Make The Call

October 18th, 2017

24-hour poll posted at 7:01 a.m. (This specific poll, run weekly through the second-half of last year, will be back here every Wednesday).


44 Responses to “Make The Call”

  1. The Buc Realist Says:

    Uh-0h, Joe only starts posting these after a loss and when he has lost hope!!!!!

    What we learned and what we have known for quite some time is that there are very few Buc fans, and a lot of just “winning” fans that show up during the good times!!!!

    The Bucs have faced two desperate teams that had their backs against the wall and the season in the balance, and now its the Bucs turn!!!! Lets see how they respond!!!!!!! Lets see what they do now that their back is against the wall!!!!!! I expect to see a different team this week!!!!!!!!

    GO Bucs!!!!!!

  2. German Buc Says:

    As long as we are playing not to lose we are not going to win anything. Time to let Jameis throw the f*%§ing rock around. He is great if he trusts his instincts!!

  3. dooshlarue Says:

    I voted very confident.

    Why?
    Because what I like most about Coach K is his honesty and his realistic manner.
    His pride may be getting in the way at the moment but I have faith he will realize his shortcomings and make the appropriate adjustments.

    Attention Mike Smith.

    Yeah, things look bad again this year and I was really hoping we wouldn’t be the victims of another one or two ass-whoopings……but I think we can right the ship and finish strong.

    Don’t give up just yet Bucs fans!

  4. Clodhopper Says:

    1 complete game out of 5.

    Little confidence.

    I think he has what it takes, but he’s lost right now.

  5. EA Says:

    How can you be confident at this point? I’m surprised at the results so far. Poll results don’t reflect a lot of the comments here so far, it’s still early.
    I voted little confident, this team has regressed from.last year, Koetter doesn’t seem to get the full potential of this offense, he did more with less last year.
    Players coming out flat is also another reason I’m.not confident to rhis point, but that may change, it’s like the power rankings, rated on weekly basis.

  6. Not there yet Says:

    Good teams don’t wait until their back are up against a wall to start playing well, your either good or your not and we’re last in our division and we’ve played how many teams with better talent than us? Not going to call anyone out who’s saying their favorite team is not very good when all the cards are on the table, 16 games in a season that would be every week that’s crucial. I can’t think of any teams right now that have had a coaching change in the last couple years that have stayed the exact same while adding major talent except the bucs, it’s either coaching staff or the core players that are the issue.

    Losing had become the norm and a habit so they expect it and they are admitting it…. No one can say this team has a winning mentality if your last in the division but you talk about coming out flat every week after a loss or talking about not having a good practice which is on the head coach. They were embarrassed by that team last year and come out again and play scared exactly like last year. Dirk hasn’t shown any stick carrier that’s what he is about, Dirk is coaching soft and I’d rather him give up play calling to focus more on his team. If he can’t give up play calling and rather risk his job to keep doing that then all he’ll ever be is an offensive coordinator

  7. buddy Says:

    How can anyone be confident after what we have seen? He said himself he didn’t have the team ready to play. Terrible job of leading. Obviously this guy Koetter is better at being a coordinator then a HC.

  8. Chris@Apple Roof Cleaning Tampa Says:

    When nearly every person in the National Media including Ronde Barber question our coaching, how can anyone be extremely confident in our Coach ?
    I have confidence in Koetter the person, but feel some things need changing.

  9. LocalJoker Says:

    Poll taken too early. I got my doubts but let’s see at the halfway mark. He deserves the benefit of any doubt at this point.

  10. Eric Says:

    I’m confident in Dirk the head coach but I think Dirk the OC has regressed just as much as VHIII

  11. ATrain Says:

    We have had how many Coaches in the last 15 years
    Ones to soft
    Ones to hard

    Maybe it’s not the coaches
    Maybe it’s the “Oh Well we were flat today” attitude

    What team loses and some of the players walk off laughing and slapping hands the Bucs
    Maybe the coach should go old school and run them till they puke

  12. Kyle Says:

    GLAZERS…break the curse you put on this team. Bend the knee, kiss his arse, whatever it takes, admit you were wrong and rehire Jon Gruden at years end.

