Gerald McCoy Wasn’t Missed
December 6th, 2015
(Photo courtesy of Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
How bout that depth on the Buccaneers’ defensive line!
Missing two starters today, Gerald McCoy and Jacquies Smith, Tampa Bay’s run defense was stout and the pass rush looked unchanged.
Hats off to the interior work by Tony McDaniel, Henry Melton and Akeem Spence, and Will Gholston notched his second and third sacks of the season.
Joe’s not taking a shot at McCoy here, not at all. This post is a celebration of the Bucs succeeding without him.
In past years, the Bucs have been dreadful without McCoy. Just the thought of Albert Haynesworth gives Joe the chills, and Clinton McDonald was weak while subbing for McCoy last year.
Today, Atlanta had 18 carries for 64 yards, an average of just 3.6 yards per carry, nearly right at the Bucs’ average entering the game.
Overall, the Falcons racked up about 150 yards less than they did against the Bucs on Nov. 1, with McCoy in the game.
Impressive, encouraging stuff.
December 6th, 2015 at 5:02 pm
Too late to ter up that pricey extenion? 🙂 Go Bucs!
December 6th, 2015 at 5:03 pm
I am. Will gholston should start over McCoy.
December 6th, 2015 at 5:04 pm
I wouldn’t say he wasn’t missed. There was a lack of pressure up the middle on quite a few plays.
December 6th, 2015 at 5:04 pm
Gholston has been huge for this team. Might never be a 10 sack guy but he is a monster against the run and proved today in spurts he can get after the passer.
December 6th, 2015 at 5:04 pm
It is too temping for the opposing teams to throw against the bus weak secondary. Here on out all teams will throw 40+ times
December 6th, 2015 at 5:05 pm
Will Gholston is a DE not a Dt, only a moron would state he should start over McCoy.
December 6th, 2015 at 5:05 pm
I mean the BUCS WEAK secondary
December 6th, 2015 at 5:06 pm
We have enough depth at DT to play adequately if our best DLineman is out. Simple as that.
Que the McCoy haters….
December 6th, 2015 at 5:13 pm
Keep in mind….we are without McDonald too…..good depth.
I hope we don’t miss Kwon….but somehow I think we will….
December 6th, 2015 at 5:16 pm
Gholston is a great player…. When he’s not committing so many penalties..
I loved the short term benching of Doug Martin after the fumble, Lovie needs to punish his players when they make a mistake. And letting him back in with passion was better!! Can’t complain, this isn’t the same Lovie from last year. Did I mention I love having an offensive coordinator!! In Koetter we Trust
December 6th, 2015 at 5:16 pm
BUCS WIN!! Like I’ve always said, By any means necessary. McCoy was missed alright. But others stepped up. Don’t worry, when Gerald gets back..we will be even better on Defense. Could it be our Bucs are..Late Bloomers? At least we Bucs fans can be proud of one thing..Since that initial Tenn game, we have fought. Couple of breaks here and there, and we could easily be..8-4. Lets see what we really got these next 4 games.
Saints game is very winnable.
GO BUCS!
December 6th, 2015 at 5:19 pm
Oh, I thought he played the whole game, didn’t notice a difference, literally no difference.
December 6th, 2015 at 5:32 pm
Thibs5599 Says:
December 6th, 2015 at 5:05 pm
Will Gholston is a DE not a Dt, only a moron would state he should start over McCoy.
He plays both positions but listed as DE.
December 6th, 2015 at 5:42 pm
If we had that special person on defense, the Bucs would be a super bowl contender. Today we had four special defensive linemen play as one unit. I believe that they will get better.
December 6th, 2015 at 5:49 pm
ya i noticed no difference, I actually saw more speed and pursuit from the middle of the line. I just don’t think saddle-bags is a superior athlete – Give me 2 first rounders for him, I’d be happy.
December 6th, 2015 at 6:35 pm
McCoy?
Never heard of her.
December 6th, 2015 at 8:28 pm
Agree with you Luther. I saw no pressure up the middle in the first half..no push. The Falcon T’s were simply routing our DE’s wide and with no push up the middle Matty Ice had plenty of time to step up into the pocket…in which case he will pick apart any defense.
Where we disagree I suspect is Lovie adjusted at half and started blitzing including that great design where LVD and Kwon criss crossed on a a blitz up the middle. Once we got the push up the middle Ryan became mortal.
GMC DOES give us a good push up the middle even when he doesn’t get a sack.
And of course it was GMC who got the sack in the first Falcon’s game that sealed the deal.
Yes we did miss GMC especially in the first half. But it is good to know that the team is good enough to overcome that challenge.
December 6th, 2015 at 8:30 pm
St Pete, GMC didn’t get a sack to end the first game.
December 6th, 2015 at 8:31 pm
I disagree that the line was not missing McCoy. McCoy has 7 sacks on the year. Gholston definitely showed up and that’s great but it wasn’t like the line looked better without McCoy. The problem on this D Line was never McCoy or the DT’s. It continues to be our lack of talent from edge rushers. The only time we generated serious pressure was with the blitz. Anyway, I’m allowed to disagree but regardless of which side of the fence you stand on we are all able to enjoy this big win together.
December 6th, 2015 at 8:33 pm
The point is still valid though Mike. GMC latched onto Ryan’s legs and started pulling him down rendering his desperation pass useless.
December 6th, 2015 at 10:40 pm
We got absolutely no pressure the majority of the game, except for the times we blitzed and the times Ryan held the ball forever (which he did quite often). Up the middle, we got no push. However, the advantage in not having McCoy is that Lovie was much more aggressive with the blitz than he has been with McCoy in the game. Our secondary played pretty well, especially in the red zone. While it’s great we won without him, it will not happen long term. At least we have the depth now to survive without him, and not be down 56-0 after 3,
December 7th, 2015 at 1:39 am
I just hope GMC will be back before the season ends. Seeing him in an arm sling did not look like he is coming back next week. All of the defensive line contributed but how about Tony McDaniel? I had not seen him move that fast all year. The win was not pretty. It was the kind of game we lost last year. Not any more.