Misusing Talent
October 25th, 2013
One of many fans who showed their disgust for Bucs commander Greg Schiano in last night’s loss to the Stinking Panthers.
At this point, with the Bucs losing 12 of their last 13 games, they are 0-7 in 2013. And with a quick glance at the schedule, the nearest possible non-miracle win on paper could come in December. It really isn’t a question of Bucs commander Greg Schiano not returning for a 2014 season, but if he will have the luxury of finishing the 2013 (which Joe isn’t wholly opposed to).
Team Glazer coughed up a quarter of a billion dollars in players salaries the past two seasons. There is talent on this roster but yet the team loses. And loses. And loses.
Former Bucs great and Hall of Fame defensive tackle Warren Sapp, working for the NFL Network which broadcast last night’s game, pointed a finger directly at the Bucs coaching staff for misusing players, documented by the Custodian of Canton, eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune.
“Right now, this ballclub, I think they need to play to their strengths,” Sapp said. “Whenever I look at this defense, I see talent. I see talent that can be utilized in much better ways. And until they start utilizing the talent that they have on this team, we’re going to be looking at an 0-and-whatever team for quite awhile.”
Whether it is having the defensive line run stunts just for the sake of running stunts, or the popular non-issue of the day that dominates sports talk radio, whether All World cornerback Darrelle Revis is playing man-to-man or zone defense, right now it’s difficult to argue the problem with the Bucs has been a massive breakdown and failure by the Bucs’ college of coaches, some 73 assistants or so it seems.
Too many former Bucs, too many former NFL’ers, too many respected analysts, watch the Bucs and shake their collective heads about what the players are being ordered to do.
That’s a damning statement on the coaches, led by Schiano.
October 25th, 2013 at 9:02 am
Ya think. with Revis, its like you hired the best attorney in the world and yu have him filing briefs.
October 25th, 2013 at 9:09 am
Yea thats who we should listen too is Sapp!!
October 25th, 2013 at 9:10 am
I think the Glazers are waiting on word from the NFLPAabout their investigation of Freeman. If Schaino was the leak the Glazer can fire him and not be responsible for his contract. They may also see if Schiano doesn’t just up and leave and go back to college lol
October 25th, 2013 at 9:11 am
“working under the watchful gaze of Schiano.”
And, Schiano working under the watchful gaze of the Teflon Dom.
Accountability starts at the top. Fire Dominick and all the coaches.
October 25th, 2013 at 9:12 am
Yeah we have some very talented player’s surrounded by scrubs. For every Revis, we have a Leonard Johnson. Depth is nowhere to be seen.
October 25th, 2013 at 9:13 am
One more reason to make the coaching change now….(notice I’ve changed my mind on this issue)
It is all about next year now….and we need to do everything possible to develop younger players and direct the talent we have properly.
Getting rid of Schiano will at least permit the assistants to do things their way…I suspect they have been dictated to thus far.
October 25th, 2013 at 9:24 am
@tampabaybucsfan. 2 days ago I said it would not be prudent to shuttle Schiano in mid season. I to have done an about face and think if you wait any longer the fan base will erode so deeply that next year the Glazers will be forced to buy all the tickets.
What’s that old adage, there’s no time like the present.
October 25th, 2013 at 9:24 am
Here are just some of my thoughts on yet another horrendous loss:
1. Please, for the love of all that is good, STOP WITH THE RUNNINGBACK SCREENS AND CHECKDOWNS!!! I don’t care who’s calling for ’em, Sully or Greg, JUST STOP! I didn’t get an exact count last night but there must’ve been over a dozen passes to either Mike James, Brian Leonard, or Erik Lorig that gone next to nothing. IT DOESN’T WORK. It didn’t work in 2011 with Kregg Lumpkin. It didn’t work in 2012 with D.J Ware. It sure as heck isn’t working now!
2. Why the hell was Ted Larsen starting at center when we had a perfectly healthy Jeremy Zuttah on the field? Larsen had 3 terribly low snaps by my count, 2 of which resulted in a sack because Glennon couldn’t get it down by his ankles. That happened on two 3rd downs that killed the drive.
