“They Have That Hangover”
October 20th, 2017
As Joe pointed out earlier, former NFL executive Michael Lombardi had a long take on his weekly podcast with “The Ringer” discussing the State of the Bucs.
Like Bucs fans and the rest of the NFL, he watched in horror last Sunday as the Cardinals knee-capped the Bucs defense with a tire iron. It was so gruesome, building a 31-0 lead before the Bucs had any sort of answer.
Lombardi believed the Bucs looked hungover (but not that way).
(Frankly, Joe has previously written the Bucs defense played as if it just woke up from a three-day bender in the French Quarter and caught a red-eye to Arizona.)
In particular, Lombardi was appalled that in two straight road games, the Bucs puked on themselves.
“Really, two [road games] in a row now?” Lombardi said. “They go out and they have just not looked — they have that hangover. I mean, they clearly do. Offensively they look bad. They have that Ryan Fitzpatrick thing going on there with the beard. They can’t get any pressure on the quarterback. They can’t stop the run, they can’t control the game. I think this team is exactly why young teams struggle when they have success.”
Last year the Bucs came a hair away from the playoffs and Lombardi feels the Bucs are so young, they don’t know how to carry success over from the previous season.
Now either Lombardi is onto something or he is off his rocker. On face value, the excuse of youth for the troubles of the Bucs is nonsense. The Bucs were the 12th-oldest team in the NFL, deemed days before the Bucs signed safety T.J. Ward. The Bucs have two veteran starters on defense that have Super Bowl rings, a third who played in a Super Bowl and a fourth who has played in an NFC championship game.
Additionally, Gerald McCoy and Lavonte David have been in the league for years. So cannot fathom how someone can excuse the woes of the defense on youth.
However, if you do some mental hopscotch, Scott Kacsmar of BSPN used some kind of geeky formula to gauge the youth of teams and determined the Bucs are the fourth-youngest team with core players in the NFL.
Regardless, there is something odd about this team that Joe can’t quite put a finger on. But if winning Bucs coach Dirk Koetter and his coaches can’t reach the players and figure out what the hell is going on, and very soon, this season could very quickly plunge into the abyss.
October 19th, 2017 at 5:09 pm
They are not hungover well maybe 22 is they are infected by career loser cancer93 and his mentally weak losing ways…
October 19th, 2017 at 5:25 pm
It’s a nice theory but too many veterans on the team to accept that as an excuse. Mike Evans, desean, brate, hump and a veteran o line. Everyone with the exception of vh3, beckwith and Spence that start are vets so this to me is an excuse plain and simple. I think honestly the OC and DC needed to adjust how they play but they want to live and die with their sorry excuse for a game plan every week. It’s more on the coaches than players
October 19th, 2017 at 5:25 pm
But we are on the “older” teams. I thought. This type of loss could hang over all year untIL someone anyone steps up and be a leader. Not talking about a role player so this counts out gmc. Gmc lovers should be happy I had that. He is a role player.
October 19th, 2017 at 5:26 pm
hangover?….nawl….UNPREPARED!!!!…YEAH!!!…GO BUCS!!!
October 19th, 2017 at 5:30 pm
Tmaxcon is an idiot
October 20th, 2017 at 8:05 am
Easy
i maybe an idiot although I prefer brutally honest prick… I’m always right and that is why you are butthurt and needed to comment without substance… It’s a miserable life being a fanboy versus a winner .raise your standards
October 20th, 2017 at 8:08 am
tmaxcon is a broken record.
October 20th, 2017 at 8:10 am
Every season GMC aka “Mr Softie” looks hungover from non-participation drills.
Like I said earlier, don’t be surprised if you don’t see GMC on the field doing anything instead of seeing him in his batcave playing with his batman dolls.
October 20th, 2017 at 8:12 am
Both lines were “manhandled” in the first half!!!!!! I don’t think last year carries over for any team in the nfl!!! and I don’t think R Fitz’s beard has any to do with anything with football!!!! Joe is really digging deep to try and find this fool’s opinion!!!!!!!!!
