“Goat Of The Week”
September 9th, 2013
No one loves Bucs linebacker Lavonte David more than Joe. Sift through Joe’s archives and you will notice Joe pimped Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik to draft David out of Nebraska months before the draft — well before anyone else — where David was a terror on the football field.
But yesterday’s totally braindead play by David to go after Jets quarterback Geno Smith, who was headed out of bounds to kill the clock, and give the referees an opportunity to throw a flag and give the Jets a chance to win the game, will be remembered for years, and not in a good way.
It was so mind-numbing awful of a play that Olive oil-lapping, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, beer-chugging, cricket-watching, scone-loathing, college football-naïve, baseball box score-reading Peter King, in his must-read “Monday Morning Quarterback” column, crowned David with his weekly “Goat of the Week” award.
Lavonte David, LB, Tampa Bay. His hit on Geno Smith in the final seconds of the crushing loss at the Jets hands him the goat horns, though it wasn’t the kind of egregious sideline smash that you think was a cheap shot. Whether you agree with the call or not, whether you felt it was ticky-tack—and it was close—it sticks. David’s hit on Smith with seven seconds left gave the Jets the chance to kick the game-winning field goal, a 48-yarder by Nick Folk. Jets 18, Bucs 17.
And if you think Joe and/or King is harsh on David, one of the most underrated players in the NFL, you better stay away from the New York tabloids, which are crucifying David for handing the Jets a win.
Sorry, Joe doesn’t live in a world with only seashells and balloons. He has to call it as he sees it, bad or good. And this play by David, Joe just cannot comprehend how awful it was. And to suggest this didn’t cost the Bucs a win, then you are either in serious denial and need mental health counseling, or Joe wants to sample the narcotics you are using.
The sad thing about this play; it was acted out before the media capital of the world. It’s going to be a long time before that stain is washed away, no matter how good of a player David is or will be (think Joe Pisarcik).
September 9th, 2013 at 11:05 am
That play lost the game for us now doubt.
Freeman stunk it up, and deserves the blame. David’s mistake should have never happened. Inept Freeman running the offense NOWHERE.
September 9th, 2013 at 11:08 am
And to suggest this didn’t cost the Bucs a win, then you are either in serious denial and need mental health counseling or Joe wants to sample the narcotics you are using.
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I think Joe was sipping on to many beers yesterday.
The penalty had a hand in costing us the game. But to single that play out as the only reason we lost is quite simply, stupid Joe. Our entire offense, including play calling, with the exception of V-Jax was awful…. simply awful. Much worse than that play by LVD….
I understand you need to say stuff that you do to cause controversy and to get people talking… but to single LVD’s 1 mistake out as costing us the game… is as ridiculous as the penalties on The Hawk.
September 9th, 2013 at 11:10 am
“Sorry, Joe doesn’t live in a world with only seashells and balloons.”
I think you live in a world with unicorns and fairies. Had the Bucs won that abomination of a game yesterday, would anyone today really be pounding their chest predicting a ride into the playoffs? Was it bonehead, yeah. But at least the guy was trying. JFro can’t even get a play off in time coming out of a timeout! Now THAT is bonehead. To harp on David’s one bad play is to minimize the atrocities that were going on, especially on the offensive side of the ball, all game long. Those things will affect future games as well, David’s one errant play won’t.
September 9th, 2013 at 11:10 am
For as poor as that game was all-around….OR as “inept” as Freeman was or was not, he drove the offense down with the game on the line and got the go-ahead FG.
We needed a defensive stop and did not get one. That happened about 5-6 games last year too.
September 9th, 2013 at 11:13 am
It was a dumb play by David, but the Bucs should be more worried by what happened the 1st 59 1/2 minutes of the game rather than David’s dumb play.
Seemed like the coaching staff had no clue that preseason was over. It showed that Schiano spent the whole preseason making sure Glennon was a solid #2 and who was going to be our 4th running back.The Jets were ready for us to pound martin and our coaching staff never adjusted. Rush 3 on the final drive was stupid.
The jets have the least talent of any team we will play.
September 9th, 2013 at 11:15 am
I am by no means a Freeman supporter but he did what he had to do to win the game. He led us to what was supposed to be the game winning field goal. Blaming him is ignorant. This coaching staff deserves more blame than Freeman. Simply unprepared.
September 9th, 2013 at 11:20 am
bucfanjeff,
The D did its job, Freeman failed to lead the offense to victory.
Not being voted a captain anymore must be effecting his game.
The D did its job. Freeman, throughout the game, did not d enough to win.
Too bad Freeman took that safety. Then, David’s gaffe wouldn’t have cost us the game.