3. The coverage was god awful! Revis had some nice man to man (finally!) pass deflections in the first half, then the entire team looked like a bunch of lawnchairs. Cam Newton must’ve thrown the ball over the middle 15 or 20 times and the Bucs could not stop him. There was always a man open. On the Panthers first TD, two receivers were WIDE OPEN in the endzone. The tackling was even worse! Couldn’t bring down Cam, Williams, or Tolbert unless they had 3 guys on him. Shame on Sheridan for acting like a smart @ss and calling out the fans when he has done a terrible job of coaching up this defense. It makes me wanna catch the first plane to Tampa just to show up to OBP not to talk to him about the gameplan and have some free Cokes, but to slap him across the face like he did to us.
4. Some positives for Glennon: The kid, once again, looked good (not great). He silenced some of his critics last night by not only going mobile, but throwing the ball deep. Sadly the deep ball didn’t have any success, but not entirely because of Glennon. His first deep pass was right on the money to Crabtree but he couldn’t haul it in because of a defender stripping it. The second deep ball was too far out of bounds to VJax (probably on Glennon). The third deep ball was a little high for Eric Paige in the endzone, but Paige got two hands on it with no contact from a defender and dropped it, so that’s not all on Glennon. Another thing is he got mobile. In the first quarter he escaped a blitz on 3rd down, got out of the pocket, and threw a 1st down to VJax, very nice play. Also on the Bucs first TD when the pocket collapsed, Glennon scrambled up to the line of scrimmage and read the D perfectly for an easy TD pass. He also got out of the pocket a few more times to avoid pressure throughout the game, and I thought that was pretty cool to see. Another thing is I liked the way Glennon looked in the 2-minute offense. Overall a solid(but not fantastic) night from the rook.
5: Now some negatives: Glennon had 4 or 5 overthrows by my count (correct me if I’m wrong). Two of them came on 3rd down. And no Mike Glennon Mob, these were not overthrows to avoid INT’s, these were overthrows that should’ve been completions. Only 1 of the 5 was intentionally high to avoid the defender, the rest were bad throws. Glennon also took two bad sacks, one of which came on 2nd and 1. Probably just a rookie mistake but a mistake nonetheless, you have to get rid of the ball when you’re that close to the first, don’t make it 3rd and long. Also while Glennon did throw any picks last night, it should be noted that in the 4th quarter he threw 2 passes right to Carolina defenders that should’ve been INT’s but were dropped. But luckily, no picks. So again, overall a solid game by a rookie QB.
6. For once, Schiano’s team did not look like a bunch of 5 year-olds making dumb penalties. Probably the most disciplined game played by the Bucs all year and it came on a blowout loss at home on Thursday Night Football, what a shame.
7. At this point, I think Schiano has lost the locker room. After being embarrassed on national TV and even having the announcers and our HOF Warren Sapp talk about how bad things are here, there’s not much fight left in these guys. The commentators said “This is how a winless team plays” and you know what, they’re right! Sapp called the performance an embarrasment. Bennett said Schiano has small man syndrome, they showed a picture of a billboard in Tampa that read only two words: “FIRE SCHIANO”. This team will quit on him like they did Morris. And I think after watching the way the few home crowd fans acted, the Glazers’ hands are gonna be forced to fire him mid-season. The hot seat has gotten too hot. This fanbase is restless and desperately wants him gone. We still have more than half a season to go, I don’t think our owners want to here “FIRE SCHIANO” and other nasty things for 9 more weeks.
8. Just a side note here, but have I mentioned how much I despise Cam Newton? Not because of his talent (Because he is an excellent QB), but because of his attention whore attitude. The guy was doing stupid dances every time he got a first down, and was giving away game balls after TD’s that he didn’t even score. He always knows where the cameras are and that stupid towel thing he took from Michael Jordan is starting to anger me. I laughed my butt off when the Bucs got into the red zone late in the 4th and Cam ducked for cover when the cannons fired. The guy is a good QB, but he’s an attention whore!
