Comments on: Sapp Says 2012 Bucs Will Not “Contend”

By: Hawaiian Buc

Hawaiian Buc — Fri, 18 May 2012 02:18:42 +0000

I know the retort will be that they are pros and they should play hard regardless, but it just doesn’t work that way. You can hope it is, but it just isn’t.

By: Hawaiian Buc

Hawaiian Buc — Fri, 18 May 2012 02:16:58 +0000

Last game!!!! Are you crazy, they quit the last 6-8! Other than a nice showing at GB, when did they even compete? 41-14 to Jacksonville! Giving up 40+ to the Panthers, twice! I’m not sure what you were watching, but they packed it in a lot earlier than that.

And obviously the player is first to blame when they quit. However, to not blame the coach is extremely naive. I’ve been around sports my whole life. My father was a coach for 30+ years in college and high school. When that many players quit, the coach is absolutely, positively to blame, especially in the pros. I guarantee you Raheem would tell you the same over a beer. You think anyone would quit on Bellicheat? Tom Coughlin? Rex Ryan? Sean Payton? Tony Dungy? Should I go on? It’s one thing if one or two guys quit, but we are talking way more than one or two guys. If a coach is not preparing his team properly, as well as failing to motivate, they will stop playing as hard. It’s human nature. If you don’t believe your coach is putting you in a position to win, you are not going to play all out.

By: feelthepewterpower

feelthepewterpower — Fri, 18 May 2012 01:21:17 +0000

I’m not defending their play in 2011, and Raheem had to go, but Raheem went 3-3 down the stretch in 2010 when he started losing key guys (Grimm, Talib, Joesph, McCoy, etc.) and missed the playoffs by a game. They simply packed it in during the last game of the 2011 season. Perhaps some of the players wanted him fired, perhaps some checked-out and were looking forward to vacation. If you quit in the NFL, the tape doesn’t lie, and you won’t be around for long regardless of who your coach may be. There is no one to blame but the player who quits.

By: CannuckBuc

CannuckBuc — Fri, 18 May 2012 00:28:37 +0000

Sapp has to play by the NFL Networks rules to attempt to keep his job (HA HA) so I think he is riding the fence. After last years D he could have really ripped us, so I think his comment was tame and non-Sapp like at all.

By: Hawaiian Buc

Hawaiian Buc — Thu, 17 May 2012 23:42:31 +0000

Again, it is absolutely not all Raheem’s fault. You are talking with probably the biggest Raheem supporter on this board. However, he did a poor job in 2011. It is not unprecedented for a coach to coach very well one year, then very bad the next. In fact, it happens all the time.

As for the injuries, I completely disagree. We lost our starting safety (T-Jax) immediately, GMC didn’t play much at all in 2010 either (plus he had the rookie learning curve), EG was also injured. The only difference was the players didn’t quit on Raheem in 2010. That point simply can’t be argued with a straight face. My assumption is that he gave even more slack in 2011 as a result of the success of 2010 (he was probably already giving too much to begin with), and the players took advantage. You have to remember, a head coach’s main responsibility is to know how to manage his players, not X’s and O’s. He did a poor job last year, and that’s putting it lightly. A few injuries don’t put you down 42 halfway through the second quarter.

By: feelthepewterpower

feelthepewterpower — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:26:39 +0000

No the Buccs did not sustain as many injuries as 2010 (and a lot of the 2010 injuries were sustained late in the year post week 12), but it was when the injuries occurred and to what players. A lot of the success in football stems from running the ball and stopping the run, so when you lose your starting running backs, and then your anchor in GMC and cody grimm fairly early on, as well as suffering other injuries it’s going to effect the team. Factor in that there was little depth on the roster (is this all Raheem’s fault?), and even your best coaches would be hard pressed to win 8 games let alone 10. Yes, I agree that Raheem had to go, but to say it was all his fault is a bit ignorant on our fans part. Raheem can coach, but just lacked experience, and the resources.

By: Thomas2.2

Thomas2.2 — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:39:25 +0000

Joe you call that fighting?

That is called “a lineman owning and dominating a defensive tackle!”. Watch it – Gerald gives up pre-release bc DJ is destroying.

If you watch Gerald play-by-play this is exactly what happens to him 90% of the time.

By: The Big Pole

The Big Pole — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:09:17 +0000

Had we drafted Trent Richardson <— he'd be signing a different tune

By: Hawaiian Buc

Hawaiian Buc — Thu, 17 May 2012 05:34:43 +0000

We had injuries in 2010 as well, possibly even more. They quit on Raheem last year, which ultimately falls on the coach (fair or not). I supported Raheem, but even I know he had to go. No way was it all his fault, but no one could make the claim that he did a good job either.

By: feelthepewterpower

feelthepewterpower — Thu, 17 May 2012 05:24:26 +0000

We were not poorly coached in 2010, but poorly coached in 2012 with all the injuries??? Interesting. Can we blame it all on coaching? No. Can we blame it all on injuries? Certainly not. You had to let Raheem go because of the finish, but you can’t blame it all on Raheem either. The front office and ownership were happy with the status quo of being cheap with draftees since it worked the season prior. A couple of vets might of held the team together last year and maintained some discipline, who knows. Hindsight is 20/20

By: 941-Bucs

941-Bucs — Thu, 17 May 2012 05:00:41 +0000

This coming from the man who said last year (around this time). That Josh Freeman was going to be league MVP.

By: Hawaiian Buc

Hawaiian Buc — Thu, 17 May 2012 04:30:02 +0000

I don’t see anyone really arguing that our defense is going to be lights out. However, some of us think we will be better than last year, which really doesn’t say much. We were very poorly coached last year. Anyone want to argue that? We suffered many devastating injuries on defense last year. Anyone disagree? If we can stay healthy and our coaches are at least competent, we should greatly improve. Yes, they have to prove it on the field. No one I arguing that. Sapp brings up a legit concern, and he shouldn’t be criticized for it. But I don’t think us thinking we may be considerably better makes us “clueless”, just optimistic. We will see what happens.