Brave Tom Brady
January 8th, 2023
Luke Goedeke goes back to his roots.
Joe has to sit back for a moment and applaud Tom Brady for his approach to today’s game.
The Bucs decided wisely to rest starting tackles Tristan Wirfs and Donovan Smith, the men protecting the O-line edges for Brady, albeit today against the Falcons’ softer-than-soft edge rush. In stepped undrafted Brandon Walton at left tackle and rookie guard Luke Goedeke at right tackle, Tampa Bay’s second-round pick.
Goedeke played right tackle in college but this was his first NFL go at right tackle — against a blitz-happy defense that likes to give a lot of different looks.
Meanwhile, Brady already had been rolling with undrafted Nick Leverett at left guard, who replaced Goedeke as a starter earlier this season. And Robert Hainsey is a first-year starter at center, a position he didn’t play in college.
And given that makeshift line, one that might scare a 45-year-old quarterback to sit in a truly meaningless game, there was Brady giving his all for the team, the game and the fans. Special guy, that Brady.
Brady even stayed in after Hainsey left with hamstring injury in the first quarter and another newbie, John Moulchon, got his first action at left guard when Leverett moved to center.
Joe was impressed by Goedeke at right tackle. He sure looked comfortable from the opening whistle and he was just about perfect on the Bucs’ opening touchdown drive. That had to make Bucs general manager Jason Licht smile.
It’s not easy to spend a year transition to left guard from right tackle out of the MAC conference and then switch back successfully.
Believe it or not, there was some good to come out of today’s ugly loss to a bad team.
And don’t start throwing darts at Joe about Goedeke’s holding penalty that forced a field goal on the Bucs’ second drive. He may have been flawless before that (Joe’s watched the snaps) and it’s one play.
January 8th, 2023 at 5:35 pm
People still mad about that holding call Joe 🤣
That’s fine. It’s one play. –Joe
January 8th, 2023 at 5:42 pm
Nothingggg good came out of that game.
January 8th, 2023 at 5:44 pm
Goedeke at RT, Wirfs at LT next year?
January 8th, 2023 at 5:47 pm
I’m really amazed at people who want Wirfs to play LT.
He hasn’t played the position since high school but it will be plug in play at as high of a level.
Playing football players at the position they are most comfortable at seems to usually have the most success.
January 8th, 2023 at 5:51 pm
Christopher Schiefen, If Goedeke can play RT, that’s a huge win for the future. Wirfs can play LT. Draft a legit G in the 2nd and that line is rebuilt.
January 8th, 2023 at 5:53 pm
The Cowpies are playing as bad as the Bucs.
January 8th, 2023 at 5:54 pm
ALL FOR NULL!!!
January 8th, 2023 at 6:00 pm
HC Grover the cowboys are overrated. They still could beat us though if we don’t show up at home.
January 8th, 2023 at 6:02 pm
Curious to see if they put the Bucs on Saturday or Sunday.
January 8th, 2023 at 6:02 pm
The Cowgirls and the Bucs – the race to 17 points.
January 8th, 2023 at 6:03 pm
WOW, why is Joe talking in 3rd person? Maybe he’s talking bout Joe Biden. Like Obama said “never underestimate Joe’s ability to eff something up.” YEAH THAT’S WHO YOU’RE TALKING BOUT hahahhaha
January 8th, 2023 at 6:04 pm
It has nothing to do with “brave.” It has everything to do with being maybe the most competitive human being on the planet. He wouldn’t let his Mom win a game of tidily winks, I’m convinced.
January 8th, 2023 at 6:05 pm
Alvin Scissors our offensive personnel is much better if someone else calls the plays.
Expect the bucs to be on prime time on sunday night. That’s my prediction. Don’t know if i like it.
January 8th, 2023 at 6:05 pm
I was impressed with Goedeke……I think he will be fine going forward wherever he plays…..doesn’t hurt to have some flexibility…..like with Leverett & Hainsey.
These are young guys and will be needed in the future…..we are tight against the cap and need to shed some big salaries and older players.
January 8th, 2023 at 6:06 pm
Judging ita the cowboys and we have Tom Brady the NFL will put us on primetime. And bet the house on the bucs
January 8th, 2023 at 6:06 pm
Have another cocktail Alton. We all know you’ve been an NFL fan for over 60 years. Perhaps those West Virginia coal mines have taken their toll.
