn’t mean he is a bad CB…just that in this instance, it was Rivers throwing him the ball.
November 11th, 2012 at 5:29 pm
@TONY850
That won’t happen. He will be on the team until the end of next year. I just can’t understand why he can’t stay on the field.
November 11th, 2012 at 5:29 pm
I did not see the game I “watched” it on nfl game crap thing.#*#…
Is our secondary getting beat or what? we do get a few INT’s but how? What am I not seeing? highlights only show so much…
November 11th, 2012 at 5:30 pm
238, you’re right in that they were in every one of those losses. A young team sometimes needs to fight through adversity to take the next step, and they’re clearly doing that. They have a lot of confidence right now, and after they beat up Carolina next week. we’ll see how that confidence plays against Atlanta.
You know, they reeled off 10 straight losses last year. Is it out of the question with the way they’re finding ways to win right now that the Bucs just might be able to reel off 10 straight wins to end this season?
Waaaaayyyy too early to even think about that, I know, but a guy can dream, can’t he?
November 11th, 2012 at 5:31 pm
Defensive line helped them out today. Most every time when the secondary made a great play was when we were getting pressure on Rivers.
Still, nice job from these young players. They got torched more than they should have, but they made plays that helped win us this game.
November 11th, 2012 at 5:32 pm
Looks like its time to get as much support for this team as possible in the stadium. When I get back for leave in December I will have to get some tickets to the game!
November 11th, 2012 at 5:33 pm
The mark of a good team is the ability to win games against all odds. To be able to win this game with E.J. Biggers and Myron Lewis and both of them on the field at the same time is no small feat within itself. All I can say is there must be a god and he/she watches football!!
November 11th, 2012 at 5:38 pm
@Macabee
lol. Now that right there is funny 😉
November 11th, 2012 at 5:41 pm
@Joe
Have you heard any news on Quincy Black?
November 11th, 2012 at 5:43 pm
TONY850 Says:
November 11th, 2012 at 5:17 pm
Agree, I say we try to get a draft pick for Eric Wright and write off that mistake in the offseason.
++++++++++++++
You can’t trade players that aren’t worth their contracts. I say Wright needs to accept his suspension and come back and see if he can help us in 4 weeks.
November 11th, 2012 at 5:47 pm
Sneedy16:
I may not be a brain doctor but I did stay in a Holiday Inn last night… okay, I didn’t do that either but I am 100% sure that Black suffered no spinal injury as his head immediately went to the side and that he was knocked completely unconscious. The training staff was merely following normal procedure of immobilizing the player on a backboard and taking every precaution necessary. I’m sure that his body is fine, it’s his brains that are a tad scrambled.
I was wondering what happened to Dakoda Watson and why Hayward was playing the Sam instead. I thought Dakoda was the backup at Sam.
I have been saying for a few weeks now that all 3 LBs are playing at a Pro Bowl level with only Foster and David having a shot at it as Black is only on the field 33-50% of all snaps. I think we saw this when Black went down and suddenly the Chargers were able to run the ball a little bit better.
November 11th, 2012 at 5:47 pm
@pete dutcher the ball wasn’t thrown right to him granted it wasn’t a Perfect pass was still good coverage though
November 11th, 2012 at 5:49 pm
I was amazed early on in the game at how the Bucs kept getting pretty good pressure and Rivers kept lofting passes into the arms of his receivers as they were surrounded by red jerseys. I kept saying that I couldn’t imagine he could keep doing that… luckily the pass rush turned it up another notch in the 2nd half and caused those turnovers.
November 11th, 2012 at 5:55 pm
Deminion Says:
November 11th, 2012 at 5:47 pm
@pete dutcher the ball wasn’t thrown right to him granted it wasn’t a Perfect pass was still good coverage though
.
If anyone can find the play on video, it would clarify. As I recall, Rivers threw the ball very low, and it was right at our guys mid section.
November 11th, 2012 at 5:56 pm
Just like Pete. Don’t give the man any credit. Had it be Myron he would have been so surprised he would have most likely dropped it.
November 11th, 2012 at 5:57 pm
It may not be the best secondary out there, and probably stacks up as one of the worst right now, but it’s our secondary and we got another win today playing team football. All three phases of the game stepped up despite Black’s injury – which could have been an unsurmountable emotional obstacle for a young team. Captain Ronde had the entire defense in a huddle while Black was down …I could only imagine the strong words that were spoken in that moment. Good win for the team, and prayers to Qball
November 11th, 2012 at 5:57 pm
@Brandon
Yeah I wasn’t sure. I saw him lay a lick on Matthew and he was out. The rush defense wasn’t the same, but they held up. This team has become better at adjusting on the fly so you can see the difference in the secondary in the 1st and 2nd half.
November 11th, 2012 at 6:13 pm
@Lurker…WHo cares, as long as they outcome is the same as the Saints. Don’t be such a buzz kill, and enjoy a great win.
