Comments on: Is The Zone Defense Killing Bucs Pass Defense?

By: 941-Bucs

941-Bucs — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 01:27:30 +0000

I’ve seen this too. My eye has been more on the safety play, more specifically Barron. I don’t know if it coached that way but Barron seems to be the main culprit on most of those big plays. He isn’t in position, again whether it is by design or his experience this needs to be fixed. If you watch Barron looks like the only player close to the “Soft Spot” where receivers are making the plays.

By: Kyle

Kyle — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 17:13:44 +0000

I was saying this exact same thing to my friend while at the game last Sunday.
Our zone defense is horrendous.

I don’t think the Giants game was an indication of this, however. A lot of their plays were against single 1 on 1 man coverage, not zone. It was a matter of Eli and the receivers making nice plays.

By: JMoney

JMoney — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 15:49:47 +0000

I agree with @Bucyea at the end of the games teams are trying to go down the field I know that that is a great time to blitz, but honestly if you could fake a blitz and pull back into coverage that be awesome. I have full confidence that McCoy Bennet Miller could get to the QB if he holds the ball a little longer because of the coverage.

By: robert

robert — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 15:33:32 +0000

bench talib for biggers
bench jfro for orlovski

we win games. coach needs to hold these two *cough* franchise players to the same standard he holds the other guys.

they may have the right attitude, but the are getting their asses handed too them on the field. BENCH THEM!

By: bucyea

bucyea — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 14:55:18 +0000

What knowledgable fans we have, and sportwriters to….NOT! It wasn’t the zone that killed the Bucs, it was horrible playcalling. Against the Giant, it was man-to-man on nearly EVERY occasion, as a result of blitzing. The Skins game again was ineffective blitzing, and blown assignments. In fact, I would argue, had we been playing the TAMPA 2 in both those critical situations, we would have beaten the Giants and the Skins. IMO, our blitzes are just not effective enough to justify their use in such critical situations. I like the aggressive playcalling on defense, BUT you have to know when to blitz and when to play coverage. From what we saw, repeatedly against the Giants, Shiano should have learned our blitzing is not working, and playing coverage in those situations is the better call. A simple Cover 2, against the Skins, and we would certainly be 2-2.

By: MTM

MTM — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 14:27:50 +0000

The zone defense is killing the Buc’s. The Giants proved that with historic passing yards. Receivers just squatted down in the open areas. Teams typically play zone because they cannot not play man because of the potential for big plays. Schiano needs to figure out the offense and find a way to keep drives alive. If they start the first 3 series with 3 and out. It is going to be more of the same.

By: Rican

Rican — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 13:59:38 +0000

Hopefully Free can actually keep them off the field for the majority of the
Game and gives them sometime to breathe.