Has Bruce Arians Lost His Fastball?
September 23rd, 2019
Absolutely our beloved 1-2 Buccaneers could find a way to upset the mighty Rams on Sunday and send Bucs Nation into a frenzied love party that would reignite hope within a battered and bruised fan base.
That would make Joe so damn happy.
However, that’s unlikely. And what’s far more likely is the Bucs finishing below .500 and recording their ninth consecutive non-winning season at home.
Regardless, Joe is most concerned about the big picture. Bucco Bruce Arians gave up playcalling to have less stress and more time to focus on other areas of his new team. He also has the biggest staff in NFL history. But so far, the Bucs have showcased ugly special teams, a defense on the decline (one that has yet to defend against an A-list quarterback), and clock management that is highly suspect.
The losing culture Bucs fans are so familiar with? It’s alive and thriving.
In two consecutive games, Arians appeared to choke in the final minutes. Against Carolina it was back-to-back timeouts. (Joe can’t relive yesterday’s fourth quarter. Too soon.)
Team Glazer and Jason Licht were convinced they hired a two-time NFL Coach of the Year still in his prime and one of the great playcallers in modern history.
Maybe they did, but there are too many troubling signs to ignore now and Team Glazer should be on high alert and sniffing out clues that maybe, just maybe, Arians isn’t the guy he once was.
That’s not Joe being an ageist. That’s Joe looking at a powerful head coach who was a powerful personnel force in Arizona and didn’t have a winning record in his final two seasons.
That’s also Joe looking at a head coach who has had health problems and has publicly recognized that he couldn’t continue physically being a head coach without modifying his workload.
Arians deserves a full season before he deserves firm, big-picture judgment. But that shouldn’t stop Bucs officials from being as crazy aggressive and accountability-driven as they expect their head coach to be.
Angry Bucs fans will mis-read this as Joe calling for the coach’s head. Hey, Joe can’t prevent the twisters and haters from going there. Have at it.
Joe’s just saying that after three games and a suspect offseason, there are enough red flags out there for Team Glazer to scrutinize the team in a way now that they didn’t expect to back in January.
JOIN IRA SUNDAY AT THE OLDSMAR BUFFALO WILD WINGS FOR THE BUCS-RAMS GAME.
IT’S A 4 P.M. KICKOFF.
ARRIVE EARLY. GREAT FUN WITH BUCS FANS AND “THE SAGE.”
September 23rd, 2019 at 4:51 pm
#PadThatRetirememt
September 23rd, 2019 at 4:53 pm
Been telling y’all … just because he has had 2 coach of the year awards and he’s won where he’s been and been this QB whisperer does not automatically put the Bucs in the playoffs … but some of y’all been drinking that kool aid .. saying super bowl and playoff this and that … it’s not the coaches it’s the players who get the team there
September 23rd, 2019 at 4:53 pm
On positive note look at this away game stretch
Rams and Seahawks very difficult to beat on the road
However , Saints without brees , panthers with jacked up Newton and titans are 3 teams they should beat.
September 23rd, 2019 at 4:54 pm
Look at the decisions the Cardinals have made…
BA is Steve Keim and Bill Bidwill’s love child…..
BA is a jive talking White Shadow…..
September 23rd, 2019 at 4:56 pm
Team Glazer needs to stare themselves in the damn mirror before anyone else gets scrutinized.
They’re the one’s pulling the trigger on Dominik/Licht/Schiano/Raheem/Lovie/etc. In the end they are ultimately to blame if we are going to go “big picture”
September 23rd, 2019 at 4:57 pm
The old stale moldy biscuit sure pulled his best coaching move yet… convincing the Glazers to get him out of the hot dry dessert to come to beautiful Florida to get paid to drive around on a golf cart and compare fat stomachs with Jason Gump.
September 23rd, 2019 at 4:58 pm
Bird
Would love to agree, But Teddy beat the Hawks on the Road, and Panthers looked better, much better, with Kyle Allen.
September 23rd, 2019 at 4:59 pm
Tom moore just got his grandkids college tuition paid for, thanks bruce!
September 23rd, 2019 at 5:00 pm
Still a lot of football left….
GO BUCS
September 23rd, 2019 at 5:03 pm
HAS BEEN SAID THAT BA WOULD NOT EVEN ASK JAMEIS TO PASS THE SALT AT THE BUC’S TRAINING TABLE!!!!! BUCS DEFENSE HAS ALREADY GIVEN UP 4 PASSES OF 40 OR MORE YARDS.THEY ONLY GAVE UP 6 SUCH PASSES ALL OF LAST YEAR!!!