Well, those are just my thoughts and opinions along with some notes. It’s getting really hard to watch this team week in and week out. After watching the way we’ve played we deserve the 0-7 record. It’s a tough time to be a Bucs fan but you know what, whether we go 9-7 (haha!) or 0-16 I’ll be back next year cheering for my Bucs either way.
October 25th, 2013 at 9:32 am
The reason Cam ran for his TD was because of a FAILED stunt.
October 25th, 2013 at 9:34 am
@WalkdaPlank
Nice write up. Agree with everything. Hopefully next season will bring something to be excited about.
October 25th, 2013 at 9:37 am
Oh and I forgot to add the part about terrible special teams. We haven’t had a decent returner since Michael Spurlock and who the hell knows why we got rid of him? Even when he was still on the team he wasn’t allowed to return kickoffs, he was the backup to Maurice Stovall/Preston Parker and one time when Stovall fumbled the kickoff, Spurlock picked it up and ran for a TD and still didn’t get the job! Clueless. Eric Paige was our return man tonight and he did a terrible job. He brought two kickoffs deep out of the back of the endzone and didn’t even make it past the 20 on both tries. Then he fumbled a PR and lost it, and on another PR he failed to call for a fair catch and got blasted by a Panther defender. So the search continues for the savior returner I guess, it still baffles me why Michael Spurlock is not still a Buccaneer.
October 25th, 2013 at 9:40 am
Plank. Great write up, a lot there and pretty spot on. What the hell has happened to Paige. He doesn’t look like the same dude from preseason.
Lastly. Can someone please tell me what other team in the NFL lets its SACK LEADER go for a 1year deal just to have that player start blasting his old coach to the national media. Cuba? Small Man Syndrome?
Are we the only team that this crap happens to or do I just have blinders on???
October 25th, 2013 at 9:41 am
Does anyone really have any faith in the Glazers to hire someone competent? After Schiano is gone? I just have no hope left.
October 25th, 2013 at 9:42 am
@passthebuc
Exactly….Firing Schiano will allow the press,players & fans to focus on the future which is all we have now.
Keeping Schiano forces everyone to focus on him. And, actually that isn’t fair for him either.
I’ve been in this situation in business before and now is a better time than later.
October 25th, 2013 at 9:47 am
Time to face facts.
We are not loaded with talent by any stretch.
Schiano did not fix the defense as it still is lousy.
Schiano can’t coach at this level.
Dominik can’t develop even a decent team much less a lasting contender.
Gonna take at least a couple of seasons to turn this around, if they hire a good front office guy and coach. Its very uncertain whether the Glazer boys are capable of making the right hires.
But, get the momentum going the right way and the fans will come back, if they make some moves everyone recognizes are legit and not some line of BS.
October 25th, 2013 at 9:51 am
Eric everything you just said is 100% correct. One thing I might add is I don’t think they’d be willing to pay for the right regime to lead us.
October 25th, 2013 at 9:53 am
I’m beyond getting mad, disappointed, etc. Now I’m just bored…ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
October 25th, 2013 at 9:54 am
Hopefully I’ll be proven wrong next year when we get a new coach but…maybe we just aren’t that talented?
David Joseph will not be a Buccaneer next year and we’ll have to draft Penn’s replacement in the 2014 Draft. Revis is a shell of his former self due to injury. Goldson is overpaid and mildly overrated. We have no d-line talent or depth outside of GMC and the same goes for our corners outside of Revis. I love VJax and MikeWill but both guys struggle to consistently separate. We have no TEs.
I’m not giving Schiano or Dominik a pass but I think the level of talent of our players now needs to be questioned as well.
October 25th, 2013 at 9:58 am
@Plank
“2. Why the hell was Ted Larsen starting at center when we had a perfectly healthy Jeremy Zuttah on the field? Larsen had 3 terribly low snaps by my count, 2 of which resulted in a sack because Glennon couldn’t get it down by his ankles. That happened on two 3rd downs that killed the drive.”
I actually liked that move. Zuttah is a better at LG than he is at C and Larsen is better at C than he is at LG. We were moving the ball somewhat effectively before he started botching the snaps.
