Mason Foster Proving Haters Wrong
November 27th, 2014
A lot of Tampa Bay fans want to throw so many players in the chilly Gulf right now; Joe is sure they don’t know where to start.
Bucs fans are simply not in a thankful mood toward their beloved team, and Joe cannot blame them.
What started out with so much promise has blown up in fans’ faces. It is sad.
Of late, the defense, which had been nothing short of horrible, has been playing well. Part of that is a player some Bucs fans want to send swimming: that would be middle linebacker Mason Foster.
In seasons past, Joe thought Foster, the biggest Ric Flair fan in the Bucs locker room, was a borderline pineapple eater. Last year and early this year, it seemed Foster struggled. But yesterday, defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier cited Foster as one of the players responisble for the uptick in performance.
Later, Lovie Smith concurred.
“When I talk about taking a leap, making a lot of improvement defensively, it has to be centered around what the linebackers are doing,” Lovie said. “Mason, of course, a big part of that. We missed him when he was out. We do put an awful lot on our MIKE linebacker and just the position as a whole. He’s made plays. Last week, he made plays. So we’ve been pleased. We’re not there yet, but as long as we continue to make progress, we’re going to be in pretty good shape, led by him.”
The linebacker unit as a whole right now is solid. Foster has turned the corner and how could anyone not like the production from Danny Lansanah?
Add a healthy Lavonte David to the mix, and you have a threesome that will keep opposing coaches from having a solid night’s sleep.
November 27th, 2014 at 9:54 am
3 decent games against 3 bad teams does not count as turning the corner! Now that the bucs we play some real teams , the real test will begin!
November 27th, 2014 at 9:55 am
The defense is good and getting better. The Bears scored three times on 86 total yards in the third quarter. It is going to be fun watching them the rest of the season.
The offense needs pruning and hasn’t got it. McCown may make a good coach but a starting QB he is not and we desperately need a very good OC now so he or she can start now on seeing what we have and what we don’t want. Raid the other teams practice squads and release those that are not performing unless it is do to coaching and/or schemes plus play calling. Running behind our noblock line does prove anything for the back one way or the other.
Lovie as long as he keeps McCown in does not have my confidence for the entire team.
November 27th, 2014 at 9:56 am
Happy Thanksgiving to all
November 27th, 2014 at 10:01 am
@OC
Happy Thanksgiving to you too….
“we desperately need a very good OC now so he or she can start now on seeing what we have and what we don’t want.””
Are you just being PC or do you really think there is a female candidate(s) for OC?
Who would that be?
November 27th, 2014 at 10:03 am
I’m not buying it. Foster has been terrible, especially in coverage.
November 27th, 2014 at 10:19 am
Tampabaybucfan if you think that only men are capable of thinking, plotting or trying to trick the opponent you must reside in a monastery on some mountain top.
We have fighter pilots that are women now, they have won Silver and Bronze Stars and they can coach, I don’t care what Lovie or the Glazers or whomever is running this team get to be the OC as long as it is a very good one. There are plenty of outstanding female football minds out there and the one thing I know about women, they can be vicious, so be safe and stay on the mountain, and have a Happy Thanksgiving.
Oh just think of the TV networks going nuts with a woman OC plus the fans and players. She couldn’t do any worse than what we have and who they are playing.
November 27th, 2014 at 10:20 am
Foster is a good player but he still struggles covering the deep middle. The team will bring in a replacement next year.
November 27th, 2014 at 10:34 am
She can’t be any worse than Tedford…
November 27th, 2014 at 10:37 am
@ OC
Name one female OC with NFL experience that the Bucs should consider….they aren’t lookin for a fighter pilot…..
Name one female OC or HC at a BCS school who might be quaified for the NFL.
If you can’t then you have made my point for me…..regardless of ability…it ususally take some experience to qualify for positions at the very top.
November 27th, 2014 at 10:40 am
@tbbf,
It’s just so obvious… I think Ms Watson would do wonders on the sideline. No matter how badly the Bucs play, I would tune in to watch her sweat on the sideline, lol
November 27th, 2014 at 10:44 am
@ Harry
Now that’s sexist…OC wouldn’t like that…
Now if you suggest we give tryouts to female punters….I say bring ’em on!!!
November 27th, 2014 at 10:46 am
OB ……. I don’t think TBF was saying a woman could not be capable of being an OC, he was asking if there are any out there at the present time who could come in and do the job. You only get to fly a jet plane if you have the training, knowledge and experience!
November 27th, 2014 at 10:46 am
Not a fan of our current MLB and trust there is an upgrade to be made in the offseason…cross my fingers
November 27th, 2014 at 10:52 am
He had a very good half against the Bears before he got hurt. Let’s not get carried away yet. It was only one half against a terrible team. Hopefully he can keep it up, but he usually plays well in spurts and has been overall very inconsistent.
