Rare Plastering For Mike Smith
September 21st, 2016
Not used to opponents rolling up 40 points.
One reason Dirk Koetter hired his old friend Mike Smith to run the defense of the Bucs was because he is a veteran of coaching solid NFL defenses.
(Trivia: Last week on SiriusXM NFL Radio, Hall of Fame general manager Bill Polian passed on word that Koetter and Smith had a handshake agreement: If Smith ever got another head coaching job, then he would hire Koetter as offensive coordinator, if Koetter was not already a head coach; And Koetter, if he got a head coaching gig, would hire Smith as a defensive coordinator if Smith was not a head coach.)
Prior to joining Koetter’s staff, Smith had been a head coach or defensive coordinator for 12 NFL seasons. Only a handful of times did his teams see an opponent roll up 40 or more points like the Cardinals did on Sunday.
In fact, only six times in 12 seasons was Smith part of such a debacle.
Twice as a defensive coordinator in five seasons in Jacksonville the Jaguars coughed up 40 points. In his seven seasons as head coach in Atlanta only four times did the Dixie Chicks gag up 40 points.
In 2007, Smith’s final season in Jacksonville, the Jags gave up 41 points to Drew Brees and the Saints. Mike McKenzie had a 75-yard pick six. They also improbably allowed 42 points to Sage Rosenfels and the Texans. Andre Davis returned two Houston kickoffs for touchdowns in that game.
Of the four times Smith’s Atlanta squad allowed 40 or more points, the Bucs were one of the culprits. In 2013, Bobby Rainey went nuts with three touchdowns including a four-yard pass from Mike Glennon. Mason Foster added a 37-yard pick-six.
Joe hopes it is a long time before Smith is part of another embarrassment again.
September 21st, 2016 at 5:35 am
In his defense( pun intended) when the O gives up the ball in plus territory, the D is screwed. The 2 things I am not happy about is…. 1. the LONG td’s they have given up the first 2 weeks and 2….. NO pass rush again. All we hear is Jay Hayes will can make gold out of dookie , look what he did in Cincy,I sure hope that is the case. I just wonder, Schwartz in Philly has his D playing pretty well ( I know Browns and Bears), and you don’t hear him saying it takes time for the D to come together.
September 21st, 2016 at 5:54 am
We should handle the Rams easily.
September 21st, 2016 at 6:03 am
The guys at Inside the NFL still say the Bucs are up and coming and are still high on JW. They also beleive the only team better than AZ is NE. It’s game 2, everyone needs to relax. I have always thought this team will live and die with JW, much like the Favre lead Packers of the past. Like many have said, no one had this game in the W column before the game. Relax, there is allot of football left to play, why give up after a 1 and 1 start. A road win in the division is awesome, now let’s see if we can win the home opener. I for one think we can.
September 21st, 2016 at 6:17 am
The one thing I want yo see to get of Smiths back is the corners hitting the receivers at the line. Thats it!!!!!!
Once I start seeing more of that I will be a happy bucs fan. It will chamge some things. I understamd playing soft coverage can someyimes be a smart move but this crap of a product is predictable and ineffective just like Lovie and just like they had in Atlanta.
Name.me one team during Smith time in Atlanta that feared that feared that teams defense EVER!!!
I’LL WAIT
September 21st, 2016 at 6:51 am
If these guys can’t beat the Rams then this isn’t an 8 or 9 win team. More like 5 to 7 wins max. This game will give fans a little more light on the subject of how this season will probably play out. I’ll reserve my personal opinion until Monday morning. Things will be a lot clearer then and where this team really stands compared to the other teams in the league will be easier to predict.
September 21st, 2016 at 6:52 am
the way the Bucs are playing on both sides of the ball I don’t think the Bucs could handle USF easily let alone an NFL team…out of focus, sheesh, what a pathetic excuse…weak willed and weak minded D…
September 21st, 2016 at 6:52 am
@Kevin
You think it is a good idea to put brent grimes on the line and “jam” Larry Fitzgerald??? Grimes is maybe 185lbs with cleats and pads!!!!!! and let us not even talk about the difference in length of arm difference!!! Needless to say, it will not work out well for Grimes in that match up!!!!
