The Morning After
November 20th, 2017
(Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com.)
Joe almost forgot what Victory Monday was after a road game. Was starting to think such a thing was a wives’ tale.
1. Yes, the Bucs won yesterday, on the road, at Miami. Still, even after a win, Bucs fans were angry. Yes, really. You wouldn’t believe the Twitters Joe got. One guy was bordering on hysteria swearing winning Bucs coach Dirk Koetter ought to be run out of town for – all together now – “playcalling!” Good grief, was Joe the only guy who saw that the quarterback Koetter had to work with was Ryan Fitzpatrick? You know, a vagabond quarterback. Yes, that Ryan Fitzpatrick, normally an interception machine. Another Twitterer told Joe Koetter should be jettisoned for being scared in the second half. Joe replied to the guy that he’d be scared too if he had Fitzpatrick for a quarterback. So people wanted Koetter to open up the offense and go Air Coryell with Fitzpatrick? Are people that drunk? Koetter likely knew the football gods were smiling on him for having an aggressive offense in the first half and Fitzpatrick hadn’t yet thrown a pick so Koetter didn’t want to tempt fate any longer. Good grief, people, this is the NFL, not a video game. Miami was probably praying Koetter would want Fitzpatrick to go all Dan Marino and in the process, throw the game away.
2. Now if someone wants Joe to nitpick Koetter, it would be his insistence to keep feeding Doug Martin the ball time after time, game after game, and expecting Martin to pop out of his 2015 cocoon. As Joe pointed out yesterday, it’s been two years since Martin has rushed for 100 yards in a game and he is right about where he finished last year, at the bottom of the NFL in yards-per-carry. Fans keep bellyaching for the Bucs to run the ball but Koetter leans heavily on a guy who simply cannot get the job done any longer. Again, it has been two years since Martin ran for over 100 yards (21 games). To use a statgeek term, Joe thinks that is an ample sample size. You know what the definition is for trying the same thing over and over and over again and expecting a different result, right? #FreePeytonBarber
3. Most impressive wide receiver yesterday? Well, he didn’t play much at all and only had two targets but he made the most of those two passes. Rookie Chris Godwin got the game ball last week filling in for Mike Evans and for having a strong first start. He was on the field yesterday during the game-winning drive and Godwin was clutch, hauling in a 14- and 24-yard catches to set up Pat Murray’s game-winning, 35-yard field goal. The way Godwin has played when Koetter has called his number, Joe believes he has merited more playing time and perhaps more targets. Joe heard Ali Marpet on the Buccaneers Radio Network after the game rave about Godwin’s blocking in the run game. “You people may not see it but we sure do,” Marpet said. Joe’s a big believer in feeding a hot hand. Now Joe’s not saying Koetter should bench DeSean Jackson or Mike Evans but Joe is saying Godwin deserves more targets if not more playing time the way he is coming around.
4. Defense came through. No, if you were expecting the 2002 Bucs defense you would be disappointed. The Bucs defense before yesterday was getting gashed by an average of 33 points a game on the road, which is obscene. Yeah, the Bucs gave up 448 yards of offense to the Dolphins. Not good, especially after the Bucs forced four first half turnovers against bratty Jay Cutler. It wasn’t a stellar performance but given what we have been conditioned to this season, it was almost a throwback to the Sapp/Brooks/Lynch days. Yeah, it’s been that kind of a season. The fourth down stand in the fourth quarter to take over on downs was special, however. And Gerald McCoy was an absolute monster on that play and through the second half. Is the road defense fixed? Not at all. Was yesterday a step in the right direction given how the defense has previously played on the road? Yes it was.