November 27th, 2014 at 11:03 am
@tbbf,
I don’t get why anyone would think that is sexist. We r putting these gorgeous women out there to appreciate their beauty. That is the reason we need them in tiny outfits, so we can admire their sexy assets!
If the Bucs are going to suck, heck, why not field an entire team of these beauties? I’m sure the other team would not mind, and I would bet my house our record would not be any worse.
As Lovie likes to mockingly say, we were 4-12, so how is our great coach going to view his dismal 2-14 record? This pisses me off sooooooo bad!
November 27th, 2014 at 11:26 am
@ Harry
You’re preaching to the choir here…..It’s OC that would find the comment sexist that a woman would be hired for her assets rather than experience/intellect…..for the exception of Hooters, of course!!!
November 27th, 2014 at 11:43 am
I have to disagree on women coaching mens teams and also on men coaching womens teams in any sport. Let the men enjoy their pastimes and the women theirs. Most women hate football and most sports. They are totally disinterested and think it’s childish, senseless and irrelevant. Hey it is! They have a valid point. Let them coach their own sex. Notice how the NFL sideline women reporters all have a deep voice, no feminine voices allowed.
November 27th, 2014 at 11:58 am
Yeah I have a feeling that when we play a good/great offense we’ll get blown out again. But we’ll see I guess when we play the Packer’s, especially if they play their starters.
November 27th, 2014 at 12:31 pm
God Bless Hooters, right TBBF? Lol
November 27th, 2014 at 12:35 pm
Yay! The Bucs have an average middle linebacker who’s almost there to above average in his fourth season! Break the bank to bring him back!
November 27th, 2014 at 1:30 pm
The coaches can give Foster a verbal “vote of confidence” (occasionally better known as the “kiss of death”by this regime) – but the tape doesn’t lie. The tape says Foster is barely adequate for the job he has been asked to do (if that) and also that the Buccaneers MLB position needs upgrading. Foster will make a fine SLB once that is accomplished and whoever doesn’t win the strong side LB job between Foster and Lansanah will make an excellent back-up LBer. Foster should be re-signed to a 2 or 3 year deal that is appropriate to the above description of his talents.
We need a Hardy Nickerson type talent at MLB – not a Jamie Duncan type level of talent which is what we have now. Not good enough.
November 27th, 2014 at 1:34 pm
I call B.S.
Foster still getting beat regularly in coverage- constantly stops short- leaves a hole in the deep Center
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you
November 27th, 2014 at 1:39 pm
Goes to show how little I know about football, this whole time I thought we DID have females running the team. Smh
As for leslie and Lovie, every time I read the name leslie Frazier I just move on to the next paragraph. He’s as limp as MJ, EDS, and mclown.
Then you have Lovie the liar who talks out of his butt so much it’s insulting. The only spark this def has had is Ja Smith! No more no less. Although I’m a fan of foster he’s just not playing fast enough, he’s getting blocked on every blitz, he’s missing his zone assignments and taking bad angles to make tackles. Often times you’ll see LVD get to the ball before foster does even though LVD starts the play 5y further away from the ball than foster.
Fortunately lasagna is playing awesome! We got lucky there.
November 27th, 2014 at 1:53 pm
The coaches can give Foster the verbal “vote of confidence” (occasionally better known as the “kiss of death”by this regime) – but the tape doesn’t lie. The tape says Foster is barely adequate for the job he has been asked to do (if that) and also that the Buccaneers MLB position needs upgrading. Foster will make a fine SLB once that is accomplished and whoever doesn’t win the strong side LB job between Foster and Lansanah will make an excellent back-up LBer. Foster should be re-signed to a 2 or 3 year deal that is appropriate to the above description of his talents.
We need a Hardy Nickerson type talent at MLB – not a Jamie Duncan type level of talent which is what we have now. Not good enough.
November 27th, 2014 at 1:56 pm
Whatever. Foster’s play at MLB is not good enough in this scheme and the position needs an upgrade.
November 27th, 2014 at 2:45 pm
Foster is a solid run defender but seems lost in coverage most of the time. He’s good enough to start until we find somebody better.
November 27th, 2014 at 3:25 pm
The way lovie has been coaching,.. I wouldn’t be too shocked to see him get a woman to call plays! Heck,.. frazier isn’t far from coaching like an old woman!
November 27th, 2014 at 5:19 pm
Realist is still dumb.
And I’ve been talking up Foster the whole time. No, he’s not the best there is, but he is good enough until we fill the other holes.
November 27th, 2014 at 8:04 pm
I just returned from Thanksgiving dinner so I missed a lot, the dinner was great. As for the woman OC, the interview process would show a good mind if the person doing the interview knew what he was doing. Just to be clear, we have a ton of coaches that were dropped/fired from losing teams does that make them any better than a woman that hasn’t done it but has studied it, no. An OC is a planner, schemer and leader, lots of women come to mind that could but they have to be given the chance plus what has our “winning” brain trust done, win once every five games.
November 28th, 2014 at 11:44 am
A womN OC gtfo