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Donald Penn was one of the few Bucs who came to play today.
A key match-up today in the Bucs game was Donald Penn vs. Rams sackmeister Robert Quinn. Until late in the game when the outcome was decided, Penn, for the most part, held his own if not won the battle vs. Quinn.
In the first half particularly, Penn kept Quinn at bay, hold him off or, sometimes, literally throwing Quinn to the side and taking him out of the play. [read more]
If you want to know why the Bucs lost, look no further than the rushing statistics. In the first half, Bobby Rainey’s longest run was four yards. He averaged 1.1 yards in the first half.
He damned near doubled that amount in the second half, finishing with 1.9 yards a carry.
The main reason Rainey had such putrid numbers was that time after time after time after time the Bucs tried to run the ball up the one hole, between Jamon Meredith (who was totally worked over by the Rams and benched for Ted Larsen) and center Jeremy Zuttah. [read more]
Greg Schiano weighed in with his disgust
Bucs fans are mad.
Paying Bucs fans are very mad.
But it seemed like Bucs offensive linemen weren’t appropriately mad, so explained former Buccaneers tight end Anthony Becht on the Buccaneers Radio Network. [read more]
Sloppy penalties plagued the Bucs yet again. The Rams’ first touchdown drive was buoyed by an Adrian Clayborn illegal hit on quarterback Kellen Clemens, followed an offsides call on Gerald McCoy on 3rd-and-8.
Why? Why? Why? Why are the Bucs among the messiest teams in the NFL. It’s not just Dashon “The Hawk” Goldson. [read more]
The data is dreadful and telling
Put aside the excuses, the injuries and any other kind of spin. There is no excuse for the Bucs offense.
One stat today tells the story perhaps better than any other. The Bucs offense averaged 3.0 yards per play. [read more]
Joe almost feels like Bucs fans could sue the Buccaneers for pain and suffering — and not have it be considered a frivolous lawsuit. This was miserable duty today in St. Louis. The Bucs offense is dreadful. Just dreadful.
The Bucs just got clubbed by a last-place team.
Yes, the Bucs have no No. 3 receiver, and a No. 2 receiver who is over his head, and only one tight end, but the offense just shouldn’t look this bad.
Sloppy penalties plagued the Bucs yet again. Two gifts on the Rams’ first touchdown drive were unacceptable from Commander Greg Schiano’s allegedly disciplined bunch.
The Bucs forced two key fumbles to stay in the game, and Joe’s not forgetting Dashon Goldson’s one-inch-line tackle of Zac Stacy that led to the Bucs’ goal-line stand, capped off with a forced fumble by Gerald McCoy. The Bucs defense was pretty solid, even the run defense stood tall after a rough start, but there’s only so much a defense can do when you can’t move the ball.
This isn’t 1999 or 2002, when the Bucs could win a game like today with little punch to their offense.
No Christmas gifts for Bucs fans today, just a trip to Walgreens for Tums.
Good morning from the Ed Jones Dome (where Joe is at) in frosty St. Louis where the Bucs will face the surging Rams.
Joe just cannot get a feel for this game. On one hand, the Rams throw Kellen Clemens at quarterback. Can you say “Eric Zeier?” On the other hand, Zac Stacy is running the ball very well and the Bucs, of late, have been a bit soft on the run.
The Rams will be without the services of speedy Tavon Austin, as he is inactive, which means the Rams have virtually no passing game to speak of.
The thing that scares Joe is the physical front line of the Rams defensively, which the Bucs have proven gives them fits. If Bucs quarterback Mike Glennon can just get a little bit of time, there should be open receivers because the Rams stink in the secondary, a combination of players not playing well and injuries.
As always, feel free to share illegal video streaming URLs among yourselves but do not post them here.
Enjoy the game and go Bucs!
Game 15
Bucs (4-10) at Rams (6-8)
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
TV: WTVT-TV, Channel 13, locally. Outside the Tampa Bay area, DirecTV Channel 711.
Radio: Buccaneers Radio Network (in Tampa WFUS-FM 103.5, and WDAE-AM 620); SiriusXM Channel 110.
Free agency looms
Lost in the painful home loss to the 49ers last week was Dekoda Watson posting career numbers. Watson led the Bucs with 12 tackles while starting at strongside linebacker.
Watson had never approached anything close to that number. He had 10 tackles all of last season. [read more]
It’s late December and there’s no doubt that radio and TV announcers will remark today about how the Bucs are playing hard for Greg Schiano.
Big freakin’ deal. Likely seven out of eight teams across the NFL are playing hard for their coaches, not to mention themselves and their fans.
Are Bucs fans so scarred by the Raheem regime that we have to celebrate effort? [read more]
Tiquan Underwood has been double-teamed since his breakout game against the Lions.