October 25th, 2013 at 9:58 am
All good posts, very insightful. Buc ownership cannot allow its fan base to further erode. The lack of depth is a huge issue but when you have superstars like Revis, McCoy and David on defense it’s up to the coaching staff to get the secondary guys like Claybourne and Barron to splash and hit people hard. The inability to rush the passer is inexcusable. For years now no pass rush, lots of high draft picks that have flopped, that’s on management and coaching.
Offensively the line has been terrible, the offensive scheme is way too simplified, very predictable. There is no challenge for opposing defenses to stop the Bucs. It’s too damn easy to gameplay for them. That is purely a reflection of bad game planning that falls on coaching.
Talent level on the offense is marginal but Vincent Jackson is a top 15 receiver and Mike Williams has to be much better than he has shown this season. Williams who signed his extension has been below average. Glennon’s play has been good, then shaky but the drops are ridiculous, this is the NFL, if the ball is in your hands or on the numbers you catch it. Our receivers have not helped him. Drops are part of the game, but not every week, specifically when the team is in bad field position and Glennon is throwing catchable balls.
This debacle of a season falls 75% on being prepared week in and week out! that’s coaching. The other 25% fails on the players who when rarely put in the position to make plays are not doing their jobs.
October 25th, 2013 at 9:59 am
I wonder if Schiano still thinks that they can turn things around in time to make the Playoffs?
October 25th, 2013 at 10:01 am
Fire everyone. Including the scouts.
Find a well groomed assistant in Baltimore, or GB, or any team that churns out a consistent winner. Make him your GM, then gut the roster of all the high priced overachievers. Rebuild…again. I would trade guys like Vincent for picks. We need to make up for no first rounder last year.
If you want to keep Dominick as a cap guy only, I guess that’s fine. But, keep him away from hiring coaches and any talent evaluation.
October 25th, 2013 at 10:02 am
I am in Shreveport on business and even the local Shreveport Sports radio gu are slamming the Bucs and Stinkano VERY depressing to be a lifelong Buccaneer fan these days.
October 25th, 2013 at 10:09 am
Plank,
nice job!
did anyone notice if glennon missed any wide open receivers when he threw the check downs? I did not see any, nor did I see any complaints from the commentators that he missed the wide open guy.
which tells me our receivers were not open and he took his only option with the checkdown.
October 25th, 2013 at 10:35 am
Jo mama. Will totally agree, and in truth this affected Josh quite a bit also. But our Wr’s, TE DO NOT consistently get open. Everyone wants to give Glennon a hard time about throwing it downfield but unlike when I watch a cowboys, eagles, broncos, falcons, etc, etc, etc…. I see our QB’s needing to make a perfect pass to blanketed receiver. Ask Romo, every time he throws past 20 yards, to make a perfect pass to a covered WR and I bet people would be questioning his accuracy also.
And before someone jumps on, not comparing the two. Glennon is a green rookie but other than check downs, he really isnt getting much help consistently.
October 25th, 2013 at 10:53 am
@ Skelly
If you watch the patterns run by the receivers in this very poorly designed offensive system then you can see why the QB’s have nobody to throw to. You can bring in Manning, Brady, Rogers or any other NFL QB and none of them will look good in this system
October 25th, 2013 at 10:57 am
@ Skelly
If you watch the pass patterns that the receivers run in this very poorly designed offensive system you can see why the QB’s have nobody to throw to. You can bring in Manning, Brady, Rogers or any other NFL QB and none of them will look good in this system.
October 25th, 2013 at 10:36 pm
@Plank: very good write-up.
I think that Schiano has to go sooner rather than later for the players and other staff too – the sooner they can move on from this drama, the sooner the healing can begin. The recovery won’t be quick or pretty – firing the HC won’t bring victory, but if the fans feel that their voice has been heard and the team feel that a new course has been charted there will be something positive to hold on to even in defeat. As it stands, it was a pretty gloomy (and prematurely thinned) crowd that left the stadium at the end of the game last night and I can’t imagine that life was good in the locker room.