Asked in his Monday news conference about how he would coach Josh Johnson to be more aggressive downfield rather than abandon the deep ball for his checkdown options, Raheem The Dream offered up some confusing perspective.
His answer to the questioning reporter was to explain a Bucs team philosophy.
“We’re always going to play not cautious. We’re always going to play, you know, fearless, you know, not cautious,” Raheem The Dream said.
Aqib Talib did his best to get Raheem the Dream his first win as an NFL head coach. Rick Brown points out several other Bucs who dropped the ball.
Good guy Backwards Hat, otherwise known as Rick Brown of the Lakeland Ledger, doesn’t hold back in his critique of the Bucs’ loss to the Redskins.
Brown points to a number of players and plays early in the game that cost the Bucs points that would have put the Redskins in such a hole they may not have been able to climb out.
When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers watches tape of their 16-13 loss to the Washington Redskins, many of the players are going to be sick. They’re going to be sick because they’re going to see the golden opportunity Washington gave them Sunday only to see them give it right back.
It should have been Raheem Morris’ first victory. Instead, it is his fourth loss to start the season.
Many fans will point to Clifton Smith’s fumble close to the end of the day as the reason why Tampa Bay lost.
Some may blame Aqib Talib, who despite tying a franchise mark with three interceptions, was beaten on what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown to Santana Moss.
While both of those plays had an impact on the game, Tampa Bay actually lost this game in the first half.
Slug kicker Mike Nugent is too obvious, as Brown explains. Instead, Brown calls out Davin Joseph and the King of Turds as two examples of the Bucs leaving critical points on the field.
Joe is not a big fan of journalism that includes unnamed sources. Anonymous sources are sort of like filthy, skanky whores. You try to stear far clear of them, but sometimes you can’t help but look.
Here’s one to look at, courtesy of Pro Football Weekly in a story published by Yahoo Sports:
Our sources tell us the quarterback Olson actually preferred to run the offense was Luke McCown, who was traded because Buccaneers GM Mark Dominik said he could not afford to give backup reps to McCown and needed to get Freeman groomed. We hear Olson absolutely loved McCown but was overruled by the three people who have the most authority in personnel moves at present — Dominik, Morris and coordinator of pro scouting and former Bucs QB Doug Williams, who jointly decided that Leftwich’s leadership was the key point in his favor.
“They had a statue back there and they knew it,” one league insider told PFW. “If you took every quarterback in the league, Josh Johnson might be in the bottom 10, and he was one of the starting 32 this week. They screwed it up. They just gave McCown $2.5 million to start, and now he is somewhere else.
“It’s a mess.”
Joe wouldn’t be surprised if this report is 100 percent true. But you never know.
What certainly is accurate though is the final quote: “It’s a mess.”
Fans comforted by Gaines Adams making impact plays Sunday and looking more like a real football player had their warm feelings stomped on by former Bucs offensive lineman Ian Beckles this morning, co-host of The Ron and Ian Show on 620 WDAE-AM.
Beckles, a critic of Adams since he played his first game in a Bucs uniform, was explaining that the former fourth overall pick showing up on the stat sheet with a sack and a fumble recovery and a batted down pass is practically meaningless because he looks terrible through the majority of the game.
“He has to do it for 60 minutes. … He plays part-time and he made two plays. … He’s a bad football player. I’m sorry. But he’s a bad football player,” Beckles said. “He looks so lost sometimes. He’s a very awkward football player.”
Joe can’t disagree completely with Beckles. However, if Adams plays every Sunday like he did against Washington, Joe imagines nearly every team in the NFL would be happy to have him.
Raheem The Dream’s postgame evaluation of Josh Johnson’s play was incomplete, as the media peppered him with questions about whether Johnson was missing open receivers downfield and opting for checkdowns and to run for his life.
The head coach said he’d have to look at the game film before rendering a real opinion on that aspect of Johnson’s game.
“Everybody’s open on Sunday. …Everybody comes back to the huddle and says they’re open,” Raheem The Dream said in his postgame news conference. “We’ll go back and evaluate that on tape.”
Joe hopes Johnson shows up well on tape. But Joe can’t imagine the Redskins were that stellar in coverage.
Raheem The Dream’s evaluation should come at his Monday news conference.
Josh Johnson was quick to credit the Redskins’ secondary after the game.
“Most of the time when I took off it was because they had great coverage. I mean. They did. They had great coverage. So I was trying to do what I can possibly to move the chains,” Johnson said. “And hopefully they can start respecting the fact that I can run and we can get those guys on the edge open even more so we can make more plays. They played a great defensive game. You’ve got to give them credit.”
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Bucs kicker Mike Nugent had a rotten day. It wasn’t his first in his short stint with the Bucs. He missed two field goals and damned near had a third blocked. In short, the Bucs would have won if he just did his job.
He didn’t and neither did the Bucs.
Stephen Holder of the St. Petersburg Times caught up with Nugent after the Bucs loss and he admitted the obvious.
“I thought everything was fine,” Nugent said. “I didn’t walk off the field thinking something went wrong. I just walked off the field thinking I just didn’t do my job.”
