Did Bucs Think Game Was In The Bag?

October 14th, 2021

Winning.

A win is a win and the Bucs and Joe won tonight (if you get Joe’s drift coughEagles+7cough). And my how things have changed that at least for one story, Joe isn’t doing cartwheels while trying to balance a Big Storm Brewing beer.

It sure had the feel that for whatever reason,the Bucs kind of took the foot off the pedal in the second half.

Joe thought this game was wrapped up at halftime.

The Eagles, to their credit, were pesky, and it seemed like the Bucs in the fourth quarter weren’t quite as sharp or playing with the edge they had in the first half.

Can someone buy furniture-tossing, bicycle-throwing Antonio Brown a decent pair of cleats? He was slipping and sliding worse than a Zamboni.

Joe thought Brown was going to break open a couple of catch-and-runs but he fell down (he had a strong game, though!).

That call on 4th-and-two — which was a smart decision to go for it — what was that? Playoff Lenny was beasting.

The Bucs defense played fine, considering the secondary had yet another injury, this time to Richard Sherman.

(Joe especially loved how Vita Vea played like something out of “The Longest Yard” and ragdolled a lineman and bear-hugged Miles Sanders to the ground.)

It had the feel that the Bucs thought this game was in the bag and they downshifted. Way too early.

The scoreboard showed the Bucs won by six (cha-ching). But anyone watching  saw a beat down. Maybe the Bucs got exhausted in the fourth quarter from a short week and traveling?

A win is a win. And Joe is happy about that.

40 Responses to “Did Bucs Think Game Was In The Bag?”

  1. Medicated Pete Says:

    They mailed it in before the half but this mini bye is perfect timing

  2. Lamarcus Says:

    This happened before on several occasions but winning cures all. Maybe they are gassed because they come out firing. But 2nd quarter?

  3. Swampbuc Says:

    Yes to all that Joes.

    The 4th down? Gio was wide open and Tom did one of his Bradycoma type throws. Once in a while he will do that. Cmon man, hit the open guy.

  4. Oxycodoms Says:

    I kind of like it confident move by a champion

  5. godlovesbucs Says:

    That game was odd. Eagles were lucky to put up 22, they only had 200 or so yards. They were also lucky to hold Tampa to 28. If you watch that game, it had the look of a 38-13 game.

  6. geno711 Says:

    Brady 0-11 against the spread in his last 11 primetime games.

  7. Jeebs the Honey Bear Says:

    This was my commentary exactly. We got very conservative instead of putting the game away. First down HB dives, screen passes, and then on 4th and 2 a long long pass?? Byron Leftwich remains a puzzling and inconsistent playcaller. When he’s good, he’s great. But that second half was garbo City. GO BUCS

  8. Lamarcus Says:

    BTW. I had the Eagles at 6.5

  9. Mike Says:

    Without a great managing at the final drive by TB, the Bucs might lose this game. I cannot understand why the Bucs took a risk to go for 4th and 3 instead of a punt.

  10. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    The Eagles decision to go for the FG & missed should have been the dagger….

    Note that 2 weeks in a row we are taking a knee on the opponents 5 yard line….

    This time Buc fans who bet on their team lost due to the spread….

  11. NDog's burner account Says:

    I don’t think they downshifted. They stayed with the run instead of slinging the ball every play. Leads to a less sexy final score, but I think it’s a concerted effort to establish a more balanced offense.

  12. Coburn Says:

    Yeah I didn’t necessarily think going for it was that bad, but you have to go for a higher % play in that scenario…. Seemed like for whatever reason they were trying to set it up downfield and he just three it away (heck as long as they don’t run it all the way back a pick would have been just as good).

    Also felt like they started playing backups too early or something. Remember start of fourth quarter looking and there was no vita in there and Nelson was in there as well. Thrn they actually started gsshing us with the run and vita wasn’t in there

  13. BuccaneerButters Says:

    Oh yeah. They mailed it in when they had JTS9 and Nelson in and Vea on the sidelines the drive after they scored. I kinda thought we’d be in trouble. Then they didn’t get Lenny out until it was uncomfortable… Cannot let off the gas unless it’s like the Dolphins game.

  14. Francisco Guzman Says:

    They have another must win next week before the biggest game of the year for them against the saints.

  15. Rod Munch Says:

    Some team is going to hire Leftwich as their head coach, thinking they’re getting Arians deep ball offense, and instead Leftwich is going to install the wishbone and preach that 1.2 yards and a cloud of dust is how you win games.

  16. heyitsadam Says:

    The 4th & 2 play call was a serious head scratcher. But what about the drive w/ 3 straight passes just before that?

  17. Coburn Says:

    It was originally 4th and 2 and the. Moved to 4th and 1….

  18. Rod Munch Says:

    There was zero issues going for it on 4th and 2, the only issue was the terrible play call. The Bucs defense wasn’t going to make a stop on that drive, and Arians knew it, that’s why you go for it. All you need is 2 yards, and Fournette had been running well, or you just throw a short slant to AB who couldn’t be defended most of the night, throw a slant to huge Mike Evans, throw a screen to Godwin… but no, you dial up a deep pass to Brate. Absolutely brainless, stupid playcall. But going for it was the correct call because the defense was spent.

