Five Things
January 22nd, 2024
Mike Evans hauls in a crazy catch in front of Detroit CB Cameron Sutton. (A JoeBucsFan.com photo.)
No Victory Monday today. And none for about another nine months. Rotten fourth quarter yesterday. Sad ending. Let’s get this over with.
Lack Of Adjustments
In the first half the Bucs played some excellent defense. Hold a loaded offense like the Lions to less than 150 yards of offense and you are doing something right.
The second half? It sure seemed like the Lions adjusted and Bucs coach Todd Bowles never did. Lions quarterback Jared Goff, who completely feasts on Bowles’ defenses, was carving up the Bucs defense down the middle with short, intermediate passes.
That was the difference in the game.
The Bucs secondary is thin. The way Jamel Dean now seems like a walking injury report, you can’t bank on him starting more than, say, 13 games a year (he started 14 this season, but that does not include all the games he didn’t finish).
If Bowles didn’t trust the backups and that was why he was playing so much zone, which Goff went wild on, well OK. That just means the Bucs will have to get defensive backs this spring that can play man.
One thing is for sure, the Bucs can’t trust Ryan Neal any longer.
Edge Rush Still An Issue
One thing that became clear to Joe yesterday is that if the Bucs hope to compete for a Super Bowl in 2024, the Bucs must find a pass rusher.
Joe has high hopes for rookie YaYa Diaby but man, the past few weeks, specifically after he was named a starter, his numbers went down. In the last nine games as a starter, Diaby has 3.5 sacks.
Joe loves Bucs sacks king Shaq Barrett to death but man does it look like he’s done. He enters 2024 on the last year of his contract. Per Spotrac.com, the Bucs could release Shaq but would have to eat $26 million. That’s a huge bite.
Since the win over Tennessee in mid-November, Shaq has a half-sack.
Joe Tryon-Shoyinka also enters the last year of his contract. He has basically turned into an empty uniform, but for one beautiful play against Carolina two weeks ago. Releaseing him early would mean the Bucs would get stuck with a $1.37 million bar tab.
If the Bucs hope to make another Super Bowl run, they cannot — as in cannot! — have such paltry numbers from their edge rushers.
Does Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht stick with Shaq and JTS and rely on hope? That’s an expensive gamble.
Whatever Licht has to do, he and the Bucs need pressure from the edge in the worst way.
“Prolonging The Obvious”
Yeah, count “this Joe” as one who couldn’t believe Bucs coach Todd Bowles waved the white flag and didn’t call a timeout with 35 seconds left to force Detroit to try to field goal or punt. Or force Detroit to turn the ball over on downs.
Asked about the decision, Bowles waved off the idea that the Bucs still had a prayer to maybe tie the game and said, “No sense in prolonging the obvious.” Bowles also said Detroit was preparing to kick a field goal if he called a timeout.
Not to try was borderline irresponsible.
Joe can remember two games decided on the final play of a game in recent years, one off a botched punt, another on a missed field goal return that won a game.
Anyone hear of the game known as “Trouble With The Snap” in 2015? Michigan and Jim Harbaugh were beating Michigan State 23-20. Michigan punted from the Michigan State-47 with 10 seconds left.
Punter Blake O’Neill bobbled the snap, and as he was about to punt it, he got blasted by two Michigan State defenders. The ball was scooped and returned for a game-winning touchdown.
The following week, Florida State kicker Roberto Aguayo attempted a 56-yard field goal with six seconds left only to have it blocked. Georgia Tech’s Lance Austin picked up the ball and returned it 78 yards to win 22-16.
So no, the obvious was anything but. Were the Bucs painted into a corner? Sure were. But the game was not over. Until Bowles let the clock run.
Just because a punt or a field goal would have been attempted didn’t mean a damn thing other than it gave the Bucs an opportunity to make history.
Joe gets Bowles was likely crushed about what transpired but no reason to throw in the towel and give up.
Bowles is better than that. Or at least Joe thought he was.
Bucs Need Rest
Here is an interesting tidbit from Jeff Kerr of CBS. Every team playing in the divisional round that had a rest disadvantage lost. Short rest lost.
