“Mental Resilience”

September 12th, 2018

Impressed.

Joe has written several times, after gleaning from words of players and their performance, the Bucs are a bunch that mentally crumbled all too easily in the face of pressure.

Bill Polian saw a different bunch on Sunday.

In the wake of the Bucs’ 48-40 win at New Orleans, the Hall of Fame general manager took to the airwaves of “Late Hits,” which he co-hosts with Alex Marvez, and said what he witnessed was a mentally tough team taking care of its opponent on the voodoo-stained floor of the Superdome.

“I think they played with a lot of confidence,” Polian said. Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick “played with a lot of confidence. He got the ball to his playmakers. They protected him well.

“I think what impressed me the most was, once the shootout got underway, and they were in the situation where, ‘Hey, we have to go get it every play now or Drew Brees is going to pull this thing out,’ they stood in there and took punch for punch and came right back. They showed a great deal of mental resilience, which I would expect nothing less from a Dirk Koetter team. He is a good football coach.

“If nothing else, you know his teams are going to fight and play hard. The bottom line is, they showed a great deal of grittiness and a great deal of resolve in a situation where they were up against one of the best” in Drew Brees.”

Well now it’s time for the Bucs’ defensive coaching staff to sack up and find a way to overcome inexperience, injuries and dare Joe say, talent?

As Joe has long-feared, the Bucs decided to walk a tightrope in the secondary praying that 35-year old Brent Grimes and/or Vernon Hargreaves stayed healthy. And after just one game, here we are. The Bucs are going to have to throw all their cards into the middle of the table with two rookies, Ryan Smith and guys off the street.

Why does Joe have a hunch Eagles backup quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles will snap out of his funk this Sunday?

21 Responses to ““Mental Resilience””

  1. 99.97.92.55.47.40.28.20.7 Says:

    We’ll see what we’re made of. It’s going to be scrappy. Expecting both D-Lines to be disruptive. D-Line will be the key to this game. There will be more than 1 sack in this game, and I think the team that gets the most will win it.

  2. 813bucboi Says:

    I was kinda thinking the same thing joe….foles has had 10days to prepare…..and with the defense not providing any pressure and smitty still playing 10yards off foles could get into a groove early…..

    I hope smitty gets creative with his defense instead of throwing in the towel and naming excuses(inexperienxe,injuries,talent)…..

    we’ll see….

    #NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!…#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!…GO BUCS!!!!

  3. stpetebucsfan Says:

    It’s still too soon to give up!!! We have two highly drafted rookies who show promise. We have to help and hide them the best we can…that of course starts with the front seven….but the offense can once again help bigly if they control time of possession.

    In addition…players like Breeland…btw we’re not getting him?…were 4th round draft picks who had to fight their way up the depth chart. In addition to our three rookie DB’s we may find a diamond in the rough.

    Our three rooks are going to get a baptism by fire. That could be an incredible advantage over the final 8 games when they will then have experience.

    If we have to move Evans up to corner that just makes room for Jordan Whitehead who also shows some solid promise.

    All eyes are turned to our secondary because of the two injuries…I get that…but it hasn’t really changed that much.

    Either our front seven somehow figure how to make Nick Foles day at minimum uncomfortable at best on his butt…or no matter who plays in the secondary it’s going to be a long day.

  4. Dusthty Rhothdes Says:

    The other thing is the bucs have played like crap game 2 after season opening wins under koetter and seemed like they won the super bowl and not just a game, that cardinals & minny game were horrible, and now the eagles come calling and i am guessing the ray jay will be lincoln financial south on sunday

  5. Not there yet Says:

    Can’t overcome a sorry coaching philosophy

    Signed, Lovie Smith

  6. PSLBob Says:

    I don’t see a big let down this week. The Arizona melt down last year was on the road and we’ve got Philly at home. Not saying Fitz will put up 48 points, but I think the offense will continue to roll. If the D line can just get a little pressure on Foles, we’ll be fine. The D back rookies will get better each week and hopefully Grimes and VH III will both be back on the field by Week 6 (after the bye). If we can just get one more win in the next three, we should be in good shape for Jameis’ return in Week 6 vs Atlanta.

