Lions running back/pseudo wide receiver Reggie Bush is a much better player indoors at Ford Field.
Many NFL watchers are talking about the match-up of Darrelle Revis and Calvin Johnson. That should be big and whoever wins that, his team has a solid chance of winning the game.
But if the Bucs are just worried about Johnson, they will get burned. There’s a guy in the Lions backfield named “Reggie Bush,” who, on the turf Ford Field, is pretty damned dangerous. Thankfully, Bucs commander Greg Schiano knows this.
Bush creates “Big time [mismatches],” Schiano said. “They displace him a lot so you’ll see him out here, you’ll see him as a wide out on both sides, they free release him out of the backfield so even though he lines up in the backfield appearing like he’s going to protect, he’ll free release so it’s like being out there as a receiver. And when he gets the ball in his hands he’s very, very good.”
Now Bush didn’t do anything last week at Pittsburgh against a now average Steelers defense (how far has that team crashed?). Something about Bush at a cold-weather site on grass, he vanishes. But put him on the turf and under the roof of Ford Field and he’s another man.
Bush touched the ball against the Steelers (rushes and receptions) 14 times for 54 yards. Sadly, Bush seems ticked off at his performance Sunday in Pittsburgh, which is not good for the Bucs, per Kyle Meinke of MLive.com.
“It’s very frustrating, because I want to be out there making plays,” Bush said. “It’s been on my mind ever since, and it should sting. It should hurt. It shouldn’t feel good.”
Stopping Bush will be as important if not more important for the Bucs to win Sunday than stopping Johnson.
SACKS OUT TO LUNCH: It looks like the Lions’ sack well has run dry. They rank 30th with 16 sacks, hit Ben Roethlisberger only once last Sunday and have averaged one sack over the past four games.
“We’re hungry all right,” Young said. “We’re as hungry as can be.
“But at the same time we’ve got to keep playing collectively as a group. We’re sitting at the bottom of the sack list right now, but we’ve got somewhat of a decent schedule right now.
“We let one or two get away from us, but everything’s laid out for us. We’ve just got to capitalize and take advantage.”
Joe’s confident the Bucs can run the ball on the Lions and Mike Glennon should have time to throw. The Bucs should score points, hopefully touchdowns over field goals.
The real Tums-inducing worry comes from the Bucs defense that will be down Dashon Goldson (suspension), and possibly Mason Foster (concussion) and Johnthan Banks (shoulder). The Bucs would have trouble slowing the Lions even with those guys all in the lineup.
The debate will rage for many months. The topic is simple: Is Mike Glennon the guy to lead the Bucs to the promised land?
Can it be all about No. 8 in a division with Cam Newton, Drew Brees and Matt Ryan?
Former Bucs guard Ian Beckles (1990 – 1996) offered an emphatic, “No,” on WDAE-AM 620 yesterday. Glennon, per Beckles, is simply in the wrong era.
“Mike Glennon, to me, would be a solid quarterback in 1990. It’s 2013. You gotta have something special, ok,” Beckles said. “We’re not good enough anywhere to have an average quarterback and win consistently.”
You can catch Beckles’ full rant below. Joe doesn’t disagree with Beckles. However, Joe wants to give Glennon more time. If he can thrive through the Bucs’ difficult final six-game stretch, then there’s no reason to think it can’t continue.
In this Bucs-Lions preview for CBSSports.com, Will Brinson, prickly Pete Prisco and Pat Kirwan gather to scoff at Darrelle Revis’ chances if he covers Calvin Johnson 1-on-1 Sunday. Kirwan, the NFL Radio host and former Jets assistant coach and personnel man, continues his about face on Mike Glennon, raving about his having only one interception in his last five games, among other observations.
Kirwan is convinced Reggie Bush will wipe out Revis getting safety help if the Bucs let Revis revive his island, and that would doom Revis, Kirwan believes.
Look out! Free agent tight end Tom Crabtree is coming from Green Bay and he’s going to help stretch the field and be a punishing blocker and the Bucs have studied his film and found a hidden gem. … That’s what Bucs fans heard often this spring and summer from Greg Schiano and rockstar general manager Mark Dominik.
Will it ever happen?
Crabtree went down with a bad ankle sprain late in preseason while lined up as a fullback. It was the “worst possible timing,” Crabtree told Joe yesterday. “That’s right at the point where you’re hoping to peak physically to start of the season, and I was there, as well as achieving a complete understanding of the offense,” he said.
Crabtree was lost for more than a month and only got his health back fully a few weeks ago. He’s been part of the Bucs’ revived running game, but he’s been invisible in the passing game despite playing a load of snaps.
Coach Schiano, is Crabtree healthy enough to be unleashed? Joe asked yesterday.
“That’s a good point. I was just thinking that on the practice field the other day. Because it’s been like a couple of weeks where I haven’t heard in the injury report and anything that the [ankle’s] bothering him. And you can see an increased level of play,” Schiano said. “I don’t know if he’s all the way back, but I think you’re right on in that observation. He’s getting real close to being where he was.
