Tampa Bay Buccaneers

[E.H. Ruddock]

I don't understand how Barth is so dreadful on kickoffs, though. I mean, even the altitude of Denver couldn't help him out...

And this is the one position that if you have some skill, practice should improve your game greatly. I mean, all he does all week long is practice kicking the ball, right?

[jwfocker]

So who should be the next coach? I'm hoping for someone with a offensive background considering most of Tampa Bays assets are on the offensive side of the ball. It would be smart to get someone who could potential get the most out of those players. I like what the falcons have been doing so I'm gonna vote for Kyle Shanahan.

[E.H. Ruddock]

So who should be the next coach? I'm hoping for someone with a offensive background considering most of Tampa Bays assets are on the offensive side of the ball. It would be smart to get someone who could potential get the most out of those players. I like what the falcons have been doing so I'm gonna vote for Kyle Shanahan.

Yeah I'm kind of sick of the "defensive" coaches since Gruden left. Get an offensive guy in there and bring in a decent d-coordinator.

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

unless word is starting to go around and i havent heard it, i dont think Lovie is going anywhere anytime soon, and i really dont want him to. it doesnt work to change coaches every 2 or 3 years, and on top of that im sure the Glaziers dont want to continue paying 3 coaches at a time.

here is a bit i read today on a Bucs board that makes a lot of sense on the situation

Rejus Benn busted, Mike Williams busted. Josh Freeman busted. Brian Price busted. Mason Foster busted. Adrian Clayborn busted. Mark Barron busted. Bowers busted. Carl Nicks got MRSA, Collins and and Johnson were so poor that we released them a year after we signed him. Kellen Winslow was a "soldier" who was a cancer in the locker room. Barrett Ruud mas making tackles 8 yards downfield and people wanted his head on a pike. Revis was on the team for 5 minutes and we traded him before he demanded $16 million or whatever the hell that was.

Almost EVERY single attempt we have made to improve this football team since 2009 with the exception of drafting Levonte David, Doug Martin and Gerald McCoy has failed miserably. We have since drafted an outstanding WR in Evans and a guy that one moment looks like a franchise QB and the next moment looks like Vinny Testaverde. I'm willing to work with that through this year and his sophomore campaign.

But lastly, to play Devil's Advocate I personally was not happy with the Donovan Smith and Ali Marpet picks. But I think Lovie has tied to make the best of possibly the worst situation in the NFL. If anyone thinks Lovie could be successful through the amount of failure we have sustained as a franchise through drafting, free agency and coaching changes then you are a much bolder fan than I am.


To play the devil's advocate: every time I watch this team fail, the more I am convinced that no coach in Buccaneers history with the exception of John McKay has ever had such a hill to climb in order to build a winner.

i was pretty excited for Lovie to become the HC, i cant say he was a flashy hire aside from his name being well known, but i felt like there was finally a chance to have a log term Coach again, im definitely not thrilled with the results so far but once really think about what he was brought into coach, the team sucked, i never want to believe that my team sucks and tend to over value anyone that joins the team, but all the Bucs are right now are a few really good players with a bunch of place holder players. i really hope Lovie gets a chance to be around long enough to have a real chance to turn the team around.

[jwfocker]

unless word is starting to go around and i havent heard it, i dont think Lovie is going anywhere anytime soon, and i really dont want him to. it doesnt work to change coaches every 2 or 3 years, and on top of that im sure the Glaziers dont want to continue paying 3 coaches at a time.

here is a bit i read today on a Bucs board that makes a lot of sense on the situation

Rejus Benn busted, Mike Williams busted. Josh Freeman busted. Brian Price busted. Mason Foster busted. Adrian Clayborn busted. Mark Barron busted. Bowers busted. Carl Nicks got MRSA, Collins and and Johnson were so poor that we released them a year after we signed him. Kellen Winslow was a "soldier" who was a cancer in the locker room. Barrett Ruud mas making tackles 8 yards downfield and people wanted his head on a pike. Revis was on the team for 5 minutes and we traded him before he demanded $16 million or whatever the hell that was.

Almost EVERY single attempt we have made to improve this football team since 2009 with the exception of drafting Levonte David, Doug Martin and Gerald McCoy has failed miserably. We have since drafted an outstanding WR in Evans and a guy that one moment looks like a franchise QB and the next moment looks like Vinny Testaverde. I'm willing to work with that through this year and his sophomore campaign.

But lastly, to play Devil's Advocate I personally was not happy with the Donovan Smith and Ali Marpet picks. But I think Lovie has tied to make the best of possibly the worst situation in the NFL. If anyone thinks Lovie could be successful through the amount of failure we have sustained as a franchise through drafting, free agency and coaching changes then you are a much bolder fan than I am.


To play the devil's advocate: every time I watch this team fail, the more I am convinced that no coach in Buccaneers history with the exception of John McKay has ever had such a hill to climb in order to build a winner.

i was pretty excited for Lovie to become the HC, i cant say he was a flashy hire aside from his name being well known, but i felt like there was finally a chance to have a log term Coach again, im definitely not thrilled with the results so far but once really think about what he was brought into coach, the team sucked, i never want to believe that my team sucks and tend to over value anyone that joins the team, but all the Bucs are right now are a few really good players with a bunch of place holder players. i really hope Lovie gets a chance to be around long enough to have a real chance to turn the team around.