In the wild card round, the Bucs had a Monday night game and won. But playing the Lions, the Bucs only had six days rest. the Lions had seven.
So maybe next year if the Bucs win the NFC South, hopefully, the Bucs will get a Saturday game during the wild card weekend.
Fun 2023 Season
No, don’t get the wrong idea. Joe is p!ssed the Bucs lost yesterday. They had the Lions on the ropes in their own crib and couldn’t close the deal.
Still, it was a fun season. Hey, it’s late January and we’re still talking Bucs football. Nobody would have guessed that the way the team was playing two months ago. Shoot, two months ago everyone was on Todd Bowles Watch and trying to figure out which quarterback the Bucs should select in the first round come April.
Of course, Joe wanted this to continue for another week… or beyond. Imagine the Bucs playing in the Super Bowl in Las Vegas, wwwooo!
But, alas, it was not meant to be.
Lots of decisions between now and when the free agency dinner bell rings in less than two months. And the combine is five weeks from now. Yup, it’s right around the corner.
As always, if you think Joe is going to snooze in the offseason, you are sadly mistaken. As Joe’s regular readers know, not half a day goes by when this here site doesn’t have fresh content. Daily. Weekends and holidays, too.
Will Baker Mayfield return?
Will Antoine Winfield return?
Will Mike Evans return?
Will Lavonte David return?
Come back regularly with many thousands of other fans. You never know when news pops.
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:55 am
Looks like JTS9 will be the first 1st rounder to not get the 5th year option. He hasn’t earned it. Not even close. And if Ryan Neal has any kind of pride, he should leave immediately. My goodness. That was worse than Mahomes juking White. I’d even say worse than when Minshew did it to White. Neal got absolutely embarrassed. He should be at least. Absolutely pathetic effort.
January 22nd, 2024 at 4:15 am
As good as the season was still seems like a lot of holes on this roster. Bucs need another rb just in case white goes down. Barrett and gholston on their last legs, jts?devin white replacement, david will age eventually, neal, mccollum got roasted. A center? Felt like this team overachieved with bowles.
January 22nd, 2024 at 4:47 am
Thank you Joe for another season of timely information, insights and opinions
January 22nd, 2024 at 4:50 am
Ryan Neal ……. “The Imposter”
January 22nd, 2024 at 5:00 am
Do you know what else is borderline irresponsible? Not playing Devin White. He’s a disruptive player when involved and engaged. We owed ourselves a chance to see which Devin would show up in a high stakes playoff game.
When asked about it, Bowles said that he should have been in the game more but it must have got lost in translation. Couldn’t call over to your assistants and say hey put 45 in the game?
Well then here’s a translation then for you coach. Hopefully it won’t get lost.
You are incompetent and should be fired.
Should have beaten the Lions today, it was a coaching failure, not the better team winning.
Poor strategy and personnel choices. No pressure. Last week was a mirage.
And any trolls who don’t think I have a right to my take can kiss it.
January 22nd, 2024 at 5:10 am
Well that was fun while it lasted.
January 22nd, 2024 at 5:16 am
Needs G, C, DE first. Also need S, TE and a power RB.
Bucs should re-sign LVD and wait another year on a replacement. LB crop is pretty thin. Love Jeremiah Trotter, Jr. That’s about it.
Drafting a CB and WR seems like a luxury.
Unfortunately, it appears re-signing Baker, Evans and Winfield will cost big money.
January 22nd, 2024 at 5:22 am
Clean house- The first time Devin white was in the game, that’s when Detroit went right down the field and scored. I was like yup, scrap the Devin package. Goeff was like 8-8 on that drive alone.
Devin can go to the Jets and disappear. He quit on the team
January 22nd, 2024 at 5:27 am
NJ Bucs, that’s a fair point and I would respond by saying he was used improperly, we generated no pressure and he should have been a part of that. Poor game planning and poor adjustments, especially when their offensive line got banged up.
January 22nd, 2024 at 5:48 am
As Joe has said before, let’s give YaYa an offseason of weights and technique training. Maybe Shaq as an extremely expensive backup if his money counts anyway. JTS, buh-bye. Devin White… just stop. He got full of himself and never improved.
