Marching Toward NFL History
September 30th, 2018
On the cusp of infamy.
Yes, earlier today Joe called for Bucs defensive coordinator Mike Smith to be relieved of his duties. Joe takes no joy in this.
Mike Smith is one of the nicest guys in the NFL. But damn it, enough is enough. Joe wishes Smith was his neighbor or perhaps his boss — wait a minute, Joe is his own boss. But the longer the Bucs wait on the inevitable, the deeper a hole this team will have to dig itself out from. Pretty soon, if not already, Smith is going to cost people their jobs.
How bad is Mike Smith’s defense with the Bucs? Well, it was 32nd-ranked horrid last year, and currently is on pace to be the worst in NFL history as far as giving up points.
The Bucs have allowed 139 points in four games. Stretch that pace out to 16 games and the Bucs will have allowed 556 points.
The current record is 533 points held by the Baltimore Colts set in 1981.
Yes, that is how bad it is.
Just for quick reference/puke inducement, the 1981 Colts finished 2-14.
If the Bucs lose 12 in a row to close the season, there is no doubt there will be a housecleaning at One Buc Palace in January
Hat tip: @JavierSP15.
September 30th, 2018 at 5:35 pm
Welcome to two years ago. They were never good at any point. The faux win streak was even a mirage.
September 30th, 2018 at 5:37 pm
Deadman walking ^
September 30th, 2018 at 5:37 pm
God forbid the Bucs actually have a good season. We need a turn around like the rams, or eagles. They changed to the right coaches and there was a DRAMATIC difference almost immediately. We have seen none of that. Don’t the Glazers hire an agency to look at the best head coach candidates? If they do then they need to find a different source of info, because our last 5 hires have been horrendous. Please step up Glazers and stop letting this team be the laughingstock of the league
September 30th, 2018 at 5:39 pm
Fire mike evans. He killed the offense these last two games early on. He threw the game to get jw back. Defense gets beat when the offense ain’t on the field.
Yeah, mike evans is a great team mate. We’ll lose and lose but he and jw will have good stats.
September 30th, 2018 at 5:40 pm
The defense is just inexcusable. You can’t bring back the worst defense from last year and have them completely embarass Tampa Bay in the last two games.
Dirk brought back his coach and it clearly was a bad choice. If the defense does not get fixed we can just pack it in. Mike Smith gotta go, no excuses.
September 30th, 2018 at 5:40 pm
It is hard to imagine that this is what he has envisioned and built for three seasons. This is a spectacular failure.
September 30th, 2018 at 5:40 pm
Didn’t the Glazers give Smith a substantial pay raise to keep him from leaving?
Arrrrrgh!!
September 30th, 2018 at 5:40 pm
I’ve been a fan since 1976, sadly I simply can’t watch a Mike Smith led defense anymore. Even in the horrible early days, the Bucs always had a good defense. Today I had to tune out… too painful to watch this comedy of errors. Smitty needs to be the first to go and soon.
September 30th, 2018 at 5:40 pm
The Bears outcoached us on BOTH sides of the ball.
I watched the Bucs quit a few times on defense.
September 30th, 2018 at 5:43 pm
I saw the after game interviews
Where was McCoy he should have been out there apologizing to the Fans
We have help on the DLine when will McCoy show up????
September 30th, 2018 at 5:45 pm
i demand his release, as a lifelong fan of this organization, this has to be the very worst i’ve seen and i have been watching since 1976, if they can salvage anything out of this season he has to be terminated, at this point we have gotten our hopes up to have our guts stomped out again, and i do not see this club winning 4 more games, with or without jameis at the helm, torrid rotten defense, every aspect and nuance of it, can ya’ll convince me otherwise?
September 30th, 2018 at 5:45 pm
I actually think the Bears cut us some slack…..looks like they played for a FG (a long one at that) in the first half…..Trubenski could have probably thrown 10 TDs today if they wanted..I have never seen so many wide open receivers…..
No coverage…..no peace!!!
September 30th, 2018 at 5:48 pm
Who do you replace him with. Duffner? Bring someone in?
