Lovie’s Defense Is Appalling
October 12th, 2014
“Welcome to the club, Lovie!”
You want to know just how bad Lovie Smith’s defense is?
Consider the following: The Bucs worst four-game stretch defensively, per Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times, was the final four games of the 2011 season when Tampa Bay coughed up 165 points.
The coach during that four-game debacle? Raheem Morris. And Morris paid for that tripe with his job.
Today, thanks to the 48-17 loss to the Crows, the Bucs defense has allowed 165 points in the past four games. The coach? Lovie.
Now Joe isn’t stupid enough to suggest Lovie should lose his job. That’s not going to happen and should not. However, that does not mean Lovie is blameless.
Major questions need to be answered by Lovie. Is he too lenient? Is he delegating too much authority to his assistants? Should he be more hands-on? Should certain players (Mark Barron?) be benched to send a message? Can he run any other defense than the Tampa-2?
Among those awful stats, in the past 24 days the Bucs have twice have trailed by 35 at the half. When is the last time a team other than the Bucs trailed by 35 at the half twice? You really have to do dig to find out.
That’s the Bucs’ defense. That’s Lovie’s defense.
Simply put, Lovie, being a defensive guy, is doing a pathetic job of coaching. To use one of Lovie’s favorite sayings, “It is simple as that.” How can a defensive wizard have this rotten of a defense? The team simply cannot get a sack. The team simply cannot defend the pass.
If one was to grade the first six games of the season, then Lovie would get an “F.” Lovie’s job this year is likely worse than Morris in 2011 because Morris was never considered a defensive guru.
Somewhere, Greg Schiano is prone on a floor, doubled over in laughter.
Lovie, you’ve got some serious ‘splaining to do.
October 12th, 2014 at 4:09 pm
Lovie is Appalling…he may be a good man…his leadership and motivational skills are abysmal
October 12th, 2014 at 4:09 pm
Lovie can and should lose his job if we see this for 10 more weeks. This is bad for an arena football team.
October 12th, 2014 at 4:11 pm
Perhaps the Greg Schiano lynch mob erred. They should have kept Revis, yes his salary was obscene but the bums that they used it on all suck.
October 12th, 2014 at 4:11 pm
That pic is very, very appropriate for this post.
October 12th, 2014 at 4:11 pm
We as fans totally agree with this Joe! Something Has to change!
October 12th, 2014 at 4:11 pm
Now Joe isn’t stupid enough to suggest Lovie should lose his job. That’s not going to happen and should not. However, that does not mean Lovie is blameless.
Major questions need to be answered by Lovie.”….really….Joe apply the same criticism to Lovie as you do to others…
October 12th, 2014 at 4:12 pm
It’s one thing to quit on a coach for the last few games of a lost season, but when the quit is in after just 6 games, the coach is the problem.
LOVIE’S A JOKE!
October 12th, 2014 at 4:14 pm
Lovie cares more about his Fios commercials, his streaming high speed game plays streamed right by him.
October 12th, 2014 at 4:15 pm
I actually thought that Lovie was a good hire as a coach. The first mistake – outside of his mouthing off about dumping Revis which cost the Bucs at least a draft pick was in hiring Tedford to begin with. Tedford had a dubious history of developing college QB’s and it was arguably his tutelage of Aaron Rogers that caused the GB superstar to fall so far in the draft. The moronic move by the Glazer offspring to bring in the imbecile Licht as GM therefore giving Lovie the power of a dictator now looks like a disaster.
Hell, the entire season is a disaster at this point – at least they can’t lose the bye unlesss Lovie decides to use the time to re-install a healthy McClown as QB. Glennon has been the ONLY bright spot in this debacle.