Lots of work to do on the pass rush, man to man, a RB that doesn’t hesitate in the backfield. It must be vision/processing because catching the ball, man is a beast.
January 22nd, 2024 at 5:55 am
CLEANHOUSE- kiss this— do the Bucs have a better D line than detroit? no. DO they have a better O line than detroit? No. the Bucs OVER achieved thanks to Bowles. so kiss that Psudo Bucs fan. And you want 45 in over Britt? now you’ve shown the world you don’t even know football.
January 22nd, 2024 at 5:57 am
Perfectly said! Agree on everything.
We were so close in having a win. So happy we did get this far. At the same time, I agree with others, Devin needs to go. He isn’t working for us.
January 22nd, 2024 at 6:00 am
If you guys including myself expected anything more from Todd Bowles. He never seems to adjust his game plan. Next talking game plan how the heck is Hutchinson unblocked 3 different time that I noticed, Dave C. I started to wonder if they where trying to get Baker hurt that’s border line insane that guy needs to be double teamed most of the time. I could go on but it’s to no avail everyone will blame Baker again this he had no time to throw the ball and still was really good in my humble opinions.
January 22nd, 2024 at 6:17 am
Buccaneers finishing the “Monday night game” on Tuesday morning then going on the road to a well rested lions team was NOT a level playing field. NFL Needs to stop the Monday Night BS, do a Friday night playoff game or something, that way the winner of the Monday Night game isn’t %@$#ed
January 22nd, 2024 at 6:26 am
Thanks Joe
January 22nd, 2024 at 6:31 am
No mention of the unexplainable going for two???????????????????????
January 22nd, 2024 at 6:37 am
Diaby is obviously hurt. That’s why play dropped off. Dean is a chandelier. Davis is, too. Neal is objectively awful. Good try, but a failed signing.
Hainsey and Stinnie have to go. Goedeke is not particularly strong, either. Mauch better make a leap this offseason.
The timeout thing is bad.
Tryon and Shaq have to come back. For different reasons. Shaq is to expensive to cut. Tryon is too cheap.
This team far exceeded national expectations.
Finally, a lot of self-proclaimed fans of the Bucs suck. They cheered for Baker to perform badly.
January 22nd, 2024 at 6:56 am
What I don’t get is why Mayfield was throwing down the middle of the field on that final pick. Time’s running out, we need a TD and 2-point conversion to win, and we only have one time out in our pocket. Why aren’t we throwing to the sides of the field so the receiver can get out out of bounds to stop the clock? I just don’t get it.
January 22nd, 2024 at 7:23 am
When the D couldn’t get pressure on Goff, you KNEW it was going to be a long day.
“Adjustments”! The word of the day. I would like to know how the Lions defenders were completely unblocked on just about every key 3rd down. AND, if it was scheme, why wasn’t there more outlets?
In the end, this team over-achieved and exceeded most expectations. I fully expect there to be a whole bunch of new faces on defense; new DBs, Safeties, pass-rushers. I expect Baker to be under center and Mike and Antoine in pewter.
Here goes another off-season!
January 22nd, 2024 at 7:32 am
Good coverage by Joe this year. Being right lije Joe is underappreciated in a world addicted to potential
Time for Jason to conjure up a little more magic
January 22nd, 2024 at 7:34 am
Bowles is not better than that – it’s not the first time he did it and he hasn’t done much better all season. They’re patting themselves on the back for a ‘good season’s just because they won a bad division (barely), with a team still full of championship players.
January 22nd, 2024 at 7:41 am
The Bucs do have some issues with aging players that are under contract still and are no longer worth their salaries/cap hits:
Vea-Godwin-Barrett-Gage-Jensen-Dean.
Godwin, Dean and Vea still have some value but if they can be moved the Bucs can spend money elsewhere to shore up both defensive and offensive lines in free agency.
Barrett, Jensen and Gage are untradable at their salaries.