  13. WyomingBucsFan Says:

    Really? What do you want the coach to do? These guys are supposed to be paid professionals. It’s time to hold the players responsible. The question is, How do you do that? The answer is you can’t. These players get paid regardless. The only solution is to start benching guys to send a message. Will see what happens.

  14. Buccaneer Bonzai Says:

    @The Buc Realist

    When you are right, you are right.

  15. WyomingBucsFan Says:

    This team is mentally weak. They may improve from now on but they are still a mentally soft and that comes from a lot of things mostly youth. I don’t see this changing over night so don’t get to invested in this season. They will play well again and eventually fall flat on their millennial faces. Look how frustrated Mike Evans got in week two. He damn near trashed the whole Gatorade table. He saw this coming and was trying to send a message to his team mates. This team needs more guys with that attitude.

  16. Buccaneer Bonzai Says:

    The 2001 Patriots went 5-5 on their way to winning that Superbowl. Plenty of other teams have started off rough and made it to the playoffs or championships.

    The thing those teams have in common? No coaching carousel. Team owners decided to trust their head coach over a period of years, and he delivered.

    Dirk Koetter is no a perfect coach…there are few of those…but he is a very good coach. If anyone can get us to the big game, it is him.

    People who want him gone are the people who foolishly believe The Glazers can get Jon Gruden to come back because he dropped ‘hints’ this year. Guess what? They offered him the job before they went after Koetter. He is all talk, nothing more.

    You may as well forget those hopes of yours in that regard.

    And really, we do not need him. There can be no doubt that this team is heading in the right direction. All the offense needs is developmental time, and our GM will be able to focus on the defense more now.

    And you just never know…this team could step up this year and do something great. I believe it has the ability.

  17. dooshlarue Says:

    I also think tmax is onto something with his tireless cancer93 campaign.
    No, GMC is not the sole reason we lose and I have to say, he’s playing a little better so far this season…..but he is the common denominator in our inability to get out of this losing funk for the last 8 years….

  18. FSU/BUCS fan Says:

    I voted confident but if the question was confidence in coach MS and the defense – not so much

  19. Buccaneer Bonzai Says:

    Because he was putting the pieces of the offense together, Jason Licht has had to piece the defense together with band-aides. Now, all the offense needs is a running back and developmental time, so he can turn his focus to drafting more for defense. It’s a long process when it comes to building a lasting contender, but it is more than worth it.

    Get rid of him or Koetter now, and you set things back again. That’s why we have not won anything in over a decade. Let things come together and be patient.

    And, as I said above, while Licht is drafting the perfect defense over the next couple years, he just might hit the right combination of free agents to get us somewhere in the short term as well.

    Perhaps even this year.

  20. Buccaneer Bonzai Says:

    dooshlarue Says
    “I also think tmax is onto something with his tireless cancer93 campaign.
    No, GMC is not the sole reason we lose and I have to say, he’s playing a little better so far this season…..but he is the common denominator in our inability to get out of this losing funk for the last 8 years….”

    No. Just. No.

    The undeniable reason for that is a lack of commitment to a head coach for a long enough period for him to turn the team into a winner.

    Fans just love latching onto the 1-2 turnarounds you see in the NFL from time to time, but those teams are here one year and gone the next 5-10 years. True, lasting contenders, are built on the back of one coach over time.

    If anything, the reason Gerald McCoy has been on so many losing teams is the lack of commitment to built a defensive line with talent around him. Year-after-year we see injury prone players or unproven players added to that line, and it never gets better. You cannot blame GMC for that.

    But it is what it is. We drafted a franchise QB, and so the offense had to come first in recent years.

  21. ben Says:

    Mile Smith side is bad and Winston is NOT a very good qb ..I hope its not wait till next year ,again!

