Challenging Gerald McCoy
October 23rd, 2014
The Bucs are in the middle of an uglier than ugly season. Not sure how much will change due to the bye week. Let’s just say picking up a kick returner who sat on the street for days doesn’t fill Joe with a lot of confidence, sorry.
Now there are whispers from a respected national voice about just how dominant perhaps their best player is, defensive tackle Gerald McCoy.
GMC is stuck. He’s been stuck on a team that for reasons unknown has never been able to find him help. Oh, GMC had help from Michael Bennett, their sack leader two years ago, who the Bucs let walk away for no good reason. He started for the Super Bowl champion Seahawks.
Because opposing offensive lines all but laugh out loud at GMC’s teammates, they know if McCoy is taken out, then they have effectively stopped the Bucs’ pass rush. Teams really don’t worry about anyone but GMC, who noted that the Crows were always pointing out where he was before every snap.
It seems Pat Kirwan, the former Bucs scout, Jets assistant under Monte Kiffin and Jets personnel chief, thinks, despite being double- and tripled-teamed, that GMC should be getting better results. In fact, Kirwan all but challenged GMC to show up big time in Sunday’s game against the Vikings, as he spoke Wednesday afternoon on his must-listen show, “Movin’ the Chains,” with co-host Jim Miller heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio.
“I think Minnesota is a better team – I have Tampa Bay ranked 32nd in the power rankings. But I am thinking of taking [the Bucs] because [Minnesota] cannot protect – when I see Teddy Bridgewater is being sacked once every 8 ½ pass plays, that’s a really bad number.
“I will say this about McCoy: All of this conversation in August about how he is better than [Ndamukong] Suh? We heard that. If he doesn’t have two or three sacks in this game against [Bridgewater], then he is not. He needs to have a big time game if he is a big time player. You know where he ranks on the team in tackles? Thirteen.”
First, to touch upon GMC’s tackles (17), just what offensive coordinator in his right mind is going to run at GMC? Michael Johnson has 13 tackles and he is a defensive end for crying out loud. But Joe does see Kirwan’s angle, to a point. The Vikings have a sieve of an offensive line.
If GMC is the leader he professes to be, and since his defensive linemates couldn’t find a sack in a feed store, then this is a game for GMC to rise up and dominate.
Joe doesn’t buy the Suh angle because the Lions’ defensive line is far superior to the Bucs’. Suh is not a one-man defensive line like GMC often is. If teams take out Suh, they’ve got Ziggy Ansah and Nick Fairley to deal with. If teams take out GMC they have, who exactly to tangle with?
October 23rd, 2014 at 5:55 am
How can you be that inept to let Bennett walk, oh I forgot Bowers was going to be the future.
October 23rd, 2014 at 6:54 am
I don’t put much stock in his take either. He’s obviously a smart football guy but his take shows that he’s making an assessment based on taking a quick glance at the team. You’d be hard pressed to find a player, in any era, that can get results when he’s going against that many double and triple teams.
October 23rd, 2014 at 6:55 am
Does anyone really believe GMC is going to want to resign here? Both he and Suh likely will play out their contracts and become free agents. Sure we could franchise him but you can do that one maybe two years before the cap number becomes too big. If there isn’t some drastic improvement in personal & coaching I don’t think he will be here much longer.
October 23rd, 2014 at 6:57 am
So far-
there has been only one way the coaches want to get this pass rush to work,
the way they have it all designed since day one.
So far-
they have plugged in multiple players to try and get it done that way but alas, same results-NOT WORKING
Does anyone ever hear from any of the players in any of the interviews at any time during this season how the coaches have such a great plan and that they all love this defense scheme and they know how well it is going to work?
Guess I missed those interviews.
October 23rd, 2014 at 7:02 am
^^Bowers… what a waste. He was invisible even with PEDs…
Poor McCoy. Reminds me of Archie Manning (Payton’s dad for you youngsters out there). One of the most talented players in the NFL, but stuck on a forever crappy a$$ team. For those who remember Archie and those awful Saints teams, don’t the Bucs remind you of those past Saints? Sad…
October 23rd, 2014 at 7:06 am
We don’t have any linemen that consistently gets sacks, no one. GMC has not played dominant football in my mind. He is playing good, not great.
October 23rd, 2014 at 7:22 am
I’m willing to blame the others on the line for the lack of numbers from GMC, but Gerald and Gerald alone is responsible for his effort. Those other guys arent making him slow off the snap. We all know he has the talent to beat double teams. We all know he’s fast enough to prevent triple teams. He has zero passion this year. NONE.
But according to him, his mentality has been in the right place.
October 23rd, 2014 at 7:55 am
There is a lot of things wrong with the Bucs, but Gerald McCoy is not one of them, neither is Lavonte David. I’m sick of all the gloom and doom. We are coming off a by-week, we have a fairly manageable SCHEDUAL for a few weeks, we are healthier, and we still have 10 games left. This team is still in the early stages of development and have really taken a beating over the last six weeks. Lovie Smith is a dam good football coach. I think (like in the old Rocky movie) they are beginning to get mad. A few wins will go a long way,so instead of kicking them while their down I am going to take a leap of faith and predict a 10 win run. Call me crazy, take your shots, but I am 100 percent behind these guys because their the only team I got. Go Bucs…….
