No Secret To Secondary Failures, Says Barber

November 10th, 2012

The woes of the Bucs secondary this season have been the Achilles heel of the physical Bucs defense.

The secondary has had it its quality moments, full halves of football even, but inevitably a roasting comes. This is painful to Ronde Barber, who shared that the fix is obvious and simple in theory, during a Tuesday interview on the Buccaneers Radio Network.

“It’s really nothing to address. I mean, you get in 1-on-1 situations sometimes; we just gotta win. You know, they’re winning,” Barber said of failures in the defensive backfield. “There’s no secret. Balls can not go over your head in the secondary. That’s the bottom line.”

Barber referenced simple yet profound advice he got many years ago from ageless Hall of Fame Redskins cornerback Darrell Greene (1983-2002) on how to stay in the league so long, “Don’t get beat deep.”

“It’s a really simple concept that we have to get better at. We can’t let the ball go over our head,” Barber said.  

Joe fully expects the Bucs secondary to struggle the rest of the season. There’s no miracle cure in the bushes. The Bucs are probably hoping that’s speedy CB LeQuan Lewis, but that’s an experiment, nothing more.

Joe simply hopes the Bucs improve in coverage this season until they can invest in cornerback this offeseason. Basic improvement could be enough to ensure the Bucs win shootout after shootout the rest of the way.

17 Responses to “No Secret To Secondary Failures, Says Barber”

  1. espo Says:

    Umm either don’t blitz as often or get better at it.

  2. 1976Buc Says:

    That’s about as simple as you can analyze the problem from one of the nest and most respected in the business.

  3. Pete Dutcher Says:

    Blitzing is not the only area that is in need of improvement. It may be the popular choice on placing the blame…but it’s a bit more indepth than that.

    The odds area against the secondary being fixed this season, but not impossible. I have no idea where the solutions are, but hopefully Mark and Greg will find answers.

    One thing…I have always felt that among the hundreds of players that do not make teams coming out of college each year, there had to be some quality potential being missed. I like how Dominick keeps 1-2 roster spots fluid to keep searching out those guys.

  4. JerseyBucsfan Says:

    Now that I think of it maybe we see a lot of 1 on 1 by bliz

  5. Colorado Buc Says:

    “Joe fully expects the Bucs secondary to struggle the rest of the season. There’s no miracle cure in the bushes. ” That seemed to be the same thing everyone(myself included) thought when we lost Nicks…last week the line played arguably their best game of the year against a nasty front. All I am saying is I would not write off a miracle cure just yet.

  6. JerseyBucsfan Says:

    Now that I think of it maybe the reason we see so many 1 on 1 due to the blitz is the reason were so good with the run. The problem could be is once we stop the run game will begain to hurt us.

  7. Dano Says:

    You can have a bunch of Pro Bowl DB’s, but if your blitzes are Ineffective &
    you don’t get a Pass Rush to make opposing QB’s uncomfortable,then your
    secondary is going to get shred apart all day long! I’m hoping for a better
    Pass Rush the next 8 wks!

  8. teacherman777 Says:

    Ronde is the greatest.

    Awesome picture.

    I believe in Leonard Johnson and EJ Biggers. They will step it up the next few weeks.

    I am excited to see us adding a speed demon CB to the mix. Nice signing. Of LeQuan Lewis.

    I am happy to sent Aqib Talib to New England. He can continue to grow as a player and conpete immediately. I will still root for Aqib Talib.

    And the 4th round pick is real nice too.

    We will need Ronde and Barron to really step it up and help our corners. And we will need our D-Line to get to Philip Rivers. Otherwise, its gonna be a long day.

  9. buccanay Says:

    our legendary, iconic FS is one of the main culprits, IMO. Yes, some of the “burns” have been straight 1 on 1’s, BUT the FS’s main responsibility is playing CF. Barron’s been more of a run-stopping safety, although he to should take some credit or blame, but the FS main responsibilty, ussually, is to be the last line, and that would be BARBER. Of course, he’s not all to blame, but blamin’ everything on the CB’s is ridiculous. It’s on the entire secondary, including Ronde Barber.

  10. raphael Says:

    Draft Xavier Rhodes from FSU …and pick up another in F/a

  11. Mavsmoney Says:

    Anyone see that yahoo article about how belicheat swindled the bucs for Talib? I’d post a link but I don’t think the joes like that. Pissed me off though. Well see who swindled who in a couple months

  12. fridgebob Says:

    Anyone notice how effective our CB/safety blitzes are?

  13. Sneedy16 Says:

    @Mavsmoney

    It all depends on who is viewing the trade. Patriots fans thinks that they hit the lottery with the trade, because they haven’t had a decent cornerback since Ty Law. If Talib can stay out of trouble with the system that they run he can be effective so they got what they wanted.

    Bucs fans are shocked we even got anything for him. We are building for the future and Talib was always in trouble and is one trouble away from a one year suspension. I really don’t care I think we got what we wanted they got what they needed so even split.

  14. tidalguy Says:

    So, what is it, scheme or players?

  15. gracelivin Says:

    the main reason our blitzes don’t work is because they are predictable, the blitzer walks up to the line so the QB can audible, rather than waiting a half a count to let the line think they have the call right and the blitzer find the open whole, kind of like a rb running to daylight. The cb’s on those plays must get an initial chuck at the line and backpeddle with balance or turn the hips forcing the receiver to the direction the cb wants not the other way around. this can be fixed most is fundemental.

  16. Pete Dutcher Says:

    I’m sorry, but I don’t see the lack of pass rush. The effort there and quarterbacks are getting hit much of the time…it’s just a hair late. This will improve as the season goes on…or next season when we have a healthy Dline.

    I do see a predictable blitz, but there was a time when the Bucs rarely blitzed at all. Again, I think it is part of the development process.

  17. c-span Says:

    I think we play to much press at the line. I think if the CBs mix it up, press or playing off, that would help with not getting burnt