  19. SOEbuc Says:

    Run that fourth down with Fournette. He is looking spectacular now they’re balancing out the run game a bit. Hands have turned around. Very impressed.

  20. Keith Says:

    Please find the 4th and 2 play Gio was wide open easy 1st. Brady thought OJ was AB and over threw him by 10 yards. This play was an obvious blow it play. I wonder if Brady himself bet the farm like good ol P. ROSE on himself and the Eagles +7.

  21. DBS Says:

    Our corners are always going to get caught and called for pass interference. Always giving the opportunity for the opponent to score. So the offense better not pull the crap they did tonight or they will lose games. They should have gone for the first with only 1 yard to go. Either RB could have picked that up easy.

  22. ElioT Says:

    Every single aspect of this 5-1 team needs to get better.

    Anyone who thinks different is a loser.

    Go Bucs!!!

  23. Keith Says:

    Brady could have easily put this game to bed in the 1st half and check out. Handed off to Gabby to finish the job. But he pulled a sticky Pete Rose and bet on The Eagles +7 and the under.

  24. Keith Says:

    PS I did not bet on this game.

  25. Buc1987 Says:

    Keith do you have any idea how much money Tom and his wife have?

    Obviously not.

  26. JimmyJack Says:

    4th and 2 running the ball might not be the best decision. Some teams are strong stopping 3rd &1/4th&1. The Bucs ard one of those teams maybe Philly is too with Fletcher Cox leading up front. Im sure Buron knows if they are strong in that area.

    On the other end Tom and his QB sneaks have been unstoppable for decades and were key when we had a shorter conversion earilier. One of the most overlooked benefits Tom has brought to Tampa.

  27. Bangkok Buc Says:

    Bucs and Vegas won this game.

  28. Buc1987 Says:

    Tom’s wife’s net worth is 400 million dollars and Tom’s is 250 million….but YAH he gambled on the game…

  29. Leighroy Says:

    Yeah I gotta put the 4th and 2 miss on Brady. Other guys were open as has been stated, and Brady overthrew a not-open OJ. Brady had a few head-scratchers, 2 other throws that went to AB’s ankles. He wasn’t 100% but oh well they got the win.

  30. Swampbuc Says:

    I loved this the most — now its a one score game, we just run out the clock. 4-minute offense? Try 6-minute offense!

  31. Keith Says:

    Buccie87
    Yes. Yes I do. I remember when minimum wage was 4.25 and a pager bill cost more then a cellphone plan. Do you think rich people lose desire for more money? The smartest investment in the world is literally betting on something you can control. It’s literally happening today. Nancy Pelosi is putting laws in place that affect the stock market while her husband
    Buys stock effected the laws. Put the Crayolas down nephew, we use Calligraphy pen in class.

  32. FrankPillow Says:

    Penalties were they story of this game—Zebras gotta shine in prime time!

  33. Keith Says:

    Just rewatched the 4th and 2 play. F$%KING EVERYONE was open besides OJ. Then he over threw OJ. The best to ever do it….. EVER. Don’t F up like that.

  34. Buc4evr Says:

    Strange game, they went into run the clock mode after the half, until 4th and 2, then Brady decided to throw it ……… away. Weird game. Weird play calling.

  35. Captain Dan Lawrence Says:

    And don’t forget we had a first and goal from the 2 yd line with 2:00 we could have easily scored had we cared about the score.

  36. Itzok Says:

    Arians made a dumb decision to go for it on 4th down and give the eagles a short field. Should have punted. Hurts is an awful qb he couldn’t drive them the 80 yards. Hurts drop back and scramble is their offense pray for a pass interference call to get some chunk yards.

  37. Ash Says:

    Over a hundred yards in penalties they got to clean that up.

  38. idiaznet Says:

    Stop with the play calling crap. That 4 down call clearly TE was not the first option he was double covered. Gio was the 4th option. Problem was Tom had predetermined that he was going to the TE before the snap to get the kill shot. He did this so many times last year. He needs to take a step back and use the dump off for those. Gio was open but to the Eagles credit they made him a little jittery with their off and on pressure. Tom came back and just got his head right and finished with the 4 minute offense like Joe has preached about so many years before.

    Good teams finish the game with their 4 minute offense. Finally we have a team that can do that!!!!

  39. former ne fan Says:

    This is simple. Philly scored twice because of long penalties.

    Brady has never cared about stats; ONLY about the win. You’ll notice points were left at opponents’ 5-yd. lines in the last 2 wins. Points/records…that’s not Brady. His entire extraordinary career is driven by the disrespect he was fed in his draft. To him, the only aspect that throws that back into team’s faces is by winning championships. If records are set along the way he won’t care about them until after his playing days are over. And right now, because he only does what he needs to do to win, he is easily league MVP and the best QB in the NFL.

  40. Marky mark Says:

    These so called bucs fans sound like fools. To criticize the GOAT for small mistakes that may not even be his fault is B.S. It shows your intelligence. The team easily would have scored again if they needed to. You sound like a bunch of whiners. Consider yourselves lucky Brady chose to play on your team or you would still be a 7-9 (10) team. Watching the playoffs with no home team to cheer for.