When will the Buc fans wake up and realize our QB is not worth the hassle? He is a tease, an inconsistent and scared to be in the pocket.
Freeman’s receivers had 125/215 yards receiving after the catch. Freeman was bad under no pressure, and just can’t get it done.
When is Freeman accountable for his play and leading this offense?
What the hell are we doing out there?
September 9th, 2013 at 11:20 am
I am in 100% agreement with you Joe. As they said on ProFootballTalk, running out of bounds is like a QB doing a slide. The defender has to guard against the QB not sliding or going out of bounds, and respond accordingly. Whether the call was ticky-tack or not, as a defender, why put your team in that situation. I love David myself, but it was dumb
September 9th, 2013 at 11:21 am
Ignorant is thinking our 5th year QB still deserves a pass.
Regression is upon Freeman. When will he improve? Can he improve?
Bucs should be playoff bound, and they can’t even beat the damn Jets.
September 9th, 2013 at 11:23 am
Yeah, Steve is right about that captaincy. The Freemanites said it was no big deal, but John Lynch sure made is sound like a big deal yesterday. His own team doesn’t believe in him.
September 9th, 2013 at 11:23 am
Sacrificial lamb maybe, but definitely not a goat.
September 9th, 2013 at 11:27 am
@Harry though I don’t disagree with you, I disagree on the rule itself. Running out of bounds is not like sliding. Once a qbs butt starts going down dont touch him. But if a qb is running towards the sideline and then turns up the field it could lead to a big gain or worse a touchdown. With if Geno stopped and thab cut up field broke a tackle and ran it all the way. It’s not impossible for these mobile qbs. I think you should be allowed to push but if the hit is malicious than it should always be flagged qb or not.
September 9th, 2013 at 11:31 am
BucfanJeff,
Why did Freeman have to settle for the last second FG, why couldn’t he get us a TD?
We were up 14-5, what happened?
Freeman gets a pass for completing less than half of his passes, and 125 of his 215 yards passing came after the catch. Freeman failed to deliver, and Geno Smith outfoxed him in his NFL debut.
September 9th, 2013 at 11:31 am
You simply can not judge who won or lost the game by 1 play. You just can’t.
And if you do then I think the safety was much more critical than a 15 yard penalty… We would of also won with those 2 points off the board. The game as a whole (which is how you are suppose to judge a game Joe, clearly indicates the offense was the problem.
@BucFanJeff
You are right in the sense that this happened last year. The big difference is that the D actually did its job up until that point. You can’t just leave that out of the equation….
September 9th, 2013 at 11:34 am
Basically this is a recap of what’s been here on JBF this morning.
1) Lavonte David lost the game for the Bucs.
2) The coaches have not taught him the rules.
So the way I look at it, this week the coaches should concentrate on teaching LVD the rules, he won’t push a QB running out of bounds ever again, and the Bucs will win every game. Super Bowl here we come!
September 9th, 2013 at 11:38 am
I find it funny that the freemanites bash Joe for saying Shaun King “led” the bucs…. but yet you are sitting here saying Josh led the team on the final drive when that clearly is not the case either…. he delivered an average pass to V-Jax who then performed a great spin move to gain all those extra yards that put us in FG range…
Freakin Bias I tell ya
September 9th, 2013 at 11:39 am
David lost us the game and he knows it. That’s why he was crying.
September 9th, 2013 at 11:41 am
Poor Lavonte, gonna be our best defensive player for the next decade. Meanwhile the guy who will be the Browns starting QB next year keeps getting a pass because its everyones fault but his. 3 more weeks Josh, put up or get out.
September 9th, 2013 at 11:47 am
Walter,
David made fewer mistakes than Freeman. Plain and simple, Freeman and the offense should score more than 18 points.
If Freeman was ready for the safety snap, he intentionally booted, than a FG would not have beat us.
I am tired of fans giving Freeman a pass. He sucked ass yesterday, wake up Joe and all other Freemanites!
Freeman only further proved Fran Tarkenton right yesterday, as it was god awful.
Can we expect Freeman to get his sh!t straight this weekend? Ha, the Jets game was not supposed to be a loss.
Freeman is to blame. LVD is the lamb, Freeman is the imposter. He is not a franchise QB. Dude can’t even audible.
September 9th, 2013 at 11:47 am
I dare anyone to explain how it’s NOT Lavonte David’s fault.
And no hypothetical bull crap about how our offense didn’t do “enough”, the bottom line is we were WINNING with 34 seconds left and the Jets had 0 timeouts. There were only 5 seconds on the clock when Geno stepped out of bounds near midfield, so they only had time for one more play. If David had not committed that foul, we win the game, period. It’s entirely on him.
