“We Looked Like The Jets”
November 14th, 2020
“He ain’t lying.”
The way a former Bucs player sees it, the Bucs last Sunday night looked more like a team tanking for Trevor Lawrence than a team trying to win its division.
Yeah, the Bucs looked so bad in the Saints Seal-Clubbing that former Bucs guard Ian Beckles thought he was watching the Jets instead of the Bucs.
“Pump the brakes, quickly,” Beckles said on his podcast “In the Trenches.” “We are clearly not as good as we thought we were. Now that happens [bad games] every once in a while, but not really like that.
“For this Buccaneers team to be as talented — I’m doing air-quotes — as they are, to get blowed [sic] out like that — we looked like the Jets pretty much. I don’t know if we should underreact or overreact to that football game.
“But I do know this: Our defense is not quite as stout up front without Vita Vea. Our pass rush isn’t what it used to be. Our DBs are having *big-time* trouble two weeks in a row covering anybody.
“We’re having issues with running backs out of the backfield. There are a lot of things happening that ain’t good. Our offensive line ain’t pushing nobody.”
Beckles was outraged the Bucs only ran the ball four times (he wasn’t counting Blaine Gabbert’s kneel-down). He thought Bucs coach Bucco Bruce Arians hung the offensive line out to dry by not even trying to run.
“If you just sit back there and throw it every down like we did, you are going to get your quarterback killed,” Beckles said. “You are going to have your offensive line lose confidence in themselves. … Donovan Smith didn’t have the best game in the world but he wasn’t put in a good situation.
“I don’t know if we were worse offensively, defensively or just straight-up coaching.”
The Bucs crapping the bed on the road would have been somewhat understandable, Beckles said. But doing this at home is unacceptable (and people wonder why Joe calls the stadium on Dale Mabry Highway the “Den of Depression.”)
“When you don’t get a first down until the second quarter and your first four drives are three-and-out, championship teams don’t do that against anybody at home,” Beckles said.
Beckles is worried the Giants found weaknesses in the Bucs and the Saints completely exposed them.
“I’m scared that there is a template out there,” Beckles said. “Drew Brees threw to 12 different players. Let’s do the math. … I don’t know how that happens?”
Some Bucs defenders were just punching a clock, Beckles believes, and figured all they had to do was tie their shoelaces at the Den of Depression and they’d get picks and fumble recoveries.
Other Beckles thoughts from the Saints Seal-Clubbing:
* On Jamel Dean: “I’m not sure what his assets are. But I can tell you his liabilities. He can’t cover nobody.”
* “Tackling was shoddy all day long.”
* Not all defenders blew chunks. “I see some prideful people on our defense. I see JPP. He’s a prideful person. He’s p!ssed. Shaq Barrett is p!ssed. He doesn’t want to get drubbed like that on national TV.”
* As Joe has stated, Joe really wants to see how the biggest and brightest coaching staff responds to that turd-dropping. So does Beckles. “I see a lot of the same things happening and our defense and our offense and our coaching staff couldn’t figure it out. And that is scary. Good teams figure it out.”
* Beckles is inclined to blame park-violating, home-invading, NFLPA-ignoring, down-forgetting, jet-ski-losing Bucs quarterback Tom Brady on the bad offense, not the offensive line. Beckles said it was clear to him Saints defender Trey Hendrickson had figured out Brady’s cadence, which did Donovan Smith no favors. “The offensive line didn’t play well but a lot of that was on Tom Brady, everybody. I’m telling ya. … That looked like Jameis Winston. … You know it!”
* Sounding like a man who thinks the Bucs are in for a dogfight to get a wild card berth as a result of the past two games. Beckles said no way the Bucs beat the Dixie Chicks twice and people better be worried about the Stinking Panthers who Beckles called “good. … Carolina is no joke.”
* “Byron Leftwich and Bruce Arians should be ashamed of themselves for such a terrible gameplan in such a pivotal football game.” But blame a team effort, he said. “Who played well? Nobody. Who coached well? Nobody. Nobody.”
As always, Beckles welcomes feedback and encourages listeners to submit Bucs questions by e-mailing him at IanBeckles@RadioInfluence.com.
November 14th, 2020 at 6:49 am
I’m gaining a whole new world of respect for Ian Beckles. No sugar-coating; tells it like it is (or was in this case).
Great line: ““I don’t know if we were worse offensively, defensively or just straight-up coaching.”
And then the crescendo: “Byron Leftwich and Bruce Arians should be ashamed of themselves for such a terrible gameplan in such a pivotal football game.”