  7. Brad Says:

    If you know his teams will play hard, Witch they have proven even in losses last year, then it’s on the play calling. Monken was the star Sunday. Fitz was the costar. Even Chucky would try to grind out Ws on the ground with a lead. We played to win for the first time in my memory.

  8. unbelievable Says:

    I have that fear too Joe. Foles has been kryptonite for us. And the eagles defensive line is much better than the saints. This will be a good test for our team!

  9. Brad Says:

    That said, Mike Smith would be the goat, along with McCoy who couldn’t touch Brees up by 20. I’m not sure how to fix that unless Dirk makes a change.

  10. Billy_43 Says:

    I firmly believe this offense will continue to roll and we have a good chance of beating Philly.

    If Foles plays ANYTHING like he did against Atlanta we win by 21.

    He should have thrown like 4 picks in that game and Atlanta couldn’t catch the ball.

    Of course I’m sure Foles is beaming with confidence seeing what Brees did.

    If Smitty could just disguise his coverage we might get a few easy picks.

  11. FreeTheSecretWeapon Says:

    Whitehead anyone???

  12. Pickgrin Says:

    Just like the first game – Bucs OLine play will likely determine the outcome of game 2.

    If the OLine plays as well vs the Eagles as they did on Sunday – Bucs have a very good chance of winning.

  13. 99.97.92.55.47.40.28.20.7 Says:

    Fitz will be running for his life a little bit on Sunday. And just to get back to the line of scrimmage, not to actually gain yards as in NOLA.
    The solution is that our D-Line has to be even more disruptive than theirs.
    This game is about the D-line, not O-line.

  14. Jason Says:

    Nobody is talking about the fact we have TWO guys from the championship team last year. That should be a huge factor in preparation in how we can exploit them and make up for some of our deficiencies

  15. 99.97.92.55.47.40.28.20.7 Says:

    Jason great point

  16. Kobe Faker Says:

    “Philly is going to attack Bucs pass defense with the short screen and crosses. Alot of Agholor, Spoles, clemens, and their 2 tight ends Ertz and Goedart. They will have the exact same gameplan as the Saints getting the ball out quick before the rush gets a chance to disrupt Foles. Philly has 3 all pros in the offensive line.

    other than attacking all the cornerbacks,…

    Doug pederson is going to expose and have the redheaded Kwonie look like a headless chicken trying to pass defend

    Zach Ertz 130 yards 2TDs

    Jay Ajayi 120 yards 2 TDs

  17. Pickgrin Says:

    “Zach Ertz 130 yards 2TDs

    Jay Ajayi 120 yards 2 TDs”

    GTFOOH Kobe Liar. Isn’t it about time for another of your infamous “I will no longer post on JBF if the Bucs win” lies?

  18. orlbucfan Says:

    FreeTheSecretWeapon Says:
    September 12th, 2018 at 10:55 am
    Whitehead anyone???
    ————————————-
    Amen. Kid will be a killer if Buc Luck lays off.

  19. Resurrection of Fitz Says:

    “Why does Joe have a hunch Eagles backup quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles will snap out of his funk this Sunday?”

    Because you lack “Mental Resilience”

    lol

  20. DBBUC Says:

    My thinking on Breeland right now is that he is wanting more money right now than Bucs are willing to pay with their salary cap right now. Considering what he was going to make before his injury release, I am thinking he probably wants 4M+. I could easily be wrong but just my opinion. Think that after this weekend he may come down a bit and Bucs go up a bit and they make it happen.

  21. DRFEELGOOD Says:

    Huge key in Polian’s comments is “they protected him well’. They did!! And, if they continue to do so, I can’t wait to see what JW does with protection and a running game. Love having an experienced Fitz at backup. If he wants, we could have one of the best QB tandems for several years. And I think Ryan Griffin could win a game or two if pushed into duty. Go Bucs!!