September 9th, 2013 at 11:52 am
David did not push the player out of bounds after he had stepped out, it was before he stepped out. The call was a homer call for Jets. The two personal hit calls were also bogus homer calls.
September 9th, 2013 at 11:52 am
Walter,
Why in the first half, after Lavonte made an interception, did Freeman promptly throw it right back to the Jets, overthrowing the intended receiver by at least 10 yards allowing them to score a touchdown just before half? Would of been nice if the Bucs could have scored 7 on that instead of the Jets.
September 9th, 2013 at 11:53 am
Whos the last player to have a pickoff, tfl and a sack in a game?? Joe, LVD made a mistake, lets not forget he is 1 game removed from being a rookie. He will make it up to Buc Nation, as far as him crying atleast he gives a damn, he just needs to keep his head up and ignore the couch critic media
September 9th, 2013 at 11:54 am
@lightningbuc
You know what would have been even nicer? Lavonte David NOT gift wrapping a win and giving it to the Jets.
September 9th, 2013 at 12:00 pm
Those of us who have played football and coached it understand that it takes hundreds of plays to win or lose a game. Every coach ever associated with this game will tell you that.
The offense was making mistakes all day long, as a unit. Schiano knows who really lost that game. And lucky for us, he’s the only one whose opinion counts.
September 9th, 2013 at 12:05 pm
Let’s just get rid of David, that way we know this will never happen again.
September 9th, 2013 at 12:05 pm
Lavonte made a mistake. Had the offense performed like a competent unit and scored say 3 TDs, not asking a lot, they win running away. Putting this all on David is just an excuse to give others a pass they do not deserve. Lavonte is a key piece going forward and will be an All-Pro for years. Josh Freeman will be choosing between Cleveland, Arizona and Jacksonville unless he plays his best 3 weeks of his career coming up.
September 9th, 2013 at 12:07 pm
I blame Dave Wannstedt. He should have coached better so the FG would have been blocked after the David hit.
September 9th, 2013 at 12:09 pm
It was offensive (pun intended) game planning that lost this one. The David penalty will be what people remember, but it was the early game baffoonery by the offense and the coaching staff that lost this one. I put this one squarely at Schiano’s feet. He’s got Josh handcuffed out there with that play calling, while the Jets are letting Geno Smith put it up 40+ times. I’m sorry, but the Jets sold out to stop Doug and it worked. At that point Schiano’s message to Sullivan should have been, “Let’s put our foot on the gas.” Instead we pounded Doug and we got nowhere on 1st and 2nd down, and then Free is staring at 3rd and long. At that point the Jets know he’s throwing, and that allows them to tee off on our overpriced o-line. Couple all this with the fact that the Jets seemed quite content to let VJax make play after play, and it was gross negligence on the part of the coaching staff not to alter the game plan. That’s what lost us the game.
September 9th, 2013 at 12:09 pm
@lightningbuc
Lets just hope he learns from his game-losing mistake.
@bucrightoff
Even if Freeman is cut after this season, it wouldn’t change the fact that week 1 was lost by Lavonte David.
September 9th, 2013 at 12:15 pm
Everyone wants to pick on Freeman and David, but I put this one on the coaching staff (especially Sully).
If you actually watched the game and break down each drive, freeman was okay. We had drops, bad blocking, false starts, holding penalties, a 3rd and long almost every series, and just an overall terrible game plan. Not to mention the hits by Gholdson that cost us two drives and the hold on Johnson that extended another.
Blame Free all you want, but i would take him over Newton, Bradford, Tannehill, Vick, Weeden, Pryor, Schaub, Locker, Ponder, Stafford, Rivers, Palmer, Gabbert, Geno, Manual, Cutler, Smith, & Dalton (apprx. 1/2 of the league)
September 9th, 2013 at 12:16 pm
Sure it was David’s fault, but this guy is going to be responsible for more wins than losses over his career can we say that about the rest of the team and coaching staff?
September 9th, 2013 at 12:28 pm
Anyone that thinks we lost this game BECAUSE of Freeman is out of their mind. We had much, much, MUCH bigger problems than Freeman. Just the same biased people that hate Freeman regardless.
Yesterday falls squarely on the coaching staff. These players were obviously not prepared to play. Freeman was no exception.
September 9th, 2013 at 12:32 pm
Yall keep bickering about David and Freeman losing the game. EVERYONE lost that game except Revis and VJ. If only two guys are playing well the team will lose. Both sides are blind. Period. The Defense looked good against a sh!t house of an offense. Woo Hoo. What going to happen next week when we cant blitz as often. Four guys get zero pressure. Brees will eat us for breakfast and not even have to wipe off his mouth when he’s done. And Rob Ryans Defense will just do what the Jets did. It’s an easy thing to figure out how to stop this offense. Stop Doug Martin and the coaches wont adjust one single iota. Who can blame them? Josh cant even call one play on his own. UGH. My sky has felled.