5. Some quick thoughts on this hassle Jameis Winston finds himself in with this Uber driver in Arizona. Initially, this looked absolutely horrible for Jameis and frankly still does to a degree. Joe’s biggest question for Jameis is, why did he apparently keep the Bucs in the dark? This alleged incident happened some 20 months ago and on Friday, winning Bucs coach Dirk Koetter said he just learned of it. So if Koetter’s timeline is correct, either Jameis kept the Bucs in the dark or the Bucs kept Koetter in the dark, the latter isn’t believable at all. Joe has to guess Team Glazer and the rest of the Bucs suits were furious about being blindsided, understandably so. This is not good at all for Jameis and his future contract talks with the Bucs. If the Bucs were truly blindsided, they have to be asking themselves, “What else is out there about Jameis we don’t know about?” NFL teams want to be able to depend on their franchise quarterbacks. Now, can you depend on Jameis? If he really did keep the Bucs in the dark about this Uber deal, the Bucs have to wonder what other surprise might surface in the middle of a season that could get Jameis suspended, potentially for life. Don’t fool yourself. This has very likely crossed the mind of Team Glazer in the past few days. Joe’s thoughts about this whole affair changed drastically yesterday when the Uber driver in question, identified only as “Kate” by Buzzfeed, claimed this wasn’t about the money and then 48 hours later she retained the services of high-priced, heavy-hitter attorney John Clune, who already has demonstrated he can squeeze cash out of Jameis’ legal counsel. So today it’s all about the money. Sorry if Joe offends some or if others think that is insensitive, but that’s Joe’s read on this now. Couple of quick tips for Jameis for the future: First, quit hanging around with Ronald Darby who is a walking pair of handcuffs. Dating back to his days at Florida State, Darby consistently found himself just on the outskirts of so many brushes with the law. Bad news follows this guy around like a dust cloud follows Pig-Pen. Second piece of advice for Jameis is, get a private driving service when you are on the road. It’s cool that you want to help out by using Uber but you can afford a private service. They are not that expensive. You know the kind, where a dude in slacks, a nice collared shirt and often a tie rolls up in a pristine Lincoln? And lastly here on the subject, for the clowns who say Jameis should not give up the culprit who allegedly grabbed the woman in her private area – if that ever happened – because of some street mancode, are you freaking people out of your minds? Do you not realize how many millions this could cost Jameis if NFL strongman Roger Goodell thinks he can connect dots to pin this thing on Jameis? Hell, Jameis’ career could be in jeopardy here. And he should risk tens of millions and perhaps the career he worked his arse off for and p!ss it away because of some dumb mancard thing? That’s moronic! Jameis is responsible for an entire NFL team, not to mention his family. And he’s supposed to take the rap (assuming he is innocent) for what sane reason exactly? Get a friggin’ clue, folks!
Trinkets: It is nice the Bucs won a tight game on the road, but this is the rotten Dolphins. The Bucs have won two straight against sad sack teams. Now, for the second Sunday in a row, the Bucs will get an opponent who played on a Monday night previously and will be the Dixie Chicks on Thanksgiving Weekend. If the Bucs can pull off a road win at Atlanta, Joe can just about predict Koetter definitely will return next year. … How much a reliable kicker means: If the Bucs had Pat Murray at the start of the season, it’s likely the Bucs are now 6-4 and not 4-6 and in the thick of a playoff hunt. … T.J. Ward, you can’t tell Joe you don’t’ know any better than to slam a guy three yards out of bounds, stand over him and woof at him like Ric Flair and not expect to get flagged. Joe always thought veterans are supposed to be smarter than that. Thank goodness it didn’t cost the Bucs. Geez. … More and more it appears rookie safety Justin Evans will be a solid player but not sure guys like Alvin Kamara or Kareem Hunt or even Samaje Perine wouldn’t have had a greater impact with the Bucs. Eh, it’s not like Evans is a bust or anything, but damn, the running backs that were out there. … eye-RAH! Kaufman is right: Dick Stockton is a fossil who should be put out to pasture.
November 20th, 2017 at 7:09 am
Joe you are kidding yourself about the run-game. No, Martin is not a game-changer but to expect him to break a 100 yards behind an o-line that consistently allows defenders in the backfield 4 yards deep is misguided. NO RB is going to flourish in that scenario. Add to that the predictable play-calling and you have the makings of a bad run-game.
I agree about Jameis. It really doesn’t matter what the story is at this point. He was in that Uber and he, or someone, made that driver feel uncomfortable enough to lodge a complaint. He WILL pay the consequences whether he did it or not. You’re only as good as the company you keep.
November 20th, 2017 at 7:16 am
Doug is getting paid this season so they might as well make him earn it. We will draft a running back in this next draft and Doug will be gone.
November 20th, 2017 at 7:19 am
Pointless wins at the point.
Lets be real, the Bucs aren’t going anywhere this year in terms of the playoffs. Just prolonging the inevitable cleaning of house to come, along with knocking themselves out of position for better draft picks along the way.
And yes the play-calling is atrocious. Run(stuffed), Run, Pass/Screen ahaha.
When the opposing defense knows which downs the Bucs are going to run it 90% of the time of course it’s going to be stuffed. Not to mention the line cannot run block to save their life. What? You expect Martin to magically open up the lanes? Or to do something when he’s met for a loss the instant he touches the ball?