In short, enough is enough. Nugent has stunk this season and is a good reason why the Bucs are still looking for a win. If the Bucs don’t bring in kickers Tuesday at the very least for a look-see, there a whole lot more wrong with that organization than just Nugent.
While there were a lot of positives to take away from yesterday’s loss to the Redskins, let’s face it: The Bucs lost. No way to sugarcoat it.
Joe places a lot of blame on slug kicker Mike Nugent. Ted Nugent would do just as well.
But as Matt Williamson of Scouts Inc., via BSPN.com points out, the Bucs have a lot more problems than just Nugent.
The defense held Campbell to only 60 passing yards in the first half. It would be great to give the Bucs’ defense the majority of credit for those paltry results, but the fact is that Campbell played horribly and forced the ball into coverage. He did make a few big throws, but for the most part, his play was inexcusable.
Generally, if you jump out to a 10-0 lead and force the opposition to commit four turnovers and hold that team’s best running back to 60 yards, that should be the ballgame.
Clayton dropped a critical third down pass on his hands in the second quarter against Washington. Mike Nugent then missed from 48 yards. Thanks, Mike. At least you’re consistent.
The Bucs’ No. 2 receiver has seven catches, two dropped touchdown passes and zero TDs through four games. Looks like he’s on pace for another Michael Clayton season.
Perhaps the Bucs can put some weight on him and turn Clayton into a blocking tight end.
All he does is block anyway, and surely Jerramy Stevens isn’t proving to be much of a weapon. And he’s clearly allergic to blocking.
Joe has some quotes from Raheem The Dream after the Bucs loss to the Redskins.
“This was a tough one. When you put yourself in position to win and don’t, it’s not easy. They fought. They did what we asked them to do. We need to go back in the lab and work. If we don’t stop the big play, we will continue to struggle. We will continue to lose these types of games.
“I’m not sure how we could get a better start than we received. The defense started fast and we got a fumble. We get it and the offense sticks it right in there. That’s how you want to start a football game. We have to figure out how to start more like that.”
On Aqib Talib’s play:
“He had three picks but I bet he feels awful about the [Santana Moss] touchdown. But that’s the life of a corner. He’ll be fine.”
On Josh Johnson:
“He did a nice job of managing the football game. We just have to get him better and more comfortable on third down. Failure on third down are the things that hurt you. He can make the plays when they are there. He just has to be more consistent and he will be fine.”
On the critical third down call deep in Redskins territory late in the game that failed.
“The third down call was a quarterback couble-option type of ploay. It was a great call. It was the stuff we wanted. The Redskins just made a great play to force us to kick a field goal.
“We got the ball back with two minutes left and had a chance to win it or tie it. We didn’t get it done.”
On the loss:
“I am disappointed in this team. We didn’t show the killer instinct. We have improved but we are not where we want to be. They gave themselves a chance but we have to go back to the drawing board and find a way to win a football game.”
Maybe for the first time in his NFL career, Gaines Adams played like an NFL player. Oh, sure, he’s had a decent if not good play here or there.
But this season, the guy has been worthless, invisible. That is, until Sunday at Washington. The guy didn’t just play like an NFL player, he played like an animal, even bulldogging Clinton Portis down for a solo tackle for a loss. He also had a fumble recovery.
Joe had to check if someone slipped Stoli in his ice tea (nope).
Adams had four tackles and three assists and a sack. Clearly his best day of the season and possibly best day of his career.
Even through his frustration after the game, Raheem The Dream spoke highly of Adams on the Buccaneers Radio Network but quickly admitted the Gaines Adams project isn’t over.
“No. 90 was struggling with a groin injury and he is doing what we wanted him to do,” Raheem the Dream said. “He came out today and played his heart out and played hard and when you can do that you can play football.
“He needs to do more. Hopefully he can come back and play a second game like that.”
Joe has to give Adams major props for being humble after the game if not bummed out that the Bucs lost. He wouldn’t gloss himself at all, instead talking about the team. “We,” not “me.”
“I have to give it to the secondary and the linebackers,” Adams said of his solid play. “They had good coverage” which allowed Adams to get to the quarterback.
“We were just swaming to the ball,” Adams said. “We were just trying to make the best of it.”
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Quarterback Josh Johnson rolled left and looked more part of a desperate, broken play than anything scripted on 3rd-and-goal.
Raheem The Dream claimed on the Buccaneers Radio Network it was a good call: it was a double-option, so Raheem The Dream said.
What were the two options, fail or mistake?
Johnson took the blame for the play, as he said on the Buccaneers Radio Network after the game.
“On the roll to the left, I tried to throw a pass to Jerramy Stevens hoping they would bite on the run,” Johnson said. But the Redskins didn’t.
“I had no one open,” Johnson said. “I was just trying to run one in if I could.”
On the fumble that ended the game, Johnson credited the Redskins.
“Their defense just made a good play,” Johnson said. “It happens. It happens. It’s unfortunate, but it happens. We all take responsibility for that. It’s a team game.”
You could hear the pain in Cadillac Williams’ voice after the game talking on the Buccaneers Radio Network. He confirmed the pain when he said over and over, “Man, this hurts. This hurts. For us to play that hard and to dominate the game and lose it… (hard sigh) it’s tough.”