September 9th, 2013 at 12:38 pm
Walter,
Freeman completed 3/12 passes over 10 yards.
Freeman had 125/215 passing yards after the catch.
Freeman had a turnover after a turnover.
Freeman completed 48% of his passes.
Freeman had a delay of game penalty after wasting a time out.
Freeman could not audible and had to use 2 time outs.
Freeman failed yesterday, and is the BIGGEST REASON why we lost.
LVD is sacrificed because our QB FAILED.
How does a rookie QB in his NFL debut, outshine a QB in his 57th career start?
When is FREEMAN EXPECTED TO WIN?
September 9th, 2013 at 12:39 pm
Kevin beat me to it.
September 9th, 2013 at 12:44 pm
@SteveK
Give it a rest man. You are letting your blind hatred of Freeman see what really happened out there. All off season you bashed Freeman. If he put up anything less than 300 yards and three TDs you were going to bash him.
We played a good defense with a great game plan that worked. We were out coached. Plain and simple.
September 9th, 2013 at 12:55 pm
@Stevek
Lol all those stats are cute, Freeman had us winning with less than a minute left though. Defense didn’t even break really, Lavonte David just messed up and gave the game away. You can blame Freeman all you want, but if David didn’t make that stupid mistake, we would have won yesterday, and all your stats would have meant nothing.
September 9th, 2013 at 1:10 pm
WCBF,
We were out-coached and out quarterbacked.
September 9th, 2013 at 1:12 pm
Walter,
The defense did enough to win. Freeman completed fewer than half of his passes.
Freeman got outplayed by Geno Smith. That should not happen. And while that is not the direct reason we lost, LVD’s error, but it is a problem.
How does this happen?
September 9th, 2013 at 1:24 pm
@Stevek
Last I checked, the Jets have a pretty good defense, so I’m not surprised Freeman struggled. However, when the game was on the line, the offense responded and moved the ball in the 2 minute drill, took the lead, only to watch Lavonte David hand the lead right back to the Jets. Could Freeman have played lights out, scored some more points and put the game out of reach? Sure. Could David have not hit Geno on how way out of bounds? Definitely. Dumb mistake.
September 9th, 2013 at 1:27 pm
If we need Josh Freeman to even lead us to a 4th Qtr comeback against a pathetic team like the Jets, the problem isn’t anything other than that fact. Should have been up 28-13 at that point. I really wish we drafted Russell Wilson last year, but this offseason we should have traded for Alex Smith. Good consistent play is all this team needs, instead break out the Mylanta every week cause Josh is gonna keep it interesting (personally, I like boring).
September 9th, 2013 at 1:30 pm
I guess 5 empty poss in the second half, ints, delay of game calls, and bad throws had nothing to do with the loss…. GTFOH
September 9th, 2013 at 1:36 pm
I’ve never seen a QB so lost when his earpiece goes out. Freeman was giving the stupid palms to the sky pose more than the other games when he is so lost. Also, I don’t see him reading the defenses and setting up blockers most of the time.
September 9th, 2013 at 2:06 pm
Hey SteveK. Get your head out of Josh’s jock and tell us how this kick ass defense is going to do anything against Brees when we get zero pressure with four guys rushing. Maybe I missed one or two but every comment I’ve seen from you is Freeman Freeman Freeman Freeman. What’s his jock smell like buddy?
September 9th, 2013 at 3:06 pm
On this day and time LVD is the goat. However from this time forward he will be know as the G.O.A.T. GREATEST OF ALL TIME
September 9th, 2013 at 3:42 pm
Amen Walter.
September 9th, 2013 at 3:44 pm
David will be an all-time great Buc. Freeman will be a guy who shows up in the franchise record books in the illustrious company of Vinny Testaverde and Trent Dilfer because there is not an elite (or even above-average) franchise QB of any tenure.
Wow, he led us to a field goal!!! That is the stick we are measuring Freeman with now: he can lead us to field goals in close games against poor teams.
I’m not buying the distraction.
September 9th, 2013 at 3:49 pm
I’m buying a David jersey today just to show my support and belief in the kid.
September 9th, 2013 at 3:50 pm
The whole game was a cluster bomb. The Jets are the worst team in the league and what did we show? NOTHING!!! We have some good players but we don’t have good coaches, the proof is in the results. For the most part they are an undisciplined crew. David’s penalty was just one instance of the lack of discipline. Leonard Johnsons unnecessary holding call at the end of the half which extended the Jets drive was another. The experts may have been right about them, they played like a team that will struggle to win 6 games.