Battle In The Trenches

November 29th, 2012

It will be hard enough to get pressure on Peyton Manning, even harder because of stud tackles like Ryan Clady.

A lot of Bucs fans will suggest the Bucs need to get pressure on Peyton Manning this week. Well, that’s like saying Rachel Watson should saunter through Joe’s front door no less than three times a week in the small hours of the morning.

Getting pressure on Manning is virtually impossible when he is using a three-step drop to slice up defenses.

Then Joe was reading a recent breakdown of the best offensive tackles graded out by the NFL thinktank of ProFootballFocus.com. It seems the Broncos have two of the best tackles in the NFL: Ryan Clady (ranked No. 2) and Orlando Franklin (tied for No. 6).

So here is the scenario the Bucs are faced with: Trying to get in the face of Peyton Manning on a three-step drop and getting past a couple of stone walls of offensive tackles.

Not a pleasant proposition.

On the flip side, the only Bucs offensive tackle rated (the site only has the top and bottom 20 of NFL tackles), is Donald Penn at No. 55.

19 Responses to “Battle In The Trenches”

  1. bucfanjeff Says:

    Maybe we match up well and will eat horse for dinner.

    Maybe we’ll come in pissed off from the ATL game.

    I’m hoping for a win…just maybe.

  2. drbinshore Says:

    We need as much Da’quan Bowers as possible…..hopefully 3 downs of him at a time. GMC, Miller , and Gibson need to push the middle into Manning’s lap….I’m pretty sure he’s not going to outrun anyone to the edge. Also, just rush strait up field- the less stunts the better IMO.

  3. Ian's Gay Lisp & Ron's Drinking Problem Says:

    Well, Gerald “Rabbit Ears” McCoy doesn’t line-up against those 2 Tackles…..so he has no excuses (he needs to get his hands up if he can’t physically get to his Idol, Peyton Manning)

  4. BrianDorry55 Says:

    We better just rush four all day long and hope that our secondary can make enough plays…Manning will torch us if we keep up with our awful blitzes.

  5. Hawaiian Buc Says:

    The only way I see us winning this game is by forcing turnovers, and capitalizing on those turnovers by scoring TD’s. Hopefully we can get lucky and force a couple INT’s and a fumble or two. I really don’t see Denver punting the ball in this game the way we play defense on third down. Force 3 turnovers and don’t turn the ball over ourselves and we have a shot.

  6. BigMacAttack Says:

    I agree that they need to get their hands up to tip passes for possible INT’s or bat them down. All QB’s are susceptible to big hands of DL’s. Don’t bite on pump fakes too hard either.

    It also seems that many of the plays (3’rd downs) that the Bucs get beat on, they have back-ups in the game like Gibson and Gorwhatshisname. I think 3’rd down is when you want to keep GMC on the field, with Teo, Bowers, & Bennett. I’m sure Gibson has a lot of knowledge but he is slow and can’t run well. Gibson is a problem on defense IMO.

  7. JMoney Says:

    Any given Sunday guys

  8. Deminion Says:

    @ Joe I actually think Penn is a top 10 LT how many sacks has he givin up this yr?

  9. Thibs5599 Says:

    How on earth is Donald Penn ranked number 55

  10. bucfanjeff Says:

    It’s all about individual matchups…

  11. SacBucs Says:

    I thought this was a really cool site at first..How certain fans would jump all over certain fans for there post..Now I see you can’t have a opinion here. YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY FAN!.
    I have been staying away from posting because its starting to remind me of some Internet thugs..lmao

    People spell checking my first couple post(u kno who u r) its like a faternity. Just say that sh!t..Just because you stay in tampa(you lucky f&#$s) don’t make you a better fan or give you the right to anything..I chose the Bucs when all we had was Hardy Nickerson $ Eric Rhett..That don’t make me better. Nope sure Don’t! I haven’t missed a game since 97! EVEN WHEN IT WAS A BLACKOUT IN TAMPA! Does that mean anything heck no. I wonder if I’m watching film of the game one play over and over am I seeing a diffrent game?

    Watching one player through out the course of the game. Then rewind and so on and so forth….You can actually see who F up on that particular play. The Dline is being held and the refs are not calling it..Olinemen givin up on there blocks on the goaline.LB’s playing gap control when opposing RB’s just cut back..CB’s 10 yards off or bailing before the snap.

    With all that being said….I meant no disrespect to anyone..Only the grammer police eat a fat one!

