It’s Mike Evans’ Offense
November 5th, 2016
Needed more than ever. (Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com)
Like most NFL fans who watched Mike Evans perhaps turn in his best game as an NFLer, Pat Kirwan came away impressed Thursday night.
Kirwan, former Jets front office suit and current SiriusXM NFL Radio host, also runs an underrated site known as Real Football Network.
Seeing all the losses the Bucs have suffered at every skill position on offense other than quarterback, Kirwan believes it is Evans who will have to carry this team ,if the Bucs have any prayer of finishing .500 for the season.
CAREER NIGHT
Bucs HC Dirk Koetter called it the best game he’s ever seem Mike Evans play. The WR finished the night with 11 catches for 150 yards and two touchdowns, showing great hands, concentration, and body control, making every kind of catch imaginable. He’s a big reason Jameis Winston completed 62% of his passes and now has three games of at least 8 catches, two 100-yard games on the season, and two multiple-TD games in the last three weeks.
He’ll have to provide more of those types of performances on a consistent basis is the Bucs are going to overcome their own defense.
Joe has never heard of a wide receiver carrying a team and putting it on his back, but Kirwan isn’t far off here.
In a way, what Kirwan typed is a nice way of saying America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, has no one else to throw the ball to with the possible exception of Rudy Humphries.
November 5th, 2016 at 8:17 am
It is criminal that they didn’t put more weapons around Evans and Winston in the offseason.
If the 2017 offseason isnt all about adding speed and offensive linemen to this offense then Jason Licht needs to have his head examined.
November 5th, 2016 at 8:32 am
And he had to deal with Joe spending the past 12 months insulting him every time he mentioned his name. You say you are a fan Joe but when you childishly insult a guy every time you report on him and exaggerate his drops you come off more like some of the trolls who post on here. Glad he is reminding you guys that he is a beast!
So inaccurate. Here is Joe’s story from August. https://www.joebucsfan.com/2016/08/training-camp-winner-mike-evans/ … There were others like this along the way.–Joe
November 5th, 2016 at 8:39 am
2017, licht will probably be back in arizona as a scout evaluating kickers
I like some of the intermittent crossing routes but me13 still cant pull away from recievers like the elite
Still think evans isnt the high volume route runner wr but thats all we have right now
He is a similar to michael crabtree downfield wr, we need a high volume
possession route runner like amari cooper for jameis
November 5th, 2016 at 8:41 am
Lol, I was going to mention a few of the trolls in my previous post and Kobe was going to be #1 on that list!
November 5th, 2016 at 8:43 am
Good point TD in last comment. Joe calling him KY all last year while never criticizing another certain individual until finally this year.
The man can ball. Hope he can stay healthy to break all the BUCS receiving records this year! He Gives us some hope for the future cause right now the light at the end of the tunnel is the size of a flash light and it’s beginning to flicker
November 5th, 2016 at 8:46 am
Agree with td again. Kobe faker should change is name to just bucs fan faker. Is he really just saying mike Evans is not that good as he leads the NFL in tds? What a joke
November 5th, 2016 at 8:48 am
I thought, that you thought, that you were thinking of me too
*if joe is negative, i wonder what category kobe belongs in.
Other than specializing in arab/asian dating
November 5th, 2016 at 9:16 am
Mike’s having a career year obviously, but he’s caught just about the same percentage of passes so far this year as he did in 2014 & 2015 (targeted 103 times with 55 catches is 53% … basically same as years past). His yds per catch is 2-3 yds lower this year (13.5) than in years past. Apparently they’re using him a little differently (more intermediate) but the big difference is simply the number of times he’s been targeted. kinda what happens when a team like the Bucs loses their other WR.
Sidenote: Mike James (100% on catches), Barber (80% on catches), Shep (77% on catches) and Adam (67% on catches) really aren’t that bad as alternatives. There really are other guys on the Bucs who can catch balls.
November 5th, 2016 at 9:39 am
Defense, the number of times a receiver is targeted is a meaningless stat. Jameis has been off target a lot so far this season. If he overthrows Evans by 5 feet the incompletion has nothing to do with the reciever.
Joe, I would guess that you referred to him as KY hands over 1,000 times in the past year. You’re going to use one article to deny that you didn’t?
November 5th, 2016 at 9:40 am
Hey Joe
I must point out that your editor made a mistake and forgot to add KY. Where’s the KY. He needs more KY. Can someone make sure that Mike uses KY on Joe? No wait I meant Joe use KY on Mike. Ah the hell with it.
Where’s the KY Joe?
November 5th, 2016 at 9:46 am
He’ll have to provide more of those types of performances on a consistent basis is the Bucs are going to overcome their own defense.
——————
HA! Our defense sucks! Geraldine had an outstanding game outside of the 40burger he ate Thursday night. Luckily he enjoys 40burgers it’s like the 5th one in the last 2 years. Maybe I should start calling him Wimpy. That’s just perfect isn’t it?
PS.