September 23rd, 2019 at 5:04 pm
No. Rusty yes.
Bruce is coming back. But I think he took preseason light. Instead of full throttle. He said it in his press interview he was yelling at halftime.
September 23rd, 2019 at 5:09 pm
The problem is the Glazers have no sense of football business nor do they have anyone in the building that can lead them in a right direction. Incompetent Litch seized on an opportunity for job security by bringing in an attractive name (just like Lovie was an attractive name). BA is not the answer nor will he right the ship but he sure has employed a lot of coaches on the staff. Also because of Licht Bucs have 5 or more years of acquiring dud players. That coupled with bad game day coaching does not make for a winning culture. After the Bucs go 1-4, I certainly wouldn’t mind a Dolphins like fire sale starting with JW.
September 23rd, 2019 at 5:09 pm
The SKY IS FALLING!!!! This comment section is about to be LIT. Lol.
September 23rd, 2019 at 5:10 pm
F@ck It……
Just fire 🔥 everyone and sell the team to a family that actually knows WTF they’re doing
I used to listen to on the radio to Eric Rhett running the ball because the games were not always on TV.
At this point I wish they would end my suffering because it’s losses like these that ruin my Sunday over and over.
#FANSLIVESMATTER
September 23rd, 2019 at 5:11 pm
Don’t forget the Bucs choked away the 49ers game in the fourth quarter as well.
September 23rd, 2019 at 5:11 pm
Joe I can’t say you are not being fair here.All of those concerns are legitimate.
If they continue we got a problem. But this season is long from over and let’s not pretend there are not real true signs of growth on this team.
The sheer mention about calling for somebody’s head is pure lunacy. No matter how directed. That part of the article I could live without.
September 23rd, 2019 at 5:14 pm
Licht fooled them into thinking they got the Indy and Cards Bruce when we got the semi retired golf cart riddin delegator
This sucks
September 23rd, 2019 at 5:23 pm
Whatever we do, let’s not hire a head of football operations. The glazer boys are doing just fine calling the shots.
September 23rd, 2019 at 5:24 pm
Anyone that didn’t expect to see some of our rough edges showing up early this season was fooling themselves.
Completely new O AND D schemes this year folks…
YES! This machine is not properly tuned yet! YES! NO ONE can disagree with that.
BUT!
Running game looks better.
Evans and Godwin have both already had great games.
Defense is showing up WAY more than last regime.
And Jameis has showed a little more restraint.
There is still so much work to do.
Be patient and enjoy watching the growth of Vea (haha).
Watch this young secondary show Mr. Grimes what he forgot years ago.
Watch Shaq become a friggin COMET coming out of nowhere headed straight for every man that takes a snap.
And then remember, we got JPP and White waiting to get into the mix.
YES! The rough edges are showing!
But if you pay attention you can also see glimpses of the finished product.
We got some very young men out there, and they have plenty of room to grow and learn… And some of them are already playing with their hair on fire (M Edwards anyone?)!
September 23rd, 2019 at 5:27 pm
All those red flags that they did not expect?????????????
If only there was someplace, or someone who had the knowledge, the foresight that told all the sheep of those concerns!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2019 will reveal answers to the sheep, that the “real” fans already know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Shame on all those, that are surprised!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?
September 23rd, 2019 at 5:29 pm
Sooner or later, the league is gonna realize that if they want a win against the BUCS, they are still going to have to show up and get their A$$es stomped on the way.
GO BUCS!
KEEP STOMPING!
September 23rd, 2019 at 5:35 pm
I don’t speak for anyone else I know that. I’m still all in on this staff even if not the entirety of the players. I thought we all knew this defense was suspect at best due to bad drafts etc. Didn’t everyone from the C Suite down to us lowly fans agree that this roster was a shambles that would take time to fix? Isn’t that why Mr. Licht had to get someone like BA to come here? Didn’t our starting free agent DE break his neck in the off season? I didn’t think excellence was going to happen in one season, let alone 3 games into the experiment with this regime as it is. Even with the Joe(s) very valid points, I have to believe the DEAL already accounted for a game like yesterday. The Bucs before this season would panic and react and shuffle. Reacting like that now would be the very definition of insanity. Call me insane but I don’t think the Glazers are insane. Incompetent or too inexperienced at the biz at hand? Possibly. But not insane. Stay the Course!
September 23rd, 2019 at 5:37 pm
My boy Jason and I sure pulled a fast one on you idiots!! Thanks for the extra retirement money! If you don’t stop complaining next year we will draft a holder in the first round! Jason is the kind of GM to do it too! So long chumps!