“I can think back to how excited we were about Tom at a point in the spring and in training camp. And then when he got injured, it’s a long road back. That’s been a nagging injury. So I’m optimistic there.”
Crabtree says he’s healthy and ready to show his worth in the passing game. Playing 50 or so snaps per game the last few weeks, he said, should be enough evidence of his health.
Joe’s interested to watch Crabtree in the final six games. If he can prove to be valuable, then he’ll become another plus on the offseason report card of Dominik and Schiano. Right now, Crabtree gets an incomplete.
If Bucs commander is remembered for anything in his days as Bucs coach — no, not his one-way, get-out-of-town feud with DJ Toes on the Line, not his staying above the fray in the leaky Rip Van Freeman soap opera, not the MRSA mess — it will be punt blocking.
In Schiano’s short times with the Bucs, the team has been the best in the NFL at punt blocks. The Bucs lead the NFL with four punt blocks since the start of the 2012 season.
Of those four punt blocks, Dekoda Watson has three. Naturally, Watson leads the NFL in blocked punts during that same time span.
In fact, Watson is one of just two players in the NFL with multiple blocked punts since the start of last season. The other is Houston’s Bryan Braman, who, incidentally, is also a linebacker like Watson.
Now Joe finds all of this punt-block focus cool, but Joe just wishes the coaching staff would have the same passion and mindset about drilling quarterbacks . Then maybe the Bucs might have a few more wins this year.
Mason Foster had his coconut rattled against Atlanta on Sunday and was pulled with a concussion, or an “incussion,” as Foster described it.
Foster hasn’t returned to practice yet, apparently surrendering to NFL brain injury protocols, but Foster remains hopeful of a return in Detroit, so he told Joe today.
Foster also doesn’t want to break a personal streak he’s got going. Foster hasn’t missed a game of any kind since a busted thumb playing baseball as a little kid. Foster was a catcher and was forced to move to the outfield when he returned. But since then, Foster said, he never missed a high school, college or pro game of any kind.
Joe’s pulling big time for Foster’s return. He’s a playmaker on the Bucs defense, and with Dashon Goldson out, it could be brutal for the Bucs to be without two starters up the gut of their defense against the explosive and balanced Lions.
Joe slugged it out this afternoon for 90 minutes with the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, Steve Duemig of WDAE-AM 620. It was a special edition of the normally-on-Wednesday “JoeBucsFan hour.” Joe dove into a wide variety of topics, from the arrogance of the Lions media to the Darrelle Revis-Calvin Johnson matchup, the buzz of the Bucs locker room, and much more. Enjoy!
Bucs defensive end Adrian Clayborn wasn’t always able to drill Matty Ice last week.
Joe is sure most Bucs fans have seen the great NFL Films clip of Gerald McCoy mic’ed up against Atlanta. In the video, GMC along with Adrian Clayborn both pulled up on Matty Ice when each mistakenly thought Matty Ice had thrown a pass.
Matty Ice pulled away from GMC’s grasp and escaped. Both GMC and Clayborn didn’t realize this until it was too late.
GMC was upset because that would-be sack would have given him a franchise record four for a game. You can hear GMC say, “Not even 99 had four,” clearly referring to Hall of Famer Warren Sapp.
Joe knows why the duo didn’t bring Ryan down. With the NFL players protecting NFL quarterbacks like a bottle of nitroglycerin, defenders have become conditioned to, when in doubt, not even breathe on a quarterback.
That was exactly the case with Clayborn and GMC.
“Me, just getting a penalty I guess like two series before that, I was kind of hesitant about hitting him too hard so I kind of pulled up a little bit,” Clayborn said of the non-Matty Ice sack. “It is a lesson to itself. Whatever you do, keep it legal but still try to make the play. It is hard, but we have to play within NFL rules that are [in effect] these days.
“It is a split second decision how to gauge if he is going to move and whether to hit him high or him low. We are still working on it, obviously.
“I promise next time I will not hold up. I’m not missing a sack like that again.”
Fortunately for the Bucs, the game was already in hand by that time and Matty Ice escaping meant little to the outcome of the game. But what if the game was close or even tied? And by escaping Matty Ice was able to make a play to keep a drive alive for a winning score?
This nonsense of babying quarterbacks beyond reason could — if it hasn’t happened yet — decide outcomes of games.
Please, prove Joe wrong in Detroit, Keith Tandy. Please!
Joe’s no fan of Tandy’s skills, but Bucs coaches are. Greg Schiano offered big praise for the second-year safety’s intelligence and reliability today, and defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan took the Tandy love several steps further.
“Really a versatile guy as far as playing different positions. He’s a guy I would describe as really good at everything,” Sheridan said. “Maybe not a wow spectacular dynamic player at any one particular part of his game. But he’s good in run support, he can tackle, he’s athletic, he can play man-to-man coverage, he understands zone coverage, he can play different components of zone coverage, he can make checks off of formations. He’s done an outstanding job. I told him that a couple of weeks ago. He has really come around. We put him in there. I don’t think we miss a beat.”
