Shuffled Secondary Comes Through
November 15th, 2015
Bucs corner Hey Jude makes a stop Sunday in the win over the Cowboys. (Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com.)
Each and every game it seemed like Lovie Smith shuffled the deck that was the Bucs secondary, as if he was a pit boss in a smoky, off-strip Las Vegas rub joint.
Week after week the experiment failed, likely because of Lovie’s own bromance with Mike Jenkins. Even ex-Bucs like Steve White were suggesting the constant revolving door in the secondary was killing the defense — because the defense must trust each other, and you cannot build trust with a new guy playing back there every week.
Last week, the secondary played well against the Giants, which is to say they didn’t get lit up for 500 yards from Eli Manning as many feared. So Lovie stuck with the same combo of Hey Jude and Sterling Moore.
The secondary played its best game today.
No, they were not facing Tony Romo. Yes, they were facing a career stiff like Matt Cassel. Still, the Bucs had to contend with future Hall of Fame tight end Jason Witten and scary good Dez Bryant, who seems to have learned from his wide receiver brother from the Lone Star State, Mike Evans, how to whine at referees.
The Bucs held the Cowboys to 186 yards passing, 45 and 42 from Witten and Bryant, respectively.
The icing on the cake was the pick in the end zone by Bradley McDougald to seal the win.
Perhaps the secondary has turned the proverbial corner?
November 15th, 2015 at 6:09 pm
And without Banks!
November 15th, 2015 at 6:14 pm
I don’t know what took sooooo long. We new Mike Jenkins stunk during training camp. Tim Jennings, one of our prized free agents, was worse. I like how Jude plays. Good find by the scouts.
November 15th, 2015 at 7:32 pm
Way to step up and EXECUTE JUDE AND STERLING!!! GET SOME BABY!!!
November 15th, 2015 at 8:49 pm
Love was right!
November 15th, 2015 at 9:24 pm
Jenkins was flagged for a personal foul on the kickoff following our TD. This put Dallas in position to take a crack at the end zone.
He should follow Jennings out the door.
November 15th, 2015 at 9:38 pm
I dare say those two guys are youngry.
November 15th, 2015 at 9:45 pm
I was pleasantly surprised by this defense and saw some poetic justice in McDougald catching that game sealing (beautiful) INT, after he came back from that concussion.
November 15th, 2015 at 10:24 pm
Resign lovie & licht and watch the free agent migration commence. You guys are a dynasty in the making. Your dbs outplayed maxwell, jenkins, carroll, & thurmond. Around $100 million worth of dbs that lovie would have shutting down teams.
November 15th, 2015 at 11:29 pm
Conte is not getting the respect he deserves either.
The team has been deep a DB all year. Sadly it was deep in mediocrity to poor play. If Hey Jude is the real deal…let’s see how he holds up the rest of the year as the games get even more critical…I liked what I see out of Moore and I think Verner and Banks have talent as well.
Now with that depth it’s time to send the message Lovie couldn’t last week with Spence because of our needs at DL. Call Jenkins in tomorrow and give him the pink slip he’s earned.
November 16th, 2015 at 1:07 am
StPeteBucFan
I agree. With those two and Verner and Banks… They have depth. I still want them to draft a CB along with a DE though, but so far for two weeks on a row they are looking better and better.
IF ONLY A DE COULD GET SOME PRESSURE!!!
November 16th, 2015 at 2:10 am
Does anyone else know how lucky we were on the pick in the end zone by Bradley McDougald to seal the win? McDougald definitely pushed off on Dez Bryant as he went for the ball. Should have been pass interference with ball on the one yard line. Nine times out of ten the referee will call that penalty and if it is the Buccaneers ten out of ten, until today! Today was was the first time in a long time that the Buccaneers came out on top in a close game where a call could have went against them to seal another loss. Mike Jenkins penalty was just as boneheaded as Akeem Spence’s penalty the prior week Still to many penalties (7-62). Adjei-Barimah, Moore and Verner not only held Dallas to 186 yards and no TD, they had a combined total of 13 tackles, all solo. The defense held McFadden to just 32 yards (1.9 YPA) on 17 attempts as well as 3 sacks.
November 16th, 2015 at 5:28 am
Agree Godzilla, that easily could have gone against us. For once a no call in our favor. Every time I see that replay I cringe. I think the Jennings penalty was questionable as he may not have been aware the returner was down by contact. So at the end it evens out.
November 17th, 2015 at 3:17 am
godzilla13 Says: “Adjei-Barimah, Moore and Verner…had a combined total of 13 tackles, all solo.”
Great post all around, and the quote above blew me away!
One of the critical facets of this style of defense is the need for the cornerbacks to be able to tackle well. Think Donnie Abraham, Ronde Barber, and Brian Kelly. Those guys were great tacklers, and it paid dividends on a weekly basis.
Wishing our current CBs continued success!