The Bucs’ 12th-Ranked Defense
September 10th, 2013
They hit. They sacked. They intimidated. They swarmed. They forced turnovers. They only allowed 16 points.
Yes, the Bucs’ defense was effective Sunday but it wasn’t enough for a win.
Who knew the Bucs offense would take a dump to open the game, give the Jets a safety, and have no “flow,” as Greg Schiano called it.
Week 1 of the NFL season is in the books, and the Bucs have the 12th-ranked defense based on yards allowed, the common leaguewide grading. The secondary is ranked 12th, and the run defense is 20th, helped in large part to the Bucs gifting Geno Smith 10 yards near the end of the game.
Yes, the Bucs played the lowly Jets, but the players executed defensively. That offers hope against Drew Brees this weekend.
September 10th, 2013 at 11:41 am
Drew Brees and the Saints are going to score points on us. It doesn’t matter how good our defense is… if Our O comes out the same way they did Sunday, the game will be over before it even starts.
September 10th, 2013 at 11:47 am
Even with our putrid defense and the Saints comparably better defense, we were a single misstep put of bounds from beating the Saints at home last year.
I am praying this past Sunday lit a fire under the Bucs asses and they get the gravity of thid game: a home opener against a division rival. I like the matchup and am expecting us to come out and back up our ranking….. but im not holding my breath yet.
September 10th, 2013 at 11:50 am
What’s the offense ranked? I know we were #9 last year, because the JFro Mob told us all offseason.
September 10th, 2013 at 11:55 am
were to predictable on offense to beat anyone by outscoring them, schiano tells freeman he cant run but who can hurt a big guy like him, one injury in 5 years but never missed a game. this coach is so strict he wont let the players play and create. I say let josh have at it, let him compete and stop micromanaging everything and lets see if josh can play better relaxed because its funny we always thought he was inconsistent and erratic but it was never this bad and its not all his fault. like telling a man with no legs that you can walk but not with your hands…he’s makes up for his inaccuracy and his turtle like reads of defense by taking off and running for first downs. i thought that was the goal. it was bad protection on the oline but they were still looking deep down the field
September 10th, 2013 at 11:55 am
The offense was unimaginative and bad, The defense (via a fumble) gave them the ball on the Jets 5. That helped build the score. The offense clearly wasn’t ready to play. Why? Depressing. Maybe correctable flaws, but very troubling.
September 10th, 2013 at 11:56 am
The front 4 must bring pressure because Brees will torch the blitz or just pick on Leonard Johnson all day
September 10th, 2013 at 11:57 am
With Nola, New England, Philly, and Detroit I hope the O can keep up. The D is looking better, I hope Leonard Johnson and Banks can keep getting better, and Foster can somehow cover a TE as needed.
September 10th, 2013 at 11:58 am
That was against a ROOKIE QB with no one at WR, a beat up TE, and no RB to worry about. I want to get excited about our D, but I will hold judgement until after this game.
September 10th, 2013 at 12:00 pm
all the “Mike Glennon Mob” as you call us knew the Offense was going to take a dump.
I also called the O line issues long ago. but hey, we’re all stupid and haters for not blindly buying in right?
September 10th, 2013 at 12:03 pm
yes, the Offense was bad, nad some playcalling was questionable.
but the only one I saw practically curled up crying in the fetal position was free. he’s clearly lost his inner fight.
and don’t blame Schiano. He only wanted to see what free is made of. now we know……it won’t be long now!!!!!!!!!!!!
September 10th, 2013 at 12:15 pm
Offense was horrific, no other way around it.
September 10th, 2013 at 12:20 pm
We need a REAL NFL Head Coach! At this point, I’m not too sure anyone, besides Schiano, wants the job!
