Buccaneer's Game Thoughts

[AZ54]

First, I don't fall into the category of apologizing for any wins in the NFL. I don't think the Packers are apologizing for beating the Vikings by 3pts and only scoring 24pts. I not saying we beat the Patriots or Broncos either. From a few weeks back I wanted to see progress and I see it. Not everywhere but there is some fight in this team.

 

Offense: Cutler…stayed patient even through several drops, 3 and outs, early on. That's not his MO but he did this earlier in the season and we won against San Fran so he needs to bookmark these two games and remember this is how to play the game and stop trying to be the hero on every play or series. Good things I mentioned during the game. Several times Cutler threw the ball incomplete at WRs who were well covered but it was clearly away from the defender, or in the dirt, to where there would be no chance of an INT. He typically tries to throw a bullet into these tight coverage spots which often ends up in a bad result. I'll live with the punt over the INT.

 

I wanted to see more running plays early but we kept putting ourselves in a hole on down/distance. Discipline must improve! Marquess Wilson... he's definitely quicker in and out of cuts. Can he be the missing ingredient for the middle of the field? I don't know yet but as he gains experience with Cutler and the offense overall, his quick slants will be more troublesome for teams that blitz their LBs or DBs against us. I actually liked the 1 step drop and quick throw to Jeffrey late in the game when the CB was 10yds off the LOS. I don't think that was anything but ad-lib for Jeffrey/Cutler but it's what good teams do. At least it's what they've done to us over the years.

 

Oline played well. Not great but that's a good Dline with one outstanding DT and with two backps at LG and RT we held our own. Certainly they couldn't have been happy with the way we ran the ball in the 2nd half. We still have issues with speed off the edge, likely won't change until we get a true LT and move Bushrod to RT but if the middle is clean we'll survive. DLP is not the answer at OG but as our backup C/OG he's better than any backup I can think of in recent memory.

 

Matt Forte is slowing down. He's still a very good RB and his versatility remains his calling card. They need to get Carey more reps to keep Forte fresh.

 

Defense

I was impressed today. No, we're not going to shutdown Brady or Rodgers but there was a passion out there that was good to see along with better play. Jared Allen hustles and is a good leader for the D. He does not have the burst he used to have to get around the edge but he plays solid for us. OTOH, whoever has been working with Cornelius Washington they are doing a damn fine job. I though he was going to be a non-factor all year long except for his special teams play. We can all see the athleticism but effort often wasn't there, nor were the pass rushing skills. He showed up several times today. He had one play where he got around the LT, in full contact he still had the strength to dip low as he went around the edge, disengage from the block and chase McCown. He only finished with 2 tackles and 1 sack but there should be a couple QB hurries mixed in as well. I look forward to seeing how he progresses the rest of the season. I like Willie Young but his sacks come more from effort. and he can't make that same move around the edge.

 

Paea…keep eating your Wheaties. We need to keep him around. 6 sacks from the DT position at this point in the season has been an outstanding effort from him. He's been good on run D as well.

 

LBs…Briggs left the game and... our D got better? I don't know if I'd stick to that long term but it is hard to say it got worse after he left the field and Jones came on. I'll stick why the fact that Jones' play is ascending fast. In general the LBs played well today. Bostic is finally starting to show some instincts in the passing game. I don't know how he missed that INT, well yes we do because you catch with your hands not your arms. Nonetheless he was in the right spot and almost made a similar play in the end zone earlier in the game. SMC played decently as well.

 

DBs…another INT for Conte but largely because of the pass rush. I take it anyway. Vincent Jackson and Evans are a tough matchup and we held our own for most of the game. For the most part this shows that if a defense gets a consistent pass rush then the DBs look better.

 

Coaching. Nobody will want to hear it but Tucker had his defense ready to play. For those who like a fire and brimstone coach look up the articles on his halftime rant. It worked too. I see many dismiss this because Tampa isn't that good. True but we're also the worst defense in the NFL. We were, but now we're 21st more or less dead even with the Buccaneers. I see progress and I see young players like Bostic, Jones, Paea, Washington, Hurst, Louis-Jean improving and contributing positive plays. Offense is a different story but they came out and played better in the 2nd half.

 

Special teams. Our kick coverage has improved dramatically in the last few games. The new returner didn't fumble. Hard to believe after not playing for so long and he looks like he wants to be out there. We'll see next week. We still have areas for improvement with the punt blocking and KR blocking but overall we are getting better and more consistent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

Have to agree in most of your optimism. I'll even give a positive to Jay's corner. If he can stay patient you're right, the games at least won't be lost as easily.

 

Thought mostly the same about the D. Especially the part of how much better they did sans Briggs. Weird. Chalk it up to coincidence(?). I've been wondering all season how everyone kept saying the D had little or no talent. I was thinking it had to do more with the lack of coaching and I think I feel more confident in that assesment. Granted hardly any of the current members are from last year but together they seem to be improving. Hurst has been a surprising player. Yesterday was not the only day he has played well and had great results. Reminiscent of how Jennings was about 2-3 years ago, but without all the INTs. Washington has suddenly come on. I think you're right about someone working with him and I think that someone is Pasquolini (sp?). All the DLmen (Paea, Ratliff, Ferguson and Sutton) are showing improvement and Pasquolini is the man coaching them.