Just kidding about him having an outstanding game. He sucked. Haha
November 5th, 2016 at 9:55 am
Just imagine what it would be like if we had a healthy compliment to Evans. There for awhile I was hoping Shep would develop. I think we might take a WR high in the 2017 draft. We have to get Winston more weapons.
November 5th, 2016 at 9:59 am
Savage Mike is playing like a “C”. A MF boss. On the other hand…. Aunt Geraldine is still thinking about “killing” Matt Ryan as he said he was going to do. What a MF joke. Rip that “C” patch off his chest and give that $hit to someone who really cares about winning.
November 5th, 2016 at 10:05 am
considering some of the targets that Evans has to come down with,like the near
overthrow that got him concussed.I an going to say that target rate is a totally unfair way to evaluate a receiver.Of his touchdowns he has had to adjust on
two because the pass was not well placed, Another was Evans signaling Jameis to put it up for grabs,where he made the adjustment to come down with the ball.Koetter has said that the INT to Peterson was a post route,
but Jameis threw it to the corner and not toward the goalpost.
And defense rules my good neighbor, those are very small sample sizes in
Barber and James and even Shep’s cases.
November 5th, 2016 at 10:05 am
Evans has been our most solid weapon for sure and I salute him for growing up mentally from last season. That one handed snag was amazing but I wish that Winston had not have forced Evans to have to climb the ladder to catch the ball. Evans is 6’5″ and that ball was like basketball rim height. That is a good way to get your only remaining weapon killed which is exactly what happened. Neal blasted him because Winston forced him to be so exposed and on the Neal subject, that is the Gator DB we should have drafted. Much better player than Hargreaves.
November 5th, 2016 at 10:12 am
Yea Winston sucks. He sucks so much his only weapon leads the league in TDs. Now go on get outta here.
November 5th, 2016 at 10:20 am
Glad Evans is having a nice bounce back season
November 5th, 2016 at 10:30 am
@DB
No jameis doesn’t suck,but his accuracy could help Evans especially on the deep balls.Is jameis elusive in the pocket,and does he extend plays,hell yeah.
its his second year and hopefully he will improve his accurracy and touch on the deep ball.That should put him in the company of the top tier QB’s.
The addition of new weapons and consistant running game will also help propel
to the next level.I have seen Roger’s look bad with no running game.
November 5th, 2016 at 10:54 am
Rogers looked bad with no jodi nelson last year
We have the 3rd worst talented roster in the nfl. That blame goes to 1 man
The stinken kicker picken backstabber
November 5th, 2016 at 11:07 am
@DB55
I read all of the comments on this thread and did not see anyone state that Winston sucks. If your comment was based on my comment, I also did not say Winston sucks but he is going to get Evans killed if he keeps throwing the ball so for above him. That is just a true statement but not a Winston sucks sentiment. Who said he sucks?
November 5th, 2016 at 11:08 am
Bob in Valrico … Agree wholeheartedly that “target rate is a totally unfair way to evaluate a receiver”. I’d say that target rate depends on the coach & QB; catch rate depends on the receiver & QB. No question that Mike is doing much better this year at catching the ball. But from a Bucs ‘big picture’ perspective, for every 2 times Jameis throws to ME13, roughly 1 will be productive. All I was saying (poorly obviously).
Granted, the ‘samples’ for Barber, James & Shep are small (Hump’s is larger than all 3 together I believe), but if I’ve seen anything this year it’s that the Bucs MUST HAVE a running game AND a short passing game to be effective and win. Admittedly we’re down to the 5th & 6th string RBs (whodathunkit?) but if our OLine gets its’ act together those 2 RBs could be effective. And that’s in BOTH the run game AND the short passing game. That was my point … if our only offense is Jameis Winston to Mike Evans, we’ll lose every game from here on out.
November 5th, 2016 at 11:14 am
@kobe
I am talking about a game I watched this year on Aaron Rogerswho only had Eddie Lacy who was lost to injury during the game and not very effective before that.
And Bruce Allen and Mark Domimic share the blame for the low level of talent on roster.Jury’s still out on Licht in my book,but there is more cause to question his decisions than previously.
November 5th, 2016 at 11:14 am
Who said he sucks?
———-
Chris.
November 5th, 2016 at 11:24 am
Chris
—————
I do not see a Chris on my screen but I agree with you that Winston does not suck. He has no weapons, an OL that gives him no time in the pocket especially Donovan Smith who is not cutting it at LT. Winston is having accuracy issues which I honestly think can be corrected in time and with a better OL and some weapons. His passion, work ethic and team first mentality are off the charts. I fear that we will do nothing to give hime a chance to succeed here, let him go at the end of his contract and he will become a star for another team. That is par for the course for Tampa Bay.
November 5th, 2016 at 11:34 am
Bob
I dont understand why you dont blame licht. I dont care if the past gms were worse…if
Licht destroyed this 2016 season with his decisions
The signing of sweezy and giving vjack 10 million instead of reworking the contract and bringing a legitimate wr2 to help jameis and the offense is the reason of the regression. Picking a kicker?