Go Bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
October 20th, 2017 at 8:18 am
Atl
A broken record who is not in denial why this team has embarrassed itself more than not during the gmc years… it maybe repetitive but it’s more accurate each blowout and flat performance led by cancer93 the smiling ice cream man…
October 20th, 2017 at 8:21 am
I think there’s some merit to the argument that the team doesn’t know how to handle success. Yes, LVD and GMC have been in the league for years, but have those years yielded any success to speak of? This is all just as new to them as it is to Mike Evans and the younger guys. Also, I think this team is full of a bunch of people that have no idea what it really takes to be real competitors in this league. From day one it’s felt like everyone has assumed that as long as they showed up then the strength of the roster would take us places. How in the world do you have as many bad practices and games where the team comes out flat and general sense of malaise that this team has over it if they were actually hungry. If they were actually putting in the work, not the hours, but the work to live up to the potential that we all thought they had. This season is beyond disappointing
October 20th, 2017 at 8:27 am
Kobe Faker player evaluation
everyone knows that kobes eye for talent and lack of is undeniable like 6 months before the sheep..hate to say this, but we have another candidate
“Run JustinRun”
what the hell was that play? cards reciever ran a out and Forrest Gump Evans kept running pass the endzone, pass the lockeroom, thru the parkinglot and last seen on I 10…
Wtf? this kid is not ready and the reason of our bad back coverage. kid doesnt to where to go and causing confusion to the other players…
get this kid off the field
October 20th, 2017 at 8:35 am
If they can’t figure it out then bring someone in who can. If they can’t figure it out this season then what makes anyone think they can figure it out next season?
October 20th, 2017 at 8:45 am
Why is it that if anyone attacks GMC they are Broken records or idiots.
WHY?
Look the FACT is GMC placed himself as the FACE of the BUCS
Made the big pay check
SO Fans cant expect him to BE GREAT!!! EVERY PLAY??
I purposely have watched and rewatched games to see what some of you see
But its not There… GMC does take the double teams but not every play / GMC makes some sacks which is great but a LEADING DT ON THE DLINE MUST MAKE OR BE IN THE PLAY EVERY DOWN PERIOD
TMAX IS RIGHT
I also wonder why JOE never writes anything bad about GMC?
October 20th, 2017 at 8:45 am
That is a very fair question.
October 20th, 2017 at 8:46 am
DID GMC EVERY MEET WITH A FAN AFTER THAT TWEET HE SENT OUT??????
October 20th, 2017 at 8:47 am
GErald Mccoy and Lavonte David have no idea how to sustain success
October 20th, 2017 at 8:47 am
Bucs wouldn’t allow fans access to him.
October 20th, 2017 at 8:57 am
Apparently Lombardi thinks that these Bucs have had success…they have not. 9-7 and not making the playoffs is NOT successful. They have nothing to be hungover from except their own overachieving ways. So far…just a bunch of bluster.
October 20th, 2017 at 9:02 am
At worst, GMC is the fourth-best DT in the game. Bucs have FAR bigger problems. Like RB, DE, and a second corner.
People have their minds made up about GMC. Stats don’t matter. Testimony from NFL coaches doesn’t matter. Evidence from NFL players doesn’t matter.
Hell, Lavonte David and Doug Martin have lost more with Bucs than GMC yet GMC is the face of losing? But God forbid anyone critique Doug Martin. Better off pissing in someone’s beer.
October 20th, 2017 at 9:05 am
Atleast one fan did show up to meet GMC however. He showed up at the Bucs front gate with flowers, balloons, and a heart shaped box full of candies. Riding shotgun in that fan’s ride was an inconspicuously dressed ian beckles toting his own load of personally picked erotic type gifts for GMC. The Bucs sercurity guard stated the fan identified himself by the nickname “tmax” and even showed him his “tmax heart Gmax” tatoo.