October 12th, 2014 at 4:15 pm
It’s pretty simple last year’s team had far more distractions at this point in the season yet looked better and were more competitive. I am thankful that the Bucs won in Pittsburgh, without it I doubt the team finishes better than 4 wins
October 12th, 2014 at 4:15 pm
I saw a better game from my son’s midget team yesterday. Definitely an AMATEUR effort by the Bucs offense and defense. Why don’t they get a new O-Coordinator and have Tedford be a consultant. Frazier needs to go along with that Tampa-2 Defense. That defense only works with 100% the right personnel and only in the last decade. We are pathetic. Do we gamble on Glennon and not go after the top QB in the draft giving that we haven’t really seen anything special out of him and he hasn’t been able to show a lot due to poor play by the rest of the offense. Absolutely PATHETIC effort. Has the game passed Lovie by? When can I expect at least a competitive effort by my team? WOW!
October 12th, 2014 at 4:16 pm
I posted this the Tuesday after the first loss of the season,Panthers.
Lovie is in WAY over his head….I listened to his press conference yesterday and was underwhemled by his monotoned empty words…then by chance I listened to a long interview with #55 on all sorts of subject…a stark contrast in leadership and answering questions. Lovie is an empty suit that has been swept to this point in life by his association with the greatness of others. I don’t mean to be harsh…but that is what I see……
October 12th, 2014 at 4:17 pm
“It’s one thing to quit on a coach for the last few games of a lost season, but when the quit is in after just 6 games, the coach is the problem.”
Exactly.
And people complained about Schiano’s scheme.
October 12th, 2014 at 4:17 pm
Love needs to coordinator his own defense if he thinks it’s gonna work…
October 12th, 2014 at 4:18 pm
Also let’s not forget that Lovie was out of football last year and now you know why.
October 12th, 2014 at 4:19 pm
* coordinate.
October 12th, 2014 at 4:19 pm
I like Lovie’s game plan. Let the opponents offensive run up and down the field during the first 3 and a half quarters so they will be tired out at the end of the game and our offense will be able to close the gap late in the game and only lose by 30…
October 12th, 2014 at 4:21 pm
Entire organization is an embarrassment to the Tampa Bay Area. At least this one wasn’t on national TV. No pride whatsoever anywhere on this team. GUTLESS!!
The one word that describes this team best! GUTLESS!!
To let a team come into your house and lay 35 on you in the first half shows, you have no pride or commitment. This team won’t be any better for at LEAST another 10 years with all the ridiculous moves made and GUTLESS players acquired by this crew of incompetent boobs.
October 12th, 2014 at 4:23 pm
This was the first time that I ever left the Bucs game and drive back home, over a hour drive before the game was over.
October 12th, 2014 at 4:23 pm
Kurtz: Are my methods unsound?
Willard: I don’t see any method at all sir…
October 12th, 2014 at 4:27 pm
And I was looking forward to this game and thought the Bucs had a fighting chance at the upset. Silly me!
October 12th, 2014 at 4:29 pm
ALL involved need to be called on the carpet. Was never a fan of the Leslie Frazier hire. I understand this is Lovie’s defense and he should shoulder blame as well but Frazier is calling the plays, no? The talent on this team is beyond hideous. Front office anyone? The players should not even show their faces in public or cash their paychecks. The Glazers should immediately refund ALL tickets and shutter the stadium. Ship this putrid franchise to LA, they deserve each other!
October 12th, 2014 at 4:30 pm
Raheem and Greg are somewhere laughing their ass off. This team and staff are pathetic. 50 plus million on free agents for this garbage. We are officially worse than the freaking Browns! Another Sunday wasted
October 12th, 2014 at 4:31 pm
Growing up a country boy, I seen more competition pulling chickens off the roost while they’re dead asleep.
October 12th, 2014 at 4:32 pm
Lovie is garbage and so is his defense…….never in my life have I seen so many wide open receivers. And when I say wide……I mean not a person within 10 yards of the person who catches the ball.
October 12th, 2014 at 4:36 pm
Lovie is overrated. End this trash now.
October 12th, 2014 at 4:36 pm
SSG,
Hell, I saw better football at my son’s youth BASEBALL tournament in Tampa this weekend! We were just around the corner and I actually gave thought to going over to the game after we were eliminated…DAMN sure glad I drove the 2 1/2 hours home instead!