At the time Licht resigned those guys Brady was still playing and the Super Bowl was fresh in his mind. In hindsight, they are now just expensive players taking up cap and roster spots. Licht needs to get some better free agents that can immediately replace the weaknesses. In order to do that he needs to shed whatever he can where he can get some value back.
January 22nd, 2024 at 7:49 am
For all the time you devote to this website, I truly appreciate you Joe. Go Bucs!
January 22nd, 2024 at 7:50 am
Easy Joe… this article is setup for the haters to feast. Why not be a bit more positive, it sucks that we lost, but we battled hard against tough odds. half your readers are aholes dude, and you’re calling out Bowles for not calling a time out with 35 seconds left, then they kick a field goal, then we clown Bowels for being too little too late. Bowles cannot win with a large portion of this fanbase, be reasonable give the guy his props.
This article is full unbelievable revelations, first off it was abundantly clear the Bucs need to improve their pass rush!? No spit dude. It’s obvious against ANY good football team we play, how do we know this, because MOST good football team do well against the blitz and that is how we’ve consistently gotten to the QB this season. What that means is someone is always open and Goff knows how to make those reads, and much like the last Saints game, they did well to pick up the blitz almost every time and they burned us for it. How about Baker getting nailed with free rushers I believe 3 f-ing times, who was supposed to make those adjustments? We blame Bowels for that? Was it Baker who needed to call the right formation for that? And to your point about Adjustments after half. What adjustments did you want them to make? Lets see the defensive prowess you have. Let me guess, you don’t know the adjustments, all you know is that Detroit managed adjustments, why couldn’t we? Too easy, right? This defense if predicated on pressure, and not giving up the big plays. You point out Shaq you point out Yaya, we shouldn’t even mention JTS… who’s bringing the pressure Lee? And yet, a coach will tell you most games come down to a single possession, and damn if Bowles def didn’t do its job getting the ball back with 2 min and timeout for Baker to work towards tying it. This team overachieved all season, namely due to some decent coaching. It’s unfortunate no one wants to hear that part of it.
January 22nd, 2024 at 7:51 am
Not sure how special teams gets a pass? They cost us 6 points by missing a FG and getting one blocked. Throw in the missed 2 point conversion instead of the extra point we are either tied or down 1 depending on how you look at it. Then if they didn’t throw that interception on the opening drive to put the lions in FG range which they got we win the game
January 22nd, 2024 at 7:52 am
I live in Motown and there is no “Joebucsfan” look alike here. The local newspapers have subscription walls, Pride of Detroit tries but has very little timely content. Enjoy your JBF Buc’s fans, it’s a great website, I wish the Lions had one liek it!
January 22nd, 2024 at 7:57 am
I bet at least a couple of Glazers were still questioning Bowles’ future with the team. His terrible defensive game plan and his desire to not “prolong the obvious” might have helped them win others to their side. Maybe a high profile defensive coach willing to keep Canales and Mayfield is an option they will explore?
January 22nd, 2024 at 8:07 am
Preach ModHairKen
January 22nd, 2024 at 8:17 am
Larry:
Thank you so much for the kind words. Very much appreciated! 👍
January 22nd, 2024 at 8:26 am
It’s been 3 seasons in a row in which the defense has let the team down in the playoffs. Todd Bowles has to go. Not taking that timeout at the end of the game was inexcusable. I’m hoping that ownership has some backroom meetings with Harbaugh this week.
January 22nd, 2024 at 8:27 am
Thank you for your consistent and amazing content. Best place for an out-of-town Bucs fan to get an array of insights, multiple times per day!
To my mind, if Canales is on board for another year, lock up Mayfield and Evans, get a workhorse RB, and strengthen the interior OL. Use the draft to continue overhauling the defense. Need to replace White, add cover talent, speed and hands in the defensive backfield, and upgrade at DE, which is the key.
January 22nd, 2024 at 8:47 am
CleanHouse- he passed off Reynolds on that TD pass and covered no one as usual in the zone.