September 10th, 2013 at 12:25 pm
I agree with K_bassuka,
They looked great. Pressure, a pick, fumble, sacks. But look at the offense we were playing. The head coach knows nothing about preparing an offense and they had a rookie QB with terrible practices and a terrible preseason. A deteriorating run game. Yes they still could be better than last year, and will undoubtedly get better as the season goes. But they ended the game, the game the same way they always did last year. I’m just reserving my judgment until we face someone that is not a joke. And I won’t necessarily judge them if they have a not so great day against the Saints or Pats.
September 10th, 2013 at 12:25 pm
Lovie Smith. Pieces on defense are there, and i bet Lovie wouldnt mind some sunshine again.
September 10th, 2013 at 12:28 pm
Joe , memo … The DEFENSE lost the game ! Hello ?
40 seconds left with no timeouts ..
September 10th, 2013 at 12:30 pm
And the fact that JFro and the offense are getting crucified after playing a great defense and the defense is being heralded after playing a sh!thouse of an offense just doesn’t make any sense to me. There’s a great big picture to see. We should look at the whole thing.
I’ll ask again. If we played the worst D in the league, would we then think Josh was a pro bowler now?
September 10th, 2013 at 12:30 pm
I’m high on defense except for LJ. I think Banks offers greater upside after seeing a good dose of LJ this weekend against a lesser WR group. Foster is an absolute terror except for coverage so if they design (either by blitzing him or remove him on most obvious passing down) plays to cover that weakness he’ll be very good.
Goldson, Barron, Revis, Spence, David, Clayborn, McCoy show they can play
Jury is still out on Bowers, Teo, Casillas and Watson but I saw the efforts they’ve given and it’s good. I still would let Teo and Watson as the starters based on last sunday. The rest of the players are ok I guess.
September 10th, 2013 at 12:33 pm
Yesterday, I typed a lot of things with anger and haste. But after my eyes turned back to green instead of flaming red, I agree with darn near everything Raphael said yesterday and today.
September 10th, 2013 at 12:34 pm
Context, people. And the defense definitely did not lose that game. Mediocre coaching and unprepared, sloppy play did.
The NY Jets are not the measuring stick by which we say how good our D (and defensive coaching) is. We shall see what ou D can bring to the table this weekend against Mr Brees.
September 10th, 2013 at 12:35 pm
Chef Paul , exactly .. The defense has several personnel fouls, holding calls, offsides, then loses a game with 40 seconds left after Josh threads the needle to VJ to give us the lead….
Shades of last year when the defense lost 4 games for us.
September 10th, 2013 at 12:37 pm
Bucsfaninchina ? WHAT ?
Did you not see the penalty with 7 seconds left ?
Lmao
September 10th, 2013 at 12:38 pm
I was just looking through these fine articles wondering about this weekends up coming game and I found it! A small paragraph but it was there on ABC’s page, the Blackout is lifted due to the 85% rule. I say to my fellow fans who are attending this game, Thank You!!!!
t
Please don’t spread rumors. The game is on FOX, and their current local TV listings do not have a football game scheduled in the Bucs-Saints time slot. –Joe
September 10th, 2013 at 12:39 pm
Raphael,
Freeman was awful Sunday, if he was half as good are making him out to be, then we WOULD HAVE BEAT THE JETS.
Sadly, we did not beat the Jets, and Freeman did not look servicable.
September 10th, 2013 at 12:44 pm
Stevek , josh was not awful, he had us winning with some great throws … The defense lost the game . Josh is a stud qb and our defense lost ANOTHER game in the last minute ….
Josh saved us 5 points by kicking the ball out of bounds after Zuttahs brain fart …
September 10th, 2013 at 12:46 pm
Freeman was his typical rollercoaster of a self QB, but he did enough to pull the win and our D went soft trying to not get burnt deep and gave the Rookie QB way too much green to run on. and then David two hand touched him. hell just run that body up on him to make sure keep ya hands down!
