When The Bucs Decided To Play Smashmouth Football
September 22nd, 2025
Bucky Irving attacking the middle of the Jets’ defense helped referees keep their hankies in their pockets and revived the Bucs’ run game.
Man, Joe wonders how many officials who worked yesterday’s game had to have MRIs last night from throwing out their elbows by tossing so many flags.
It was really awful football early on in the Bucs’ win over the Jets. The Bucs’ offensive line was, at best, patchwork. And it showed with the holding penalties.
But man, that wasn’t entertainment. Even Baker Mayfield said after the game that the zebras were calling some really “ticky-tacky” penalties on holding.
So how did the Bucs curb the enthusiasm of the zebras fully taking over the game with holding penalties? Bucs coach Todd Bowles said the Bucs decided to run much more north-and-south than east-and-west because that mean less movement and perhaps smarter play by the offensive line.
It worked as the Bucs had a solid day running the ball, and the flags diminished.
“I don’t know if it calmed [the offensive line] down a bunch, but we changed some things up to mitigate some of those penalties about what those guys can do from a scheme standpoint,” Bowles said. “We just tried to do more running straight at them, as opposed to left and right, and [we were] getting into binds where we’re on the edge, as opposed to running down the middle of them.”
The flags were flying at such a rate, it brought Joe back to when Kenyatta Walker was the starting right tackle who squared off against Carolina’s Julius Peppers.
The future Hall of Famer was in Walker’s head so badly that day it was as if Walker danced on strings pulled by Peppers.
Joe received these photos from the Emeka Egbuka catch late in the game that was ruled incomplete and never reviewed. These came from Joe’s photographer. Feel free to weigh in. pic.twitter.com/uqoxur1yvv
— JoeBucsFan (@JoeBucsFan) September 21, 2025
September 22nd, 2025 at 4:41 am
We are so lucky to have Baker, Bucky and Emeka. Kudos to Jason because we could easily be 0-3
September 22nd, 2025 at 5:01 am
bucky and emeka should be pro bowl this year
September 22nd, 2025 at 5:18 am
EE was clearly in, IMO. And at the very least, it deserved a review. As usual, very bad officiating.
Joe, a few article ago, you asked if the Bucs might move Barton to RT until Luke comes back. I said I doubt it bc Barton played LT in college so there was some experience with that, unlike him playing RT.
But if you want to solidify the tackle positions, why not move Wirfs back to RT until Luke comes back?
Personally, I like the idea of solidifying the left side of the line with Wirfs back at LT, Barton back at C. Let Heck stay at RT and give him help on passing plays. Unfortunately, we are very much going to miss our red headed RG. He was great at pulling.
September 22nd, 2025 at 5:35 am
How is the NFL still allowing such officiating blunders to persist in 2025? Get with the program people. We’re 3 weeks into the season, any “preseason rust” excuses are no longer valid. Turning into a farce.
September 22nd, 2025 at 5:46 am
No way was that Jets touchdown a catch.
Egbuka’s catch was clearly a catch.
The refs were absolutely horrendous. There were at least three holding calls, including one on Mike Evans, that were nonexistent.
To be fair, they called a PI against Sauce on Mike Evans that was nonexistent. They were throwning flags just to pick them up because there was no penalty. They need a massive performance review/investigation on that crew.
September 22nd, 2025 at 6:35 am
It got to the point where you couldn’t cheer a good play waiting for the flag to drop which it did. Maybe the refs were getting heat stroke. This defense needs a fire starter at MLB, Dennis is not it. Lost in coverage, couldn’t win when he blitzed, zero impact from this guy. He was even being yelled at by David for lining up wrong. He’s Bowles pet tho so he’s safe. No fire, or leadership from Dennis, and more big plays given up then made. Jones deserves a start.
September 22nd, 2025 at 6:39 am
Seems to me that all/most of the holding penalties were on pass plays, so I’m not sure how changing the type of runs made a difference. My thought at the time was that they were running so much (regardless of where) because of the incessant holding calls on pass plays. Maybe I am misremembering …
September 22nd, 2025 at 6:40 am
Why wasn’t White utilized more? They found something last game, which appeared to be a winning formula for most of last season, and yet they went away from it again. I get that Bucky is a talented, but I still say this offense moves better when BOTH our RBs are involved.
September 22nd, 2025 at 6:44 am
Oh yeah, one more thing, HOW THE F@CK DID WE GET STUCK WITH VILMA CALLING OUR GAMES!?
I can’t stand this f@cking guy, he’s a Bucs hater, he had no choice but to give complements to our team, but man when the Jets appear to show a glimmer of hope, he appeared to gush all over them. I don’t like this new broadcasting crew for our games.