White deserves nothing from the Bucs. He quit
January 22nd, 2024 at 8:49 am
Agreed you never just give up. Baker could have scored in 20 seconds than try an onside kick. The first int was not Bakers fault. It went right thru somebodyz hands. The second was all him but he was in a tuff position. The Bucs are perfect for Bakes. Yes, he doez have lapses in the regular season but he is a playoff QB. Look a his 4 game stats and they are very good. I would draft the All Americann RB from Missouri somewhere in the draft. The game was list when the dood ket the ball go thru hus hand on the first int. Otherwise it would have been 17-10 Bucs at half and tied on the Last possezion. They could have run more, used the timeouts and set up a walkniff long FG.
January 22nd, 2024 at 8:59 am
Yeah i think Diaby was hurt but we need to prioritize edge / secondary / interior OL / RB next year for upgrades.
We still had the worst rushing offense in the NFL lol
January 22nd, 2024 at 9:01 am
The last 35 seconds of that game is reason enough to fire Toilet Bowles. Would he have made that same decision next week? In the Super Bowl? You have to assume by his words that yes, yes he would. He would give up. We won the division the last 3 seasons not because of bowels but in spite of bowels. When the other 3 teams improve, and they will, we will not get this lucky again. To quote the great Toilet Bowels, “Why prolong the obvious?” Fire him now.
January 22nd, 2024 at 9:19 am
The biggest play of the game IMO was when it was 24-17 Lions in 4th quarter and Lions converted a 3rd and 15 which led to a td drive and 14 point lead.
Too much for Mayfield and company to come back from.
January 22nd, 2024 at 9:20 am
‘Joe is p!ssed the Bucs lost yesterday. They had the Lions on the ropes in their own crib and couldn’t close the deal.’
I thought I watched the whole game, but I apparently missed something. WE had THEM on the ropes? I did see a couple of times when we tied them, but ON THE ROPES? Wishful thinking after what I saw, especially in the 4th quarter.
I’d say that Detroit had US on the ropes most of the game. They won the Turnover Battle 2-0. They won the TOP Battle 32-28 minutes. They had more sacks, more 3rd downs. I was proud of how we battled to a 10-10 tie just before the half then a 17-17 tie at the very end of the 3rd quarter, but that next Lions’ drive for a TD (4 downs covering 69 yards after our kickoff) broke the camel’s back. Jahmyr Gibbs should’ve gotten the game ball for that one (2 runs & 1 catch for 51 yards). Their very next drive (89 yards) for a TD was just as devastating (McCollum getting 3 solo tackles on that drive AFTER we lost Dean should probably tell us something?).
Still, our guys fought hard all game IMO, just fell short in the 4th quarter. We had a final chance to tie it up, but that INT pretty much sealed the deal for Detroit. It happens. Welcome to the 2024 season (and what looks like will be a VERY TOUGH SCHEDULE). Need some quality improvements during this off-season.
January 22nd, 2024 at 9:21 am
Always have. Always will. Thanks Joe for all of your great year round coverage. This was an excellent five things to finish the season. It was a fun season (mostly) and this team proved me wrong. This may be my 3rd favorite Bucs team of all time. I count the 2020 and 2021 Bucs team the same team. Plus there’s the 2002 Bucs team of course.
I think that’s a bad look by Todd Bowles. I agree with you. The players would have fought for the entire 60 minutes. Coaches need to coach that way as well.
January 22nd, 2024 at 9:25 am
I couldn’t agree more. I think the Bucs should target the O-Line first. This team isn’t far away.
January 22nd, 2024 at 9:30 am
Aceofaerospace … ‘The last 35 seconds of that game is reason enough to fire Toilet Bowles.’
Obviously you’ve got lots of company in JBF World for wanting Todd Bowles fired Ace, but using that last series of kneeldowns as rationalization is rather pedestrian. Folks who want him fired most of the season could come up with a lot better reason than that.
January 22nd, 2024 at 9:31 am
Bowles by his comments on that last 35 seconds just told every player that it is ok to quit. That is not leadership. I for one hope that the Glazers show better leadership and find a new head coach. I am tired of Bowels stubborn ways. Too late to make needed changes player wise during the season and scheming during games. He showed he is not up to the task. Thank you Joes for your efforts this year in giving so many a platform to be able to speak.