  22. ndog Says:

    Guys not trying to negative here but we have beaten the horrible Mike Glennon Bears and a Giants team that has one win! Other than that we have been blown out twice and lost a game we should have easily won going away against a awful defense. What in the world is there to be excited about or have confidence in. We clearly cannot evaluate talent, see Hargraves, Sims, Ayers, Spence, R. Smith, Aguyao, Baker, Conte, J Smith, on and on and on and on. And the talent we do have we cannot coach up to hide their weaknesses see Jameis, LVD, Hargraves again, our entire Oline, and oh yeah HARGRAVES ie toast part 2! We are not good at running the ball, we are not good at throwing the ball, we cannot stop the run, we cannot stop the pass and oh yeah we cant kick field goals either. Other than those things we are great!

  23. 813bucboi Says:

    @realist says:The Bucs have faced two desperate teams that had their backs against the wall ….

    AT LAST…HE HAS ARRIVED!!!!!

    Quit the BS @realist!!!!….the bucs also had their backs against the wall….we were just coming off a lost and were trying to sit atop of our division….DIRK FAILED TO PREPARE THIS TEAM AND HE QUIT ON THIS TEAM!!!!!

    we just saw how they responded after a lost!!!!!….they embarrassed the fans and themselves!!!!….now we face a Bills team fresh off a bye week and a coach that knows how to beat dirk’s predictable offense!!!!!!….

    us “real” fans can recognize when coaching is the problem and it was on full display last sunday!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!!

  24. USFBUC Says:

    I think German Buc hit the nail on the head. It looks we are playing not to lose instead of winning. We see the play to win play calling at the end of the game which is why I have confidence.

  25. D-Rome Says:

    I voted little confidence. I don’t think Dirk Koetter should be fired no matter what happens this season.

    I really don’t understand some of you having high confidence in Dirk Koetter. Why? Because he’s more quotable and perceived to be more honest than previous coaches? His presentation at press conferences and handling of the media is irrelevant to how he coaches on the field or handles the staff behind closed doors.

    Buccaneer Bonzai, there’s some I disagree with in your last post but the one thing I completely agree with you on is Jon Gruden. Gruden would be a disaster here. Take away the Super Bowl season and the Gruden years were largely a disaster in the way he handled McKay, Keyshawn, the QB carousel, draft picks (between he and Bruce Allen), ect… Outside of the Super Bowl season the Bucs were 45 – 51. No thanks, we don’t need that again. I’d much rather have Dirk Koetter.

    It seems like the posters here who want Gruden back were children when the Bucs won the Super Bowl and don’t actually remember the Gruden years very well.

  26. Kobe Faker Says:

    koetters deep passing holding on to the ball scheme doesnt work in the new NFL normal

    bring in chucky

    trade mike evans for #1 pick

  27. 911bucs Says:

    I’m still very confident in Dirk. Hawaiian said it right yesterday in another post about his buddy in the NBA. Sometimes guys are on a team just to collect a paycheck. Unfortunately there may be a few of those guys on the team. I expect a win this week after much criticism of players and coaches, they seem to respond well after being called out.

  28. DallasBuc Says:

    Coach K was supposed to have this team competing week in and week out. That is not happening so I don’t see the difference in terms of end results from him and Morris, Schiano and incompetent Lovie Smith.
    Ownership is definitely looking at plan B if Koetter’s team nosedives this year. Have some self respect and stop settling for this mediocre product.

  29. 813bucboi Says:

    bonzai says:….The thing those teams have in common? No coaching carousel.

    sorry I completely disagree….the one thing they have in common is competent coaches…..coaches that know what they’re doing….coaches that can motivate and put players in position to win….

    all week joe’s had articles that illustrate how unprepared the team was and how dirk has made horrible coaching decisions when it comes to play calling…personnel…managing the game….

    these are coaching 101 mistakes….this shouldn’t be happening to someone that has been around the game this long….great coaches and owners cut bait once they’ve realized they’ve made a mistake….plenty of examples out their…players, coaches, GM’s you name it…..

    dirk is doing a horrible job with a team that has this much talent….get people in here that have played the game and know what their doing!!!!

    NO MORE EXCUSES!!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!