September 23rd, 2019 at 5:38 pm
Don’t you find it interesting that all of these moves at the time……Lovie, Koetter, Arians…..seemed right…..got great praise…..
Just last week Arians’ positives were off the charts…..now….no so much.
Something simply happens when players & coaches come to the Bucs…..but not all of them…
Evans, Godwin, Marpet, Shaq, JPP…….and yes….maybe even Rojo (the bust) are performing well.
Let’s give it a couple of weeks at least.
September 23rd, 2019 at 5:39 pm
@Joe … “Team Glazer should be on high alert and sniffing out clues that maybe, just maybe, Arians isn’t the guy he once was.”
When it comes to blowing things WAY OUT OF PROPORTION Joe, you have no equal. Not only is the sky falling in Joe’s Bucsville, but all the air has already been sucked out. Maybe, just maybe, three games does not a season make.
I know, off to the cooler …
September 23rd, 2019 at 5:42 pm
You commentary typically focuses on insulting Joe. There are lots of places to get Bucs news and commentary out there. Joe’s not sure why you waste your time here. –Joe
September 23rd, 2019 at 5:44 pm
Does it concern anyone else that Joe and Realist are in agreement?
September 23rd, 2019 at 5:49 pm
@defense rules
All will end up agreeing with The Realist!!!!!!!!!!!!! It just takes longer for some longer to see the truth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep trying to figure it out at your leisure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2020 will reveal even more answers to the sheep, that the “real” fans already know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
September 23rd, 2019 at 5:55 pm
Lol Joe’s absolutely a part of this microwave popcorn generation helping fans panic after 3 games. No its impossible to get better as time goes on under a new coach yea that makes complete sense. Its hilarious to log in a see panic one week and playoff talk the next absolutely hilarious
September 23rd, 2019 at 5:55 pm
Difference between this loss and the last few years was we were the better team to anyone who watched the game.
We ran the ball better. We passed the ball better. We played better D with more pressure on the QB.
But the Giants converted on their 2 point conversions and desperation 4th down play, while the Bucs left 5 points on the board through chip shot FGs. 99% of the time we aren’t talking about this today, because the Bucs win 99% of the time in a game like that.
Last year when we lost we were getting destroyed by the better team in the game. There was no hope in-game. We have yet to experience that this year and should be 3-0. It’s frustrating, but it’s not “stale biscuit” if we’re trying to say this team is just as bad as 2017-2018.
Not that any of this matters to a troll with an agenda. Sick stuff.
Go Bucs.
September 23rd, 2019 at 6:11 pm
Ship thief nice posts.
I especially love the part on watching multiple players hobble off the field against us each and every week.
Finallyy seeing a team with physicality in this town. It’s been a long time.
We are defientally on the right path. Just too much sloppiness right now. If this staff can clean up those edges we will be winning so football games.
P.S. Why is this realist idiot trying to say I told you so after 3 games? This guy is totally lost. Almost like he don’t understand anything about the NFL. He thinks he is a sheppard and yet he has no herd. Us sheep now refer to him as The crazy on the internet.
September 23rd, 2019 at 6:17 pm
Perfect summary Lord. Glad some folks can see how this team is improving.
Reading posts about people giving up on the team and saying to burn it down. Guess some are just too thin skinned.
Luckily the bandwagon always open.
September 23rd, 2019 at 6:46 pm
There is absolutely no doubt that we are improving……would you believe that Rojo has outperformed all three RBs we have come up against….and that includes McCaffery & Barkley….
Our defense is smothering the run game…..and something nobody has mentioned but we had very, very few penalties yesterday….we are improving.
We have some speed and intensity, and we are young….very young.
September 23rd, 2019 at 7:04 pm
“LOL
Looking better?
NY GIANTS DEFENSE IS THE WORST IN THE NFL
Son of Bum Phillips goin to take you sheep back to reality
Son of Bum going to make JW3 do his Jaboo Cha Cha with Donald chasing him all over and Peters and Talib jumping every route
going to be a real defense this sunday”
Son of Kobe Faker
September 23rd, 2019 at 7:17 pm
The only thing the Bucs could be calling for are your press credentials. Why do you hate the Bucs so much? Good Lord already.
September 23rd, 2019 at 7:26 pm
Joe:
You didn’t make me angry. I’m glad someone finally said it! Too many red flags to ignore, and this is a fan base who knows a thing or two about red flags.
September 23rd, 2019 at 7:30 pm
-9.5
Yikes.
September 23rd, 2019 at 7:32 pm
They all laugh all the way to the bank. You don’t have to be a genius to realize that when they come here, they know there’s no chance so they collect their paychecks.