January 8th, 2023 at 6:06 pm
Sure appears Lovie gave Texas owner a parting screw you winning todays moving them to the number two pick in the draft. Bet he is fired soon.
January 8th, 2023 at 6:08 pm
just not the monday night slot please
January 8th, 2023 at 6:08 pm
I like our chances with the cowboys!
January 8th, 2023 at 6:09 pm
Poor poor poor Lovie Smith……..all Bucs fans will never forget-
“Tennessee Ready”
January 8th, 2023 at 6:10 pm
No way it’s monday night. Sunday night most likely.
January 8th, 2023 at 6:12 pm
Hahaha Lovie. He even screws up losing. He’s gonna be fired so fast, deserves it for backstabbing David Culley like that. Maybe he can coach elementary school coed flag football and preach patience to the administration.
January 8th, 2023 at 6:14 pm
Bucs 34
Cowboys 3
Bucs 31
Eagles 13
Bucs 20
49ers 0
Bucs 38
Chiefs 16.
January 8th, 2023 at 6:17 pm
Watching the 49ers. They’re a tough out. You gotta stop their rushing attack to have any chance. Gotta be physical.
January 8th, 2023 at 6:21 pm
I don’t see any team in the playoffs that provide the Bucs a challenge. Everyone is beatable.The invincabucs are not.
January 8th, 2023 at 6:27 pm
Rah Rah Sis Boom Bah!
January 8th, 2023 at 6:28 pm
I wish our defense was as good as the Commanders
January 8th, 2023 at 6:30 pm
JMarkbuc if we can’t beat dak then we can’t beat anyone. Dak is a weak link
January 8th, 2023 at 6:35 pm
A ridiculous waste of a game to cap a ridiculous waste of a season.
This mess of a team is worse than 8-9, when you take away Brady’s game save heroics. They will either be put out of their misery, or flail around like zombies and get lucky the opponents have bad games.
What’s important is to not lose sight that the problems with Todd Bowles, Byron Leftwurst, failures to manage the locker room, and the poor personnel decisions of Licht etc. require major changes in the offseason.
There is a Dumb and Dumber “still a chance” that they somehow emerge as the worst team in history to compete for it all. That’s probably the only thing left for Brady to motivate himself to do with this sorry bunch.
But the better they do from here, the more Bowles will claim “nothing was ever wrong”.
January 8th, 2023 at 6:35 pm
draft pick for donovan smith?
January 8th, 2023 at 6:36 pm
I dunno
The Cowboys are a strange team……they look amazing and then they play a team like the Texans or like today against Washington…….the Cowboys look awful….
Dak Prescott is part of that equation too ^^^^^
January 8th, 2023 at 6:37 pm
This OL has been makeshift from the first day of training camp, and remains a JAGfest that any QB is brave to work behind. When you lose top OL talent and do nothing significant to replace or upgrade it, this is what you’re left with, or Leftwith.
January 8th, 2023 at 6:43 pm
TBA, couldn’t agree more. That’s why I’m praying they come here next week.
January 8th, 2023 at 6:43 pm
TheBucsAnthem i think their talent is a tad overrated but any given sunday and much less with this coaching staff.
January 8th, 2023 at 6:44 pm
If I tried to find anything positive about that gam I could not. It is a big stretch.
January 8th, 2023 at 6:44 pm
Wow, cowboys look worse than the Bucs did today.
January 8th, 2023 at 6:55 pm
Hopefully these coaches put up a good game plan next week. Dak is a weak link. Have to try and expose him.
January 8th, 2023 at 6:57 pm
“I hired you for ONE job…and one job only!” Cal McNair : Texans Owner to Lovie Dovie Smith after failing to secure the # 1 overall pick
Lovie be will lucky to be a defensive assistant ANYWHERE after this stunt. Pretty funny actually…
Chicago can now trade the pick for a likely bounty assuming they stick with Fields
January 8th, 2023 at 7:06 pm
Wow. Prescott really stinking up the joint. 14-34 passing
January 8th, 2023 at 7:07 pm
Prescott has played the whole game interesting in a meaningless game. Interesting.
January 8th, 2023 at 7:07 pm
REDSKINS CLOBBERED THE COWPIES…THERE IS HOPE TO ADVANCE PAST THE WILD CARD.
January 8th, 2023 at 7:09 pm
And beyond.
January 8th, 2023 at 7:10 pm
HC Grover dallas is overrated every year man. If the offense shows up we got this.