But we get it kevin, you do not like Coach Smitty!!! You have made up your mind during the first two preseason games!! The rest of us are going to wait thru the season to see the difference that good coaches will make this year!!!!
September 21st, 2016 at 7:19 am
Realist, if they are playing zone coverage and you relying on your safties to pick up the coverage, then its only going to play to your advantage to throw the timing of the qb and receiver off. Gtimes has played plenty of press and Verner thrives in it but if our DC IS SET ATplaying zone at least throw the timing off.
Dont tell me giving Larry Fitzgerald 10 to 15 yards of free field to run is your idea of playing good defense and fixing the problem of letting every qb that faces us look like a hall og famer. Please tell me your suggestions because Im willing to put my money where my mouth is that if we play four quarters of soft coverage the rams will throw for 300 to 400 yards easily.
I didnt make up my mind on smitty after two games, I made up my mind on Smitty while he was still in Atlanta and couldnt even save his own job by fixing the dwfense with one of the top offenses in the league .
Again, tell me what you sugggest….
September 21st, 2016 at 7:25 am
Is smitty calls for aggresive D then I will change my tune but this conservative crap is why Lovie is gone. Im done with it and I will continue beating my drum to the tune of off with his head until either he changes it or is gone.
No excuse for that crap. Lets see how many yards of offense we give up to yhe worst offense in yhe league sunday and then puck back up on this conversation shall we?
I’ll see you then!!!!
September 21st, 2016 at 7:37 am
@Kevin
Well, what we did try, did not work obviously!!! But If Grimes jams and gets just shoved out of the way, LF then has that 10-15 yards to pick up speed then to put an open field move on the safety!! I know what you are saying and I too like Cb’s that jam and challenge routes!! The hole an any way you go about it is that there was 0 pressure on the QB!!!
Even when they brought a blitz it was flat out stoned!!!! The play at the 32 second mark, brings the safety and he was flat out stopped!!!!
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap3000000705234/Buccaneers-vs-Cardinals-highlights
September 21st, 2016 at 7:55 am
I have to give theyre o line a ton of credit they played stellar. It was like a brick wall with another brick wall behind it. I have all the confidence in the world that jay hayes will gey this line right, but I also believe that if there is a reciever open all the time with soft coverage it makes it nearly impossible for the pass rush yo have time to develope. That was noy the case last Dunday though, theyre o line was too damn strong
September 21st, 2016 at 8:02 am
Why is everyone so hell bent on blaming the coaches while giving the players a pass? Zone coverage put a lot of pressure on the d-line to perform, and we have not had the personnel to pull the scheme off. Secondly, we don’t have the big corners to play press man. I have been saying this for over 4 years.
Defensive Breakdown
Inconsistent D-line pressure
Down-hill LBs
Off-Zone Corners.
If we improve the secondary with bigger, physical talent the entire defense will have a positive impact.
If we keep our current secondary, LBs will need to improve in coverage, and D-line must step up.
September 21st, 2016 at 8:17 am
The Seahawks are a much better team than the Bucs and they couldn’t handle the Rams easily. In fact, if you weren’t paying attention they lost.
There are no easy games in the NFL.
September 21st, 2016 at 8:37 am
Blaming Mike Smith for Sunday’s debacle seems sorta like blaming a stock 1955 Ford for not being able to keep up with a 2016 Bugatti. Fact is that the 55 Ford simply doesn’t have enough horsepower under its’ hood (among other things). Bucs were soundly thrashed by a much better team Sunday … offensively & defensively.
I’m extremely impressed with what Mike Smith and the other defensive coaches have done with the present defensive talent on the Bucs. Our defense held up reasonably well for almost all of the 1st half. Losing Robert Ayers (and Jack Smith the week before) certainly didn’t help our pass rush, and without that I’d think most everyone knew we’d be in trouble. But Bucs fans should also credit (begrudgingly) the Cardinals’ offensive line … they were excellent. Time to move on to the Rams and hope our offense plays better than it did Sunday.