Yes, Sheridan said the Bucs would miss suspended Dashon Goldson.
Joe asked Sheridan if the loss of Goldson meant he’d change the way Mark Barron is used, but the answer was a definitive, “No. We’re going to try to use Mark as we have.”
The Bucs are quite confident in Tandy. Joe’s going to break out the rabbit’s foot and cross fingers.
Joe’s been searching for answers as to what transformed the Bucs’ offensive line over the past three games.
Could it simply be the addition of left guard Jamon Meredith into the starting lineup? Possibly. But now Joe’s going throw in the X-factor of the Bucs getting back their blocking tight end, Tom Crabtree.
Crabtree (coincidentally?) really emerged healthy in Seattle three weeks ago and has played about 50 snaps a game since.
Joe talked to Crabtree at length today and he dismisses his return as a major factor. Crabtree said consistency “as far as technique and communication as a line and tight ends” has been the difference, along with the magical, hard-to-pin-down reason of “clicking.”
Crabtree also offered another point well taken. Mike Glennon coming out firing against Seattle and becoming a respected diverse threat since is a difference-maker. “That doesn’t do anything but help your running game right there,” Crabtree said.
In this way cool video from NFL Network of Gerald McCoy mic’ed up for NFL Films, there is clear evidence of how babying quarterbacks has changed the NFL game, and Joe does not believe it’s for the better, unless you are into fantasy football or video games or just hate defense.
Obviously, GMC had three sacks last week against the Dixie Chicks. He should have had a fourth. GMC was in a scrum to get Dixie Chicks quarterback Matty Ice. Both GMC and Adrian Clayborn thought Ryan had gotten rid of the ball. GMC even had his hands on Matty Ice and let him go, only to realize too late that Matty Ice had the ball, and then threw a pass.
GMC, on the sidelines, was beside himself, telling all who would listen, “I thought he threw the ball otherwise I would have body-slammed him! Not even 99 [Warren Sapp] had four sacks,” GMC said.
Imagine if this was a close game and Clayborn and GMC let Matty Ice go, for fear of getting flagged, fined or suspended, and Matty Ice tosses a touchdown pass for a win?
Former Bucs quarterback Shaun King knows a few things about his position. And quite a bit about the college game, serving as an NFL Draft guru for NBC Sports.
King was very direct when talking today on WDAE-AM 620 about the Bucs drafting a quarterback in 2014. King said he likes Mike Glennon but the Bucs absolutely should not pass on a chance to draft one of two QBs King deems worthy of a first-round pick: Teddy Bridgewater and Johnny Football.
Marcus Mariota of Oregon? King doesn’t see him as a “plug-and-play” guy.
One of three QBs to lead the Bucs to the NFC title game, King echoed a point Joe has made many times: It’s almost impossible to compete for a Super Bowl with the fourth best quarterback in your division.
The Bucs sit in that boat. Mike Glennon, clearly, is not better than Matt Ryan, Cam Newton or Drew Brees. And King doesn’t believe Glennon has a “ceiling” anywhere near the level of those guys.
So where might that leave the Bucs come May? (yes the NFL Draft is in May next year.) As Joe’s written previously, Joe’s all in favor of the Bucs drafting a QB in the first round, Glennon thriving or not.
Donald Penn has made 102 consecutive starts for the Bucs, so it’s no wonder that he’s got excellent perspective on the Bucs’ recent revival of the offensive line and the team.
“Two games ain’t really nothin’,” Penn said. “You know, we’ve got a long season. Shoot, we gave away the first eight.”
Penn, of course, is right. It’s easy to get caught up in the euphoria of the Bucs’ past three games, two of them wins. Fans are eager to seize hope and the promise of good things to come. But the Bucs have loads more work to do and much to prove. If they can’t perform on the road in these next two games, Joe’s confident the locals will be back to billboards, pitchforks and daily dreams of Johnny Football.
You can hear Penn’s brief chat with media yesterday below, via WDAE-AM 620 audio.
1) A pregame defensive line spirit session includes Dekoda Watson
2) Lavonte David to McCoy, “They can’t block you, G.”
3) Greg Schiano instructing McCoy how he wants him to deliver a message to the defense, “I want you to get’em together …”
4) A great look at the dirty hit Vincent Jackson takes in the back on Bobby Rainey’s breakaway TD run.
5) Steven Jackson praising McCoy after the game.
The debate will rage for many months. The topic is simple: Is Mike Glennon the guy to lead the Bucs to the promised land?
Look out! Free agent tight end Tom Crabtree is coming from Green Bay and he’s going to help stretch the field and be a punishing blocker and the Bucs have studied his film and found a hidden gem. … That’s what Bucs fans heard often this spring and summer from Greg Schiano and rockstar general manager Mark Dominik.
Mason Foster had his coconut rattled against Atlanta on Sunday and was pulled with a concussion, or an “
Joe’s been searching for answers as to what transformed the Bucs’ offensive line over the past three games.
Every Bucs fans 