January 8th, 2023 at 7:16 pm
Hate to mention this but all the scrub QB’s are doing great today. But not ours.
January 8th, 2023 at 7:20 pm
HC Grover our backups are beyond terrible.
January 8th, 2023 at 7:20 pm
Packers Lions might be a good Game.
January 8th, 2023 at 7:21 pm
I am curious to see what the line will be for that game.
January 8th, 2023 at 7:22 pm
Guz I was watchin and they all seemed discombobulated.
January 8th, 2023 at 7:22 pm
The giants scrubs have competed with the iggles lol. Iggles i think are very beatable as well.
January 8th, 2023 at 7:23 pm
Guz the McKay quote was…’Worse than terrible”
January 8th, 2023 at 7:25 pm
R0n@Tampa Says:
January 8th, 2023 at 6:21 pm
What color is the sky in your world?
The Bucs are literally the worst team in the playoffs. One and done.
January 8th, 2023 at 7:26 pm
Someone does not understand the meaning of the word brave.
January 8th, 2023 at 7:28 pm
HC personally I can’t wait for GB Detroit. Bound to be high scoring and entertaining. We will be at Dallas, mark it down. Brady vs. Prescott? Give me the guy who’s been to 14 conference titles games, and ten Superbowls. After that IDK. Go Bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 8th, 2023 at 7:29 pm
Sounds like Goedeke is trying to be like All World MANBEAST…..
Durable
Dependable
Donnie
Holding call wiping out a TD?….. all in a day’s work to be a top tier Tackle for the Bucs.
January 8th, 2023 at 7:32 pm
If Goedeke was actually good at tackle, what a coup by Licht. You could then have him at RT and move Wirfs to LT. Then if you got Jensen back at center, you can move Hainsey to LG, Mason at RG, and you’d have a line that is likely a lot better than this year.
Of course it’s insanely risky to pencil in Goedeke at tackle based on a garbage game, but Wirfs at LT would be a big upgrade over Smith, and I’m not anti-Smith, it’s just that Wirfs is that good.
If Brady is back, it means cutting a lot of guys, Smith (post-June 1st) would likely have to be one of those cuts. So it’s worth thinking about.
If Brady isn’t back, then who cares, as you’re in a total rebuild.
January 8th, 2023 at 7:33 pm
SB winning Rams….5-12…….what a collapse….
January 8th, 2023 at 7:34 pm
Deemer…me too… I picked GB. That Buc Game was a drag. We lucked out getting the Cowpies and may advance. Picked GB but rather the LIons. They have a cool coach. Unlike the Bucs.
January 8th, 2023 at 7:36 pm
Bucs are not one and done. You alone feel that way. But we fans believe that we are building towards sustainable winning. I can’t wait for us to raise those banners in the years to come!
January 8th, 2023 at 7:38 pm
By 2030 we will have 7 SB banners.
January 8th, 2023 at 7:59 pm
I don’t know why anyone expected so much more out of today’s game. There were a lot of back ups playing and third string lineman on offense.
2 takeaways-
1. Trade is officially garbage. Waste of a pick. For every good throw there is a horrendous through. Under throws, weak out throws, and throws where he’s in a panic for no reason … Even though the pocket is perfectly clean and there’s no reason for it.
Watch the throw into the check down receivers feet after his first completion. He’s literally falling backwards, throwing in a panic, before the check down receiver even has his head turned around. The pocket is clean and there’s no one near him. Why is he panicking? He had time to go to read 2/3/4. But like we’ve seen in the past, he panics quickly and makes a bad throw.
2. Thompkins is everything we thought Darden should have been. Fast, quick, elusive, great hands. He needs to be on the field as the fifth receiver next year.
January 8th, 2023 at 8:02 pm
I hope it is not a night game at all. We have enough problems as it is.
January 8th, 2023 at 8:09 pm
Quite frankly, NFL refs could call holding on offense on every single play.
To me, the 40k foot take away is fact that Goedeke looked so much more comfortable at RT than he ever had at LG. That could open up options for the FO to consider when looking at direction of rebuild.
Wirfs, as great as he is…Is one hell of a trade chip. One that could provide significant influx of draft capital/personnel to fill forthcoming roster gutting to pay for the “run it back” years. (Restructuring/cuts/allow to walks will only get FO so far, considering the massive moves needed to get under cap & fill a 53)
If TB12 walks, which is the expectation…Since I’m not sure there’s coin to bring him back. Or if that would even be a fiscally responsible move and his age..Then everything/everyone under control should be on the table to retool & restock the cupboards. Hard choices will need to be made and out of the box approaches may need to be on the table. (A quick review of spotrac provides insight to the task ahead of Licht & Bucs bean counters…Kicking the can has com due & there’s going to be ramifications for chasing #2 with Brady at the helm.)