One of the nicest guys in the Bucs locker room is Tiquan Underwood. Really sharp, really smart, and simply an all around good dude. So it pains Joe to see good guys struggle like Underwood is.
Underwood had a fantastic game against the Lions with two touchdowns, including an 85-yard bomb from Mike Glennon that was simply beautiful. Since that game, Underwood has pretty much been invisible. [read more]
The Godfather, Gil Brandt, the renowned old-school Cowboys architect currently working for NFL.com and NFL Radio, is starting to weigh in heavy on the NFL Draft.
Joe is jacked up. It’s almost Christmas, but it’s never to early to think about the second Christmas, aka the NFL Draft. [read more]
Many tens of thousands of JoeBucsFan.com readers only come here once a week or so. They’re people with meaningful lives, unlike Joe and many Bucs-obsessed lunatics that live on these pages 24/7. So with no Bucs football until tomorrow, Joe thought he’d re-visit a handful of this week’s headlines — for non-regular readers who want to catch up. Enjoy!
Bucs defense crumbles in all areas
https://www.joebucsfan.com/?p=103393
How good is Tim Wright?
https://www.joebucsfan.com/?p=103445
The dreaded 105 seconds
https://www.joebucsfan.com/?p=103425
Dave Moore deflects blame from Glennon
https://www.joebucsfan.com/?p=103466
Needle movement on Schiano
https://www.joebucsfan.com/?p=103470
If Sullivan bails, QB gig should be open (includes Johnny Football babe)
https://www.joebucsfan.com/?p=103482
Anthony Becht vents about Bennett, says “We’re not the Rays”
https://www.joebucsfan.com/?p=103527
Schiano’s eyebrow-raising take on practice and the hurry-up
https://www.joebucsfan.com/?p=103556
Gholston is No. 2 DE
https://www.joebucsfan.com/?p=103533
Oh, the (mis)tackling!
https://www.joebucsfan.com/?p=103579
Schiano embraces angry fans
https://www.joebucsfan.com/?p=103601
Bucs lose special teams ace
https://www.joebucsfan.com/?p=103622
Peter King: Glazers “really like Schiano”
https://www.joebucsfan.com/?p=103662
Wild story about Will Gholston’s college skills
https://www.joebucsfan.com/?p=103684
Schiano says defense is near dominant
https://www.joebucsfan.com/?p=103716
Offseason shopping
https://www.joebucsfan.com/?p=103726
Lavonte David will struggle for votes
https://www.joebucsfan.com/?p=103709
It’s hard to dispute the evidence
Certain stats can’t be spun — at least not easily.
This season, Bucs opponents attempt 26 rushes per game, averaging 4.2 yards per carry. For the Bucs, that ranks as tied for 17th in the NFL for yards per carry allowed.
Last year, the Bucs saw 24 rushes per game. And they were tops in the NFL, allowing 3.5 yards per carry. [read more]
That’s not necessarily a good sign
Earlier this week, Greg Schiano told media that he wished he had more games to see Davin Joseph this season.
The reasons were simple: Joseph played his best of 2013 against the Niners, per Schiano, and he’s been grinding his way back into shape after complex knee surgery in August 2012, a subsequent infection, and an abbreviated preseason. [read more]
Below is the map showing where over-the-air FOX affiliates will broadcast Sunday’s Bucs-Rams game free. As always, map is courtesy of 506sports.com.
Rookie Zac Stacy has done what many third-day draft picks have done before him
Joe is banging on his keyboard at a McDonald’s in overcast, dreary southern Illinois, making a pit stop to his old stomping grounds before Sunday’s game.
It is the first time Joe has seen winter in these parts in 15 years. Joe prefers the warmth of Florida winters. (Joe landed in St. Louis and it was 68 degrees. Five days before Christmas! An hour later, typical of Midwest weather, a front moved in and the temperature dropped like 15 degrees. Now Joe knows why he packed winter apparel). [read more]
V-Jax is on the cusp of history
Yes, the Bucs offense is last in the NFL. Yes, the Bucs offense has hit a rut in a string of playing physical defenses. Yes, the Bucs struggle in the passing game now that it appears there is a book out on rookie quarterback Mike Glennon.
So it comes with a bit of surprise that, combining the Rip Van Freeman struggles to start the season, Vincent Jackson’s rash of dropsies earlier in the season, and the recent struggles of Glennon, that Jackson is on the cusp of Bucs history. [read more]
Out in St. Louis, Rams head coach Jeff Fisher throws on a coat and tie and heads out to a local wing joint to do a regular radio show.
Jimminy Christmas! Imagine if Greg Schiano did such a thing during the Bucs’ first-half free fall. The wing joint would have needed security to calm the masses. Wings (hopefully boneless) would have been flying.
At Jeff Fisher’s most recent visit, Joe sensed arrogance directed at the New Schiano Order. [read more]