October 23rd, 2014 at 8:05 am
The fans have more sacks than the players! ( on their heads).!
October 23rd, 2014 at 8:08 am
Maybe there was a reason for some of those crazy stunts Schiano ran…..If we can’t defend a pass….we need to blitz more…..and jam recievers….
October 23rd, 2014 at 8:15 am
PA-LEASEEEEE…Davin Joseph handled Suh on one good leg last year and has handled him every time they’ve matched up since Suh came into the league…and your closing point Joe says it all…i’d give my left !@# at this point to have the kind of high pick D linemen the Lions have for starters AND DEPTH.
October 23rd, 2014 at 8:17 am
I like the Bucs chances to win this Vikings game too, despite their home record. If the effort is there the win will follow.
October 23rd, 2014 at 8:39 am
Gee, Phil, there might be a hurricane that might hit Florida next year which will take out your single wide and overturn your 2001 Kia Rio w/o AC. What is your point?
Do you spend all your time fretting about what might happen in the future. I doubt it. You just spend all your time trying to annoy others with your inane posts.
Go back to Chicago.
October 23rd, 2014 at 9:23 am
@incognito, we’ve seen way too much of that in tampa. productive guys allowed to leave town because we think some dude we drafted or found on the scrap heap is on the verge of becoming a pro bowl player. betnnett for bowers, penn for collins….going back to cutting derrick brooks and deciding an injury prone strong safety could do his job better, we have been making these active downgrades because we constantly overrate unknown quantities
October 23rd, 2014 at 9:59 am
So last night I watched the Ravens game again and trust me no one is bashing GMC, he is earning all the hate. If you watch the game again you’ll see the raven attacking Geraldine all game. They ran right at him successfully and threw the ball over his head often. It’s like they saw that he doesn’t have much gap integrity and doesn’t get his hands up on passes.(watch the film) The Ravens gashed us for the first big run up the gut right thru Geraldine’s gap and all the 3 step drop passes he rarely got his hands up.
Idk mccoy has played much better football in the past. As for Suh, personally I’d take a mean nasty dirty SUH over nice guy mccoy any day but that’s me.
October 23rd, 2014 at 10:23 am
Gerald McCoy BEFORE the Ravens game : ” you don’t let someone come into your house, take your remote and change the channel.” Blah, blah blah.
Talk is cheap. In Tampa talk is becoming cheaper than dirt.
October 23rd, 2014 at 10:38 am
87
They took his remote, his beer and his girl put her on their lap then they mushed him in the face and said “get outta here kid”.
October 23rd, 2014 at 11:09 am
@Martinii…perhaps they need to watch Rocky 4 over and over again then, because that Russian beat the hell out of him more than any other opponent.
Btw…even though you have an extra I. Your name makes me thirsty every time I see it.
October 23rd, 2014 at 11:16 am
McCoy will be gone next year.
October 23rd, 2014 at 11:52 am
Warren Sapp had only 27 tackles in all of 1999 when he won DPotY so I don’t see that as very important.
October 23rd, 2014 at 11:58 am
Kml @ 87… Now I can say ur rite!!! #firsttime
October 23rd, 2014 at 12:19 pm
Seems almost comical looking back at Sapp’s preseason comments about the Bucs pass rush improving under Lovie Smith’s coaching. Schiano/Sheridan’s line stunts may not have done much better at getting to the QB, but at least the damn defense wasn’t getting steamrolled just about every game like we’ve seen out of theses ‘real NFL coaches’
October 23rd, 2014 at 12:31 pm
If he is the “leader” he says he is. He needs to step up and hold his teammates accountable. One thing that seperates the greats like ray lewis is they dont settle for average play you go on the field you play your ass off if not you will get chewed out by the brooks of world as soon as you walk back to the huddle. GMC great player bad leader
October 23rd, 2014 at 12:36 pm
Have we really been that inept in player evaluation? Joe doesn’t take the Suh comparison into consideration because the Lions DLine is so much better but it’s not like we have just been ignoring ours. Bowers, Clayborn, McDonald, Johnson, Spence, Gholston and Means have all been brought in over the last few years to help McCoy out and none have worked out. I can give the last two a pass for being low round draft picks but that’s a lot of focus on one area to see no results.
October 23rd, 2014 at 1:25 pm
Well, isn’t the above sh$t something else. G. McCoy can’t do it all! Our best player on Defense hands down. And one (1) hand short to boot. Which one of you dick heads above could stand up to him? Get real. Lovey needs to get him some help.
October 23rd, 2014 at 3:08 pm
I admire GMC but come on guys. I’m sick of this one man DL BS!!!!
Johnson has put up good numbers before when he was next to Atkins, arguably a better DT than GMC before Atkins injury.
Clinton McDonald went to a Super Bowl and was an excellent player in Seattle.
These are guys who were made better by players around them. Why haven’t they been made better by GMC?
Have they all suddenly gotten crappy. Is Johnson’s injury situation worse than we’ve been led to believe?
October 23rd, 2014 at 8:41 pm
Thanks Joe! “and since his defensive linemates couldn’t find a sack in a feed store” Classic!! Sad but true.