October 12th, 2014 at 4:37 pm
Sorry. But look at the Cowboys last year. It takes time to get this defense right…
Lovie was 5-11 first year in Chicago and then was .500 or better every year after. Do you want to win now or build? They were a crappy team last year, 6 games is not enough time to turn around a losing organization. Sorry. Even last years Chiefs came back down to earth.
October 12th, 2014 at 4:40 pm
The Browns will kick the Bucs ass all over the field without any trouble.
October 12th, 2014 at 4:41 pm
this is the most predictable defense I have ever seen. His defensive play calling is horrible. It’s hard to believe if this continues that Lovie will to be one-and-done.
October 12th, 2014 at 4:43 pm
Dom… “officially worse than the Browns”?
My friend, the Browns will blow this team out.
We are officially worse than the Raiders. At least their ownership had the balls to pull the plug on their terrible coach — our owners don’t seem to care
October 12th, 2014 at 4:45 pm
You can deny it all you want, Schiano had the Bucs playing pretty good defense. Lovie has completely screwed up this defense and its so bad its not even funny.
October 12th, 2014 at 4:47 pm
Well, I’m home now and I now I feel the urge to drink more beer than I did before the game. It’s Shiano’s fault I guess!
October 12th, 2014 at 4:48 pm
Everybody always talking about how bad Rah was when he had a hurt Gerald McCoy, another DT with a one and million lower back/hip injury, Barrett Ruud was the MLB, Styles White was the DE, no big name safety, an aging Ronde Barber and a troubled CB in Aqib Talib and yet still managed to go 10-6. With virtually no head coaching experience prior to taking the job and a no control over the roster people still acts like he’s the worst thing that ever happened to the Bucs. Well the experienced coaches havent done any better with more talent and more control and yet they have been well compensated for losing.
October 12th, 2014 at 4:51 pm
Lovie’s a fckin joke. He’s soft, he’s a pu$$y.. He plays not to lose,,, shit, he plays not to win.
He’s got a loser’s mindset, always giving the ball away on the coin toss. Never trying to take over a game, but quick to get taken over…
Grow some fu**kin balls coach! Get your men in line! You soft ass motherf**ker!
October 12th, 2014 at 4:52 pm
What a joke
October 12th, 2014 at 4:55 pm
Two seasons in a row, we’re out of the playoffs before we’ve played half the season. This sucks. Still though, I believe in Lovie.
October 12th, 2014 at 4:57 pm
I’m beginning to question Lovie Smiths dedication to this team. I’m wondering if he was actually wanting to get back in the game or was he subconsciously lying to him self.
October 12th, 2014 at 5:00 pm
Feel sorry for anyone that bought season tickets.
October 12th, 2014 at 5:02 pm
Please Glazer’s go all in and pry Harbaugh out of the ‘west coast Bay Area’ next year. A similar move paid huge dividends 12 years ago. That and get Schiano on the conference phone call with Lovie and Frazier so he can explain the intricacies of the Rutgers defense that do far has looked far more pro level quality than the crap on display this year.
October 12th, 2014 at 5:02 pm
If there is no improvement to a Defense that is projecting to be the worst in NFL history, then Lovie should absolutely lose his job after this season.
October 12th, 2014 at 5:02 pm
Time to point the finger at the real cuprit:
D-Coodinator Leslie Frazier…….
Need we say more?
October 12th, 2014 at 5:05 pm
Go get Chucky back and pay the man what he wants
October 12th, 2014 at 5:08 pm
Draft O-Line, D-Line, Secondary, and then a QB. In that order.
October 12th, 2014 at 5:11 pm
draft qb all day, every day first, second, third!
October 12th, 2014 at 5:11 pm
Answer? There is no talent on this team. I’ll give Lovie licht a pass on their draft picks , all offense. They need to do it again on defense next year.
October 12th, 2014 at 5:13 pm
Hey good news 2 weeks to get the team in order.
October 12th, 2014 at 5:15 pm
I blame the organization that fired Dungy, gruden, then hired Raheem, then fired Schiano to get us to where we are at. You can’t build a winning organization doing that. We are exactly what Schiano said we were” a laughing stock of the NFL. I think every season ticket holder should boycott the next game. I am I’m sick and tired of this organization !!!
