What Happens When You Don’t Watch A Game

September 12th, 2011

It's kind of difficult to get a coverage sack on Matthew Stafford if there is no coverage.

It’s pretty clear to Joe — and Joe is sure, most Bucs fans — who watches games and who relies on a box score to break down a game.

Enter Peter King. Now Joe loves King and regularly refers to his Monday Morning Quarterback as a must read. It is. Now King works for NBC on Sundays and tries to take a peek at all games, but that’s not watching a game, that’s getting a quick glimpse.

So when King — and others Joe has heard — mock the Bucs for a lack of pressure on a quarterback, that blatantly tells Joe they didn’t watch the game. Let Joe use a few of King’s lines in his MMQB this morning for evidence.

h. In the last two drafts, the Bucs picked four defensive linemen in the first two rounds: Gerald McCoy, Brian Price, Adrian Clayborn and Da’Quan Bowers. Combined, they had five tackles, no sacks, no quarterback pressures on Sunday. Yikes.

i. In fact, the Bucs had no sacks and no pressures … against a Detroit offensive line that isn’t in the league’s upper echelon. That’s a bad sign for a team that will live or die on its young defensive stalwarts.

If someone watched the game, they would know that after the first series, Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford went to a two- and three-step drops. Part of this was that early, the Bucs indeed were getting pressure on Stafford. Joe specifically remembers Adrian Clayborn drilling Stafford in the ribs just as he released the ball.

That’s not pressure?

Does King believe that perhaps the Lions went to two- and three-step drops because the Lions don’t have a “stalwart” offensive line? Also, it’s common football sense that the only way a defense is going to sack a quarterback on a two- and three-step drop would be on coverage sacks.

And the way the Lions receivers ran wild on the Bucs secondary like a some show on the Animal Planet, it was virtually impossible short of a lineman not being blocked at all to put heat on Stafford.

21 Responses to “What Happens When You Don’t Watch A Game”

  1. Jorge Says:

    hey Joe!!! Raheem just thanked you for being a NARC and getting his phone records checked..that was funny!!! consider this a RT just in case you missed it lol

  2. Jonny Says:

    Peter King is talking out of his ass. While our D-line performance wasn’t anything special, no QB pressures? We had plenty of those. Does King even know what a QB pressure is? Did he even watch the play Stafford threw an interception, where one of our Lbs blitzed and got into his face?

  3. Buddhaboy Says:

    Last years achilles heal = 3rd and short and 4th and short

    THey had all offseason, being shortened by lockout, to come up with some decent plays….

    Anyone else unimpressed….running up the middle into (200) 300lb guys….ugh, gotta be smarter…..

    what was with all the dumpoffs, very unimpressed yesterday…..

  4. Jorge Says:

    now the colorful outfit is twittering about Joe..you are very popular today

  5. raphael Says:

    Raheem said thanks joe bucs fan….after he said on the radio, he talks to players all the time….thanks Raheem for letting the cat out of the bag.I wonder how many other coaches went on thr radio and sang like a bird…hope you put a better team on the field than what we just saw coach..btw Peter King is clueless

  6. Joe Says:

    hey Joe!!! Raheem just thanked you for being a NARC

    šŸ™ (sigh).

    If the New York Times quotes President Obama on something he said on a radio interview, is the publication a “NARC?’ Please. Turn the page. Give it a rest.

  7. Joe Says:

    raphael:

    Thanks.

    To be clear: Joe loves Peter Kingl, who has always been kind to Joe. What King tries to do on Sundays is like going to Hooters and trying to “watch” all the games, with requisite glances at the, ahem, “distractions.” People who attempt that are not going to notice the nuances of a specific game.

  8. Capt.Tim Says:

    Raheem used to be the Defensive backs coach. Two years ago, we were giving up lOng TDs every game. Last year, we played that 3-3-5 defense to protect the secondary. Yesterday, Stafford could throw to anyone he wanted. We couldn’t cover anyone. It’s obvious our secondary is second rate.

    And yes, we missed both Ruuds playcalling, and especially his pass coverage yesterday. Quincy is proving to be useless. Hopefully Adam Hayward starts getting some field time.

