Arians Talks Secondary Leakage

November 11th, 2020

Speaks on CB play.

In the past couple of games, the Bucs secondary hasn’t played as strong as it was earlier in the season.

When Danny Dimes was slicing up the Bucs defense, Joe had flashbacks to last season when Dimes did the same thing as a rookie. Joe just chalked that up to him maybe having the Bucs’ number. Some quarterbacks just ball out against some teams for no rhyme or reason (right Kirk Cousins?).

And then last Sunday, Drew Brees lit up the Bucs secondary. Hey, it’s Drew freaking Brees. He’s a Hall of Famer. And he’s gotten rich off torching the Bucs secondary the past decade or so. Joe’s seen that so many times that Sunday night didn’t raise an eyebrow.

So today, Bucco Bruce Arians was asked if second-year corners Sean Murphy-Bunting and Jamel Dean had regressed.

No, Arians said, it probably isn’t that. They are just getting thrown at more, which of course raises the chances of toasting.

“I don’t know if it is so much regression but they are getting targeted because they are not throwing at Carlton [Davis],” Arians laughed. “[Bunting and Dean] are still growing. I don’t think there is any cause for concern with those two guys.”

Is Davis a shutdown corner? Maybe. He usually does very well on other teams’ No. 1 receivers. But the ultimate sign of respect to a corner is when you fear him enough that you don’t throw his way.

16 Responses to “Arians Talks Secondary Leakage”

  1. 813bucboi Says:

    i think there’s some truth to what BA is saying….

    GO BUCS!!!!

  2. ArmchairGM Says:

    DBs take 3-4 years to learn and adjust to the NFL. That’s not my take; that’s the take of almost every former NFL DB. That’s not to say a rookie can’t come in and light it up. I like how are DBs are progressing. They’re good in man-to-man, but are still learning zone (Devin White is still learning both). The Saints game will serve as a wake-up call.

    Looking at the bright side, if the Bucs can go on a run and grab the top wild card seed, they’ll get a lesser opponent in an NFC East team to work on their primetime problems. Downside is they might have to play on the road somewhere up north in January for round 2 (should they make it).

  3. bojim Says:

    Ya think?

  4. gotbbucs Says:

    It’s that, and the fact that they are in your face corners. They don’t do well in space. So live and die by the sword.
    I can live with man corners getting beat on occasion, I can’t handle letting QB’s pick apart a zone. At least in man the QB has to make a good pass. Sure you’ll have some pass interference penalties, but at least you don’t get nibbled to death.

  5. ModHairKen Says:

    The phrase “shut down corner” is so trendy and full of crap. Especially when the team plays zone against Brees. Genius coaching scheme.

    No pass rush. No man coverage. Asses whipped.

  6. Kgh4life Says:

    These CBs were drafted because they excelled in press man coverage, that’s their strength, however, the last couple games Bowles has them playing more zone coverage which they struggle with.

  7. Defense Rules Says:

    @Joe … “it probably isn’t the two are regressing much. They are just getting thrown at more which of course raises the chances of toasting”.

    I’m not sure what to make of BA’s comment, except to agree that Davis is getting targeted a lot less in 2020 than he did in 2019. So is Dean, but SMB is getting targeted a little more this year. For good reason.

    How they’re responding however is quite a bit different. Davis is quite consistent; his completion percentages allowed is 56.3% this year, but was 49.6% in 2019 (so a slight increase there). Dean is also quite consistent; his completion percentage allowed is 56.3% this year identical to Davis), but was 50.0% in 2019 (so a slight increase there also).

    SMB is a different story altogether; his completion percentages allowed is 84.8% this year, as opposed to 65.0% last year … a MAJOR rise. Plus his yds/target is way up, as is the YAC allowed. In his defense though, he’s blitzing a whole bunch (20 times already), but the results aren’t really there (0 sacks, 1 Hurry, 1 Knockdown, 2 Pressures). Not exactly sure what’s going on, but it’s not working very well.

  8. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    We need to use the safety blitzes & LB blitzes…….we need the CBs to man cover……

  9. BucEmUp Says:

    I dont wanna hear this b.s…Brees was completing passes at will against good corners. Why? Well, for starters I COULDN’T EVEN SEE THE CORNERS ON THE DAMN T.V SCREEN!!!!!!! All game they were playing soft zone.Its like the sprint of Mike Smith replaced Todd Bowles and gave the entire game away purposely. ONE BLITZ!!!!! ONE SACK ON ONE BLITZ AND THEY DONT DO IT AGAIN!!!

    Offense? Ive been a critic of the Leftwich hiring from day one. I would describe Leftwich as many would describe Jameis.He has games where he looks like he could be the best ever, and then he turns around and calls the worst game imaginable. Leftwhich is the Jameis of offemsive playcallers. Why the hell they told Brady to throw the ball deep every posession almost the entore first half is beyond me. No trick plays, no pre snap.motions, no cross routes, no deception. Just boring old Leftwich.

    Embarrassing isnt even the word for that game. I think they need to brew up a new term specially to describe that performance.

  10. BucEmUp Says:

    Corners playing 10 yards off the line. I dont understand why they didnt press and blitz all night.Scared of Kamara I guess. I just dont get it….is it in the Tampa Bay Bucaneer handboom that part of this teams oblugations and requirements are to promarilly run soft zone defense as its identity? What in the actually unicorn ass $%#÷ is going on? Not sure why I even give a crap!!!

  11. Jack Burton Mercer Says:

    You can’t regress if you weren’t that good to begin with.

    Also, why bother throwing at 24 if the other guys are on the field. He knew where they were going to be on every play so just go after them.

    Lastly, it’s a common philosophy to go after the other team’s weakest players over and over. If a guy can’t play, it doesn’t matter what defense we call.

  12. Jmarkbuc Says:

    Played the same BS coverage in the Giants game. Didn’t work then either. I don’t understand what Bowles is doing, my grandmother knew to put them man to man

  13. stpetebucsfan Says:

    It seems to me that these guys all came with reps as ball hawks. That is good when disciplined.

    I think SMB is the biggest offender. He guesses and gambles a LOT and consequently gets burnt a lot.

    He’s too young to have heard Kenny Rogers “The Gambler”.

    SMB has yet to master when to hold em and when to fold em.

  14. Show Me the TDs Says:

    No cause for concern? Was he even at the game???

  15. PSL Bob Says:

    At the beginning of last Sunday’s telecast Collinsworth noted that the only way to rattle these QBs is to bring pressure and the team that could pressure the opposing QB the best would win the game. Very prophetic. Saints pressured Brady, the Bucs were not effective at pressuring Brees. The same thing has happened in other games. When we don’t pressure the QB, they pick us apart. Most QBs in the NFL will do that. So Mr. Bowles, I’d suggest getting back into blitzing mode. You either play zone and risk getting sliced or you rush more than 4 and risk getting beat in man coverage. At this point I think I’ll take the later.

  16. Beastman Says:

    The saints had insight plus they just beat us. Not to mention we beat r selves. Plus r olines been shakey are corners been getting beat no change. R d line no pressure. And special teams has been non existent. Plus everybody played slow. Which elevates to one big butt whoopin. Also if we dont fix these issues along with penatys where going know where.