October 12th, 2014 at 5:16 pm
Joe.. Really!! Are you trying to protect the offense? They were equally as appalling.. Glennon sucked, the oline sucked, the play calling sucked. It means nothing anymore to play the second half well. The offense is awful. Now the D is no better but to blame one side is just not casting enough blame..
October 12th, 2014 at 5:17 pm
Lurker,
You can draft a QB in the first, second, and third rounds and it still won’t matter if they only get 2 seconds to pass. Also, if the other team can go down and score on every drive they get it doesn’t really matter either.
Get some O-Line that can run block and pass block. Then get some D-line to get pressure on the QB. Then get secondary that can cover a receiver. You can draft a QB in the 3rd or 4th round.
October 12th, 2014 at 5:17 pm
Joe, in your opinion Lovie is doing a pathetic job @ coaching then why shouldn’t he be fired?
October 12th, 2014 at 5:18 pm
So the offense is going to have to score 50 points a week to win games, eh? Not even Don Coryell’s Chargers could pull that off.
October 12th, 2014 at 5:22 pm
Sports reporters on the game.
“In his first six games with the Bucs, Lovie Smith’s squad has produced two of the most embarrassing first-half performances we have ever seen. The problems are the same as the ones that were evident in the Week 3 blowout in Atlanta. Smith’s zone defense allows free releases with open wide receivers roaming through the secondary. There’s a lack of team speed. The offensive line can’t protect the quarterback, and Mike Glennon has barely moved the offense in the first halves of the past three games.”
“Doug Martin is averaging just 3.4 yards per carry since his impressive rookie season. Journeyman Bobby Rainey has outplayed him over the past two years.”
“The Ravens defense hit Glennon 15 times, led by four from Terrell Suggs and three from Defensive Rookie of the Year front-runner C.J. Mosley. They rank third in the NFL, surrendering just 16.2 points per game.”
October 12th, 2014 at 5:24 pm
The Bucs have yet to play a genuinely good team this season, and I shudder to think what will happen when they do.
“We are not a good football team,” Lovie Smith said after today’s game.
There are reasons, of course. This is a team that overhauled a large part of its roster — but it did so by adding veterans across the board in an effort to be competitive this season. Yes, the Bucs have installed new schemes this season — and six weeks in, their players still look lost.
It can take some time for a coaching staff to come in and win. It can take some time to collect the right players. And the answer isn’t to fire Lovie Smith, or Jason Licht after six games of football. That would be ludicrous, and it wouldn’t solve any problems. But this is still one big disaster.
It’s a coaching failure, as too many players are clearly not comfortable in these schemes. It’s a front office failure, as the Bucs clearly don’t have enough talent or depth at several positions. It’s a player failure, because too many of them are making basic mistakes and not living up to their talent. It’s even a public relations failure, because fans are angry they were told this team would win now.
This is a total team failure. And that’s unacceptable.
October 12th, 2014 at 5:26 pm
sorry skyline, we have thrown tons of money, draft picks, trades at all the other positions on the team except qb! a third round mirage qb is not cutting it. we need to draft a qb in round 1, just like i said lst year. otherwise we will be paying for this for awhile. it is far easier to fix the other areas than qb.
October 12th, 2014 at 5:27 pm
Well said jb
October 12th, 2014 at 5:27 pm
If it’s easier to fix then why hasn’t it been fixed for the past 2 years?
October 12th, 2014 at 5:35 pm
poor coaching/personnel decsions.
October 12th, 2014 at 5:46 pm
I can say that I’m good at WR/TE, but I can go for change at all positions if need be. I just don’t believe that QB is as big of a need as others think. Like Joe said above, you can’t expect our offense to put up 50 pts a game just to win. Defense is going to have to do something.
October 12th, 2014 at 6:26 pm
defense did well last year…so we regressed. but is it because of free agents or coaching? qb has been an issue for awhile.
