“Nobody Can Explain What They’re Trying To Do”
September 23rd, 2013
It’s a great question: What are the Bucs doing on offense?
Joe hasn’t seen an offense with so little rhythm in a long time. The playcalling flummoxes Joe. At least on Sunday it was unpredictable for a change.
Former Bucs guard Ian Beckles (1990-1996) doesn’t get it, either. Speaking as co-host of the Ron and Ian show this morning on WDAE-AM 620, Beckles said Mike Sullivan is worse than Josh Freeman.
“Nobody can explain what they’re trying to do,” Beckles said. “Josh is not good, but Josh is just one of the problems we have offensively. … The scheme, offensively, is God-awful.”
As Joe’s written previously, it’s as if NFL defenses caught up to the Bucs offense last November and it hasn’t adjusted or recovered.
Joe, however, can’t hurl a truckload of blame on Sullivan yet. Joe would have to know whose decision it was to play not to lose in the closing seconds of the Saints and Jets losses. And the poor depth at receiver and tight end surely isn’t Sullivan’s fault.
September 23rd, 2013 at 9:29 am
i wouldn’t be surprised if Sully is fired.
September 23rd, 2013 at 9:32 am
Even the best chef in the world can’t make shit taste good
September 23rd, 2013 at 9:34 am
We have a GM who has never been one before, a HC who hasn’t even been an NFL coordinator before , an OC who has never called plays before and a bunch of college or failed NFL assistants. It is hard to say exactly where to lay the blame but it falls directly on ownership for not hiring a proven person to run the football operation.
September 23rd, 2013 at 9:36 am
This offense is atrocious. As said above, it’s painfully obvious NFL defenses have caught up to this scheme. Look at the NYG problems. And they are running an offense similar to us.
This will tell you where our offense is and how these guys are feeling right now. I was at the game yesterday in NE. I sat right next to the tunnel where the Bucs came in/out. I was literally one of like 10 bucs fans in the stadium. At halftime when the team was coming in I eyed up Donald Penn. I shouted down to him, “when the hell is this offense gonna get it together?”
He turns up to me and says “(expletive) you!”
This team is just so done. Morale is at an all time low. We are going nowhere anytime soon either. What are we now? Losers of 8 out of our last 9 games. Such a joke.
September 23rd, 2013 at 9:37 am
60% blame to Freeman, 40% blame to Sullivan. They are both deserving of a lot of blame for this atrocity that we call an offense. Offense is bland and predictable, Freeman can’t get over the 50% mark completing the ball.
September 23rd, 2013 at 9:37 am
Either Sullivan is doing nothing because Schiano is calling the shots or Sullivan is flat out terrible. Which is it? I guess it doesn’t matter. Either way I can’t tell the difference between Sullivan and a boat anchor.
September 23rd, 2013 at 9:38 am
Last year it was the “getting to know the system” routine
This summer “Second year in the system so we will improve than last year”
And now this system has not done any wonder to us, martin is no AP caliber of carrying the team by himself. But he can do something to help the offense. There is just nothing working for the offense, yesterdays game was the lack of WR threat. Williams and Jackson were out and we were totally exposed.
September 23rd, 2013 at 9:38 am
What happened to the whole “The offence will be that much better,second year in Sully’s offence. I explained in the offseason that the defences have the advantage. Film to study. Just look at RG3 and out.
September 23rd, 2013 at 9:39 am
Really it seems obvious that they are losing.
how can you not get that?
September 23rd, 2013 at 9:43 am
I agree with csidedave. There is too much talent on this offense to be this bad. The coaching staff has to build an offense around the talent and keep evolving.
Justin, I don’t blame Penn, I’d say the same thing. 3 pro Bowlers on the O-line and the “skill positions” (although there is a lot of skill in playing O-Line) can’t execute.
September 23rd, 2013 at 9:44 am
The difference between good and bad play calling was evident on Sunday. First play from scrimmage, pats beat us with a screen for a nice gain. It’s about keeping defences off balance. We never do that, play calling is flat out horrible. Freeman is what he is, and is on his way out too, but dude gets no help whatsoever.
September 23rd, 2013 at 9:44 am
“And the poor depth at receiver and tight end ”
I’m so tired of hearing that JFro needs a better 3rd WR and better TE’s. Geez, I’d never heard of most of New England’s receiving corps for the most part, and Brady still manages.
September 23rd, 2013 at 9:44 am
From the outside looking in, the offense looks one dimensional. The majority of the passing plays go to Jackson. Yesterdays game coverage showed an interesting stat, Jackson is the most targeted WR in the league so far this season. With Jackson on the sideline, no one seemed to step up.