  30. Bob in Valrico Says:

    While the coaches are responsible for getting the team ready,some players on both sides of the ball are letting the coaching staff down. Hargreaves play is just one example. He needs to be more agrsesive. Another question ,does he have the right safety help that Tandy provided last year during the winning stretch last year?
    On offense our pass blocking seems better than our run blocking. This is
    puzzling since we have a number of roadgraders on this line. At any rate
    pass blocking has bee adequate and I would very much like to see Jameis
    step up and reach the next level. He has got to do his part to lower the number of three and outs, especially early in the game. This is the the time the team needs to make a statement, the third quarter is not the time to try and get back in the game. Be patient and don’t force things.
    Since Martin got a second chance,sure would like see him do all the things
    a starting RB should do:
    Catch the ball ,this is an essential part of our offense .
    Was very surprised to see Sims successful in as blocking back on a pass play. Two games ago I watched Martin go to block a man that was already being blocked and leave an clear path for the defender.

  31. martinii Says:

    Coaches don’t play the game.

  32. Buc1987 Says:

    No more coaching turnstile. Leave Koetter in place.

    Why do we have to always talk about getting rid of our coaches after only a season and 1/2 under their belt.? Cept this case Koetter’s 5 games into his 2nd season.

    813bucboi Says:

    “sorry I completely disagree….the one thing they have in common is competent coaches…..coaches that know what they’re doing….coaches that can motivate and put players in position to win…”

    You trust the Glazers to hire the right coach? You sound like all the posters that were calling for Raheem the dreams head. Then the ones that were calling for Schiano’s head. Then the ones that were calling for Lovie’s head….
    Now here YOU are calling for Koetters head. Bonzai’s right. stay the course or you’re never going to get anywhere. LVD is sick of all the coaching changes and so am I with good reason.

  33. Big Stinky Says:

    I voted little confidence but ONLY because of the last game. I was confident until last weeks game was played and the crazy decisions he made. Not taking the points before halftime and going for 2 down by 25 didn’t make ANY sense at ALL. Then you come out and say you didn’t have the team ready to play after 10 days to prepare. What the hell is that? More than just a brain fart, the wheels are coming off. I had plenty of confidence in him last year, even when Jameis was throwing ALL the INT’s. Maybe this team isn’t as good as he thinks it is. Whatever it is, something is NOT right with this team. I keep thinking it will turn around but I don’t know why. Winston is NOT getting it done this year for some reason. He can barely get a first down at the beginning of games, but he has been that way for OVER 2 years now. ONLY 3 opening drive TD’s in 37 games is ridiculous and ONLY 8 passing TD’s in the entire first quarter of the same games.

    Funny thing is, you can’t blame Dirk for how bad Winston plays or how the WR’s can’t get any separation on their routes. He is going to lose his job ’cause of things he has NO control over. The playcalling has been off this year though too. Running on 2nd down after running on first down and getting NO yards is just crazy, then JW3 can’t complete the pass on 3rd down. It makes Winston look like he isn’t that good and it’s NOT his fault sometimes. First play against the Cardinals Jameis throws deep. What the EFF? ALL the misses deep against N.E. on Thursday and they start the next game doing the same thing. Why? Did they really expect a different outcome? Start throwing shorter passes to get him on a roll at the beginning of games, he gets no rhythm going. I am tired of trying to figure out what is wrong with this team. We should be trying to score 30+ points a game the way the defense is playing. Anyway, why do I care when the players use the excuse that they came out flat? I don’t think that is on the coach, the players are grown men and are getting paid to be ready to play. Go ahead and tank the season and see what happens next. Get your coach fired after 2 years AGAIN! This team has NO heart, just a bunch of talk (like Jameis’ pregame speeches). Talk chit and don’t back it up. Tired of the excuses. Playoffs or Bust! Go BUCS!

  34. The Buc Realist Says:

    We have seen enough from the coaching staff to know what they are doing works!!!!!! They are covering up for young players that are struggling and covering up deficiencies in the roster!!!!!!!! This coaching staff will be given the proper time!!!!!!! And some of the so called “fans” showed their hand with fake rage when the Bucs lost just the first game of the season!!!!!!! They just upset that they have over valued the talent, mistaked potential and production , and some just want to see this team burned down to the ground!!!!!!