January 8th, 2023 at 9:09 pm
Have people forgotten that Todd Blowes and his Lefttardwich crafted game plans for the tanking Panthers and the decimated Steelers that should qualify them both for mental disability? And then there was the Browns loss, and 4 games against sewage that Brady had to make a miracle happen.
The only thing that is certain is that these two bozons can lose to every team in the NFL, and probably many in the USFL and XFL as well.
A week from to,Oreos, hopefully the Glazers have Licht on the hunt for a real head coach, OC, and staff.
Blowes would miss the water if he was in the middle of the ocean and dove from the boat.
January 8th, 2023 at 9:27 pm
Catcard…
LOL LOL LOL
Are you serious? Holy crap. They have a pro bowl tackle for the next decade and you’re saying WIRFS should be trade bait!?!?!! LOL.
That is a completely horrendous take.
NO
January 8th, 2023 at 9:40 pm
Cat card was likely dropped on the soft spot of his head as an infant, and then repeatedly from there on.
January 8th, 2023 at 10:09 pm
Catcard is correct, if you’re in full rebuild mode, your biggest trade chip, that would get a huge haul, is Wirfs. If Brady is gone, and you’re in cap hell, you might as well do a full teardown and rebuild, and if you can get two 1sts, and probably a 2nd or 3rd for Wirfs, and you don’t have to pay him, you might as well since you’re not going to be competitive for a long time anyways. It all depends on if the team is going to do a full rebuild, a quick rebuild, or try to keep Brady and reload.
January 8th, 2023 at 10:42 pm
Trask had a 1.6 QBR today.
That’s literally the worst QBR I’ve ever seen, and I’ve certainly never seen anything close to that bad without a turnover. In fact, a couple of years ago, when Fields played in Tampa and was truly awful and did nothing, he had like an 7.1 QBR or something like that I believe.
Truly, that’s a terrible QBR, I wonder how he got one that low? Also QBR and the old QB rating are different, QBR takes into account things like down and distance and where the ball was thrown (like on 3rd and 8 are you throwing a 1 yard pass like Mike Glennon). A 1.6 — I just can’t ever remember a score in the 1 range.
January 8th, 2023 at 10:50 pm
Rod — we talking about Trashk here, right? He is capable of worse.
January 8th, 2023 at 10:50 pm
Scoff all you want, but some guys are going to need to be moved to either clear cap or create draft capital to fill a Bucs 53 man roster.
Restructuring the contracts they have on the books isn’t going to give the FO enough room to sign picks & fill rest of roster with league minimum types. There’s a ton of dead money/void year coin on the books & there’s no way to get around that.
TB12 is a UFA but still a $35.1M cap hit in 2023 due to the way his last restructured deal was written. (1 of several “run it back” bills coming due in 2023)…David counts $6.85M, Hicks = $4.9M, Julio = $3.4, Gholston = $2.4M…Those bills are due regardless those guys resign or not…100% baked into the Cap # for 2023 & main reason Bucs are starting >$43M over.
Cut Smith(post Jun 1), Lenny, Mason, Succup, Vaughn & Brate & then restructure everyone they can…& FO will have maybe $17m to sign draft picks & fill another dozen + roster spots or so. Which is not ideal. Not in the least.
January 8th, 2023 at 10:55 pm
Good thing some people can play GM in Madden but not in the NFL.
January 8th, 2023 at 11:25 pm
Off season moves will tell who’s wrong & who’s right…But you fooling yourself if you think the FO will be able to keep this veteran core together or replace key UFA’s easily.
January 9th, 2023 at 1:10 am
Judge Trask when he’s playing with Evans and Godwin. I saw names on the back of Buc jerseys that I have never seen on the sideline before, in the game. Somebody caught 43 TDs from him for Florida. My guess is the Bucs have much better receivers than the Gators. My guess also is the Gators had better receivers than Trask had Sunday afternoon. And then there’s protection……….
January 12th, 2023 at 10:32 am
I for one was impressed by the O-line play against the falcons. Only one guy playing in the position he sarted in camp. But the fact is its still not at the level it needs to be for us to win in the playoffs.