September 30th, 2018 at 5:50 pm
total rebuild coming again, another 5 -6 year plan, who is the best rated QB coming out in this years draft, along with the highest defensive player? i see new coach, QB, GM, OC, DC, and clean house of these overrated money pits who fail to produce year in and year out
September 30th, 2018 at 5:51 pm
DEAR GLAZERS….
I know you ate well this Sunday while enjoying a few cocktails. But we need you guys to show us you got a pair or..Pairs. Meet the flight from Chicago at the terminal. Place Koetter and Smitty in the the back of the Limo. Give’em a cocktail..or two to relax them. Then FIRE Smitty and inform Koetter if he cannot do any better, he will follow suite. Do the same with Licht. You gotta give us fans a glimmer of hope. Do this and at least we know you care..somewhat. Hell, you can still count your profits. we just want to WIN!!!
September 30th, 2018 at 5:56 pm
Sucks to be Koetter. Major decision awaits.
I have a feeling he rather loose with him rather than to fire his friend.
September 30th, 2018 at 5:56 pm
Realist will explain it all to us why Smitty needs to stay and that the back half of the schedule is when the real defense will show up for the “real fans”.
September 30th, 2018 at 6:09 pm
Actually we’re your boss Joe. We could fire you by not coming to this site,
Remember that!!! However I agree with you but as we all know in Tampa all to well, sometimes firing people isn’t the right thing to do. You been supporting firing coaches every year for the past decade and where as that got us??? Start showing your intelligence and quit acting like the typical ignorant fan Joe. SMH!!! It’s like you have no knowledge of play calling or any ideas of how the defense can improve but fire Smith. A lot more to it than that. But I guess that’s why you write instead of play or coach.
September 30th, 2018 at 6:11 pm
I drove an hour to watch the game with my dad. I left at halftime. I guess Dad and I will have to find something better to do on Sundays. I can’t watch garbage anymore. There is no excuse for the defense being so bad. They have the talent, so it has to be coaching. Mike Smith has to go. If he finds another NFL job, I’ll be shocked.
September 30th, 2018 at 6:17 pm
Worst. Bucs. Defense. Ever.
Let that sink in.
September 30th, 2018 at 6:19 pm
One more point:
The pi$$ poor defense is not his fault entirely, but I just do NOT “get” the love for Kwon Alexander at all.
And Vita Vea drew doubles every play he was in the game.
September 30th, 2018 at 6:27 pm
If Koetter doesn’t fire Smith before mid season, then Koetter needs to be fired before mid season. I have been calling for Monken to be HC since the middle of last year. Monken for HC and Duffner for DC.
September 30th, 2018 at 6:28 pm
There’s gotta be somebody who could be brought in to fill Smitty’s job……maybe Del Rio……an ass whipping this bad shows that something is fundamentally wrong on this team…especially with a talent level that’s not league bottom of the barrel……Koetter may have too much respect for his old boss…..to the point where he’s reluctant to built a fire under his ass! Fire Smith……..or be prepared to watch more of this garbage!!!
September 30th, 2018 at 6:32 pm
Vita Vea was another joke of a draft pick. MJ Stewart? Don’t think he’d win a foot race against my 85 year-old grandma. They could’ve traded down, picked up D. James who has enough range to patrol the entire secondary. RJ3 is yet another joke of a draft pick. He’s 7th-round caliber (AT BEST).
Licht needs to go & so does Mike Smith. Koetter, a good OC when that’s all he’s in charge of, but he’s a downgrade from Lovie Smith to be honest with you.
September 30th, 2018 at 6:34 pm
@Robert 4th post down from the top: that’s the stupidest post ever!!
To me all be it that it’s his first game as a pro but Vita looks like just a regular nose tackle nothing special. I hope he gets better cause that’s extremely high to pick a space eater and nothing more!
September 30th, 2018 at 6:35 pm
Out coached out smarted and out talented equals outplayed outrageously.
September 30th, 2018 at 6:39 pm
Chicago ran max protection on a ton of plays and thew guys they had running routes (in many cases only 2 or 3 guys) were still wide open all game long.
That was embarrassing. Our linebackers and secondary were absolutely shredded.