October 20th, 2017 at 9:12 am
“They have that Ryan Fitzpatrick thing going on there with the beard.“
What does this even mean? Not even a hot take, just incoherent.
October 20th, 2017 at 9:17 am
What success? A 9 and 7 season? Just can’t say they’re a badly coached team with no leadership on the field? The players got talent but no leaders in sight. Excuse for the weak minded.
October 20th, 2017 at 9:25 am
Anyone watch the Lightning game last night? If you did you saw what the Bucs should look like as a team. High energy for the full 60 minutes, communication, focus, working together, staying on assignments, going to the boards HARD, team work, fast start and never letting off the gas, precise execution, everyone pitching in, steady rock solid, very focused WORK put in and they dominated. It’s a job, not a faking political platform, or religious platform, it’s not your status not your freaking home away from home it’s not your surrogate fraternity hall, it’s not college 2.0, it’s not your extended family, it’s not the military, it’s a faking job. When they realize this when a good coach takes over they’ll respond.
October 20th, 2017 at 9:26 am
U can’t win without a pass rush.
Sorry don’t shoot the messenger
October 20th, 2017 at 9:35 am
@Destinjohnny uh oh, you better watch out for DBAG55 and his band of merry jagoffs saying that kind of educated football stuff around here buddy.
October 20th, 2017 at 9:37 am
Joe BTW you imply so much with this post photo. Well done LMAO
October 20th, 2017 at 9:46 am
@sorry.
Yes and that is how a winning organization works. Now 6-1-1!!
October 20th, 2017 at 9:50 am
Seriously, I don’t understand this fan base’s love for Doug Martin. He gets the pass from a lot of people yet he’s been a below average running back for most of his career. There are people out there who think that even with the 3 game suspension that Martin is going to rush for over 1000 yards. If anyone is the face of a losing culture here it’s Drug Martin and his inability to stay healthy and clean.
GMC has been consistently great for his entire career. No DT has more sacks than GMC since 2013. He will be in the HoF one day. You can’t say the same about Doug Martin. Some of you guys look at Doug Martin and think he’s AP or Le’Veon Bell when in actuality he’s a lot closer to Lamar Miller.
October 20th, 2017 at 9:50 am
Kobe, I’ll give ya credit: you’re a lot more focused than most of the commenters I’m reading above. Well, except for Joe … he’s still laser focused on Martin. Your comments about Justin Evans are pretty much spot on with what I saw. VHIII was not only having a bad day (I’m trying to be kind), but he had relatively little safety support on many of those plays to at least try to compensate for his boo-boos. VHIII played 97% of the defensive snaps (so did Brent Grimes BTW), and Evans played 88% of them. Beckwith played the whole game (100% of the D snaps) while Lavonte (coming off a significant injury) played 94%.
So here we have VHIII playing the whole game (and playing like a low round rookie), backed up by another rookie (Evans) with another rookie in front of him (Beckwith). Hmmm, what could possibly go wrong? Especially when you’re playing a team of seasoned veterans, coached by a pretty good offensive mind who knows how to take advantage of weaknesses, and oh ya, when your pass rush is non-existent and when your DLinemen are being ‘manhandled” as Realist says. What could possibly go wrong indeed.
Many above are looking at GMC (good job tmaxcon on yet another lame analysis), while many others since the game have focused on Smitty’s coaching. Guess what … that defensive lineup didn’t have a prayer of beating that Cardinals team. Position by position, they were outmanned and outgunned. Folks can talk ‘preparation’ and ‘motivation’ and ‘leadership’ until they’re blue in the face, but at some point it all comes back to talent & skill & experience. Coaching can take advantage of your ‘strengths’ and even compensate for certain ‘weaknesses’ but it can’t compensate for lack of talent at the NFL level. This Bucs defense is simply not that talented as a T-E-A-M (too many weaknesses right now), and our offense better be putting up a bunch of points in every game if we expect to salvage this season.
