Bucs Are Relevant
November 23rd, 2015
Jameis makes the Bucs relevant again. (Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com)
Joe understands why Tampa Bay fans stomp their feet because national types don’t talk much about the team and few if any games are broadcast in primetime.
TV networks are not about what is fair.
They are about eyeballs and eyeballs mean money. For the past few years, the Bucs were boring and irrelevant. No network, unless forced, wanted any part of Tampa Bay because airing them means networks would take a bath.
In a sense, the Bucs were the NPR of radio: boring, irrelevant and a money-loser for a national outlet.
That is one reason Joe banged the drum beginning last November for America’s Quarterback, Bucs signal-caller Jameis Winston. Joe knew he moved the needle and that he would bring not just relevancy back to the Bucs, but give the Bucs the on-field prayer they have lacked for so long.
And all of what Joe hoped would happen is transpiring before our very eyes. Jameis not only has made the Bucs relevant within the NFL globe, but has the Bucs in a fight for a playoff berth. Really.
Even good guy Lorenzo Reyes of USA Today, who Joe sat next to at yesterday’s game, can see the difference.
“From Week 1 to where we are now, it’s night and day to where he makes decisions to take care of the ball, receiver Vincent Jackson said of Jameis. “It’s kind of awesome.”
In that span, [Jameis] has completed 60.8% of his passes for 1,440 yards and 12 total touchdowns. Most importantly, the Buccaneers have won four of those six games, including their last two.
Considering that Winston, 21, is playing this well and just completed his 10th NFL start, it’s kind of scary.
If you don’t have a quarterback, you don’t have a prayer. The Bucs, maybe for the first time since Jeff Garcia was around (does Josh Freeman’s one great season count?), the Bucs have a competent quarterback, a guy Bucs fans can have faith in that will take the field and not be expected to shat his pants in pressure situations.
Thank God the Bucs drafted Jameis!
Stand up for freedom! Stand up for liberty! Stand up for America!
November 23rd, 2015 at 8:11 am
Two of the pregame “experts” predicted the Eagles to be a “LOCK” to beat the Bucs. After the game, the Bucs weren’t even mentioned. Gotta love the experts!
November 23rd, 2015 at 8:14 am
As a fan, the Bucs have always been relevant to me…..but, now it’s nice to have them relevant to everyone else……we heard that the Eagles were looking past the Bucs…..the Cowboys thought their losing streak would end with the Bucs….
But…..now Atlanta knows the will have to step up to beat us……that’s the downside to relevancy….teams don’t look past you.
It will take a few more games like yesterday to achieve relevancy with the Sports Media…..they are slower to come around.
November 23rd, 2015 at 8:14 am
Really fun to watch…….great play everywhere but one of my favorite moments was when the Eagles player knocked the crap out of Mike Jenkins on a punt coverage…..decleated the bum…..sent him to the bench where he belongs!
Secondary is so much better without him!
November 23rd, 2015 at 8:25 am
“As a fan, the Bucs have always been relevant to me….”
Man, that is such an understatement for me. I somewhat lived for my Bucs on Sunday. And the way they have played for YEARS would ruin my Sundays. It is so cool to see them do well after all the misery. LOVE Jameis!!! I was right with you Joe in promoting the Bucs going after a QB. I had arguments with many JBF fans, including ’87, over the importance of the Bucs drafting a QB. Thank you Glazers!
November 23rd, 2015 at 8:27 am
I’m so sick about seeing the vast coverage the Cowboys get. Not only this week but last week too. They have friggin 3 wins. We have 5 and a record setting day for offense and hardly get any love.
November 23rd, 2015 at 8:29 am
I feel like Ricky Bobby in Talladega Nights. I don’t know what to do with my hands. Having a team that’s relevant, winning, and promises to get even better in time, it feels weird. I almost don’t know how to be a fan of a winning team. I have all of my go to deflections when people poke fun at the team and I know all of the emotions that go along with perpetual losing. I’m not sure what to do with myself now. I’m pumped and I’m looking forward to the next Sunday almost as soon as the final whistle blows every week.
November 23rd, 2015 at 8:35 am
I can’t stand the commentators on the games. I wish they would just let us hear Gene.
November 23rd, 2015 at 8:38 am
@Chessmaster – I generally try to sync up listening to Gene on the mobile app to the game on the screen and just hit mute on the TV. If you all have that option, I’d recommend it.
November 23rd, 2015 at 8:38 am
Become a winning team and we’ll be relevant. Green Bay is a tiny market but with a good team and an exciting offense, they are always on TV. And to Joe’s point, it all started with having a great QB.
November 23rd, 2015 at 8:42 am
Playoffs might be at the end of the red carpet that is being rolled out for the Bucs.
Hopefully we don’t end up 10-6 and out of the playoffs again.
8-8 is very much possible!
In Winston, Martin, Koetter, Lovie and Licht I TRUST!!!
p.s. Licht should invite Martin’s agent to Thanksgiving. Get that contract done before next year!!!
