Defense Manned Up
October 21st, 2018
Say what you want about the Bucs defense, which crumbled and allowed 21 second-half points, overall the defense did a hell of a lot of good things it hadn’t done in a while.
First and foremost, Joe saw many Browns receivers that were actually covered by defensive backs. What a concept!!
Second, five sacks by the Bucs defense — or any defense — is nothing to sneeze at (even if those sacks were the only Bucs QB hits of the game).
There were two key 3-and-outs in overtime, which were absolutely huge.
No Gerald McCoy. No Vinny Curry. No Kwon Alexander for half the game. And perhaps most important, no Mike Smith for the entire game.
It’s not a championship Bucs defense by any stretch. But it was better today. They kept the Browns in front of them and got off the field on third down. The Browns were just 3-of-14 on the money down.
Duffner had the defense more aggressive in all areas, as well, especially with the cornerbacks at the line of scrimmage.
It’s a start on the march back to defensive respectability.
And how about that goal line stand!
October 21st, 2018 at 5:07 pm
WILL my comment post
October 21st, 2018 at 5:08 pm
No one is buying the hype. Sorry. Cheaper, better options found elsewhere. It is over.
October 21st, 2018 at 5:08 pm
Just having the man leading the charge on the battle field with his troops instead of eating nachos in the AC can make a BIG difference.
October 21st, 2018 at 5:09 pm
Move Lavonte to the middle if Kwon is done for the season.
October 21st, 2018 at 5:10 pm
Defense was atrocious the 2nd half.
October 21st, 2018 at 5:11 pm
Why would Nassib wait to play his former team to show up?
October 21st, 2018 at 5:12 pm
It’s possible Kwon won’t play another game for the Bucs.
October 21st, 2018 at 5:12 pm
Better than Mike Smith I’ll give him that. Not much else though.
October 21st, 2018 at 5:13 pm
Don’t sugar coat. They still stunk it up.
October 21st, 2018 at 5:13 pm
Browns a lot better than people give credit for.
October 21st, 2018 at 5:13 pm
It’s a start on the march back. Hahahahahahaha
What a mess with no end in sight.
October 21st, 2018 at 5:14 pm
Yeah and the offense committed another 4 turnovers
13 in 4 games
October 21st, 2018 at 5:14 pm
Always plays better without McCoy
October 21st, 2018 at 5:14 pm
D played with heart and effort. We saw glimpses of a pass rush and contested catches and coverage. Vea is a work in progress- very, very raw- but I’m not sure we missed McCoy or Curry. Nassib had a career game. LBs played downhill- tough break for Kwon who was a different player today- looks like we may be out with a knee. What a beautiful mess of a game.
October 21st, 2018 at 5:15 pm
I want to know what teams are beating down the Buc’s door to trade for Geraldini?
October 21st, 2018 at 5:15 pm
Defense stepped up big time, especially on 3rd downs. That goal line stand was beautiful and for them to come up with big stops and a turnover in OT is almost unheard of for a Bucs defense lately.
I saw Duff Man talking his guys up on the sidelines. I’d like to think that has some value to the men playing the game. Keep it up guys and Jameis, great win.
October 21st, 2018 at 5:16 pm
Why are we getting the pump up the terrible defense articles? Where is the article explaining why Rodgers was even on the fields at the end of the game?
October 21st, 2018 at 5:17 pm
“Always plays better without McCoy”
I’d love a stat by stat comparison of the defense with and without McCoy because I believe this statement to be true!
October 21st, 2018 at 5:17 pm
For having a short time to prepare , limited talent on Defense tonwek with and a few key injuries I thought Duffner did well. Hopefully things are looking up. A win is a win!
October 21st, 2018 at 5:17 pm
Season is Over
Because Koetter trusts Quizz. And Quizz won’t fumble and is great at pass pro. That’s why.
October 21st, 2018 at 5:18 pm
Duffner did a good job keeping the defense sharp with backups. The goal line stand was amazing!
October 21st, 2018 at 5:18 pm
Duffner was here the whole time. They did not stop the rookie QB Mayfield today. The rookie had two TDs, no picks and a 100 rating. The defense was terrible.
October 21st, 2018 at 5:19 pm
Tell me again, joe, how is calling Winston a probowler isn’t an insult to the game of football. Say hi to Bobby “he’s a top 10 qb” Fenton while you’re at it
October 21st, 2018 at 5:20 pm
The browns OL has the31st worst ol in football only bucs is worst, so lets not get crsxy on this defense, oh ya & a rookie qb that had dudes wide open all day
October 21st, 2018 at 5:20 pm
So is Nassib the starter over curry now?
October 21st, 2018 at 5:22 pm
Mike-Smith-Free defense played MUCH better! Will be even better when McCoy comes back
October 21st, 2018 at 5:22 pm
@ season
There is a difference between being a linebackers coach and a defensive coordinator. It’s obvious Duffner wanted to play his guy different than what Mike Smith had then doing. We are a long way from being Suoerbowl ready, but the defence looked way better than they did in the previous 5 games.