September 10th, 2013 at 12:49 pm
sorry joe wasn’t trying, will keep it zipped till ya’ll see it
September 10th, 2013 at 12:54 pm
I have no problem whatsoever with the defensive execution. If LVD just uses his head on the last play, we’re looking at a loooooong field goal attempt and more than likely the win. A slow start (color me shocked), vanilla playcalling, JF5 staring down routes, and a massive case of the dropsies did this team in. Defense I thought was great.
September 10th, 2013 at 12:55 pm
You know what makes me think the safety wasn’t Josh’s fault. The ball was snapped with 7 seconds left on the play clock. I don’t think we snapped it that early all game.
September 10th, 2013 at 12:55 pm
LMAO so now were questioning WHY the defense was good instead of focusing on how bad the offense was? WOW
“Blind faith. Just do it because thinking is to hard.”
-Freemanites
September 10th, 2013 at 12:57 pm
@Chef Paul
I agree with you. I dont put the safety on Josh. At least not by watching the play anyways. The ball was snapped before Josh was ready… Not sure who’s fault it was but just from watching doesn’t appear to be Josh’s.
September 10th, 2013 at 1:09 pm
Couch,
If we played the worst D in the league, and he played great would you then think Josh was a pro bowler now?
September 10th, 2013 at 1:20 pm
No I would say he did his job. Just like Im saying the D did there job…. Why or how they did there job is meaningless and asinine. Fact is they did there job… The offense failed us. Not the D.
September 10th, 2013 at 1:33 pm
Couch Fan Says:
September 10th, 2013 at 12:55 pm
LMAO so now were questioning WHY the defense was good instead of focusing on how bad the offense was? WOW
“Blind faith. Just do it because thinking is to hard.”
-Freemanites
Chef Paul Says:
August 29th, 2013 at 1:14 pm
I think it’s going to be ugly too, Scotty. I’m not too worried about that total mess of an offence they have, but I am worried about the defense. They’re D is always good. The one thing that gives me solace, is Rex Ryan Saying they will be a top 5 defense. Rex’s guarantees don’t pan out very well.
Notice the date I typed that. Last Thursday. What happened? Exactly what I said. So don’t give me this crap about how thinking is too hard for us.
September 10th, 2013 at 1:41 pm
Freeman’s a stud QB? Lower passer rating and completion percentage than a rookie making his first NFL start. That’s what you call a stud QB?
September 10th, 2013 at 1:55 pm
@Chef paul
I dont recall reading any of your posts that was questioning why the D was playing well. So I wasnt refering to you… but if you did and I happened to of missed it then I dam sure was talking to you! Lol
September 10th, 2013 at 1:57 pm
And btw the way. The Jets D was not that good, except there D-Line. Dont twist it, we beat ourselves in this game.
September 10th, 2013 at 2:09 pm
“And btw the way. The Jets D was not that good, except there D-Line. Dont twist it, we beat ourselves in this game.”
Couch, you are absolutely right. We did beat ourselves. It was a team effort and the offense couldn’t do it all by them selves.
The Jets have #4 ranked defense in the league right now. So you cant blame JFro or the offense because you said this: “so now were questioning WHY the defense was good.” So we cant question WHY the Jets D is good, Only the fact that “they did their job.” Am I correct? That is your line of thinking right.
September 10th, 2013 at 8:10 pm
I’m gone for awhile. I see what this site is all about. Joe plays both sides from the middle with articles that just bait the idiots by becoming one himself. The offense lost this game…..cheesh. So Long.
September 10th, 2013 at 11:48 pm
I want to start off by saying Schiano is a bad coach. Don’t let the numbers fool you. When the Bucs did not sack Geno they let him have 5 seconds or more to throw. The Line fail to put pressure on Geno. And the Bucs still continue to blitz corners and stunt the line. Brees will rape this defense mark my words.
September 11th, 2013 at 5:39 pm
Those numbers are lying to you. They would also tell you the Jets currently have the 12th best offense. That’s certainly not the case.