Barber Says Easy; Tillman Says Hard
June 24th, 2015
Remember when Ronde Barber verbally gutted the 2014 Tampa Bay Buccaneers on national radio? Man, that was painful.
During the assault, Barber said the Bucs’ Cover-2 is “the simplest defense possible.”
That line really stuck with Joe because it flew in the face of claims by fellow Bucs icons Derrick Brooks and Warren Sapp, who spent much of last summer warning fans that the old school Tampa-2 defense had at least a one-year learning curve.
So which is it?
Ronde blasted the Bucs for repeating the same mistakes week after week. Of course, that disease could be attributed to a lot of things.
Legendary Bears cornerback and Lovie Smith student Charles Tillman now plays for the Stinkin’ Panthers. After a minicamp practice last week, he talked about how the nickel cornerback in the Panthers defense (very similar to the Bucs’) “is one of the hardest positions because you’re never right.” Interestingly, Barber played a ton of nickel and he thinks it’s easy.
NFL performance is one heck of a perception game.
Lovie now has a virtual army of veteran defensive players experienced in his system. Challenging or not, the Bucs defense is out of excuses. Lovie even dared to tell Buccaneers.com he has the edge rushers he needs to be successful.
June 24th, 2015 at 1:38 pm
This time last year, all we heard was how talented the defense was, Lovie told us that this is his third time installing this defense and each time it get faster. Then the season started and that is when all the excuses came!!!!
year 7 and the rebuild continues!!!
June 24th, 2015 at 1:58 pm
I was about to say “Don’t be a downer” then I looked at the name (realist). I think we are rebuilt and it might take one more year to be really good but, we are definitely in a better spot than the last 5 years.
June 24th, 2015 at 2:09 pm
Joe the answer is easy one player is hall of fame caliber player the other is a average player..any system will be easier for the better
layer..
June 24th, 2015 at 2:11 pm
DB55 aside, Sapp and Barber struggled year #1. I’ll be interested to see if this year more “buy-in”occurs.
June 24th, 2015 at 2:11 pm
WTF Tillman is a panther? Can Lovie sign any of his ex-players? well he signed conte who’s much much better than Tillman.
I am feeling EXTREMELY CONFIDENT in Lovie smith. He should never be questioned or doubted. He is the GOAT.
June 24th, 2015 at 2:26 pm
@Tillman
THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID!!
Lovie Smith for President!!
“It’s as simple as that” – Lovie Smith
June 24th, 2015 at 2:37 pm
Time for another Lovie confidence poll….will be a period here with little news…..until training camp…
My predicition…..Lovie’s confidence improves greatly…..
No losses since last poll
Hired Koetter/Bajakian
Canned McCown, Johnson, Collins
Brought in some D help
Drafted Jameis/Oline
yep…confidence up…
June 24th, 2015 at 2:38 pm
“Joe the answer is easy one player is hall of fame caliber player the other is a average player..any system will be easier for the better
layer..”
——
I’m assuming you are referring to Tillman as the average player? Uh, that’s literally the dumbest thing I’ve heard in quite a while. Perhaps you should do just a teeny tiny bit of research. Have you ever seen the Bears play when they used to force a bunch of turnovers? Yeah, Tillman was that guy forcing them.
June 24th, 2015 at 3:24 pm
@ Tampabaybucfan
And last, but not least…
Lovie hired an assistant to stand next to him during games and hold up one (1) finger, so that Lovie can count to eleven (11).
June 24th, 2015 at 4:30 pm
Tillman is a great player and even greater person. I wish him all the best except for two weeks out of the year.
June 24th, 2015 at 4:44 pm
That’s why Barber will be in the HOF and Peanut will be… well just another wealthy retired player. Tillman was good back in his time but he wasn’t a Ronde.
June 24th, 2015 at 6:47 pm
I’m not worried about our D whatsoever this yr. I am SOLELY worried about the OL. If the OL is Average I think we eclipse the 8 win mark easily. Remember we lost 8 games last yr by a TD or less with Glennon and McCown at the helm behind the worst OL in the league. There is no excuse to not win 8 games this yr with an improved OL in our Division
June 24th, 2015 at 6:48 pm
For Barber to say it was easy is no surprise….EVERY Buc past and present that ever played with him stated how cerebral of a player he was and that his film study and game preparation were unmatched…Tillman has always been a good player but he has never been as instinctual of a player as Barber was, so to hear each of their takes on playing DB in the Tampa 2 is no surprise to me… however, Lovie HAS NEVER RUN a standard Tampa 2 scheme when it comes to his outside DB’s including when Tillman played under him so…
June 24th, 2015 at 7:05 pm
So when is Ronde coming back?