September 22nd, 2025 at 7:11 am
Joe … ‘Bowles said the Bucs decided to run much more north-and-south than east-and-west because that mean less movement and perhaps smarter play by the offensive line.’
Thanks Joe for the explanation of Bucs’ play-calling. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing out of Grizz; his play-calling looked like we’d reinstalled Dave Canales. It was a prescription for stalled drives instead of us carving them up with our running game.
Todd in essence allowed the zebras to dictate our tactics. I can understand why (he probably had no choice unless he wanted to see us keep getting penalized), but it ticks me off. Like Baker said, the zebras were being too ‘ticky tacky’ on holding.
September 22nd, 2025 at 7:16 am
I agree Zoo Vilma is horrible
September 22nd, 2025 at 7:33 am
I like to call it Vegas officiating.
Or three blind mice officiating, take your pick.
September 22nd, 2025 at 7:48 am
Loved the commitment to the run game, didn’t care for the split of the workload. Bucky finished with 25 carries for 66 yards. Chaad had 5 touches, and the only reason our run production looks good as a team, is because Baker had 4 carries for 44 yards.
Again, loved the mindset, but we gotta know when to switch gears imo
September 22nd, 2025 at 7:57 am
3 weeks in the books and haven’t seen Tucker take any carries yet
September 22nd, 2025 at 8:36 am
Both Tucker and White should have more carries yesterday. They had Bucky figured out.
Would have liked to have seen some two back sets. Fake swing pass, and hand White the ball up the middle.
Grizz gonna have to be much better against the champs.
September 22nd, 2025 at 9:52 am
It turned out to be a moot point but we dodged a HUGE bullet and controversy. The 2:00 minute and under replay system FAILED tremendously and we are fortunate to have not let that egregious, blatantly incorrect “system” failure by the officials decide the game. ONE game can ruin an entire seasons. I was at the game and it was CRAZY even AFTER the Bucs calling a timeout, the Replay booth in such a CRITICAL moment of the game REFUSED to take a second look. NOTHING, crickets by the officials, like they were 100 percent sure they got the call right. We called timeout and were PLEADING for a review. The most COMPLETE total BS. I had flashbacks of Bert Emmanuel catch. I’m not exaggerating when I say it was in that level of ineptness. And the sad part is it will get swept under the rug. I still hope the Bucs write a letter to the NFL and ask for them to investigate and make it public record on how inept the offices lying crew was in that moment.
September 22nd, 2025 at 9:55 am
With the return of Wirfs and out left side o-lime intact, Grizzard will open up the playbook some.
September 22nd, 2025 at 9:55 am
Err….LINE
September 22nd, 2025 at 9:56 am
Tucker can’t be trusted to block. That is why he is not getting any playing time.
September 22nd, 2025 at 10:32 am
When will the NFL start fining refs for incorrect or missed calls? It doesn’t have to be much. $100, maybe. They fine players on the backs of these refs. It’s time the tables get turned,
September 22nd, 2025 at 10:33 am
That game.. I’ve never been so grossed out by the officiating.
Odious and obvious shenanigans.
Bucs should have never been in that position
September 22nd, 2025 at 11:15 am
1. Vilma is terrible, apparently didn’t know the Bucs had two OLs out of position and the other three spots filled by barmaids.
2. Worst officiating in football. Ever. And I thought the Falcons opener was bad.
3. Todd needs an intervention. He insists on going soft shell turtle defense, enabling opponents to score easily. Witness first drives of games, and fourth quarter drives when the Bucs have a lead. “Drrr, daAa, we took our foot off the gas.”
4. Out of beer
5. Out of scotch
September 22nd, 2025 at 11:20 am
“Tucker can’t be trusted to block. That is why he is not getting any playing time.“
Nobody from the team has ever come out and said or implied this. If that were a determining factor in who gets what reps, Bucky would barely see the field on pass downs.
September 22nd, 2025 at 1:07 pm
Well Aqualung, you do have a brain. Your #1 and 2 prove it. Shocking. I was set to turn off my radio krewe at the half. The officiating was that bad, and believe me, I’ve been around plenty of it being a Bucs fan. Nothing those bozos do shocks me anymore. We’ve got more than enough corruption to handle in life. It’s nice to have an escape, once in a while.
September 22nd, 2025 at 2:09 pm
First comment says we are “lucky to have Baker, Bucky and Emeka”
That’s not luck. That is your general manager. One of the top three in the NFL.
September 22nd, 2025 at 5:40 pm
NFL refs = trash