B-I-N-G-O we have a winner! I’m convinced that ANY current NFL coach could have a 6-3 record right now with this team; the accumulated talent is that good. Our losses & tight games are totally on coaching IMO. BA’s lost a lot of respect in my eyes, despite his earlier ‘record of achievement’ as an OC & HC. Time catches up with all of us eventually. BL’s ‘record of achievement’ as an OC wasn’t there to start with, and he hasn’t earned it since becoming our OC in my eyes. BOTH of them need to get their act together … FAST.
November 14th, 2020 at 7:23 am
Totally agree.
November 14th, 2020 at 7:23 am
Exactly sums it up!
November 14th, 2020 at 7:27 am
It was all on Brady?????? Is he blocking???? Where is the scheme to actually have a short quick passing game?????? You know Ian always makes good points, but give Tom a clean pocket or get the ball out quick and help the line. You give Tom time and he is a surgeon. It was not a good plan for the Saint game from BA and TB and BL. GO BUCS!!!!!!
November 14th, 2020 at 7:31 am
It’s Saturday……where has Beckles been…….we have a game tomorrow….time to move on….
I sure hope the team isn’t dwelling on last week or they will get stomped.
November 14th, 2020 at 8:06 am
Byron Leftwich new head coach of Jets. Looks like if the Jets have the number one pick Trevor Lawrence is going to return to Clemson for his senior year. I can’t blame him.
November 14th, 2020 at 8:32 am
Tired of hearing about these coaches. Seems to be a repetitive theme.
I have no faith in our coaches anymore. Ridiculous.
November 14th, 2020 at 9:49 am
The last thing the Bucs should be doing is reading their own press clippings. If they don’t play better this week and the coaches don’t coach better after the total embarrassment last week, there’s no difference from last year. Totally unimpressed with BA and BL at this point. How BL can be considered for a head coaching position is curious. Many times he lacks imagination and reverts to the same old same old. We’ve seen that too many times before. Secondary remains suspect. Still 6-3 is nothing to sneeze at, but the chances of missing the playoffs are real unless they get their crap together. They are still the Cardiac Kids.
November 14th, 2020 at 9:54 am
Couldn’t agree more with his assessment.
November 14th, 2020 at 11:35 am
@ august 1976
Many fans would ask if jameis was blocking, playing defense, kicking or scheming for 5 years yet he was still blamed for EVERY lost. Whats good for the goose…… now hopefully tampa fans see how ridiculous blaming one player for a lost or praising one player for the win truly is. I doubt it. Many buc fans believe Brady won 6 six super bowls all by himself so it was going to automatically happen now that he plays in Tampa. It takes a TEAM!!! The bucs have a lot of work to do if Super bowl is the goal. If its merely a “race to 10”, then they can just keep doing what they are doing.
November 14th, 2020 at 11:38 am
One thing I agree with him 100% on is Jamel Dean. That guy is waaaaay too stiff to be a good change of direction cover corner. It takes very little wiggle for a good WR to leave him in their tracks.
Biggest coaching staff in the NFL, most poorly prepared team. Too many voices in those meeting rooms. Arians is just along for the ride. He’s not game planning, thats why he looks so confused on the sideline. He’s letting his daycare coaching staff orchestrate all of this during the week and then game day rolls around and he’s trying to figure out what the hell they were thinking in real time, just like all of us.
The only thing that can hold this much talent on offense back is scheme, or lack there of. That is the one and only thing. Arians/Leftwich offensive scheme is just as stupid and rigid as Lovie Smith defensive scheme. Zero imagination, whatsoever.
November 14th, 2020 at 11:44 am
Unprepared.
Been saying the same thing since the Sunday night massacre.
Go Bucs!!!(Hopefully to the playoffs)
November 14th, 2020 at 11:48 am
Totally agree @gotbbucs. Arians needs to get in the weeds on the gameplan. He looks completely out of the loop on gameday just standing there mouthbreathing.
November 14th, 2020 at 11:53 am
Once again the Saints disrespected us, and once again in our house or theirs that makes no matter. It appears to me with this teams game day play, and its coaches and game plan designers lack of creative efforts. We took a whooping for sure. The question of who is to blame? We looked to me, out coached, out attituded, out hustled, out cohesive plays in all phases of the game. I did see JPP enraged out there on the field. I bet he was joining you and me at home and those fans in the stands as he was pi$$ed off for putting that effort and results on display.
I expect JPP to show up on Sunday!
This Sundays game we will see what’s what. If in our first series we see, 27 up the middle, and Deep PA pass after, followed by a to shallow crossing route trees pattern. Punt…. We will know were we are at.
GO BUCS!
November 14th, 2020 at 1:09 pm
And once again this season, I find myself completely agreeing with everything Beckles said.
That was an embarrassment in every level from coaching to players.