October 20th, 2017 at 10:03 am
D-Rome:
Thank you.
The only winning season the Bucs have had with Doug Martin was last year, yet he was largely hurt/suspended.
Yet people want to hang GMC for the losing. smh
October 20th, 2017 at 10:15 am
@defense rules
your correct. lets disect 2016 vs 2017 defense
Kobe sees more veteran experienced players in 2016. We have regressed in overall talent vs the players of 2016
Licht beer has given Smitty worse talent this year
“Kobe Faker reads only 2 posters. Defensense rules and Lakeland. Hell, Kobe stopped reading Joes threads 6 months ago. Kobe just posts on the top thread and hope it sticks”
Kobe Faker
October 20th, 2017 at 10:22 am
An individual player hungover. On the player. But nearly the entire team? On the coach….if we don’t come out smoking this game, the wheels may come off the wagon.
October 20th, 2017 at 10:23 am
Apparently you are looking at the wrong team’s roster or you need an eye exam.
The Bucs are actually more experienced on defense, with the exception of linebacker which is actually the team’s strength.
October 20th, 2017 at 10:37 am
didnt mean actual years…
2016 defensive group was a tight and cohesive group and played great together. It wasnt a group of all pros but jelled and made continuous timely plays from different players. each different week there was contributions from different players making difference making standout plays
Kobe Fakers eye test…2016 defense superior than 2017 defense
BACKED BY STATS
“We led the NFL in 3 and outs…TEAM DEFENSE”
Kobe Faker
October 20th, 2017 at 10:40 am
Its the uni change!
October 20th, 2017 at 11:03 am
I am fully expecting the hurricane, hard knocks, and no bye week excuses to start flowing.
A loss to the Bills effectively ends the season.
October 20th, 2017 at 11:22 am
Why question gmc leadership? He is role player when we lose and super hero we win like really playing out his superhero comic stories
He is a background dancers background dancer. I looked up to mcdonald.
October 20th, 2017 at 11:30 am
@Kobe … “Kobe Fakers eye test…2016 defense superior than 2017 defense.” Add a caveat Kobe and I’ll agree: “Bucs 2016 second half of the season defense was superior to this 2017 defense.” It wasn’t until they figured out how to communicate with each other that things really started to click. Once they did improve their communication … and once they got comfortable with Smitty’s defense AND Smitty got comfortable with his players … they quickly evolved into a pretty decent defense.
Unfortunately, since the 1st game Beckwith (a very impressive rookie in my book) and Kwon have never been on the field together. Baker hasn’t impressed me in terms of putting interior DLine pressure on the QB (decent against the run though), our DEs (wait, do we still use DEs? because NONE of them look as good as they were last year), and our secondary AS A UNIT has regressed considerably. Gut feel is that part of it is on coaching but a bigger part of it is on lack of talent at certain positions AND (as Cool Hand Luke said) ‘what we have here is a failure to communicate’.
October 20th, 2017 at 11:35 am
Sigh! It’s like arguing over Trump.
October 20th, 2017 at 11:40 am
Dirk is way over his head as the head coach. Time to flush this clown.
October 20th, 2017 at 12:06 pm
No need for excuses. It appears as if we have the same old Bucs for al least one more year. I have zero faith in this team after last week. I was planning to go to several games this year but all that is on hold. As long as they keep playing this they don’t deserve my hard earned money!
October 20th, 2017 at 12:27 pm
@TDTB…..I hear you…I have season tickets and my wife laughs every time I head out the door….im so pissed at the way this team has performed….I don’t get it!!!something has to be going on that will come to light if the losing continues…GO BUCS!!!
October 20th, 2017 at 12:33 pm
Hey Trollmax/Cancermax, I’m waiting for you to chime in and call out Joe for his positive comments on GMC. Yeah, I won’t hold my breath.
October 20th, 2017 at 12:36 pm
They have that Hangover? A hangover that lasts for 41 years?. It seems like they have a “hangover” every season.