Predictability means they know when the Bucs are going to run, and it also means they know when we are forced to pass because they stopped the run on down 1 and 2 lol.
Anywho, lets not pretend things are suddenly better around these parts.
November 20th, 2017 at 7:23 am
The Rotten Dolphins beat the Falcons in their brand new $1.2 billion Mercedes-Benz stadium.
November 20th, 2017 at 7:24 am
+4 turnover ratio and it came down to the last FG, look I’m not complaining but this offense has to be the most under achieving in the league right now, Winston or not.
November 20th, 2017 at 7:25 am
PRBucFan
No one listen to that garbage that you type.
November 20th, 2017 at 7:27 am
I should have typed…no one read that trash that you type.
November 20th, 2017 at 7:35 am
Yes…..Koetter finally turned Fitz loose with 3 minutes left. We almost lost that game up 4 turnovers & Miami with 17 penalties & you are praising Koetter’s playcalling.
November 20th, 2017 at 7:36 am
“If the Bucs had Pat Murray at the start of the season, it’s likely the Bucs are now 6-4 and not 4-6 and in the thick of a playoff hunt”
Exactly. Amazing how big the ramifications are because of not having a reliable kicker. Now people are talking about cleaning house and starting over…again. 6-4 and virtually nobody would be talking about Koetter’s job being in jeopardy. And perhaps all because of a kicker.
November 20th, 2017 at 7:37 am
Joe – noticed that you did not use the moniker Americas Quarterback when referring to Shamis Winston. is there a change of heart?
November 20th, 2017 at 7:37 am
YET you read it and are obviously STILL bu t t hurt about me calling you out on the nonsense you type a week ago ahahaha
Worry about you boo boo cause trust me, I don’t give a damn what you like or don’t like about what I write. And you can trust, I won’t waste another ounce of energy responding to or even reading another post with your handle on it.
Ive been around these parts longer than you and I’ll be around these parts long after you leave too. Your type has come and gone way too often for me to be bothered ahaha.
Kisses XoXo
November 20th, 2017 at 7:45 am
I have been as hard on the Bucs as anyone. But they stunk the field for 5 straight weeks. They was laying down and showed no effort. I’m not a Hypocrite, if they put forth the effort and do their jobs. Then I have nothing but praise for them. I call it as I see it. I know they have beaten two weak teams. But you build momentum with wins, regardless of the teams. I believe they will go into Atlanta with confidence. Win or lose as long as they play with confidence and high intensity, they will be alright.
November 20th, 2017 at 7:47 am
TBBF well said lol
November 20th, 2017 at 7:47 am
That game was very similar to last years Raider game but at least we won this one. What happened to Hump?? He was one of my favorite players, but this year he has had a ton of drops and the fumble cost us a buffalo W.
November 20th, 2017 at 7:50 am
So what if he threw a pick?? Stop making us think we are delusional. Fitz played very well and the issue was the oline playing garbage. Still, when they had to they could move the chains all of a sudden. Why wasn’t Koetter scared then? why didn’t he set on the ball hoping for OT?
This was garbage playcalling. Fitz was accurate and played well. No reason whatsoever for koetter to risk his job like that and a turnover isn’t much worse than 3 and out on your own goal line. We could have lost this game had the referees and the dolphins didn’t make or come up with stupid penalties. Making us believe Fitz is garbage and Winston is god send is annoying. We watch the games dammit. We see it for ourselves.
C’mon, man. Joe’s not “making us believe” anything. Just saying the reality of who Fitz really is as an NFL QB can’t be ignored. That’s asking to lose.–Joe
November 20th, 2017 at 7:51 am
I do wonder if maybe Hump has had his confidence shaken up a bit resulting in the drops, he was always Mr. Reliable prior to that costly fumble.
November 20th, 2017 at 7:54 am
Body is saying go all Air Coryell, we are saying move the chains if the run game is not working, the screen passes to Doug were working, quick slants were working, obviously putting the ball near Chris Godwin works and of course you got Brate and Howard, pick up 3-5 yards, throw in a run every once in a while instead of throw in a pass when you have to have it
November 20th, 2017 at 7:58 am
Actually enjoyed watching a Bucs game Sunday, two feel-good wins — Bucs beating bad Dolphins team and my ECU Pirates crushing a bad Cincinnati team…..wins are wins…….