October 12th, 2014 at 7:12 pm
Things are only to get worse before they get better. Bill Belichick, Don Shula, Chuck Noll, Bill Parcells could not win here. This is going to be a bottom feeder team for a very long time. If Lovie gets fired, no one will want to come here and no free agents will want to sign here except for veterans who are near retirement who just want to collect a paycheck with warm weather and no state tax. Upcoming opponents will be like “Oh great! Next week should be easy!”
October 12th, 2014 at 7:13 pm
And draft picks will refuse to play here, just like Bo Jackson, Elway and Eli did.
October 12th, 2014 at 7:18 pm
It’s very simple. It’s either lack of talent, poor coaching or a bit of both.
October 12th, 2014 at 7:35 pm
It’s no too much to expect a good defense to hold a team to 14 pts max at halftime at HOME. If that’s the case, no matter how bad the offensive unit (really O-line) was doing, we are still in the game. This horrible D gave up 35 pts in 16 mins!
D was supposed to be the best unit we had coming in. It’s definitely the worst now on this team….and the worst Defense in the NFL. Lovie???
October 12th, 2014 at 7:48 pm
I still have faith in Lovie as a Head Coach that he will eventually turn this around but I am losing faith weekly in the ability of Leslie Frazier to be a good Defensive Coordinator. On to many routes today I watched the Baltimore receivers running free with to effort from our DB’s to bump, alter a route or anything. It looked more like a 7 on 7 drill in training camp than a regular season game. No blitzes, no pressure on the QB, no effort to strip the ball on running plays, no effort in general. The defense looked better under Coach Schiano and Bill Sheridan!!!! Our main hope is that at the end of this year Rod Marinelli leaves the Cowboys and comes to Tampa to help his best friend Lovie Smith turn the defense around. WE NEED HELP ROD!!!!!!!
October 12th, 2014 at 8:23 pm
Marinelli would be a fool to come to this poor managed piss poor franchise.
October 12th, 2014 at 8:56 pm
All this is nothing new to Chicago fans witnessing Lovie for the last 10 years. He had 1 good year with Urlacher & Briggs. Other than that year, he stands on the sidelines and looks clueless. Chicago fans were so happy when he left. !!
October 12th, 2014 at 9:02 pm
We have the worst start in every game. No one plays with heart. On Dfence its every man for himself. No one just does there job because there trying 2 do everyone else’s job. We loo like an expansion team. Buc fans can’t take 2much more of this. Coach Lovie Smith you are officially on the clock.
October 12th, 2014 at 9:24 pm
Yes our Dfence Sucks – Leslie Frazier
Yes our Offense Sucks- Tedford/ somebody
Yes our Team Sucks – Lovie Smith
Nothing from nothing leaves nothing. That’s the bottom line.
Wait Buc Fans b4 we dump a guy we need a reality check as well.
If u got rust on a car, u cut it out. If u got cancer, u use khemo or other treatment
But u don’t kill the person.( work with me people) we need help all over .
So a new D coordinator might work. Drft new Qb. Rest on O line & Defense.
October 12th, 2014 at 9:50 pm
Lovie’s overall record with Chicago was 81-63: that’s a 9-7 seasonal average. Maybe he is devious and this season is just to set us to be content with the same!
October 13th, 2014 at 12:13 am
Changes over the next two weeks: move Lansanah to MLB and Foster to his college position of SLB and tell him to get his weight back up. Fire WarFlop and Frazier both and get Bostad back and take over the Defense yourself, Lovie. Start Josh as soon as he can come back, and swap your OTs. Tell Licht to get ready to draft our Franchise QB with our first pick, and LT or RG with our 2d pick, and more DL with our third pick. No more of this best player available! Try to hire an NFL experienced OC and fire Tedford, and bring in Tebo as your backup QB and have Josh help him master the Offense.
October 13th, 2014 at 1:59 am
What kills me the most us that Lovie is supposed to be a DEFENSIVE coach. Even with mediocre offenses his defense and special teams win him games. How is our defense worse than our offense? At least get an offensive specialist so we can get in some shoot outs, at least that’s more exciting than getting best 58-3 or whatever the final score was.