Part of his pain was frustration. Frustration at his teammates, in particular at his offensive teammates. The Bucs clearly wasted the best defensive game of the season by throwing away a 10-point lead with a not quite as putrid offensive effort as last week.
For roughly three quarters, the emphasis was on “offensive.”
If the Bucs couldn’t convert a third down they shot themselves in the foot with moronic penalties. And then there was the stiff known in some circles as Mike Nugent. He pissed away six points and almost nine.
And this aggravated Caddy to no end.
“We have to score points!” Caddy said. “We have to reward the defense for playing so tough.”
Or at least find a freaking kicker to kick field goals. Granted the Bucs didn’t do Nugent any favors with bad penalties at bad times that pushed him back. Still, decent to average kickers make those field goals.
Stiffs who belong behind the bar don’t.
Nugent didn’t. So Joe can easily deduce where Nugent belongs.
An historic day for helmet-wielding Aqib Talib with three interceptions, including some of the acrobatic variety.
Joe tips his Caybrew to Talib, even though he was beaten soundly and deep by Santana Moss for the game-winning score. Joe now hopes Talib isn’t too fired up in the unhappy cab ride back to the hotel. Those can get a little sticky for him.
Talib’s been beaten deep week after week, but without his play today the Bucs might never have been in the game.
Ronde Barber had a strong game and Sabby Piscitelli didn’t get torched. Tanard Jackson returns next week. The Bucs’ secondary looks to be returning to last year’s form.
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The ugly side of watching a football game on television is not seeing what’s happening downfield away from the ball.
So Joe is absolutely dying to know whether Jeff Garcia Josh Johnson wasn’t seeing open receivers and pulling the ball down needlessly, or was he just scrambling for his life because there was nothing happening downfield.
Those answers will come in a matter of hours, whether it be from Raheem The Dream in a news conference today or tomorrow, or perhaps from one of the Bucs’ receiver, if their frustration is overboiling.
Regardless, Joe’s just not seeing how Greg Olson made enought adjustments to get the Bucs offense back on track. Are we allergic to a quick slant route?
Olson gave up on the running game far to quickly before going back to it behind Cadillac Williams late in the game.
Joe thinks Raheem The Dream dropped the ball when he opted for a short field goal on 4th-and-goal from the Redskins’ 3 yard line with about 4:30 remaining. The Bucs made the kick and pulled to within three points, 16-13.
Why not go for the win right there? There was nothing to freaking lose! You were sitting at 0-3 on the road. Go for the win.
There was no reason to put the game in the hands of your defense– the Bucs defense — which hadn’t stopped Washington consistently in the second half. Secondly, Josh Johnson wasn’t moving the ball down field at all. Add to that Mike Nugent is very unreliable.
Raheem The Dream blew it.
Worst case, you miss the fourt-down attempt. Then Washington is pinned back near its end zone and you’ve got a better chance of stopping them and getting back good field position.
Geno Hayes showed signs of being a quality starting linebacker after getting past his alarm clock issues on opening day.
Hayes played pretty well prior to the Bucs-Redskins game, flashing great speed and intelligent, instinctive play at times.
But on Sunday, Hayes had his breakthrough game, slashing into the backfield and making tackles for a loss. The 22-year-old out of Florida State even looked like a guy opposing offenses might need to gameplan for.
Raheem The Dream and Mark Dominik’s master offseason plan was for free agent signing Angelo Crowell and foolishly converted safety Jermaine Phillips to start at linebacker alongside Barrett Ruud.
When that plan blew up, Hayes and Quincy Black stepped into those roles. So far, Hayes looks up to it.
Black has been far too invisible, except when he’s out of position, letting Jason Campbell run past him, getting beat in coverage and committing penalties on special teams.
Asked in his Monday news conference about how he would coach Josh Johnson to be more aggressive downfield rather than abandon the deep ball for his checkdown options, Raheem The Dream offered up some confusing perspective.
Fans comforted by Gaines Adams making impact plays Sunday and looking more like a real football player had their warm feelings stomped on by former Bucs offensive lineman Ian Beckles this morning, co-host of The Ron and Ian Show on 
Raheem The Dream’s postgame evaluation of Josh Johnson’s play was incomplete, as the media peppered him with questions about whether Johnson was missing open receivers downfield and opting for checkdowns and to run for his life. 
Anwar Richardson and Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune discuss the Bucs loss to the Redskins 
While there were a lot of positives to take away from yesterday’s loss to the Redskins, let’s face it: The Bucs lost. No way to sugarcoat it.
The Michael Clayton saga is getting beyond ridiculous. The guy can’t catch the ball for yet another season.
The ugly side of watching a football game on television is not seeing what’s happening downfield away from the ball.
Joe thinks Raheem The Dream dropped the ball when he opted for a short field goal on 4th-and-goal from the Redskins’ 3 yard line with about 4:30 remaining. The Bucs made the kick and pulled to within three points, 16-13.
Geno Hayes showed signs of being a quality starting linebacker after getting past his alarm clock 