November 23rd, 2015 at 8:50 am
If I was placing bets right now, I would bet on 10-6 or 11-5 with a deep playoff run.
I’m so excited about the development of this team and I truly believe Winston is the savior of our franchise.
I don’t think Lovie (or anyone) is going to be going anywhere. Jameis saved everyone.
I wanted a coach with more passion and fire, personally, but now that we have Winston to lead us and be our Alpha male, we don’t need to rely on a coach to rally the team and motivate everyone.
Lovie just needs to continue his smart aggression with his play calling and in-game decision making and keep the D overall playing well and then he (and everyone else, players and coaches) will hopefully be here for a long time and we will build a Dynasty. Oh, and we definitely need to lock up Koetter somehow as well
November 23rd, 2015 at 8:50 am
After the forced fumble reviewed call, I was afraid to see a Bucs-Redskins game again !
But no ! All the team showed up to fight until the last second !
We are all speaking about Jameis 5TD, it’s an impressiv result, sure, we are all speaking about Doug Martin 235 yards, impressive also, but for me the most impressive stat of the game is 3 INT ! 3 !!!!!
And still with 9 Penalties for 82 yrds !
There is hope, there is a lot of hope in the air at the moment, fingers crossed and a lot of work this week and next monday we will all have an even bigger smile !
November 23rd, 2015 at 8:55 am
And for those calling for Gene Deckerhoff, have you actually ever tried to figure out what is going on in a game by listening to what he’s saying? On Conte’s interception yesterday, he didn’t even announce the snap of the ball and he suddenly screams, “Interception!” I think it’s time to retire Gene.
But I will agree that Dick Stockton has brain damage.
November 23rd, 2015 at 8:56 am
@Erik – Couldn’t agree more. We need to make Koetter a very well paid OC who has no burning desire to jump ship for a HC gig. We can’t do anything to keep a coach from not wanting to be the main guy somewhere, but we can do something about how much he’s making in the position he’s in.
November 23rd, 2015 at 8:56 am
I’m excited about what I saw…..I hope we can show that on our home field…..for some reason….we seem to love being in a hostile atmosphere lately.
Where is the Realist….the Pessimist & Mr. Irrelevant?
November 23rd, 2015 at 9:03 am
Realist? LMAO Don’t worry TBBF, you know “The Realist” will find something to be negative about. Poor guy…
November 23rd, 2015 at 9:23 am
Put this in perspective…..exactly one year ago on 11/22/14…..Jameis was playing against Boston College……FSU won 20-17…..
Yesterday he beat the Eagles 45-17 in their house…
When you think about that…..you can’t come away with anything other than the future is bright for our Bucs with Jameis…..
November 23rd, 2015 at 9:23 am
Every time the Bucs beat another team, the media ALWAYS talks about what’s wrong with the other team rather than whats right for the Bucs.
November 23rd, 2015 at 9:27 am
Hey negative people, enjoy the win.
No one is saying this is a Super Bowl team. No one is saying Lovie is Belechick. But, damn, it was a complete team win. Offense, defense, coaching.
Try enjoying things for a 5 minutes. We still have a draft to focus on defense. Things are looking up.
November 23rd, 2015 at 9:32 am
I guess the tank for Bosa is over.
I’m for keeping the chemistry…..that means..
Resigning Martin
Restructuring Vjax
Restructuring Mankins
And….yes, giving Lovie another year
November 23rd, 2015 at 9:33 am
@university – it’s low lying fruit. That’s fine though. I’m glad that they’re gaining momentum and confidence against these teams who don’t have their starters playing (folks seem to forget about our own injuries that we overcame in beating those teams). Soon enough, we’ll play a quality team who is operating at full strength and our boys will make them stand up and take notice. It’s a new day in Tampa Bay.
November 23rd, 2015 at 9:34 am
We have money for Doug, right?
November 23rd, 2015 at 9:34 am
It’s funny being irrelevant. In Philadelphia their fans are in shock. I read where they commented how Pro Football Outsiders actually had the Eagles ranked as the No. 2 defense in the NFL coming into this game. But for some reason they can’t come to terms with how they got killed by Jameis Winston and Doug Martin. News flash for Philadelphia fans. Doug Martin and our OL have been doing this to teams all year. Jameis Winston has shown his ability in prior games and most Buccaneer fans knew this day would come, we just didn’t know it would be sooner than later. There fans still comment that “we’re dropping games that we should be winning.” No Eagles fans, you lost to a better team.
November 23rd, 2015 at 9:35 am
@ TBBF & Harry
rumor has it he’s changed his screen name to “the bucs miserablist”
November 23rd, 2015 at 9:46 am
We’ve got plenty of cap space for Martin….
One of the reasons is we have such good deals with rookie contracts with Evans & Winston….
We also are getting away from the Michael Johnson guarantee…..we have restructuring opportunities with Mankins & Jackson.