It’s important to not be the worst…..Bucs are needy and despite what happens this season, there’s the lingering odor of Jameis, lying around like someone’s really, really stinky underwear…..
November 20th, 2017 at 8:04 am
will be interesting to see how we play next week at ATL. They will have a short week and we have put together a few wins. Win that game then you have a winable one at GB. Not saying we are going anywhere but
November 20th, 2017 at 8:05 am
At this point the Bucs just need to play like they’re a pass first team. That should be their identity because the run game is awful. I can’t believe it’s all the offensive line.
For the love of God I wish the Bucs would stop that pitch play. Koetter’s pitch play has become Raheem’s Benn-around.
November 20th, 2017 at 8:06 am
Is this buccanners.com? Is this column by T.J Rieves?
D played decent against the hoax called cutler. Matt Moore looked like HOF QB. If i’m Miami fan I want my coach packing just for letting him hold the clipboard behind Cutler.
With their 17 for 140 or something in penalties, they got a safety and a TD negated (for no reason) that would have got us beat. Koetter was playing a losing football if you claim he was conservative just because he was afraid of the worst thing in the world- Fitz throwing a pick. woooo
November 20th, 2017 at 8:14 am
Joe, with respect to point 1, I agree that an element of conservatism was prudent. That to push the ball too far down field was akin to tempting fate. However, that doesn’t excuse the complete disregard for Howard in the 2nd half. The play-calling/design is suspect. Everything we run is long-developing and slow. Where are the quick hits? I thought that Dirk started implementing more of the quick passing game (screens) at early points in the game, but then he went turtle. The irony is that it nearly cost him the game b/c the D, while valiant to a degree, gave up nearly 300 yards to M. Moore in two quarters of play and couldn’t get off the field. Let’s not even talk about the Safety that wasn’t. This team is still not well coached.
November 20th, 2017 at 8:17 am
So for all you cry babies that want to say we have beaten 2 losing teams with Fitz. Then The Loser has beaten 2 losers himself. The Bears and Giants. 4 wins against bad teams.
November 20th, 2017 at 8:45 am
*Start Peyton Barber.
*Knock off the runs-up-the-middle, DK. The whole world knows when you’re calling that worthless play.
*Use your receivers. They are among the best in the league. PERIOD! ME13, Brate, Howard, Godwin, Hump. Koetter doesn’t seem to get how good this group really is.
*GMC, LVD and the Kwonster played lights out yesterday. Haven’t seen tampax on here. Wonder why?
**Go Bucs!! 🙂
***Thank you, Pat Murray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 20th, 2017 at 8:47 am
@Joe … “Just saying the reality of who Fitz really is as an NFL QB can’t be ignored. That’s asking to lose.” Not sure that you or any of us know who “Fitz really is as an NFL QB” Joe. I’ll grant that he’s what some call a journeyman QB (what, 7 different teams?) but he’s played on some REALLY bad teams for starters. That’s not gonna help your stats obviously. I personally think he’s doing a pretty decent job of keeping this Bucs team focused, given what he’s got to work with. As in (1) an offensive line that really is offensive; (2) no running game to speak of (see #1 above); and (3) a OC who doesn’t seem to trust him to hold a lead. We’ve beaten 2 mediocre teams, but Fitz is still 2-0 as a starter operating with the same resources that Jameis (2-6) operated with.
November 20th, 2017 at 8:57 am
The reality of “who fitz is” is the way he played the first half and what was working well for the bucs. You don’t become an archaeologist and make statistical predictions considering his stats in the past 15 years. He played well, he was accurate, let him play.
And even if he threw a pick, what’s the big deal? we had 7 plays in the 3rd ! 3 and out on your own goal line (should have been a safety). What is the difference?
November 20th, 2017 at 8:58 am
@defense rules… fitz has run the offense better than jw. He moved the chained better. A few bad penalties and a few bad drops or we put game away. Jameis would of made a few big plays but his 2 to 3 turnovers would have killed us
November 20th, 2017 at 8:59 am
so we’ve beaten:
BEARS
GIANTS
JETS
FINS
on to ATL….GO BUCS!!!!
November 20th, 2017 at 9:01 am
It could get very ugly next week in Atlanta, especially if they lose tonight…
November 20th, 2017 at 11:07 am
Joe- regarding the Ronald Darby comments, what incidents/brushes with the law are you referring to?
November 20th, 2017 at 11:48 am
Had DK been named HC by March of 2016?