He needs to be replaced immediately because it will get tougher in a few years when evans and winston is due 40 mill
November 5th, 2016 at 11:34 am
@ Kobe Faker
Your life must really suck.
November 5th, 2016 at 11:40 am
More KY please
November 5th, 2016 at 12:06 pm
DB55 You can’t blame GMC not putting up pro bowl stats (even though he’s getting payed $100 million). I was thinking it before also but you have to realize the man is getting double teamed in the trenches on every play with no one else around him and he’s only human.
November 5th, 2016 at 12:38 pm
Kobe, Licht has made some very good decisions and more recently,some bad and I question the SWeezy sighning due to his unavailability.AS for injuries,
they are hard to predict,John Lynch had four pro bowl years after he was let go.If I remember he would have even taken less money.
November 5th, 2016 at 12:53 pm
I rrally think it would benifit us with cap room and picks to trade McCoy this offseason. Akeem Spence has actually played well when asked to, and seems to beat the double team better than aunt Geraldine. And the use of LVD needs to be evaluated as well. Is he regressing? Or is the way he is being used affecting his play?
November 5th, 2016 at 1:09 pm
@defense
agreed, more weapons next year for Jameis should make him more confident and less predictable. Until then we are in kind of a pickle with patchwork offense.I wonder if doug martin had undertaken the same training regimen as last year if he would be having hammy problems.Mike Evans seems to have improved his hammy issues through his off season conditioning program.
Sorry Defense,the unfair use of target rate to evaluate ME13 in the past
brought out that overly critical response.Appreciate your posts.
November 5th, 2016 at 1:30 pm
@kobe
Hindsight is 20-20. on the injuries.with the lack of conditioning program agreed to by the CBA has not helped player be conditioned or game ready
for the season.As defense pointed out we are on our 6trh string running back
and our recievers change also or they should since Cecil shorts hasn’t much.
while all of the injuries didn’t help Jameis,his overconfidence produced INT’s
when he forced the ball.He has thrown deep balls to Evans into double and triple coverage that could also be INT’s.I do question his Mike Bajakian as his QB coach.Not sure being on Lovie’s staff as QC coach quality control coach
qualifies him to be a QB coach.
November 5th, 2016 at 2:11 pm
3 kobes commandments to win the superbowl
1- franchise qb with strengths/skillset that team believes will win the superbowl…….no?…get new franchise qb
2- gm. Gm believes in the qb skills if developed will win superbowl. Now his job is to surround the qb with players to play with the qb strengths and skillset….no?….get a new gm
3- head coach- put in offensive system to the strength of the qb and skillset and coach and build around the team….no? …get a new coach
Draft and sign free agents to compliment the qb and 1 again- strength of the qb…after 4 years the qb should be developed with the skillset to win superbwls
Carolina is a good example
In tampa, we have our franchise qb but an idiot kicker picken gm and a hc who doesnt have a system that benefits or emphasizes to jameis strengths
Jameis winston is big ben with a tan
Get the similar skills of the pitt recievers and rbs and he will multiple suberbowls
Kobe faker has posted and it shall be
November 5th, 2016 at 4:47 pm
SOEbuc Says:
November 5th, 2016 at 12:06 pm
DB55 You can’t blame GMC not putting up pro bowl stats (even though he’s getting payed $100 million). I was thinking it before also but you have to realize the man is getting double teamed in the trenches on every play with no one else around him and he’s only human.
—————-
Please I beg of you to STOP with this double-team spit. Pretty please. First he does NOT get doubled every play. Second, 3techs job is to take on and beat double teams. Third, 2/3 of the time he’s single blocked and gets driven from his gap, not on stunts just straight up man-handled and moved. More often than not he runs away from his gap responsibility.
I’m tired of repeating the same thing. Please get a DVR or All 22 and watch the tape pretty pretty please.
November 7th, 2016 at 10:34 am
Kobe Faker Says:
November 5th, 2016 at 8:39 am
2017, licht will probably be back in arizona as a scout evaluating kickers
I like some of the intermittent crossing routes but me13 still cant pull away from recievers like the elite
Still think evans isnt the high volume route runner wr but thats all we have right now
He is a similar to michael crabtree downfield wr, we need a high volume
possession route runner like amari cooper for jameis
——————-
You’ve got it backwards here. Crabtree is a possession/power WR in the TO/Boldin-mold, just not as good, while Cooper is the all-around playmaking WR in the Julio Jones-mold.
If you had to compare Evens to anybody it would probably have to be AJ Green. A guy that is capable of making impossible catches and is a downfield threat mostly due to his size rather than his speed.
November 7th, 2016 at 10:36 am
For those that think McCoy sucks and should be traded? How many teams are willing to trade anything of worthwhile for a sucky DT that is making boatloads of money? Most players on their second contracts are pretty much only worth their contracts…nothing more, nothing less.