    Its a long season, so lets see how it all turns out first!!!!!!! Young team that can come up, if we give it time to mature!!!!!!!!

    Go Bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  35. Mike Johnson Says:

    Funny how you..turncoats here say Coaches don’t play the game. And you are correct. Thats why theres a warm chair waiting for Dirk Koetter besides Schiano and Lovie Dubbie. And Just..US..for all!!

  36. Lamarcus Says:

    Buc realist

    I think I speak for most fans when it’s not when we lose. It’s how we lose. Blowouts to mediocre teams/qbs.

    We are pissed doesnt make us no less fans that our actually “happy or content” w blowouts. We still love our team no matter what but this loss……

  37. LakeLand Says:

    I have no confidence in Dirk Koetter.I have more confidence in..Predator Trump. That’s not saying much.

  38. Dusthty Rhothdes Says:

    Im good with dirk but have ZERO confidence nor have ever had any in jason licht he is a disaster, how can the rams and eagles turn it around, the bills be looking up, the bucs basically are the cleveland browns because it takes skill to lose in the nfl for as many years as the bucs have

  39. 813bucboi Says:

    @87 says….You trust the Glazers to hire the right coach?

    who hired dirk?….was it the glazers or licht?…..I thought schiano was let go too early….the team was soft then and nothing has changed….funny how people want to give dirk all the time in the world when he’s doing the same exact thing as the man he replaced….and the worse part about it is HE HAS MORE TALENT!!!!!…

    what have we seen from this coaching staff that gives you the impression they can get us to the playoffs…..?????…..NOTHING….

    but its cool….im use to stupidity when it comes from the bucs…..we’ll watch this ship sink and a new regime will be here before you know it with dirk keeping this up….GO BUCS!!!!

  40. mike10 Says:

    ‘Confident’ because I’ve liked Koetter and the team’s trend up to this point.

    … but if he, him himself, doesn’t start developing as a coach, game planning better, making in-game adjustments, and getting the most out of this T-A-L-E-N-T-E-D roster… my confidence will dwindle.

    Enough of everyone reading their press clippings, go win games.

  41. D-Rome Says:

    Im good with dirk but have ZERO confidence nor have ever had any in jason licht he is a disaster, how can the rams and eagles turn it around, the bills be looking up, the bucs basically are the cleveland browns because it takes skill to lose in the nfl for as many years as the bucs have

    Seriously man, I just don’t get it either. Name another super star player on the Eagles outside of Zach Ertz. You can’t. Yet, they are arguably the best team in the NFC. How is that possible especially when our current Bucs roster is loaded with talent? There is no denying that.

    The Rams fire Jeff Fisher and all of the sudden they look great. The Bills fire Rex Ryan and now they look very good. It’s not so much the Bucs losses this year that bother me but it more has to do with how they lost. Being 2-3 because your losses were in close contests is one thing but having two curb stompings in the early going shows a lot about where this team really is.

  42. unbelievable Says:

    @Bonzai – you’re making a whole lot of sense again man. It’s not time to get rid of Licht or Koetter yet.

    @Lamarcus – I do agree about the way we are losing- the blowouts. It’s hard to take. But this has also been a strange year in the NFL so far. Lots of good teams have had big or bad losses already this season.

    @813 – “people want to give dirk all the time in the world when he’s doing the same exact thing as the man he replaced…”

    Cmon man. He won more games his 1st year as a head coach than Lovie did the whole time he was year. I’ve got plenty of criticism for Dirk but let’s not make stuff up. It’s too early to get rid of them. It’s only 5 games played.

    Do you guys really want to start rebuilding? Again? Already? Seriously?

  43. unbelievable Says:

    ^ not sure what would cause that to get mod’d?

  44. Buc1987 Says:

    813…all the time in the world??? 21 games??? Won 9 his first season and five games into year 2 and it’s get rid of him???

    Just admit how dumb that sounds and we can move on….

    You have to be high.