January 22nd, 2024 at 9:51 am
And all the haters come out for Bowles – pathetic fans.
January 22nd, 2024 at 10:06 am
D.R.
“McCollum getting 3 solo tackles on that drive AFTER we lost Dean should probably tell us something”
I’m not sure what it tells me. The Lions had been targeting Dean prior to that apparently more fearful of Davis. I thinks thats been standard throughout the league.
IE I’m not sure they saw McCollum as a “weak link” just as the weakest link in the Bucs D backfield like Dean before him.
I like the Bucs young DB’s. I think Dean and Davis have talent WHEN they play and for Davis when he doesn’t make boneheaded penalities.
What I do not like…Goff had all day…Baker was in a fire drill mode the entire game. The Bucs greatest weakneses IMHO are BOTH sides of the trenches.
Desperately need another player capable of getting to the passer and desperately need another LG and Center to keep teams from simply bulldozing the Bucs middle and chasing Baker from the pocket or stopping White in the backfield.
First four rounds…BIG UGLIES on both sides of the ball. Figure out how to resign the essential players and the Bucs become contenders for real.
January 22nd, 2024 at 10:15 am
They went for two in the fourth still down 8 for christ sake. Nothing bowles does should surprise anyone. He hit his ceiling this season too. The glazers need not prolong it either! Losing mentality sometimes. Other times no mentality
January 22nd, 2024 at 10:19 am
Great season. Looking forward to you keeping us going in the off season.
January 22nd, 2024 at 10:20 am
Bucs going for 2 point conversion was the right decision if you’re playing to win.
The refs not calling pass interference was a bad decision.
January 22nd, 2024 at 10:27 am
Todd still needs to be fired….why are we accepting a better season than predicted as successful. These players and coaches are getting paid big bucks to entertain us. They should be playing and coaching at the top of their game. WTH are we settling for. Why do we have to be a experiment on the coaching wagon. We have done our part. LETS MOVE ON….Todd makes so many mistakes on so many levels of the game, he doe not deserve to be HC. On a DC level, regardless of being considered a mastermind, he has made horrible to no adjustments in several games including last night.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE BUT YOU NEED TO WALK THE PLANK.
January 22nd, 2024 at 11:27 am
Bucs have 49 mil in cap space release Russell Gage thats another 11 mil so now we are at 60 mil. Pay Winfield 16 mil +, Evans 20 mil + and Mayfield 24 mil + thats all you need fill the rest of the team in the draft and FAs.
January 22nd, 2024 at 11:33 am
Defense Rules. Appreciate your comment, however I said that last 35 seconds of the game was enough of a reason to fire him. I didn’t bother to post all the other reasons he should be fired. That one was bad enough. As bad as blitzing Stafford in a game we probably would have won, costing us back to back Super Bowls. He is not head coaching material.
January 22nd, 2024 at 11:48 am
We competed and up to the end, no give up on this team–that was nice! We need more jimmys and joes. Some of our guys are not enough–like cody mauch–he needs a body makeover! Does anybody here think Hainsey is it at center? I mean he is/should be a good back up, nothing more. The Hainsey tenure is all games where the Bucs are one of the worst run teams in the league. Edge and Center — please focus a story or 2 on this Joe, what/who is likely available and what makes them good for us?
January 22nd, 2024 at 12:02 pm
Bowles also missed a couple red flag opportunities and I thought the decision to go for two on their final touchdown was terrible. I understand the math but it hurt momentum. I’ve never seen other teams do that, and Collingsworth seemed to think it was a great idea. He of course is an idiot.
January 22nd, 2024 at 1:19 pm
1. Ryan Neal hasn’t been able to be trusted since week 1
2. If you can’t get pressure with 4, you’re going to struggle against the top teams. We need a bad-arse OLB in either the draft or FA (or even better- both!)
3. Perfect example of why I still dislike Bowles. The guy LOVES keeping timeouts in his pocket. They could have gotten the ball back with 35 seconds. That’s plenty of time for a few hail mary’s. He just doesn’t have that killer instinct. But if the roles were reversed, you know that Dan Campbell would have 100000% used that timeout and forced the Bucs to give the ball back.