June 24th, 2015 at 7:09 pm
I don’t think either will be HOF. Barber never played in Lovie’s version of the cover two. So it’s not the same. I believe that Lovie’s tampa two requires a little bit more out of the nickle. The league is more pass happy now.
June 24th, 2015 at 7:32 pm
Anyone else just flat-out miss having Barber on this team?
We could only be so lucky to have a few guys like him on our team these days. Dude was all class, smart as hell, and always making plays. My favorite Buc of all time.
June 24th, 2015 at 8:04 pm
…and Ronde was the “Iron Man”!!!
June 24th, 2015 at 8:10 pm
I love Ronde, but if it was so easy, why did it take halfway through his 2nd season to earn a starter’s role AND not play in a single regular season game in his rookie season? By his own admission, he didn’t know how to play in the defense….so he sat and watched the immortal Charles Mincy start instead.
June 24th, 2015 at 8:14 pm
Barber WILL be in the HOF…that is a no brainer.
June 24th, 2015 at 8:15 pm
Oops, Mincy was the FS, Anthony Parker was the RCB before Ronde.
June 24th, 2015 at 8:30 pm
Sign Tim Tebow!!!!!
June 24th, 2015 at 8:33 pm
In “a football life – tiki n ronde”. Ronde said it took him five years to get it. Said he spent the summer after his fourth year in the film room obsessed with being the best. Next year he got snub for the pro bowl but made the play of our lifetimes in philly.
We don’t have the pieces in place yet. Our offense will have to carry the team for now.
June 24th, 2015 at 8:36 pm
All of us were frustrated watching the D last season. Perhaps Ronde was too and was just lashing out like the rest of us fans.
June 24th, 2015 at 8:44 pm
What up DB and 87!? I hope you and yours are doing well.
June 24th, 2015 at 9:07 pm
@Buc1987
Not all of us were shock and frustrated! Some of us tried to warn the others!!!
June 24th, 2015 at 9:15 pm
Realist…okay then…the majority of the Tampa Bay area was.
June 24th, 2015 at 9:33 pm
Buc-A-New…nope in and out of doc’s office lately.
June 24th, 2015 at 9:49 pm
@87…..Im sorry to hear that and you are one of the few that should call me just “buc”
June 24th, 2015 at 10:37 pm
The original “Kevin” Says:
June 24th, 2015 at 8:30 pm
Sign Tim Tebow!!!!!
……………..
LOL…….Tebow is busy explaining to Sam Bradford how to be a winning QB in the NFL.
June 24th, 2015 at 10:41 pm
The sucky thing about living in Mountain Time is that all my Bucs buddies are in bed by 8:41 my time. Oh well GO BUCS!!
June 25th, 2015 at 3:36 am
Barber said the defense was simple. Tillman said the nickle back position was difficult. Thats a huge difference. One is talking a singular position and the other is talking all eleven soldiers. Barber understood the defense in its entirety so he was disgusted at every position’s play last year. Lets not forget barber revolutionized the nickle back position. Barber is the reason teams view nickle back as a starter today. For that point alone Ronde is a HOFamer but make no mistake Tillman, a Walter Payton Man of the Year recipient, was/is a bad boy. You can’t have 42 forced fumbles….UH, let me repeat that, “42 forced fumbles” and 36 ints and only be average as some of you are saying.
Tillman only has 860 tackles compared to ronde’s 1234 tkls, but he did not play the slot like barber. Tillman was lined up on the outside for the most part. Any fan that knew the buc’s Tampa 2 in it’s hey day knew that barber was another linebacker in this system and that why he has so many tackles with 16 forced fumbles and 47 ints. Both players are worthy of our appreciation and both have a case for the hall of fame.
June 25th, 2015 at 10:44 am
I think you’re making connections that are not there….
June 25th, 2015 at 2:38 pm
So many of you commented as if Peanut Tillman is chopped liver.
Games played(156) Tackles(737) Asst Tackles(119) Combined Tackles(856) Sacks(3) Ints(36) TDs off Ints(8) Forced Fumbles(42) Years Played (13 Years)
Future Hall of Famer RONDE BARBER
Games played(241) Tackles(842) Asst Tackles(163) Combined Tackles(1005)
Sacks(28) Ints(47) TDs off Ints(8) Forced Fumbles(13) Years Played(16 Years)