November 20th, 2017 at 1:05 pm
Joe said: “T.J. Ward, you can’t tell Joe you don’t’ know any better than to slam a guy three yards out of bounds, stand over him and woof at him like Ric Flair and not expect to get flagged. Joe always thought veterans are supposed to be smarter than that. Thank goodness it didn’t cost the Bucs. Geez.”
————————————————————-
It was one of the most asinine things I’ve seen for at least the last 13 days. I have to go back to Winston’s sideline shove and pregame “unmotivational” pep talk to find something more so.
November 20th, 2017 at 1:49 pm
6. Joe is incapable of calling out the poor offensive line performance, again!
Week after week, we have multiple tackles for loss, free rushers flying in on multiple plays resulting in sacks, QB hits, and drive killing, touchdown negating penalties, but not a mention of their sub bar play on these pages. No agenda though, right?
Just look at this outstanding summary from yesterday:
6 tackles for loss in our backfield (Obviously all Martin’s fault)
6 QB hits plus 1 sack
6 drive killing, touchdown negating penalties
Way to go o-line!
November 20th, 2017 at 2:31 pm
anybody who cites fitzapatrick as a stabilizing force and the reason for these wins, i question how much Offense AND Defense you watched the last 2 weeks. we are in these games because the defense is finally challenging QBs. Fitz was playing at sub-dilfer levels in all but a few drives and benefitted from the defense dictating field position for the second game in a row. Jameis has throwing multiple picks in just 2 of his 8 starts so fitz is neither more accurate nor significantly less INT prone
i do believe Fitz is highlighting a major flaw in JW’s game, though, and that is his love affair with Evans and Brate. Today we saw what an involved OJ Howard can mean to Dirk’s ability to dictate matchups and we saw that there are guys not named Brate open underneath with regularity. Hope this tape proves that Koetter’s playcalls are not as much of a problem as many have stated. Maybe if Jameis is still protecting that shoulder a little when he comes back he can get to know his short and intermediate reads a little better
November 20th, 2017 at 4:19 pm
Quite obvious there are two agendas being shoved down our throats.
1. Doug Martin is the oly reason we can’t run the ball. I guess when you don’t get the FSU running back you wanted so desperately and you basically get the pick wrong after stating that was the pick and look foolish doing so, slamming Martin for everything including global warming makes you feel better. The problem with that is we watch the games and see him getting blown up the second he touches the ball tells me a completely different story.
2. Trying to discredit Fitz because he looks better and is actually leading the team much better than the sexual deviant, crab leg stealing, mysogonistic, player head butting, finger poking, inaccurate throwing, crotch grabbing, W licking, career losing record having, shoulder injury faking, banned from uber riding , Tampa’ s pathetic ,bench warming, Tampa shaming, Aimless Miss-a-ton! Can’t wait to see him gone. Face it Joe you are wrong again at picking a Franchise quarterback. Give me Fitzpatrick before the sexual predator!
November 20th, 2017 at 4:24 pm
One Joe is entertaining and is the backbone of this site, the other doesn’t come close at all. Must be tough riding on another mans coattails. I won’t saay who but we all know this to be factual!
November 20th, 2017 at 6:17 pm
Unbelievable it’s because JoeFauxNews always has his hidden agenda. Not to incur the wrath of the Bucs or the o line coach he fingers 1 player who is the scapegoat. Martin is the only one doing anything consistently. The line can’t even open any good run lanes. Constantly missing blocks, not getting to the 2nd level but he blames everything on him but praises the o line. All those things you point out don’t matter to him because he’s blind in one eye and got cataracts in the other. How many times do the backs have to be hit 2-4 yards behind the line for him to see the light??? It’s obvious by the spiel written above. He gives the defense a complete grade even though they gave up big play after big play throughout the game just like last week then completely implodes in the 2nd half then he praises Koetter for his 2nd half play calling by laying the blame on his turtle offense on Fiitz even though Fitz showed what he could do against Arizona. Welcome back Koetter is showing almost no imagination in his play calling, not utilizing Evans VJax Godwin and OJ more often but if the line can’t sustain blocks more than 2 seconds before qb has to scramble what good are they?
November 20th, 2017 at 6:42 pm
Eric why don’t you go be a Titans fan? Mariotas choir boy perona should suit a girlyman like you well. You must be related to the lying gold digger chick from FSU who slored herself to Fameis because she saw a payday. Being that he or anyone like him is with a female like her really fuels your hatred don’t it???? Are you missing your hood? I bet you would like to have Ben Rapistburger here wouldn’t you?