The game has clearly passed Lovie Smith by. The comedy of that statement has never been funnier, problem is the young fans who say it haven’t been football fans long enough to see Lovie’s 82 Wins since 2004 is the 4th most wins by a Head Coach.
Turns out the Bucs just needed the Wright combination to be a Major winner! By game ten, the defense has put aside players who are not buying into the system. At least 4 of Sundays starters were on the bench or farther away from the starting line up when the Bucs played the Panthers opening day. Here’s the list.
- Jonathan Casillias Danny Lansanah
- Mark Barron Major Wright
- Adriane Clayborn William Gholston
- Alterraun Verner Crezdon Butler
S Bradley McDougald, CB Isaiah Frey, DE TJ Fatinikun, DE Jacquies Smith all have been
getting involved in recent weeks to bring youth, energy, and more importantly, obedience to the roster. More important than just being a star, the Tampa Two requires players to be reliable to their fellow Buc.
LB Orie Lemon, CB Brandon Dixon, LB Dane Fletcher, and LB Brandon Magee are all young underrated players contributing on special teams, on special occasions, and helping Lovie’s defense make a difference.
BUCS Coach to be Fired?
Good chance it will happen this year, but it won’t be the one some KooKoo fans want. Instead of Lovie, Special Team coach Kevin O’Dea is on the hot seat. Have you ever seen worse Tampa Bay Buccaneers special teams? Some credit has to be given, because special teams are usually made of backup players. Well the Bucs have a very poor roster depth to begin with talent wise, so it’s just natural to expect poor coverage units to some extent. But Punter Michael Koenen has fallen apart, FGs are getting blocked (they are NOT low trajectory), punts being blocked, and Tampa Bay has had more punt returners than wins. The only bright spot on special teams is placekicker Patrick Murray who has been awesome on 50+ yard FGs, even his misses have been close ones that ‘DONK’ off the crossbar.
McCown QB of the future?
Isn’t it amazing what a win does for you? Not only did Josh McCown look better than any Bucs
QB since 2012, but he benefitted from the best pass blocking this offensive line has done all year. The Glennon Mob won’t give up, but lets just say many of their membership have looked into paper/card shredder prices for black friday. This was what the Bucs saw when they brought McCown in from Chicago.
PLAYOFFS? Playoffs? PLAYOFFS???
It is absolutely ludicrous for an NFL team who won its 2nd game a week before Thanksgiving to be talking about playoffs. It’s also NUTS that the division leader is 4-6 and 1-5 in the last 6 games.
But the truth is, with the Bucs playing a dominating game, and feeling like perhaps the team could be on the rise, is it really that crazy to think the Bucs couldn’t turn this into a playoff race in 2014 when your only 2 games out of first place?
TO examine this fairly, the Bucs have a major disadvantage in the “race”; they are 0-4 in the NFC South while Atlanta is 4-0, also, the Falcons have swept the Bucs this season, so in truth, the Bucs are 3 games out of first place at this moment with 6 games left. But thats only if the Bucs go head to head against Atlanta. What if it’s New Orleans the Bucs end up in the race against? The Saints can finish with the same 2-4 division record the Bucs conceivably can. Then there is Carolina who’s got a half game Advantage/Disadvantage with their tie and could wind up 1-5 in the division. The Bucs still have a game at Carolina, and also one game (last week of the season) against the Saints at home.
For those who say “whats the use..why would you want to be a 7-9 or 6-10 division winner”? the answer is easy: You get a home game- see Seattle 2010 who at 7-9 won the division and HOSTED an 11-5 Saints Wild Card team, and BEAT THEM. Tell me THAT wouldn’t build momentum into next season??
TIME TO CRY
Want to shed a tear? Just think, if the Bucs are this close to the playoffs, imagine if Tampa Bay 
had one JUST ONE OF THOSE CLOSE LOSSES!!! Just one! The Bucs would be one game out of first place. Go farther… pick two games, the Carolina game, and the Saints win, with double digit lead in 4th QTR, and Tampa Bay would be 2-2 in the division, and actually the division leader.
Woulda Should Coulda. It’s fun though…until you cry!
Draft or Win?
Yes the Bucs put a slight damper on their draft status. Players don’t think this way, but as fans we have to think..do you want a win? Or a good draft pick? I’ll Take a Win any day. Wins, especially when you know a young team will have players coming back next year, are more infectious than draft pics. Players don’t celebrate draft picks. And please tell me which player in the 2015 is guaranteed to make the Bucs better next year, that a winning streak won’t do.
DRAFT RESULTS– What do you get in the draft? The Bucs drafted Mark Barron 7th overall to compensate for the ills of 2011. Winning 4 games down the stretch would have saved the regime and Ensuing roster turnover. Meanwhile 2013 2nd round draft pick Jonathan Banks continues to grow and produce more, something Barron never did.
Draft History vs Win History
If drafting higher is better than wins, why aren’t the Bucs in better shape? What team has more losing over the last 3 decades? How many Trent Dilfers, Vinny Testaverdes, Gaines Adams, and Eric Currys do the Bucs need to draft before we realize its not a sure thing. In all the years, perhaps only Lee Roy Selmon (1976), Martin Gramatica(1999), Warren Sapp/Derrick Brooks (1995) and Davin Joseph (2006) were really worth the losses the year before, Selmon not withstanding.
Michael Clayton, Maurice Stoval, Danny Peebles and many others have been drafted in an attempt to bring the Bucs a home grown offensive talent at Wide Receiver. Decades later, it seems the Bucs finally got it right with Mike Evans.
Regan Upshaw and Marcus Jones were the Bucs top draft picks under Tony Dungy, both defensive ends. It was obvious what Dungy wanted to do with his first team. Lovie Smith spent his first draft on offense, taking Mike Evans and Austin Sefarian-Jenkins. Expect next year to be all defense. I have news for all Bucs fans: Tampa Bay will not take a QB with the top pick in the draft. Ive put that in ink right here. QB will be addressed at a later date. Lovie will put a good team around his QB of the future.
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