October 21st, 2018 at 5:23 pm
As bad as the Bucs defense has been you can’t blame this effort on them. Jameis and his offense just never could put this game away early. Way too many turnovers and penalties and way too many missed opportunities left on the field. 32/52 …61.5% completion percentage is not terrible but is average. It’s a shame he struggles with his vertical passing accuracy. DJax is a weapon being wasted.
October 21st, 2018 at 5:30 pm
Well at least moving Duffner to DC was s step up. Only allowed 305 net yards, 5 sacks, and held Browns to 3/14 on 3rd down. Even with all those injuries, they played hard…
OK now the bad news….
Jameis is GARBAGE!!! This dude is a sieve when it comes to turnovers…This is YEAR 4, so I’m done with this guy. With all of the off-field stunts, he is obviously not worth it anymore in my eyes…
Put Fitz back in!!!! D-Jax will certainly be happy. He runs a better offense period!!! Trade Jameis & McCoy for as much as you can get..
Time to move on!!!!!
October 21st, 2018 at 5:35 pm
New rule: we ain’t talking about anything other than that goal line stand!!! All week!!! Lol. #McIceCream
October 21st, 2018 at 5:37 pm
That just shows how important Kwon is he leaves and the whole defense is lost
October 21st, 2018 at 5:38 pm
Kwon Alexander has an ACL issue according to sources of Ian Rappaport
October 21st, 2018 at 5:38 pm
Let’s keep the excitement in perspective – It was the Browns
October 21st, 2018 at 5:42 pm
Is the D not being able to protect a 2 touchdown lead is JW’s fault?
October 21st, 2018 at 5:43 pm
Re Rick: if he can put two games like this on tape he should definitely be starting! Kid played lights out off the edge. Is there any coach sitting at home who can teach run blocking? That would be a huge benefit to all of our running backs. To few holes ever being opened for the RBs to get squared up and running downhill. You have to at least give them a chance to get their wheels turning. Defense? I was shocked to see guys up on the line of scrimmage instead of playing 5 to 10 yds off! Did they still get toasted sometimes? Sure but it was great to at least see a Buc in the same frame on tv with a receiver! Plus a couple of nice breakups and and least made r3cievers fight for some balls. I consider that alone a big improvement over Smith. GO BUCS
October 21st, 2018 at 5:46 pm
When your QB commits 3 turnovers your defense HAS to step up
October 21st, 2018 at 5:55 pm
I only counted three wide-open receivers all game long, for the Browns. Under the previous DC we would have seen three wide open receivers in three passing attempts (or in the same play, for that matter)!
The Browns have a lot of good players and if they can eliminate their Browns/ Bucs-like mistakes, they can contend; four overtime games out of six? That is crazy! They are no cupcakes.
The defense was much better. It will be a rarity that a defense will control an offense for an entire game, in today’s NFL. We needed improvement and we saw quite a bit of it today. Lets hope it continues!
October 21st, 2018 at 6:02 pm
With the Bucs offense give up 24 or less and they will have a shot at winning virtually any game. Mike Smith couldn’t figure it out. Cincinnati will be a huge test.
October 21st, 2018 at 6:30 pm
@BrianBucs … “Let’s keep the excitement in perspective – It was the Browns.” After watching the whole game, I agree with you Brian. Bucs did some very good things; they did some really dumb things. Against probably any other NFL team we would’ve lost that game handily … than heavens we were playing the Browns.
Loved some of the stuff I was seeing out of the Bucs defense today, in particular the more aggressive play of the Secondary. That right there made a mammoth difference. Hope Kwon’s injury isn’t an ACL like some have stated (with Beckwith on IR, we really don’t have another starting-calber MLB right now IMO).
Next man to be fired on the Bucs has to be S/T coach Kaczor. S/T play continues to be abysmal & could very easily have lost us yet another game. Catanzaro’s Impossible Dream came true (his 59 yarder to win the game), but his earlier misses were atrocious. No excuse for his performance this season. And no excuse for the terrible kick coverage we saw a couple of times.
I thought the TEAM played excellent COMPLIMENTARY FOOTBALL … for the first half. Then things kinda fell apart along those lines in the second half. For the game, Bucs offense dominated the stats, with almost 38 mins TOP to 30 mins TOP for the Browns (including overtime). Bucs had a whopping 34 first downs (to 17 for Cleveland) & were 3-for-3 in the Red Zone (awesome). Our 4 turnovers (2 fumbles & 2 INTs) hurt, but the Bucs’ defense compensated pretty well in those cases I thought. Bucs OLine was bad yet again IMO, giving up 5 sacks & doing little to help the running game (114 yds, BUT 55 yds was by Jameis on broken plays). Reality was that the Browns screwed themselves time-and-time-again by committing a whopping 14 penalties for 114 yds. They won’t win many games like that.
October 21st, 2018 at 6:39 pm
5 turnovers!!!!!!! Who wins giving up the ball 5 times??? The D won this game idiots!!!!!!
October 21st, 2018 at 6:48 pm
Give me a d##ed break! The strength of this 2018 team is the offense!! Is Koetter on dope? He totally wasted the talent on this offense today. What happened after the great reverse play to the diva? No more imaginative plays. Total waste of ME13, Godwin, Hump, Brate, OJ, Barber..what gives here?????????????