September 21st, 2016 at 8:40 am
Earth to Mike Smith: please let Johnathan Banks play. Note: it’s ‘their.’ You guys need to learn how to proof on a phone computer. I spend a lot of time figuring out the grammar BEFORE I can read the content. I get on these blogs to learn about the game I love to listen to on Sundays. What’s that saying: ‘On any given Sunday…..’ Go Tampa Bay!!
September 21st, 2016 at 8:44 am
I agree somewhat with Kevin our defense looks stagnant at times. Watching other teams even the Eagles/Bears game them guys were flying all over the field and hitting hard. Sometimes the Bucs D just looks a half step slow.
September 21st, 2016 at 8:58 am
It’s pretty hard for any defense to hold up for long when the offense continues to turn the ball over. I think we held up well but just simply got beat by a better team. That’s hard to say but sadly true.
September 21st, 2016 at 9:07 am
^^^^True story^^^^
September 21st, 2016 at 9:08 am
@Tampabaybucfan on parole
What we saw, was most likely the product of Coach Smitty trying to replicate the game plan carolina had on the cards when the dismantled them in the playoffs !!! But due to the cards fixing the oline assignments, Palmers thumb being healed, and the Bucs not having the personal were all the factors why it did not work!!!
September 21st, 2016 at 9:18 am
I think coach smith philosophy and scheme is light years ahead of anything in tampa in past 6 years, that being said you can’t make chicken salad if you only have chicken spit and half of the tampa defense is chicken spit, give him some NFL safeties to cover over the top and ol grimes has seen better days
September 21st, 2016 at 9:31 am
Sofr as tissue, verner and grimes are two corners that play very well in press, in fact those systems allowed them to make pro bowl appearances. Jonathan banks struggles in zone but id bet some greenbacls he would do pretty good in press as well. Play press single high saftey and sic the dawgs on them. Remember when we beat new orleans in new orleans last year, go back and watch the film for whatever odd reason Lovie decided that one day he would deplou some single high saftey press coverage and our pass rush was effective and we won the game. If rather lose playing press than lose playing tampa two any day. We have seen over the last 9 years every year the tampa two suffers worse and worse every season. Please jusy make the switch already.
September 21st, 2016 at 10:27 am
I think tbe mist alarming part is finding out howthis team let it’s ego get in their way, admitedley. They came in, they weren’t focused and they apparentely had a bad week of practice. This team better not under estimate the Rams. Seriously, if we can’t focus against the Rams in Tampa, then this team is in alot of trouble.
September 21st, 2016 at 11:20 am
Ok it’s Wednesday. 14 games left to play. Let’s talk about Rams. Short memory, move on to the next game. Right now we are still tied for first. If we beat the Rams we will be 2-1 which is better the most thought we would be at this point.
September 21st, 2016 at 1:02 pm
@Kevin
You’re right, the Tampa2 doesn’t work unless you have pressure on the QB ALL day. The ONLY reason it worked when Monte Kiffen was here was that he had Sapp & Rice rushing the passer. QB’s had to get rid of the ball faster than normal, and DB’s could sit on the routes. Everybody that has tried to use the Tampa2 since we did it back then has failed, the middle is ALWAYS open. We had Hardy & Lynch to take care of the middle.
That being said, the defense played pretty good to start the game, until JW started turning the ball over. The defense just got wore out because they had to be on the field so much. Jameis is going to have to take care of the football this week if we want a shot at beating the Rams. He is ALSO going to have to be more accurate than last week in order to win. JW couldn’t even throw a slant pattern without throwing it high, it was crazy. ALL I hear is excuses on why we lost, blaming everyone (VJax too) other than Jameis. Franchise QB’s need to play better, simple as that. He needs to shake that game off and be ready for a pass rush that is really going to get after him. Check the ball down at the beginning of the game and throw shorter passes until he gets into a groove. Two weeks in a row that he couldn’t hit a pass 25 yards or more on the first drive, both weeks to ME13. Settle into the game first before Dirk has him going for the killshot. He is just NOT that accurate at first. Go BUCS!