Prediction Coming True
December 11th, 2019
Health a key.
Hey, remember the Bucs defense last year?
Oh, sorry. Joe didn’t mean for you to puke all over your keyboard at work or have to reschedule your therapist appointment.
The defense last year for the Bucs was so bad you just wanted to club someone with nunchucks. Joe still cannot believe a member of the Glazer family didn’t just lose it and wing a chair onto the field like Bobby Knight all the way from the Team Glazer suite.
After all, most of us were watching that rat feces free (on TV), while tens of thousands of diehard Bucs fans were paying perhaps thousands to be subjected to that tripe. But remember, Team Glazer was paying tens of millions to watch what was the football equivalent of the neighborhood cat dropping a load on your front porch.
As jet-flyin’, kiss–stealin‘, data-analyzin’, Bucs-film-studyin’, limousine-ridin’ Thomas Bassinger of the Tampa Bay Times points out, the crowd over at Football Outsiders in their preseason almanac predicted the Bucs defense would improve and it would have nothing to do with the coaches, though they did predict defensive coordinator Todd Bowles would get much of the credit.
But why would a defense improve under a new defensive coordinator yet the same coach wouldn’t/shouldn’t get credit?
Injuries. Or lack of them.
And that, boys and girls, is why Bill Parcells once said, “Your best ability is availability.”
To that end, wasn’t it fun to watch the total jailbreak the Colts’ pass rush turned into when left tackle Donovan Smith left the game last week? That was a little peek into why Bucs types value Smith’s durability so much — he hasn’t missed a start in his NFL career, 77 straight.
December 11th, 2019 at 10:07 am
When you have three rooks and a second yr guy in your secondary you are going to look like sh!t. These kids are growing before our eyes and it is fun to watch.
December 11th, 2019 at 10:17 am
this defense is much better than smittys defense…..
realist in 3,2,1…..lol….
GO BUCS!!!!!
December 11th, 2019 at 10:23 am
This defense reminds me of the koetter 9-7 faux defense that ended the year and gave the bucs fans wearing bucs shade confidence going into the next year. This team and this defense is still really bad and has tons of holes; they have beaten a few super bad teams and should not feel proud until they win a game that counts and is meaningful these wins are just perfume on a pig and losing a good player in the draft
December 11th, 2019 at 10:25 am
under smitty we couldnt stop the run, rush the passer or stop the pass game….
under TB, we’re stopping the run, putting pressure on the QB…young DBs are starting to develop into NFL caliber players…..
GO BUCS!!!!!
December 11th, 2019 at 10:35 am
The defense does appear to have turned a corner. Last week was pretty ugly in the secondary at times. Hoping for a bounce back for the last three games. The distraction of the Winston INTs is hiding the fact that the Bucs got roasted pretty bad in the secondary a couple of times. A 46 yard pass play with little coverage and a 50 yard pass play at the end of the half that just shouldn’t have happened. All from a Jacoby Brissett that played far from stellar. Like Mr. Wolf said:
“Well, lets not start sucking each other’s —– quite yet”
Finish the season!!!!
December 11th, 2019 at 10:35 am
Todd Bowles brought more than a can of air freshener to change the smell of the defense. Did you notice that defenders are generally in the same area code as receivers…amazing.
December 11th, 2019 at 10:37 am
I agree with SB. It has been a long time since we had a core of a good defense to watch grow up. You swap out lots of guys in the process of building a great D, but you need a core. That core appears to be Vita Vea, White (sorry, but Lavonte is probably too old to still be here when this group is truly good), and a few candidates in the secondary that may show they can be that guy.
We also have to be realistic and look around the league at what we think are very good defenses. Anyone that’s been an NFL fan for years has trouble calling defenses that give up multiple TDs a “great” D. But the game is higher scoring, so a team that gives up 20 or so, keeps the opponent at field goals after a turnover and doesn’t have any meltdowns in the 4th quarter may be all we can hope for… the days of holding teams to 6 or 9 points are over. D Brooks doesn’t work here anymore – and most of the hits him and Lynch are legendary for are no longer legal anyway.