 

Conte is a solid Safety... Or at least he wants to be. Like I said in the game thread his effort is what gets him hurt. Yesterday's INT was one part opportunity and one part 'try'. If you remember a few weeks back he made a pretty nice INT while stretching out to make the catch. He's done it a few times. The reason he has a bum shoulder and concussion history isn't because he's accident prone it's because he's trying to punish people on tackles and jar the ball lose. I even saw him come into the play in one run and meet the running back just after the LOS. That is what we've been waiting to see from him.

 

Overall since this was TB it's still a game worth it's share of skepticism. Buuuut.. If they continue to play smart anything is possible.

[scs787]

I agree with pretty much every point here except I'd like to add the caveat that the OL didn't play well in the first half. The 2nd half they really started to come around.

 

I still hate the short little dumps but I'm not sure things will really open up until the OL shows it will give Jay and the WRs the time to get down field.

 

Certainly agree with you on Bushrod needing to move to RT and we add a real LT. Call me crazy, with all the defensive needs, I wouldn't hate to see one taken in the 1st round.

 

I'm loving me some Stephen Paea. An article came out last year from some writer that talked about Paea being able to play the 3T and a lot of people laughed at that notion. I'd gladly welcome him back next year.

 

 

[CrackerDog]

Good summary. Not sure I'll think we've improved much until I see something this Thursday against a "good" team. But you're right, we don't need to apologize for winning.

 

I still want to see Cutler get his head out of his ass on the first play from scrimmage, not wait until well into the game.

 

I assumed we were going to lose the way we were playing the first half. I'm happy with the comeback and performance in the third quarter. But damn it, you can't expect to do that against good teams.

 

Good to see the Lyin's lose yesterday. Wish the Packers would've done the same. And the Cowboys. Those would've helped our chances.

 

Key is to get back to 500 on Thanksgiving and then continue to see improvement. If this team finishes strong, it saves Trestman's job for another year. Some will say that's a bad thing and I'm not sure I'd disagree. But winning is better than losing, regardless.

 

In case I don't get to say it later in the week, Happy Thanksgiving to all my Bears brothers here!

[Chitownhustla]

 

 

 

I brought a Tampa Resident / Fan to the game yesterday. He goes to most of the home games of the Bucs.

 

 

Here is his comments about the Buc's:

 

So far they undecided on the Lovie hire, they know it wouldn't be a quick turnaround, but they didn't think it would be THIS bad

 

Complained about Lovie's normal mistakes.... same stuff we bitched about

 

Before the game he said the Bucs will lead most of the game and then lose it somewhow.

 

Also said the Bucs Oline is about as terrible as it gets.

 

 

 

 

A win is a Win but the way I would have liked to see the Bears win by playing decent Defense and playing well on Offense. We played well on defense and shitty on Offense.

 

 

 

Not sure what is going on with our Offense, they were so out of sync in the first half. I didn't see the 2nd half, left the game because of a fight with the GF.

 

 

The Bears shitty play actually started a fight between my GF and I........ this is how bad this season is going....Funny thing, it was her bitching about the Bears that started it!!lol

 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

I brought a Tampa Resident / Fan to the game yesterday. He goes to most of the home games of the Bucs.

 

 

Here is his comments about the Buc's:

 

So far they undecided on the Lovie hire, they know it wouldn't be a quick turnaround, but they didn't think it would be THIS bad

 

Complained about Lovie's normal mistakes.... same stuff we bitched about

 

Before the game he said the Bucs will lead most of the game and then lose it somewhow.

 

Also said the Bucs Oline is about as terrible as it gets.

 

 

 

 

A win is a Win but the way I would have liked to see the Bears win by playing decent Defense and playing well on Offense. We played well on defense and shitty on Offense.

 

 

 

Not sure what is going on with our Offense, they were so out of sync in the first half. I didn't see the 2nd half, left the game because of a fight with the GF.

 

 

The Bears shitty play actually started a fight between my GF and I........ this is how bad this season is going....Funny thing, it was her bitching about the Bears that started it!!lol

 

She sounds like a keeper regardless. Both the fact she goes with you to the game and bitches about their play (provided she knows what she's talking about and doesn't think GB is king) then she sounds like a regular tried and true fan.

 

[Chitownhustla]

She sounds like a keeper regardless. Both the fact she goes with you to the game and bitches about their play (provided she knows what she's talking about and doesn't think GB is king) then she sounds like a regular tried and true fan.

 

 

She hates GB. She knows when the Bears stink and when they are good. She is a keeper! lol

[Alaskan Grizzly]

She hates GB. She knows when the Bears stink and when they are good. She is a keeper! lol

 

My wife is the same. She's a converted Oakland fan. So she's used to being disappointed. Funny thing is on game day anymore she tends to not watch with me. I used to get worked up but in about the last 3-4 weeks I've lost the spark.

 

What's really sad is my oldest daughter is dating a guy who is a GB fan. Makes for a tough extended family experience. My daughter hasn't given up, she still cheers for Chicago...for now.

[Chitownhustla]

 

My wife is the same. She's a converted Oakland fan. So she's used to being disappointed. Funny thing is on game day anymore she tends to not watch with me. I used to get worked up but in about the last 3-4 weeks I've lost the spark.

 

What's really sad is my oldest daughter is dating a guy who is a GB fan. Makes for a tough extended family experience. My daughter hasn't given up, she still cheers for Chicago...for now.

 

 

Sounds like you raised your daughter right!!! No team flipping just because her BF roots for another team.

 

 

Funny story, my aunt is as Southside Chicago as they come, she married a GB fan,my uncle grew up across the street from Lambeu Filed during the Vince days. They cant be in the same house during games.