Johnson, Stewart, and Grimes looked completely lost the entire game. Kwon and LVD did at many times too.
September 30th, 2018 at 6:43 pm
Completely unacceptable.
September 30th, 2018 at 6:58 pm
@dalvincookrules this is not College footbal,l so go play where you belong in the trash cans
September 30th, 2018 at 7:21 pm
An embarrassment today. We absolutely need a new Defensive coordinator. This is just hot garbage out there. We made Trubiski look like Mitchmagic. Terrible!!
September 30th, 2018 at 7:26 pm
I’ve also seen some stupid posts on here. We’re already evaluating this draft class?? Vita after one game is a bust? These are just stupid posts. Especially when you believe the D coordinator is the problem. He’s not playing to these guys strengths.
September 30th, 2018 at 7:34 pm
There is no excuse for this. Worst defense in the NFL, period.
Simple as that.
September 30th, 2018 at 7:47 pm
There is no defense in the NFL anymore. With the rule changes expect this to become the norm.
September 30th, 2018 at 7:49 pm
Remember when everyone was praising Jebus when Smith was resigned to that fat contract after the end of 2016. Haha, don’t we look stupid.
September 30th, 2018 at 8:07 pm
Sorry Mike…you need to walk the plank for the betterment of our team. Dirk was a good friend to bring you along but obviously there was a good reason they let you go in Atlanta. Best wishes.
September 30th, 2018 at 8:30 pm
I don’t get the love for Duffner. The LBs should be a strength of this team. Not ONE is playing well. Marissa be demote Mike Smith to LB coach and bring in Jack del rio
September 30th, 2018 at 8:59 pm
I can hear Jim Mora in my head,
“playoffs? Don’t talk to me about playoffs. I just hope we can win a game.”
Classic!
September 30th, 2018 at 9:02 pm
This game was a carbon copy of last year’s game at Minnesota….a game that showed us who these guys really are…..they play well for 1 or 2 games then……what the hell, lets take this week off…….these guys win maybe 7 games tops
September 30th, 2018 at 9:42 pm
Like I been saying fire Smith. Buckner for DC this defense is worse than Lovies. I wonder why Mike Smith keeps getting so many chances with no results….
September 30th, 2018 at 11:32 pm
Anyone see GMC? That’s right, we expect mediocrity
October 1st, 2018 at 7:00 am
Worst defense in the history of football. They should be on the phone this morning begging Rex Ryan to come be our defensive coordinator.
October 1st, 2018 at 7:48 am
Have a 1976 season ticket account. Have much better time to spend with family than this crap.
Seriously considering not renewing. This is not hyperbole.
October 1st, 2018 at 8:48 am
That Crap yesterday is exactly why a did not renew my season tickets this year. It made me mad as hell to here the BS excuses and that “Oh we’re so close we just need a couple of pieces to be viable” I call BS! Mike Smiths defensive scheme sucks! Especially in the secondary. His defense is pass rush dependent ( as most successful defenses are) but when you play a soft secondary by playing 10-20 yaeds of the others wideouts and there is no pressure on the qb you’re gonna get torched! The saddest thing there appearently seems to be no adjustment capability or plan “B”. They just keep
October 1st, 2018 at 8:52 am
Doing the same things over and over! Hoping it will work this time! Like they are all like “We’re almost there! We just need a few more tries” Yesterday was a complete embarrassment! Did I mention how glad I am that I didn’t renew my season tickets this year!!
October 1st, 2018 at 11:40 am
@joe
Could you plz go thru the comments section and weed out some of these idiots.
Its bringing the quality of your site down.
Im open to debate just like most of us. .. but there are several posters on here that just dont contribute in any meaningful way.
Luckily they are very east to spot
Love your site and the tidbits of info
But some of your followers are making this place hard to follow.
just sayin
October 1st, 2018 at 1:28 pm
If Jack Del Rio is available I would definitely consider him for DC or Dufner.
October 2nd, 2018 at 6:00 pm
Just a prediction, and I know I’m really going out on a limb here but if the bucs defence plays the rest of the year the way they did last Sunday we will wind up 2-14. Just saying