Bottom line is that we are in good shape.
November 23rd, 2015 at 9:46 am
Wah wah wah fire Lovie… Boo hoo… Let’s start over for the umpteen time… Wah wah Fire Lovie…”I really liked Schiano!” Wah wah wah
November 23rd, 2015 at 9:48 am
@TBBF … “And….yes, giving Lovie another year”
Since the Glazers just raised our 2016 season ticket prices this weekend, I have a ‘hunch’ that they’re well-pleased with what Lovie is doing. Since he’s got 3 yrs left on his contract, he’s not going anywhere.
Far as Dirk Koetter goes, if they need to pay him what he’d make as a HC, so be it. Bucs have suffered through bad OC after bad OC. We’ve finally found a fantastic one who’s worth several wins all by himself. They’d better not lose him.
November 23rd, 2015 at 9:51 am
Patrick in VA, what mobile app do you have to listen to the radio broadcast??
November 23rd, 2015 at 9:54 am
Cap Space…..to be more specific…
We have over 20 million in cap this year tied up with the following players:
Carl Nicks, Michael Johnson, Anthony Collins, Dashon Goldson, Mark Barron
That’s $20 million on players elsewhere….
I’d say things are looking up for us next year!!!
November 23rd, 2015 at 9:59 am
@TBBF
And those all come off after this year?
November 23rd, 2015 at 10:07 am
We have over 20 million in cap this year tied up with the following players:
Carl Nicks, Michael Johnson, Anthony Collins, Dashon Goldson, Mark Barron
The last four are our fault so I got no problem with us being punished under the cap rules. All of these guys are still playing and we simply made a mistake and are now expected to suffer the consequences.
However Carl Nicks hasn’t played for two years. I think Nicks deserves whatever money his contract required but I don’t think he should count against our cap. There should be some relief mechanism…kind of like franchising a player…teams should get one injury exemption every year for players whose careers ended prematurely due to injury.
November 23rd, 2015 at 10:08 am
@Love & WD
Yes…..all gone!!!
November 23rd, 2015 at 10:11 am
As far as Joe’s theory? hope? that the Panthers rest their starters for that final game….I buy in since they will have probably assured both the bye and home field advantage till the SB.
HOWEVER….if the Panthers continue to run the table and enter that final game undefeated in front of the home fans…we are in deep dooty!!! They’ll not only play the starters they’ll be as fired up as a team can get. And if the Pats lose between now and then and the stinking Panthers have a chance to be the only undefeated team….then again perhaps the pressure will make them choke. One can always hope!
November 23rd, 2015 at 10:12 am
Here is why the Cowboys are fawned over.
November 23rd, 2015 at 10:17 am
@BuccaneEric75 – I use the official Bucs app. On game day, there is a live stream audio feature that you can pull up.
November 23rd, 2015 at 10:20 am
Bosa would fit in perfectly here. I saw him jump offsides three time – at home – on Saturday.
November 23rd, 2015 at 10:31 am
Get rid of the disgusting uniforms and I’ll be happy.
November 23rd, 2015 at 10:43 am
NewTampaChris
Haha I’m glad someone said it about Gene. He’s kind of a cult hero among Bucs fans, and I get that, but let’s not act like listening to him call a football game is easy.
“Garble garble garble it’s caught no dropped it’s CAUGGGHHHTTT garble garble 3-2-1 TOUCHDOWN TAMPA BAAAAY!” and you have absolutely no clue what happened.
November 23rd, 2015 at 10:44 am
Gooberville: The networks know what they are doing, if you attended either Giants or Cowboys at the RJ, it evident regardless of record why so much coverage.
Siege the Day: Great Job all 3 phases, especially opening drive third quarter.
November 23rd, 2015 at 11:45 am
Im just thrilled at the way the bucs are playing…lovie has this team believing they can win on any giving sunday and theie confidence has soared thru the roof ever since jameis has stepped up to be more of a leader…find a vet at de and wr and draft all defense and we will be very relevant for years to come…GO BUCS!!!
November 23rd, 2015 at 11:46 am
Where are all the “Fire Lovie” haters this morning. For the last two weeks they haven’t had much to spew there unbridled hate about.
November 23rd, 2015 at 12:57 pm
I am not worried about the Carolina game even if they are going for a undefeated season. Without all of the turnovers I thought we played them as well as any team has played the stinking Panthers this year. Of all the talk about the powerhouse teams that are in a position to be in the playoffs this year, there is no other team which is coming together offensively and defensively as the Buccaneers are. Momentum. There is a power shift in the NFL taking place and most people don’t really understand it yet.
November 23rd, 2015 at 2:14 pm
Who cares about Dallas, I hope they lose. The Bucs are on the rise, another team in a similar situation is the Chiefs at 5-5 who have a favorable schedule and are also kicking their game into overdrive. They will win an AFC wildcard imo.