November 11th, 2012 at 6:29 pm
It was a good win. I questions the coach’s idea about timeouts usage. We call zero T.O. in the first half. When it was critical to stop the Chargers before the half, our Defense performance dwindle. I notice a pattern over the season. Yeah we get pick 6 and block punts for 6. But on the flip side less than 3 plays later that same tired defense is back on the field again getting scored on.
That just like the d had stop a long drive and force a punt. Then Free or Martin turn the ball over the next play. Having you defense on the field too long or not giving them breaks every now and then hurt us.
When Dekota blocked the punt after the defense was on the field for a while the previous series, the Chargers just walked the ball down the field on our D with little problem. Now the pick 6 by Johnson (this guys on fire) that reach the red zone before the Chargers final drive, it was another long drive after it. NO TIMEOUT WAS CALL TO HELP THE D CATCH A BREAK!!!
In basketball or other sports as well, when a team shows that they are getting momentum. The coaches call a timeout. In baseball the manager walk to talk to the pitcher. Most cases it’s not to sub the guy out.
Why they do this? To regroup and slow down the other team “Mo” for a little. When the Chargers reached mid field after the pick 6, that was the right time to get some timeouts in. The defense was on the field too much just to have one timeout called just to let Connor Barth can kick the field goal.
It was right to run the time down then call one for the kicker. But whose to say that those same timeout on key drive for the Chargers would had turned out differently with a more refreshed defense on the field after making a big play the series before. Better yet whose to to say this game would’ve been this close late in the game at all.
A offense need momentum and chemistry to be successful. A timeout has the potential to stop that momentum when you need it most.
November 11th, 2012 at 7:01 pm
Pete, it was a sideline route…the ball was a tad under thrown but Lewis went up for it. It was a good play and give him credit for making it. I agree we shouldn’t read too much into it but if that had been Myron Lewis, it would have been a penalty or a catch
November 11th, 2012 at 8:30 pm
red, are you seriously talking about the poor timeout usage using horrible grammar? enjoy the win and be satisfied, until the timeouts cost us a game, i’m going to trust Schiano – i’ll never get that minute of my life back that i wasted reading your post. and yeah, i don’t use caps
November 11th, 2012 at 11:08 pm
Please don’t let the win blind us from what happened out there today. EJ Biggers cannot guard ANYONE. We need to cut Biggers ASAP. Let Johnson, Wright, Lewis, Gaitor, and the other corners play. We know what we have in Biggers, someone who cannot play. Lets start developing the others right now. I am all for moving Ronde back to corner right now and starting Ahmad Black at safety. He needs to get starting reps at safety for next year if Ronde retires
November 11th, 2012 at 11:08 pm
Red has a good point, IMO. I was at the game and the defense was totally GASSED and that’s been an on going issue thru out the season. The d cannot get off the field and ends up giving up easy scores and/or long drives. We dont have the depth for a decent d-line rotation so coaches should be a bit more creative in getting these guys a breather, wether it be time-outs, or using some creativity to get these guys a break. And BTW, broy, doesnt sound like a minute of your life is worth very much.
November 12th, 2012 at 12:02 am
lol @mcb
wow, first time i’ve been called a buzzkill…lmao
i enjoyed the win and expect many more. however, this article was on our cornerbacks. i just posted a query. perhaps the backups will outplay the game 1 starters. if the offense, special teams, and the rest of the defense keeps playing the way they are now, it might not matter about the corners. we have been winning despite our horrendous pass d.
November 12th, 2012 at 12:32 am
@lurker – I’m with you. What you posted would only kill the weakest of buzzes. It was certainly not strong enough to kill the buzz I’ve seized from the Buc’s win nor the buzz I currently have due to this amazing 18 year scotch whiskey.
You spoke your mind and it was totally relevant. Keep on keeping on, my man.
November 12th, 2012 at 3:13 am
I will be the first to say Johnson island( even with the botched tackle in the game) he reminds me of Revis. Give him 4yrs like Revis in the same system i bet he shines. I like how he gets a decent press on wr’s and his quickness off the snap. Percy Harvin couldn’t burn LJ! He was step 4 step. I like how he gets his head around when the balls in air.
LeQuan looked great from what i seen. IT’S BIGGERS MYLEW AND WRIGHT GETTING SMOKED! Schaino what’sup with Tandy you drafted him, shouldnt he have gotten a chance before the other cb’s.
No disrespect to the team players or fans but we play a tough division with monsters on offense. We need big cb’s like seattle.. Big long and fast if we want to stop Roddy, Julio, Graham& company, Gonzales, Lafell and Murphy. Im tired of getting punked by Steve Smith! I need the red Barron to clean his clock again..Shook his tail up for a few games after that. Smitty just now shaking that hit stick off.
Go bucs F#$% the grammer police