  12. Ramdog Says:

    There are a few ways we can win this game. Dominate the clock and run the ball down their throats. Get turnovers, get touchdowns NOT F-ing field goals. We have to have our A game and hope they don’t play well. Getting to the QB will be hard their tackles are stout and Manning is arguably the best in the league at reading defenses. Their receivers are not elite or anything so our corners have a better chance of sticking with them in comparison to Roddy White and Julio Jones who are studs. Another problem is our tackles especially Penn aren’t doing so hot either and they have probably the best pass rushers in the league on their roster. Penn has had a rough year and from reading profootball focus is no longer even playing in the realm of a pro-bowler (nor has he ever for that matter). I am not sure exactly why he is getting elite Tackle money. He has never cracked the top 20 in Pass Blocking Effeciency according to profootball focus. It would be nice if we could get a good left tackle for what we are paying him. Actually DeMar Dotson seems to be playing much better than him albeit he goes against lesser talent rushers. Now in Penn’s defense our offense has a lot of plays that require a ton of time to develop and Freeman tends to take a lot of time in the pocket. But PFF supposedly takes all of that into account when they are compiling their stats.

  13. Brandon Says:

    Getting pressure on the 3 step drop starts with the DTs getting push up the middle. Not even Aldon Smith and Von Miller can come off the edge quick enough, run around an OT, run a staggeringly tight arc, and get pressure on a 3 step drop… unless there is push up the middle and the primary (and posssibly secondary) receiver is covered.

  14. Ramdog Says:

    To the people questioning Penn’s ranking he has given up 3 sacks 6 hits and 27 hurries which is a lot in an offense that is not pass heavy with a somewhat mobile quarterback. He probably isn’t as bad as he ranking for the reasons I listed above but he is no pro-bowler.

    @ BigMacAttack according to PFF Gerald McCoy is in most of the passing plays he has missed exactly 1 (there have been 421 passing attempts and McCoy has been in for 420 of them). As I said in a post yesterday he has over 60 snaps more than the next highest tackle (Vince Wilfork). That is basically a whole game. Teams game plan against him and he is a force in a bad situation (bad line). As I said yesterday he is second in Hurries amongst tackles behind only Geno Atkins he has played more snaps but he is on an inferior line. The reason you may not see him on the TV screen is the obscene amount of stunts they do which both I am trying to figure out why as are other more knowledgeable folks like Steve White.

  15. Ian's Gay Lisp & Ron's Drinking Problem Says:

    @ SacBucs <—- You spelled "grammer" wrong. It's "grammar".

  16. McBuc Says:

    Sacbucs…While I enjoyed your rant I think I missed something. I did not see anyone giving you a hard time on this threads, maybe it was on an early one. Anyway, do not concern yourself with grammar nazis, post what you want.

    ramdog…Does it seem reasonable that Penn’s play may be suffering by having an entire supporting cast of back-ups?

  17. FLBoyInDallas Says:

    Since Denver has two stud tackles they won’t need help with our DEs. That means the center and guard are going to double team McCoy all day long. Simple as that. Roy Miller will get one-on-ones all day but he’s only good for stopping the run…not much of a pass-rusher. Since Manning is so quick to release and since McCoy will be doubled and our DEs not likely to be applying much pressure, you can pretty much count up about 400 yards passing for Manning in this game. Ouch.

  18. BigMacAttack Says:

    Ramdog, I may have been off, but I my complaint is more about Gibson and his inabilities. I watch 50% of the games at the stadium and not on TV. I see them rotating GMC and I don’t think they have anyone that can fill his shoes on any down. Maybe its Miller coming out for Gibson. I haven’t seen any replays from Sunday, was at the game. I did see the Ahmad Black holding play on TV and it looked suspect. He may had his hand on the receiver’s back but it was a call that shouldn’t have occurred. I can tell you I’ve seen Gibson running after players with the ball and rarely gets close to them. He is a detriment on the field. The Bucs do run many stunts now, but they haven’t mastered them yet, and they are usually too slow to get good pressure.

    I don’t read PFF and look at stats. I trust my eyes and my memory, but generally on defense, I’m screaming at the top of my lungs and things do get a little clouded. I will say that the ATL holding line Coach did do a better job than the Bucs’ D line coach and few if any adjustments were made during the half.

  19. BigMacAttack Says:

    This may be a good opportunity to CB blitz on the back side. When the Falcons beat the Broncos, they had many players not set and standing around on the D line, 6,7.8 at a time. It confused Manniing for most of the game and it was effective. The Falcons knew who they were going to rush when, but Denver could not get a read on it. Now to do this, you need good CB’s, but watching that game, their DC Mike Nolan did a masterful job. I’m sure the Bucs’ D has watched film of all 3 Denver losses to see what works. This may very well be the best best Bucs’ game all season. And remember that all it takes is 1 good hit on a QB to change the outcome of a game or season. Anything can happen.