Buccaneers unraveling as the losses mount
It was another dreadful performance for the Bucs in New Orleans yesterday. Offense, defense, special teams, were all outplayed in the 30-10 loss. The Bucs could only generate 200 yards of offense in the loss, the lowest yards generated in the Dirk Koetter era in Tampa. Injuries continued to pile up for the Bucs. Jameis Winston hurt his shoulder late in the first half and did not return. Winston will be sidelined two weeks minimum.
The offense could do nothing against the Saints defense as they shut down the Bucs big time playmakers holding Mike Evans to one catch for 13 yards.
At his weekly press conference, Koetter said the Bucs would be activating Ryan Griffin from the IR at some point this week. Griffin will be the backup to Ryan Fitzpatrick On Sunday against the Jets.
Peyton Barber provided a bit of a spark in the run game as he ran for 34 yards on 11 carries As Doug Martin could never get anything going as he ran for 7 yards on 8 carries.
Defensively, again the Bucs could not seem to stop much of anything the Saints threw at them. Drew Brees and the Saints offense totaled over 400 yards in the win. The Bucs had no answer for the rookie RB out of Tennessee Alvin Kamara who gashed the Bucs repeatedly with his runs.
William Gohlsten suffered a neck injury and was taken off the field on a stretcher but later passed all nurelogical testing and was able to make the plane ride back to Tampa with the team.
In the second half there was a skirmish on the Bucs sideline when Jameis Winston poked Marshon Lattimore in the back of the helmet. Lattimore came after Winston, and then Mike Evans came and jumped Lattimore earning a 15 yard penalty. It was announced earlier today that Evans will be suspended one game and will sit out against the Jets this weekend.
The Bucs are now 2-6 at the halfway point of the season and very little has gone the Bucs way. The Bucs have lost five in a row and that could continue to climb with three out of the next four on the road.
The season began with a lot of promise and many prognosticators picking the bucs for thier first playoff appearnce in over 10 years. It looks as if the printing of the playoff tickets will need to be put on hold.
Where does the blame fall for this debacle? First it starts with the players. This team has a lot of good individual players on both offense and defense. But that is where it ends. They just can’t seem to play together as a unit. On defense, the Bucs stll haven’t figured out how to pressure the QB after eight games. The defense has periods during every game of poor tackling, being out of position, not knowing where to be or where to line up in certain types of coverage,
On offense, The OL is getting worse as the season goes on. The run blocking seems to be regressing. The pass blocking is breaking down. The chemistry between QB and WR is missing.
The lack of preparation falls on the coaches, Koetter, and Mike Smith have not done a good job getting this defense to play as a unit. In training camp there is a lack of tackling drills and physical play because everyone is afraid of injuries. The Bucs training camp has been relatively soft and they are now paying the price at the halfway point.
Should Dirk Koetter be fired? Should the Bucs part ways with Jason Licht? Are the Bucs players giving up on the season? These are just a few of the questions I will answer this week as I grade the first half of the season.