Williams is a more than capable WR. The coaching staff needs to find a way to involve him more. A TE and an upgraded 3rd WR would be a big help as well. This offense doesn’t attack the middle of the field. Dallas Clark added an important dimension to the offense. That’s a key missing piece. How was this overlooked by Dominik and the coaching staff?
It doesn’t help that Freeman has a tendency to lock on to a favorite receiver. Dropped passes don’t help either.
September 23rd, 2013 at 9:47 am
It starts at the top! Either the Glazers sell (please sell the Bucs) to someone that is inspired to win! Or they need to just clean house. This team is throwing in the towel. This offense does not trust Freeman and the defense is now scared to make a play in fear of being fined or suspended. This team is nothing like it was suppose to be. Time to fire the cannons and blow this ship up all the way. I’ll always root for the Bucs like I have since day one. But I have to admit our slogan of “wait till next year” is really getting old. GO BUCS…
September 23rd, 2013 at 9:59 am
The passing concept’s are too basic, it reminds me of Cam Cameron’s passing concepts before he was fired in Baltimore. Then they fired him and let the guy from Indy take over and the offense took off. All isolation routes, and they need more varied concepts. Mike Williams and Vincent Jackson are good but in today’s league you can’t just always beat the cornerback.
September 23rd, 2013 at 10:02 am
Go ahead sully, take one for the team. Schiano never wanted you anyway. He’s always wanted McNulty. You even look the part of the sacrificial lamb. You may need some of that Army Ranger training to get out of this alive.
September 23rd, 2013 at 10:04 am
Coaching staff and Freeman need to go! We are being held back with all the talent we have! We are the 2012 Chiefs….get a real NFL coach and QB and we can win games too.
Enough is enough….im tired of losing!
September 23rd, 2013 at 10:07 am
So sick of hearing about lack of depth at WR. Can anyone Atlanta or Carolinas 4th WR? No, because they suck too. Its the NFL in 2013. No one has depth.
September 23rd, 2013 at 10:08 am
Scuttlebutt has it that Schiano is micro managing the offense. His game management skills were called into question in college and it has at this level as well.
I think it is becoming quite apparent he isn’t an NFL head coach. That’s OH for two with the last two coaches. This is only going to get uglier.
September 23rd, 2013 at 10:11 am
Draft a QB and bring in a veteran QB for a year so we can get back to the postseason. Though I don’t know if I want Dominick being the guy selecting another quarterback for us. He already missed on Freeman!
September 23rd, 2013 at 10:20 am
Having a TE and a #3 WR would help a lot.
We have neither.
September 23rd, 2013 at 10:29 am
A good QB would also help us out alot. We dont have one of those yet either. Dont put the cart before the horse
September 23rd, 2013 at 10:34 am
Were in a sinking ship where only the bow is above water. Too late to patch the leak – time to jump off – we are going down anyway.
Time for a new boat and captain.
This offense is approaching 1977 levels, where there should be improvement.
September 23rd, 2013 at 10:45 am
This offensive system looks like something out of the 1970’s. The teams that are successful right now are running an Offense that is very innovative and creative with all distances of pass routes. There are 3 teams in the NFL right now that are running this OLD slow motion offense, the Bucs, Giants and Steelers and they are a combined 0-9. Enough said
September 23rd, 2013 at 10:46 am
who gives a damn what sully calls!!! it’s free’s job to audible given the coverage. I have yet to see him take advantage of a D with an audible at the line of scrimmage.
September 23rd, 2013 at 11:03 am
Don’t ask. Don’t tell.
And the band played on.
September 23rd, 2013 at 11:03 am
Go Lightning!!!
September 23rd, 2013 at 11:15 am
Do you think the starters could have used a little more work in the pre-season to get their timing down?
September 23rd, 2013 at 11:25 am
While watching the Bucs get punked yesterday I found myself pondering, how many teams have went to the bottom of the NFL and has rinsen up again since the Bucs won the SB….
The Chiefs seem the most recent, Dolphins, Colts, Falcons, Saints, Lions, Texans, Some even think more highly of the Panthers at this point…
Hopefully the Bucs won’t be left behind by the time the Raiders, Browns and Jaguars finally improve..
At the rate things are going the Bucs, after all is said and done, could have the 1st over all pick in the 2014 draft!
September 23rd, 2013 at 11:44 am
Schiano has to go, and sooner rather than later. It’s really not too late to hire a REAL NFL coach. Take Sullivan with you, he needs to start as a colleg OC because he is lost at the Pro level.
