Three First-Quarter Sacks!

August 24th, 2015
George Johnson almost made fans forget Michael Bennett tonight

George Johnson almost made fans forget Michael Bennett tonight

Look, when a Tampa Bay defensive end has a sack and a half before halftime, and the Bucs have three first-quarter sacks, local fans collectively have a football orgasm.

It’s understandable, especially against a good offensive line like the Bengals’. And that’s what happened tonight.

The pass rush was dynamic. Heck, Lovie Smith, the new defensive playcaller, even blitzed.

Newcomer George Johnson, traded to Tampa from Detroit this spring, got the job done  Officially, he had 1.5 sacks, but Joe believes the film will show he deserved two.

But the numbers don’t matter. What’s important is the collective pass rush.

Andy Dalton was rattled and rocked.

It’s preseason, but it’s ok to be excited. Henry Melton and Larry English were solid off the left edge. English had a sack himself.

Jacquies who?

The beer will go down cold tonight.

Joe wonders what Bengals DE and former Bucs waste Michael “Ghost” Johnson was thinking watching this.

22 Responses to “Three First-Quarter Sacks!”

  1. Buc1987 Says:

    Yes Joe was having a football orgasm over it all. Then I said, it’s only preseason. Happy to see it though.

  2. Buc1987 Says:

    *I was having

  3. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    Who is Michael Bennett?……what’s his Buc number?……oh’ that’s right…he’s the DE we let go with “no good reason”…..I amost forgot about him until Joe reminded me……again.

  4. ChanEpic Says:

    Stick it to the Ghost Joe, and then stick it to him again! Go Bucs!

  5. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    Even in preseason….a win feels good….especially a convincing win……especially the Defense…..don’t like the messy Special Teams play & penalties….

  6. Tampa Tony Says:

    It was nice to see some pressure, can’t wait to see more of the starters on Saturday.

  7. tdtb2015 Says:

    2nd year Tampa 2 is RIGHT ON TRACK!

    Sacks, Fumbles, Fumble Recovery and the Cannon Shooting PICK-6!

    In Lovie and Licht I TRUST!!!

  8. Jbeachbuc Says:

    Lovie and his D is gonna hurt some ppl.

  9. Pelbuc Says:

    Defense played inspired. Winston looked impressive until Olinemen reverted back to 2014 form. Having Koetter is huge. Special teams sucks. Give me Mike James over Sims anyday. Nice to have a home win, even if it’s preseason.

  10. Abdominal Snowman Says:

    This was the most pleasant surprise of all!! A legitimate pass rush. I hope it transfers to the regular season. We can’t get too high or too low watching preseason games, but it was definitely a good sign. Melton off the edge might just be what we needed and with Jack coming in with speed there won’t be a huge drop off. AHHH Finally something to cheer about!!!!

  11. Howard Cosell Says:

    Fans were lathered up screaming “DEFENSE DEFENSE!”

    When was the last time you heard that in the DoD?

    (Den of Depression)

  12. Tampa Tony Says:

    It’s pre season but it’s still good to see the d play better in one half than they did in 17 games with Leslie calling the plays

  13. Howard Cosell Says:

    Not saying that Howard picked Johnson to be a legit threat months
    ago, but he did. Howard is gifted with visions of the future as it will unfold.

  14. Ray Rice Says:

    DL was too much for the Bengals OL. They looked too fast and aggressive. Lovie had them playing like the menacing Chicago D he once coached. Pressure, sacks, and turnovers. FUUUUUUUUUK YEEEEEEEAAAAA!

  15. Howard Cosell Says:

    Howard was also the first to suggest that the de-frocking of Frazier
    might have some connection with Hardy Nickerson (who was highly
    involved in the game tonight.) Wait and see. Nickerson is natural coach.
    Howard wouldn’t surprised if he gets a promotion as soon as this year.
    Lovie and NIckerson are both LB gurus therefore the need for a dedicated
    LB position coach diminishes.

  16. Bobby Says:

    So…..where is Realist at??

  17. David Says:

    McCoy was the key to 2 of the 3 sacks. He super fast off the ball and forcing Dalton to move and be uncomfortable. The DEs were all looking pretty good. They were quick and aggressive
    And let’s not forget about the top 4 LBs. they all looked damn good. Some of you are complaining about who starts – Bruce or Danny. Who cares? They’re all going to see playing time and they need all four.
    The Bucks suddenly look to have depth at LB and DT and possibly WR.
    It was all awesome to see.

  18. Lakeland Buc Says:

    George Johnson has always played good for us, but the great Greg Schiano cut him. And your truly JOE had this to say, on that fateful day of 11-01-2012. https://www.joebucsfan.com/2012/11/george-johnson-released/

  19. buc4life1979 Says:

    refrencing Joe’s orgasm line, yes it’s true, true Bucs fans had a str8 up boner over our D tonite…the identity our D portrayed tonite is who they need to be from here on out period. #Wrath of Kwon Rising.

  20. Howard Cosell Says:

    Buccaneer Defense > Chuck Norris

  21. Stpetebucsfan Says:

    David brings up a great point. Chucky brought it up as well. It’s preseason and so we all give him a pass but for whatever reason GMC didn’t show up last week.

    As Chucky pointed out “The Real McCoy” came to play tonight. When GMC has his motor going it obviously makes it easier for the rest of the guys to get involved. I thought the DL played good “team” pass rush defense.

    Sometimes the guy who actually forces the play and ends up forcing the sack is not the guy who gets the wrap up and the credit. The entire D line needs to be a force and they were tonight. Great TEAM rush!

  22. Pickgrin Says:

    Very good performance by the starting D. Impressive. Cullen is apparently doing a good job getting these linemen to the point of being “Tennessee ready”.

    Swearinger is making some big hits out there. That hit that forced a dropped pass at the goal line was a thing of beauty. We might have just found our back end enforcer ala Lynch. Couple nice plays by McDougald as well. The safety position is looking like a bit less of a question mark after tonight’s game.