Chris Simms Breaks Down Bucs Loss

September 16th, 2020

Film study.

Former Bucs quarterback Chris Simms not only watched the Bucs lose to the slimy Saints Sunday live, he went back to the film room to find what he missed.

Simms had a lot to say on his “Unbuttoned” podcast and Joe was taking notes.

* “Best player on offense (Mike Evans) wasn’t 100 percent,” Simms said. “You cannot underestimate how Mike Evans was not 100 percent. … He opens up a lot of things. He changes the way defenses play.”

* New Orleans Saints defense “is the real deal.”

* Still no Bucs running game.

* On the Bucs pass-blocking, Simms said, “Watching back on film, I wouldn’t say it was horrible but it wasn’t great. … I do think that the offensive line, pass protection-wise was probably better than I thought it was going to be.”

* “There were issues there that were greater than Tom Brady.”

* One reason the Bucs’ offense seemed so smooth on the opening drive was that Simms said it came straight from the Patriots playbook. Simms would know, as he spent one season as an offensive quality control assistant with the Belicheats before jumping into the sports media world. “I could see right away they were running some Tom Brady plays like he ran in New England to get him into a rhythm. … You can see that they are still trying to work together (Arians’ offense with Brady’s skillset).

* The Saints took away things Brady likes. “That is the biggest thing that jumped out to me more than anything.”

* Brady “still has a really great arm. Brady, physically, it is still very impressive. It really is.”

* Foot-rubbing Bucs tight end Rob Gronkowski “did not look good.”

* “I really like Saints defensive coordinator Dennis Allen. When you play big games, he will do sh!t you are not ready for. They were smart in not over-blitzing Brady. Like, ‘Oh, here is the blitz and they are outnumbered in the secondary.’ They did just the opposite. That caused some hiccups [with the Bucs].”

* “And the Bucs [defensive coordinator Todd Bowles] did a lot of that to the Saints. They took that sh!t away.” Simms added he was impressed how Michael Thomas was all but taken out of the game.

* “This Bucs team, it does have potential,” Simms said. “There is no doubt about that. It can be [dangerous] if they can find ways to make that the Brady/Arians offense cohesive.”

* Simms said the offense being effective may hinge on if Arians can figure out how to get the run game in gear. “They have to run the football a little bit. They really do. That’s going to be big for them. “

18 Responses to “Chris Simms Breaks Down Bucs Loss”

  1. Razor Ramone Says:

    Defense looked fast. They’re gonna have to hold the fort til offense figures it out. ( sooner than later I hope) Go Bucs.

  2. ClodHopper Says:

    His podcast is fantastic! If there’s a better national analysts out there I haven’t seen one.

  3. Look at my stats, I'm ballin Says:

    Shocking, it’s like the offensive line that were always bad at run blocking, are still bad at it!

  4. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    Considering field position, points off turnovers…..our Defense did extremely well.

  5. Alanbucsfan Says:

    Agree with TampaBaybucfan.
    Both teams played good D.
    3 Bucs turnovers converted to 13 Saints points.
    Saints had 0 turnovers
    Bucs lost by 11.
    Turnovers were the difference.

  6. DalvinCookRules Says:

    I thought the reason we like Brady over JW so much was that he was a lot smarter and wiser and could read defenses better. Isn’t Brady supposed to have seen it all? So then what does it mean when the Saints defense did things the Bucs were “not ready for”?

  7. 813bucboi Says:

    alanbucsfan

    agreed…

    GO BUCS!!!!

  8. Youngbucs Says:

    I look at the film gronk was open a couple of times Brady didn’t see him.

  9. desanova Says:

    The offensive playcalling needs to change. It assumed way too much about the offensive line. We either ran Rojo between the tackles or sent the receivers on intermediate routes. I know Brady’s no rookie, but how about getting everybody’s feet wet and just making some plays with some short passes and screens? The blocking wasn’t there for long patterns either.

  10. Hodad Says:

    Thanks for the exspleanation!

  11. Bellingham Bucs Fan Says:

    My exact words after that first drive were, “this is Pats ball!” Then not so much.

  12. Bellingham Bucs Fan Says:

    Dalvin, we don’t need to argue that Brady is smarter than Winston. Come on, man. Water is wet. The sun is hot. Not things we go around arguing about.

  13. bojim Says:

    Like Simms. He needs to lose the Eddie Bauer shirts though. 😉

  14. Chris@Apple Roof Cleaning Tampa Says:

    I agree, we must have a running game of some kind, and we have failed to show that.
    I like ROJO, but IMHO, he goes down way to easily.
    Think about it ? When was the last time you saw him break a Tackle ?
    I sure hope Fornette learn the plays very soon, because I feel he will be better for our current blocking prowess than ROJO.
    Save ROJO for when the other team is tired, then run him outside where a tight end seals a block.

  15. BucDan Says:

    Two turnovers led to 14 points. We lost by 11.

    Clean up the offense and special teams ASAP.

  16. BucDan Says:

    Forgot to add a blocked field goal as well.

  17. Jeebs the Honey Bear Says:

    Look at my comments since Sunday. I’ve been hammering that the first drive looked completely scripted by Brady, straight from his NE days. We marched with ease! Then we went right back to Leftwich ball: 1-2 yard runs on first downs, pass plays that take too long to develop, lack of play action… Leftwich still didn’t figure out his deficiencies as a playcaller from last year; he must have thought Winston was the only reason it wasn’t working. Newsflash: Your playcalling sucks! Let Brady take over as OC, with a no-huddle, quick pass, call plays at the line based on defensive look.. this offense will HUM!! And for the love of God use play action more! We don’t need to have a running attack for it to work…. It works in its own merits. BRADY FOR OC

  18. Aa ron Says:

    Jameis would have thrown 3-5 picks in that game