4. No surprise on the lack of rest.
5. I love WInfield, but is everyone afraid to address the fact that he’s been a liability in the passing game a bit too often this season? Especially cover-3 and zone?
January 22nd, 2024 at 1:41 pm
Once again Todd Bowles doesn’t adjust in the second half on defense and then uses poor clock management
How long is our GM going to put up with this. Find a new head coach that will be onboard with keeping our new Offensive coordinator.
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:46 pm
Aceofaerospace … No question Toss Bowles made a number of poor decisions throughout the season, but I’d say the same of every NFL coach over the course of a season. We get the luxury of viewing it all in the stadium or on TV, but these coaches are on the sidelines with any number of different folks in their headsets making ‘recommendations’, then they have to pull the trigger on the decision.
I spent a lot of years doing ‘crisis management’ and I think that’s about the best way to view an NFL game … 1 crisis after another. Coach has 11 moving parts on his side to deal with, plus trying to figure out what the 11 moving parts on the other side of the ball are gonna do. I empathize. Not only does every decision have a stopwatch on it, but there’s always your counterpart on the other side of the field working his butt off to make sure your decision is wrong.
Sometimes you prevail, but sometimes he does. And when that happens, there’s always a thousand of your ‘fans’ screaming ‘Hey dummy, are you blind? What’d you do that for? Dumbest decision I’ve ever seen.’ Yup, I empathize.
I’m a big believer in ‘Be careful what you wish for’. We always believe the Glazers hired a great coach to replace the one they just fired, UNTIL Chucky goes 4-12 (he did), or Raheem goes 3-13 (he did), or Schiano goes 4-12 (yes he did) or Lovie goes 2-14 (we have a winning loser), or Dirk goes 5-11 (yup, twice). We give BA a pass when he goes 7-9 (definitely Jameis’ fault), but when Todd goes 8-9 then 9-8 while developing a ton of young players, everyone wants to make him walk the plank. No wonder he’s ‘stoic’ on the sideline. Go figure huh?
January 22nd, 2024 at 4:50 pm
D.R.
That’s cheating! Using facts to illustrate your point is verboten on JBF…please stick to simplistic name calling.
January 22nd, 2024 at 5:03 pm
@Joe: you nailed it. And your first 3 “things” are the reason why I believe Todd is not SB winner material.
1. For how many years have we been talking about lack of adjustment? It goes back to his early games in Tampa as a DC, 5 years ago…
2. In his 5 years tenure we had a good edge passa rush for 1.5 seasons. We can point the finger at Licht as well, but wouldn’t we expect that young players are developed?
3. One more case of complete lack o awareness. How do you not try? I believe he made a mistake: he didn’t realize there would be still time on the board. And now came up with a lame excuse to cover it… Again!
January 22nd, 2024 at 6:51 pm
Yeah D.R. stick to the facts, LOL. With the salary cap hell we had, rookie and 2nd years players we were horribly thin throughout this team. When we were 4-7 I thought Bowles had lost the team and I was calling for his head too, looked like they quit. But since then you have to credit him and the entire staff for steadying the ship. The continuity also helps more than anyone can know, Bake said it about another year in the same system and it is an absolute truth. Some have to go but I like where we are heading into next year. Injuries always play a big role. It was a good year based on everything we heard and the team showed a tremendous heart and fight and that comes from the top down. And it was the entire game that was lost, especially in the 4th quarter with the 14 points the Lions scored, not the last 35 seconds.
January 22nd, 2024 at 6:55 pm
Incredible year by the Bucs!
80 million over the cap and GM Jason bandaged a competitive team while rebuilding.
Coach Bowles, I love ya big boy, but some of the decisions you made yesterday in a win or go home game, along with almost every game during the season makes one wonder…
Baker! I didn’t know what to expect, but you battled week in and week out! You fueled that offense, not sure if you’re the QB of the future, but you’re the QB right now!!!
Go Bucs!!!
January 22nd, 2024 at 10:39 pm
Thanks guys for all the kind words. Much appreciated!