    He better! This is year 3 for Both Raheem and Dominick. Last year, everyone was singing their praises. This off season, one/ or both of them made terrible decissions. It may well cost them both their jobs if they don’t figure out how to win with this many weak spots on the roster. You two may have outsmarted yourselves right into the unemployment line

  9. Flip Flopper Says:

    The vitriolic reaction from the fans is disheartening. Did you really expect all our games would be beauties? It was obviously a very disappointing showing for the Bucs, but I actually think itā€™ll serve as the proverbial wakeup call this team desperately needsā€¦

    As for the positives: our special teams play remains solid, the D had a few impressive goal or near goal-line stands, and the offense was able to move the ball in the second half. What if Graham converts on that 4th and 1 AND we score immediately afterward? Weā€™re all talking about Freemanā€™s amazing comebacks, etcā€¦ If we start fast, and utilize the run game efficiently, we win this game.

    Donā€™t be surprised to see a fast start to the game this weekend; Raheem and Freeman are both acutely focused on changing the bumbling starts. I fully expect a win in Minnesota.

  10. There's Two "O"s In Moore Says:

    Agree the D (esp. D line) was fine and played as expected being on the field for 32 minutes in first 3 quarters. Our scheme even in its prime is bend and don’t break and even being “dominated” early when the D was fresh outscored the Lions 7-6.

    Legarrette Blount! This is my BIG ??? in this game. Where was he? Are Morris and Olsen hurting the team by putting Blount in the doghouse b/c he’s slow in his coverage maturity? As Buddhaboy said with Caddy gone we don’t have the talent for the dump and run. Nothing against Earnest Graham as a scrapper but he just doesn’t have the talent to get that many reps!

    I try not to get on the “OMG the playcalling fire the OC!” bandwagon from ppl who know jack about football (myself inc) but what happened (or didn’t) with Blount is confusing. Anyone?

  11. Buddhaboy Says:

    how could they have outsmarted themselves if they didnt do anything this offseason. Who did they bring in to help? Rookies…

    A freaking punter……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    No running back, offensive lineman, speed guys,

    it is obvious they are building for the future..more weapons on offense please, just wathc the highlights of the game on nfl.com and the jamie dukes says it, they need more weapons for freeman….i thought it waas all about #5…….BS

  12. Dan Says:

    did grimm leave the game? he had one tackle in the first series then disapeared

  13. Jrock (mobile) Says:

    PFT reported that Raheem was being investigated by the leauge like a week ago. Are you guys serious? Lay off Joe.

    It sickens me to think the Lions have a better team than us. We didn’t beat ourselves by underestimating them, and the refs didn’t beat us with bad calls (albeit there’s always 1 or 2 in a game). The Lions beat us, came into our home and punched us in the mouth.

    We better do the same to the Vikings next week

  14. Jerry Says:

    Pressure is when you hurry throws, sack the QB, get in his face, flush him out of the pocket, etc.. The Bucs started to get some penetration, the Lions adapted, and that was it. The INT was a mistake on the receiver and Talib happened to be in the right spot. That wasnt Stafford’s fault and it didnt happen because of the DL.

    But the defense wasnt really the big problem in this game. It’s the offense. If Olson doesnt gameplan and playcall better…this team is doomed.

  15. Travis Says:

    Jrock: “PFT reported that Raheem was being investigated by the leauge like a week ago. Are you guys serious? Lay off Joe.”

    If a week ago was yesterday sure… You toking it up with Tanard on his vacation?

  16. Four Fingered Fisherman Says:

    Sorry this is off topic a bit, but how do you access the game on gamerewind during the 72-hour window. I can’t figure it out???

  17. Jorge Says:

    Joe, sorry if you got offended, maybe bad choice of words…I really like the site and I think you were doing your job whatever that entailed…keep up the good work

  18. Espo Says:

    We sniffed him alright. Next week I want us to hit McNabb in the mouth repeatedly.

  19. Oahubuc Says:

    I saw Bucs in the backfield all day, especially early. Stafford is just really really good, and will soon be really really really good (like Megatron already is).

    The best way to negate that factor would have been to give Blount the dadgum ball. Why is Greg Olson the only person on the planet not to realize that?

  20. Thomas 2.2 Says:

    According to my observation and sgw today: the lions didnt throw from mostly 3 step drops, many of stafford’s throws were from an unusually deep 10 yards. Sgw said that the d line pass rush was poor, i agree.

    There is no spinning those stats.

  21. Max Says:

    So where can you watch the game on NFL.com?