December 11th, 2019 at 10:38 am
I would still like to see the secondary line up one way and turn from man coverage to zone coverage, varying from zone one through three.
That would confuse QBs more and add to Shaq’s sack total.
They are progressing as team though. Not a lot of totally blown coverages of late. A few gambles got away, but that is the nature pf gambles.
December 11th, 2019 at 10:38 am
The reason the Bucs have been so bad in the past is because management would be more worried about draft position than team morale. Guys want to win! You force enough losses on them and they want out. If not out of town, then out mentally. This team will benefit from BA teaching them how to win. In December and beyond.
December 11th, 2019 at 10:40 am
Just wishing for the best out of SMB , CD33 , ME34 JD35, and MJS36,
December 11th, 2019 at 10:59 am
People please stop with the we’ve beat some really bad teams. We’re beating teams we should beat unlike the Giants debacle. Some of you do called fans who’d be talking about how bad we suck if we’d lost the last 3, but win them and these same “fans” want to talk about how bad the teams are that we beat. Enjoy the wins and hope this very young team is getting some confidence and it turns into teams not being able to pencil in a win on their schedule when they play us.
December 11th, 2019 at 11:25 am
JPP and Shaq are the reason
December 11th, 2019 at 11:26 am
Realist is going to just post aggregate point totals which of course look bad this year just like every year.
The key is whether or not the last 3 games have actually represented a turned corner and whether it is sustainable going into 2020.
To me the biggest thing is the coverage has tightened up in ways I can’t remember seeing for any past defense. That’s been the #1 problem with our defense for the last decade, and the #1 improvement I’m now seeing.
There were plays against Matt Ryan where he had all day and still didn’t find anyone. There have been legit coverage sack plays where the QB had a long time but no one was open because of how well our corners played.
Still need at least one more legit CB & one more legit S to say our back-end is adequate enough to not hold us back anymore IMO
December 11th, 2019 at 11:26 am
The defense is still bad, but it is showing significant improvement.
December 11th, 2019 at 11:33 am
” please stop with the we’ve beat some really bad teams”
Agree. This is a team that went to LA and beat the Rams and should have also beaten Seattle & Tennessee on the road. All 3 are legit teams.
In general our team hasn’t been blown out and destroyed by anyone this year compared to season’s past. We haven’t really been in the Saints games too much but for the past few years literally 1 in every 4 game we haven’t even been competitive to where it’s a 3 score game in the 3rd quarter.
That hasn’t been the case this year.
December 11th, 2019 at 12:07 pm
More weapons for Bowles! We need to get better on the defensive side of the ball so we overcome the poor play or our QB .To win with Winston our defense needs 3 to 4 turnover per game to break even. Winston as our QB we need to match turnover for turnover or get a another QB…….
December 11th, 2019 at 12:12 pm
I actually think our defense is CLOSE.
I agree with the crowd that thinks a few free agent O Linemen combined with Swift in the 1st round makes sense.
Depending on how these last 3 games play out, our draft pick could be exactly where the 1st running back usually goes.
If no good Linemen are available, we HAVE to draft them.
I’m for 1st and 2nd round.
December 11th, 2019 at 12:43 pm
@Robert – Devin White sure has come on lately as well. His contribution should NOT be understated.
December 11th, 2019 at 9:04 pm
We’ve actually been able to see some pd’s on of all things slant routes!!!! Who woulda thunk it??? We’ve been able to see some better tracking as well not just players tackling each other out of making a play on the ball!!!
December 11th, 2019 at 9:48 pm
813. REALIST IS ONE NAME I HAVMT MISSED COMMENTING IF IT MEANS FOR THE BUCS TO WIN TO KEEP HIM AWAY WELL SOMBE IT