September 23rd, 2013 at 11:46 am
Lightningbuc is right; the third WR and TE argument is overblown. Brady is playing with undrafted guys all over the place, but he is accurate and throws them open. Would we be excited if we had Dobson or Sudfeld? No. Besides, Freeman can’t read a defense long enough to find them anyway.
The simple fact is that this scheme is not suited for Freeman. Either the scheme needs to be changed to one that suits Freeman’s strengths or Glennon needs to be put it since his skillset fits the scheme. One of those changes alone would greatly help this offense.
September 23rd, 2013 at 11:51 am
Lightningbuc is right; the third WR and TE argument is completely overblown. Brady is going out there with a bunch of undrafted guys all around him, but he’s accurate and he throws them open. Would we be excited about Dobson or Sudfeld? No. Besides, Freeman can’t read a defense well enough to find a third WR anyway.
The simple fact is that this offensive scheme is not suited for Freeman. Either the scheme needs to be changed to fit Freeman’s strengths or Glennon needs to be put in since his skillset fits the scheme. Either is fine with me, and I’m guessing someone takes the fall real soon.
September 23rd, 2013 at 11:55 am
Schiano is not the problem. He’s the defensive side of things. The problem is Sullivan. The play calling is terrible. The defense is never off balance with the predictability of our offense.
September 23rd, 2013 at 12:00 pm
This is such a high level of over reaction. The only loss that has been “shocking” was the Jets one and they are a solid 2-1 right now. People hating on Freeman are ridiculous. If we had no drops yesterday he would have had a monster day. I think our offensive playcalling has ben strange but I never thought Mike Sullivan was good anyways. Our main problem on offense is our drops. It has been maddening especially with VJax. But anywho people are over reacting we are 0-3 and it sucks so incredibly hard, but there is a lot of season left. So lets just hope we pick up a win on sunday.
September 23rd, 2013 at 12:05 pm
@1976 Paper Bag Look in 2013 …..are you kidding me??!! You want to blame the Glazers who have spent more money than any other team in football over the past wo years to bring in talent?? What an idiot. You should be wearing a plastic bag over your head.
September 23rd, 2013 at 12:18 pm
Teams fire their OC’s mid season all the time…it’s not that hard to do. Someone has to take the fall for this and soon. Sully or Freeman. Because I just don’t see the Glazers or Dom giving up on Schiano in year 2. All that being said. When I made my predictions out beofre the season started. I had our Bucs winning the first 2 games and losing to NE. I’m not that far off the first 2 games, and I called the NE game as a loss. I predicted 10-6 or 11-5. So maybe it’s now 9-7 or 8-8 if I take away the first 2 games I had down as a Bucs win.
Who knows? I for one am still just sitting on the train in a tunnel looking out the window for any kind of daylight.
September 23rd, 2013 at 12:47 pm
I think it’s time to wave goodbye to Freeman and Sullivan. Promote somebody else to OC and bring in Glennon so we can decide if he is the right guy, or if we need to draft a QB next April. Nobody is going to trade for Freeman, unless it’s as a backup, and the most we could get for him would probably be a fifth rounder at best. While we are at it, might as well start teaching our young DB’s to play man coverage and learn from the best in the business (Revis)!
September 23rd, 2013 at 12:50 pm
Bobby,
The Glazers had to spend that money. The NFL rules changed because the Glazers did not spend ENOUGH money.
September 23rd, 2013 at 12:51 pm
I dont blame the Glazer’s for spending money, but I do blame them for firing Chucky, and installing two totally unqualified people to run the team, and in hiring and keeping the GM with the Matt Millen like winning percentage.
Dom’s teams always have either a horrific offense or horrific defense, with both simultaneously mixed in sometimes for the really long losing streaks.
Every year a glaring exploitable weakness, or weaknesses.
Why do we have to endure the man?
September 23rd, 2013 at 1:47 pm
I saw us down by 17, at the NE 33 yd line, it was 4th & 13. And we GO FOR IT??? Instead of kicking a 47-49 yd FG???
Who do you think makes the final decision to go for it on 4th down??? Sully?? He wishes..
Did Schiano really like our chances of converting 4th & 13 better than kicking a 47 yd FG?? Where we could have cut it from a 3 score lead, to a two score lead??
Think about it!!! The guy was 4th down happy with 2 previous attempts, and he had a moment of insanity and went for it on 4th & 13! ….And don’t give me sht about not trusting the kicker. You kick a 47 yd FG to cut the lead to 14! How often does our team convert a 3rd/4th & 10+???
Schiano’s Gotta Go!
