Goldson: Bucs Could Be Marked Team
September 15th, 2013
Joe loves hard-hitting football. NFL warden commissioner Roger Goodell and the owners don’t.
Guess who wins? The owners, of course.
Joe used to holler and scream and throw things and call quarterbacks girls who wear panties for how the NFL protects them. Guess what? Joe had to adjust what he should expect from the NFL. It’s not the same league he grew up watching when the Steelers and Raiders would have virtual street brawls with chains and brass knuckles disguised at football games.
Those days are gone. They are never coming back. This, maybe, is why Joe seems to have a disconnect with so many fans. When quarterbacks get hit anywhere close to the head, Joe expects a flag. But many Bucs fans do not.
Bucs safety Dashon Goldson, who Joe likes a great deal because of his physicality, is a known headhunter. After the Bucs loss to the Saints, Goldson said he believes there is a chance the Bucs are a marked team by the NFL because of their physicality.
“We are just trying to play football,” Goldson said. “We are a football team. We play football.”
As for possibly being a marked or a targeted team?
“Oh sure, you have two hard-hitting safeties,” Goldson said. “You have a dominant defense. A physical defense. We could be a target.”
The above is why Joe didn’t freak out when Adrian Clayborn sacked Saints quarterback Drew Brees and was flagged for helmet-to-helmet contact and a personal foul. The way refs are encouraged to throw flags first and ask questions later, Joe expected a flag.
Just like Lavonte David last week, when he cost the Bucs a win by shoving Jets quarterback Geno Smith out of bounds, by Clayborn going high for a tackle/sack, he opened the door to allow a zebra to throw a flag. And that’s exactly what happened. Don’t give the refs a reason to throw a flag. It’s not that complex.
The Bucs are going to have to learn to target a player’s belt buckle, that way there is simply no way a mistake can be made that a Bucs defender went for the head.
Is it sad the way the NFL has morphed into flag football? You bet. But those who do not adjust get buried. Fortunately for the Bucs, Clayborn’s hit (and Goldson’s and Mark Barron’s) did not directly cost the Bucs a point, as the defense got off the field eventually.
September 15th, 2013 at 10:26 pm
just hit ’em in the balls.
September 15th, 2013 at 10:26 pm
We’re not a marked team. We are a team with a head coach who is out of his league and too conservative, waiting to replace a quarterback with his chosen one. Schiano needs to go – not Freeman. Freeman needs a coach who believes in I’m and will ask him to win a game, not just handoff on third and six. What a waste of talent all around. We should be 2-0. Playoffs will never happen with schiano.
September 15th, 2013 at 10:28 pm
F##K Roger Goodell. He’s a demon
September 15th, 2013 at 10:28 pm
Freeman is the worst starting quarterback in the NFL.
September 15th, 2013 at 10:30 pm
As little as five years ago and these hits would be celebrated all over the NFL, now guys get flagged and fined for them. Hell, David got fined $7 grand for that little shove at the end of the game last week.
It’s terrible and makes me feel so bad for these players.
September 15th, 2013 at 10:30 pm
Freeman sucks…..agreed, but the drops and bad coaching by Schiano were big factors in the loss as well.
Our defense is looking great though. They need to keep it up.
September 15th, 2013 at 10:35 pm
Lets just go for knees or aim for the scrotum. We are definately hard-hitting/agressive…but lack discipline.
I know I will get some disagreements here…but I actually think the team is buying into Schiano. I believe there is no way a defense plays as hard as we did tonight if they don’t respect the coach…and it is definately Schiano’s defense.
It all comes down to # 5…Haven’t we heard that befoe.
For those of you out there that think Schiano’s job is on the line….think again…..he will get a more than fair chance to succeed and will probably get a chance to coach “his”QB before long. And….Freeman will have nobody to blame but himself.
September 15th, 2013 at 10:38 pm
your right about many things Joe but the Clayborn hit… things like that are driving me away from the NFL. His initial contact was on the shoulder. The helmet was incidental. Iff that is a penalty, then the lineman commit a penalty on every snap. I realize that qb’s are different but that hit fundamentally changes the NFL.
September 15th, 2013 at 10:39 pm
@Tampabaybucfan
True, they played their hearts out for him. I’m not concerned about him losing his locker room, I’m concerned about his game day decision making, and our teams penalty problems. Oh, and of course, Freeman’s horrible play.
September 15th, 2013 at 10:48 pm
AC’s hit should not have been flagged!! Plain and simple
September 15th, 2013 at 10:50 pm
We are marked. On Freeman’s fumble the defender clearly hit Freeman on top of the head before the arm but no flag. I rewound it several times for the wife to see.
September 15th, 2013 at 10:52 pm
It’s gonna stay this way until enough knees get jacked up. Welcome to the new age of the NFL.
September 15th, 2013 at 10:54 pm
Clayborn is 5 inches taller than Brees. He bends just a little and he’s head to head. I saw the initial part of the hit as shoulder to shoulder. So now the Bucs have a defense that’s full of hitters who are not allowed to hit.
September 15th, 2013 at 10:54 pm
Rah believed in him….that worked out great. Freeman better be careful or he will get a reputation for getting coaches fired. Less employable
September 15th, 2013 at 11:00 pm
The defender didn’t even hit Freeman on the arm you can see his head go down and forward on the replay and that is when the ball comes out.
September 15th, 2013 at 11:04 pm
It’s a shame the way the league is moving to an only offensive game. It means the Super Bowl Bucs would have never gotten to the big show with today’s rules. Sad really. The end of the NFL as we know it.
September 15th, 2013 at 11:41 pm
take a look at the play again AC had no time to pick a spot to hit breeze !!!!!!!! wait any longer Breeze throws the ball !!!!!!!!!! though I do agree the Bucs need to adjust, but give me a FREAKIN’ BREAK !!!!!!! Some times the best call is no call. I saw a number of far worse hits today that were not called !!!!!!! That being said…, I’m SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BUMMED !!!!!! GO BUCS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
September 16th, 2013 at 12:20 am
AC’s sack was just a bad call, but Goldson’s hit was dirty, he’ll be lucky if the league let’s him suit up next week. Not very captin like, and not a good role model like move…
September 16th, 2013 at 1:19 am
Its horrible that a team can get marked by the ref’s as we obviously have been. Now not only do we get called more but the other team gets away with more as the refs are to busy watching us. SAD SAD SAD. The new NFL SUCKS. ITS TIME FOR THE FANS TO STAND UP AND DEMAND THAT WE GET TO SEE SOME REAL FOOTBALL AGAIN NOT THIS BS.
September 16th, 2013 at 1:21 am
SEND THE NFL A COMMENT ON THEIR WEBSITE UNDER CONTACT US THEN CLICK OTHER AND NEGATIVE COMMENT. TELL THEM THIS IS TERRIBLE AND THAT IT IS CHANGING YOUR OPINION ABOUT NFL FOOTBALL.
September 16th, 2013 at 9:32 am
The Bucs a marked team? You bet they are. All you have to do is watch a few of the other games on any given Sunday and you’ll see. They call it one way against Tampa, and another for everyone else.
September 28th, 2013 at 11:21 am
First of all, why are people pretending like freeman is a great qb. he doesn’t make good presnap reads and if he does the ball is either thrown late or short. i know schiano could have done things in a better way but the truth is we still needed a better qb that can make presnap reads and proper progressions.
September 28th, 2013 at 11:26 am
oh and back to the point, i do believe the bucs are a marked team. the clayborn hit was one of the worst calls this year. i’ve seen patrick willis tatoo a couple players harder than clayborn’s hit this year up high with no calls.