Are Safeties To Blame?
November 9th, 2016
Culprit or scapegoat?
There is a list of Bucs who, for a variety of reasons both legitimate and concocted, make fans want to climb walls and throw empty beer bottles.
Naturally, Gerald McCoy is a lightning rod for too many Bucs fans, which saddens Joe a great deal. Seems Donovan Smith is on his way to that status as well, thanks to a bunch of geeks who likely never snapped on a chin strap but sure can type fast in the dark of the night from their dorm rooms.
And of course, there is Chris Conte.
Bucs fans go nuts when they see Conte make a dumb penalty or appear to blow a coverage. And it seems Matt Waldman of FootballGuys.com is inferring the problem with the Bucs defense could be safeties. Conte is a safety.
Waldman doesn’t call out Conte but suggests the middle of the field is the sieve.
The most notable thing I saw on film Thursday Night against Atlanta was the vulnerability the Buccaneers had up the seam on the right side of the field. Many of Atlanta’s big plays came off coverage miscommunications or the Falcons’ receivers straight-up beating Tampa’s defense.
So I checked the defensive game logs and noticed that the best producers against this unit are receivers and tight ends that work the middle of the field and the seams.
Waldman then goes into a deep breakdown of how tight ends and receivers have exposed the middle of the Bucs defense.
Safeties, generally, are to take care of the middle of the field. If that premise is true and Waldman’s analysis is accurate, then sure, Bucs fans can rag on Conte.
If he really is part of the reason the Bucs’ pass defense is Lovie-like.
November 9th, 2016 at 11:27 am
conte is trash….mcdougal is a st player starting on defense….but the real problem is smitty….nothing creative….nothing to catch the offense off guard…what happened to the 34 looks?….what happened to the defensive players saying its an “attacking defense”?….what happened to the corner blitz?….
you have to put the players in position to be successful and smitty hasn’t done that….he continues to play a passive defense…makes no adjustments…the defensive players have all become quite….not a good sign….its like their zombies just going thru the motions….every team has injuries so that’s not an excuse…on any given sunday a team can win so im not buying the tougher schedule excuse….dirk and smitty have both been in the league for a very long time so im not buying the rookie hc/ new dc excuse…..GO BUCS!!!!
November 9th, 2016 at 11:27 am
Of course it is the safeties. That being said, the rest of the defenders have not really played up to expectations either.
November 9th, 2016 at 11:39 am
Yes, the safeties are to blame. But, so are the DBs, LBs, DEs, and DTs!
It’s easy to single ONE guy out but make no mistake, this is a TEAM game.
November 9th, 2016 at 11:40 am
There is no real pass rush, and we knew that going into the season, the D-line is injury prone and we knew that going into the season!!! Conte is terrible at safety, but we knew that going into the season!!! The Bucs have had to face the best and some of the top offenses in the league!!!!! Considering all the mess Coach Smitty was handed from lovie, he is doing a good job!!!! And the last 8 games will bear that out!!!!! The Bucs have the right coaches, and they will fix this mess left by Dom/lovie!!!!!!!
Go America!!!!!
And Go Bucs!!!!!
November 9th, 2016 at 11:45 am
Our safeties are garbage. Namely Conte. On pass plays he has one job. Don’t let anyone behind him. He consistently is running downfield full speed trying to catch the receiver who beat him deep. I could live with him in position and a receiver making a good play. He just gets burned game after game.
November 9th, 2016 at 11:50 am
How can there be a pass rush when the recievers have twn yards of green field wide open and there is always soneone to dump the ball off to?
November 9th, 2016 at 12:18 pm
Kwon needs works over the middle..
That said, I think the reason we send Grimes and VH3 into endless 10 yard cushions is because we don’t trust the safety help behind us.. They aren’t hard hitting on front of them, they cant make up ground behind them.. McDougald makes his fair share of plays in coverage, I think that means Conte is gone.
November 9th, 2016 at 12:26 pm
I would like to see Ryan smith get some snaps soon. This. Season is a wash anyway.
November 9th, 2016 at 12:43 pm
very wise of us to totally ignore reggie nelson and eric weddle this offseason. we definitely had no use for those guys
November 9th, 2016 at 12:49 pm
@REALIST….we only faced 2 teams with great offenses(atl&oak)….Arizona is ranked #19 in points…hell we rank #18….STOP WITH THE BS….the rams, broncos, panthers and 49ers have no offense….
smitty wasn’t handed a mess when he took over….he was handed r.ayers, b.grimes, v.hargreaves and n.spence….a clear upgrade over what lovie had to work with….
how is he doing a good job when we have gotten blown out 3 times this year and we’ve had a qb throw for over 500yards on us?…the last 8games will expose smitty and put a nail in his and dirk’s coffin….
cant blame lovie any more….this is all on licht, dirk and smitty….face it…dirk is the 2016 version of JIM TOMSULA….GO BUCS!!!!
November 9th, 2016 at 1:00 pm
empty beer bottles at Conte? I’m about ready for bricks, knives and hand grenades. That guy is hot garbage
November 9th, 2016 at 2:03 pm
I would guess it looks better to be injured than to give up, expecting some injuries from our safties soon, oh wait has he gotten paid yet?
November 9th, 2016 at 2:27 pm
IMO Coach Smith is doing the best he can with what he has. undrafted free agent DL due to injury. A defense that has problems with their assignments & understanding where to line up. you can’t get creative without owning the basics or play fast. lets see what happens the rest of the year. His track record as a DC is very good. If we still stink get new players not coaches.
November 9th, 2016 at 3:02 pm
Chris Conte is a backup safety. A guy that you put in for two plays while your starter shakes off a bruise.
By no means should he be the guy we wanted to start, coming into this year.
November 9th, 2016 at 3:57 pm
Thanks Jason Licht, great FA and drafting again adressing needs of the team
November 9th, 2016 at 4:21 pm
You will never convince me that he is the best CURRENT option at S. Someone on a practice squad is better than him BY ACCIDENT.
November 9th, 2016 at 6:53 pm
also I have seen Grimes take the middle receiver and leave the outside
receiver wide open with no one to cover him, and it has been a big play.
Also VH3 has had to follow his man across man middle. I thought they were supposed to be in zone coverage.Why else would they lineup so far away from their man.
November 10th, 2016 at 5:39 am
They’re part of the blame but not all of the blame. It starts with coaching and they knew we were screwed with our group of safeties. We all knew it too. If their first round pick in the next draft isnt a safety then we all might as well be ready for another losing season. Love my bucs but will always speak the truth.
November 10th, 2016 at 6:09 am
So when defense is a priority u trade back into the 2nd round, give up a pick of your own and draft a kicker instead of maybe the best safety available or Defensive End or Tackle. Real SHREWD Jason! I’m impressed