September 23rd, 2013 at 1:48 pm
“I dont blame the Glazer’s for spending money, but I do blame them for firing Chucky”
I’d give my lower nut to have Chucky back at OBP.
September 23rd, 2013 at 2:02 pm
Why are the Bucs running the NYG offense? Freeman is not Manning. Are the Bucs some kind of sociolgical experiment? Tons of money spent on FAs, but hiring unqualified people. Isn’t Freeman’s QB coach also from Rutgers? I think we are presently stuck with a bullying micromanager, not a HC! Why was Claiborne covering a WR on the first touchdown? Why isn’t Revis playing man to man?
September 23rd, 2013 at 2:16 pm
Step 1 – hire Love Smith and fire sheridan.
Step 2 – give Gruden any amount of money to come back and work with this offensive Offense
Step 3 – win some ballgames instead of giving them away with poor coaching and decision making
September 23rd, 2013 at 2:40 pm
Mak, I’d give your lower nut to get Chucky back too.
We always had a chance to win with Chucky at the helm.
I’ve just had it with Schiano and the same crap coming out of his mouth week after week. No one is buying it anymore, not players, coaches or fans. I say can the guy now while it is early and maybe new leadership can turn things around.
I like the idea of trying to trade Freeman as soon as opportunity arises. Josh may do real well in a new environment, but it doesn’t look like Tampa is the place for the once “Bust in Waiting” as Joe called it.
September 23rd, 2013 at 2:42 pm
I’m on board with Lovie Smith too. Bring in Rod Marinelli as a DC. Someone has posted this here a few times, but hey, anything is better than this garbage. Chucky would be my first call though.
September 23rd, 2013 at 2:53 pm
@BigMac
Im with you on Chucky. I love Rod’s intensity, but the only time we had any success in Tampa was with an offensive minded HC. And he left the defense alone.
Now we have a Defensive minded coach (which is fine), but he cant leave Sullys offense alone!
Does Schiano go around the cafeteria at OBP and walk up to players, and nibble on their veggied and slurp down their soup too??
Schiano: like you preach, do YOUR job! not SULLYS!
but major dittos on Gruden..
September 23rd, 2013 at 2:56 pm
People forget, that Rich McKay put us in a whole with the cap. And Parcells was advised to back out of the job because of that.
So I can only imagine Gruden, working with Dom, who has brought in plenty of talent, is fiscally responsible, and set us up where we can maintain this roster for the next 3-4 years.
Schianos Gotta Go!
Bring Chucky Back Home!
September 23rd, 2013 at 3:18 pm
Rich McKay also mightily contributed to our Super Bowl.
Almost everyone gets in salary cap hole after that.
Dom hasnt because he hasnt had to sign players to big contracts because they became superstars, as Rich did.
Rich McKay vs. Mark Dominik? Are you kidding me??????
Geez.
September 23rd, 2013 at 3:59 pm
I dont see the problem been josh freeman I see it been the offensive system there s no underneath roures theres nothin to help with d deep ball no screens no slants no bubbles everything is deep and everyone knows it we dont have a TE to help us on underneath routes look at tje the NE. System everything is undernearh and wen you least expect it they beat you deep they keep yoi guessing our offense is predictable we need someone smart to lead the offense to plan against everything sullivan has to go I see josh is takin all the critic for a system that I dont think anyone could strive in right now as we speak
September 23rd, 2013 at 4:02 pm
We are runnin something old school in generation it dosent work anymore football has grown away from the things we are doin look at the saints look at tje eagles look at even tje chiefs now with andy reed
September 23rd, 2013 at 4:46 pm
@Bobby: Not here to argue but our beloved Bucs are 0-3, 1-9 in our last 10? Sorry it starts with the ownership. Glazers all time record 142-149 .490% and has had 9 (10 if you think 500. is acceptable) winning seasons in 19 and counting seasons. If they wanted to win they would have been spending their money since the Super Bowl. If you are happy with the ownership that is your opinion. What’s the old saying “If You Keep Doing What You’ve Always Been Doing, You’ll Keep Getting What You’ve Always Been Getting.” GO BUCS…
September 23rd, 2013 at 5:52 pm
My screen name says it all.
September 23rd, 2013 at 7:07 pm
Eric –
“Dom hasnt because he hasnt had to sign players to big contracts because they became superstars, as Rich did.
Rich McKay vs. Mark Dominik? Are you kidding me??????”
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you dont think Barron, LVD, Martin, GMC, AC, etc will eventually demand big contracts??
Think before you type… I gotta get the fck off this site. Youre dumbin me down dude.