September 23rd, 2019 at 7:36 pm
The crazy thing is if we just clean up some of these mistakes we could have easily been 3-0 or 0-3. All close games and the ones lost were due to individual breakdowns. Let’s see how this year plays out. Go Bucs!!
September 23rd, 2019 at 7:38 pm
The game has pasted him by. What I see from the Bucs looks nothing like the modern game. Licht convinced the Glazers his drafts were solid, and all we needed was a real coach to get through to the likes of Jameis. It ain’t happening folks. Jameis is not a franchise QB, Licht is the worst GM in the league, BA needs to go back to the assisted living home, the Jets had a bad defense, and the fans couldn’t wait to get rid of Bowles. The team should change their name to the Dumpster Fire. Put a flaming sh#t can on the side of their helmets.
September 23rd, 2019 at 7:56 pm
Just a reminder that Dungy was 0-5 to start and 1-8 after 9 games with two blowout loses to the 5-11 Detroit Lions.
September 23rd, 2019 at 8:03 pm
If tmaxcon was here he’d call it a paid Glazer vacation. I don’t think you are being unfair here. One has to believe ownership took notice of that game, how it was called, and who the players are on the field.
Pay no mind to the haters because they will read what they want to read. They do it in the comments section all the time. No big deal.
September 23rd, 2019 at 8:06 pm
My lord this starts already? Smh
September 23rd, 2019 at 8:07 pm
Hodad—
You are a useless ankle-biting POS who is a byproduct of two married cousins. Go back to your cellar where your daughters are locked up.
September 23rd, 2019 at 8:20 pm
None of this is surprising.
If anyone is surprised by any of this then you haven’t been paying attention.
September 23rd, 2019 at 8:34 pm
I was excited as anyone to land a “name” coach. Of course he’s pushing 70 and a golf cart these days. I know he wanted to do Licht Weight a solid and it would be next to impossible to turn down the Bucs offer. This likely won’t end well like so many things Buc related this past decade. Backing up a kicker to a distance beyond where he already missed twice from was absolutely asinine.
September 23rd, 2019 at 8:51 pm
Bucnjim Says:
September 23rd, 2019 at 7:56 pm
Just a reminder that Dungy was 0-5 to start and 1-8 after 9 games with two blowout loses to the 5-11 Detroit Lions
^^^Then they went west. That San Diego game was the game that everyone went… “holy sheeeet were getting… good!?” Ah the memories!
September 23rd, 2019 at 8:52 pm
You guys just set back and watch it this Sunday. The Rams are a quality opponent and we will absolutely go into their house and go to to toe with them.
Then all’s y’all will got left to say is “Oh” I won’t guarantee a win but their aren’t no way we aren’t going to St Louis and New Orleans and not taking one of them game. Just won’t happen. Until then continue on with your ankle biting(thanks Todd, too funny not to repeat).
September 23rd, 2019 at 8:53 pm
And then we’ll be back right in the thickets of the NFC South.
September 23rd, 2019 at 8:57 pm
None of this spit matters. This is JWs prove it year. Can he play the system or not? Any wins will be celebrated ignore the losses. Next year BA will have his QB or Leftwich will be the HC and BA as a pres. type quality control guy I dont see BA lasting 2 seasons in this heat with a bum ticker. He looked super bad at the post game presser.
September 23rd, 2019 at 9:25 pm
Pel. Jason didn’t bring in Lovie. Lovie is the one that brought in Jason
September 23rd, 2019 at 9:32 pm
@Jimmyjack,
St Louis? Go back to smoking your bong, dude!
September 23rd, 2019 at 9:32 pm
You nailed it, Joe. It’s the culture!! BA is going head to head with that culture and it’s kicking his ass right now. Hopefully he can get this thing under control before the culture wears him down like so many before him
September 23rd, 2019 at 10:10 pm
Hey Todd,
What happened to your 6-0 start you predicted.
LOL!
September 23rd, 2019 at 10:28 pm
Problem starts at the top.
The Glazer children are simply incompetent.
September 23rd, 2019 at 11:06 pm
Great headline! I agree, my spider senses are tingling.
I am the same age as the Biscuit and I begrudgingly admit that my blazing fastball is barely surpassing 80 MPH lately. I am in a lot better shape than BA.
Time to extinguish the Gumpster Fire!
September 24th, 2019 at 12:38 am
We play at about what our talent level is
September 24th, 2019 at 10:08 am
Todd Says:
September 23rd, 2019 at 8:07 pm
Hodad—
You are a useless ankle-biting POS who is a byproduct of two married cousins. Go back to your cellar where your daughters are locked up.
————————-
How’s that crow taste bud? You deserve every thing you get.