I was disappointed Lovie was hired. He hasn't impressed me once. He's way too conservative on offense and defense. There's at least a handful of times Lovie has said yeah I just didn't think we needed points before halftime. You can't win games in the NFL these days thinking like that. His defense, which is his specialty, is total garbage. He is way too committed to older players who are just awful (see Mike Jenkins).

[E.H. Ruddock]

Other than Gruden, they've had nothing but defensive head coaches. How has that worked? jw is right, Lovie is very conservative, and they just can't afford to be on offense in the NFC South. You don't draft a QB #1 and a WR in the first round in consecutive drafts to play conservative.

[E.H. Ruddock]

Come to think of it, the Bucs' starting RB, WR, and QB were all drafted in the first round. They need to be getting after it.

[jwfocker]

Come to think of it, the Bucs' starting RB, WR, and QB were all drafted in the first round. They need to be getting after it.

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

Come to think of it, the Bucs' starting RB, WR, and QB were all drafted in the first round. They need to be getting after it.

but none of their O line have been drafted in the first round, at least not by the Bucs, and so far their 2nd and 3rd round O line picks from this year are still questionable. i just dont want to bring in a new Coach and start the process all over again. and as far as the offense being conservative, im pretty sure Dirk is calling all the plays and my hope anyway is that it will be getting a bit less conservative the more comfortable Jameis gets. im definitely no expert when it comes to football strategy and play calling, i just watch and hope to be happy with what i see, but i feel like things are getting a little better each week, the game against the Texans could have easily been a win with a decent kicker, last week was a combo of bad mistakes by a rookie QB and a bad kicker, i didnt expect a ton this year, just signs of good things to come, so im not terribly disappointed yet, but picking if the Bucs end up picking in the top 5 again this year and show no improvment next then ill be on board with looking for another Coach.

[jwfocker]

Come to think of it, the Bucs' starting RB, WR, and QB were all drafted in the first round. They need to be getting after it.

but none of their O line have been drafted in the first round, at least not by the Bucs, and so far their 2nd and 3rd round O line picks from this year are still questionable. i just dont want to bring in a new Coach and start the process all over again. and as far as the offense being conservative, im pretty sure Dirk is calling all the plays and my hope anyway is that it will be getting a bit less conservative the more comfortable Jameis gets. im definitely no expert when it comes to football strategy and play calling, i just watch and hope to be happy with what i see, but i feel like things are getting a little better each week, the game against the Texans could have easily been a win with a decent kicker, last week was a combo of bad mistakes by a rookie QB and a bad kicker, i didnt expect a ton this year, just signs of good things to come, so im not terribly disappointed yet, but picking if the Bucs end up picking in the top 5 again this year and show no improvment next then ill be on board with looking for another Coach.

I don't know of a offensive coordinator that has complete control of the offense on gameday. All calls eventually go through the head coach. Look at it like a filter, you have a collection of plays and the head coach filters out what he wants to go with. Also, the more important the call is the more hands on a head coach will be like say before halftime and the team is driving and there isn't much time left on the clock for example.

[jwfocker]

Lovie will get three years though. That seems to be the standard time frame a coach is given for Tampa Bay.


I wasn't expecting many victories but I was expecting a defense that would show up and not play like dog shit every week and show some shred of discipline. The team just does not look prepared at all and it does not look motivated, especially on defense and that has me concerned. I knew the offense would be up and down like it has but damn that defense is a dumpster fire of worthlessness. Missed tackles, personal fouls, corners playing some alien form of soft zone coverage when the rest of the defense is playing man. Middle linebackers who still don't know how to get proper depth in their drops in the middle zone which is immensely important in the Tampa 2 zone. And I still see Linebackers who make the wrong run fits on a standard dive play. It's ugly.

[E.H. Ruddock]

Yeah the D was supposed to be at least consistent this year. The thing that is most frustrating about Lovie is that he is "known" for his defenses, and TB has some great players on D.

Also, Tampa is 3rd in the league at 9.5 penalties/game. Only Oakland and Buffalo are worse. I thought historically Lovie teams were more disciplined and had fewer penalties.

[E.H. Ruddock]

Also what is frustrating is obviously ownership. Well run organizations will have down years, but know how to and do recover. Since Gruden left, the winning percentages by coach are:

Raheem Morris - .354
Greg? Schiano - .344
Lovie Smith - .125

John Gruden was there for about 7 years and Tony Dungy for about 6. Those are two damn good coaches, and even in those years the Bucs barely had an above .500 winning percentage (.509 and .563 respectively).

I've been a Bucs fan since 1979, and I won't give up on them, but my interest in what they do is in danger of falling off. In the 39 years as a franchise they have only even made the playoffs 10 times (I included this year because we all know they ain't making the playoffs). In that same timeframe, they have only had a winning record 11 times (not counting the 82 strike year when they were 5-4).

What does all this mean? Nothing, I guess. I just can't imagine they wouldn't do a little better with better management. Although I would like some more offensive-minded coaches brought in. It feels like they are holding on to the Super Bowl year because the defense was so good and they never want to get away from that. The problem is, they had one of the best D-coordinators to ever coach in the history of the NFL. They haven't had that for a while now.

Ugh. /rant.

[E.H. Ruddock]

Well, at least we have this:

Jacquies Smith's Wild Ride to Become the NFL's Best Player You've Never Heard of

By no means can we perform a scientific study of one's popularity merely by using Twitter, but consider this: Taylor Swift has 64.5 million Twitter followers, Drew Brees has 2.3 million followers, St. Louis Rams punter Johnny Hekker has 24,000, New York Giants long snapper Zak DeOssie has 6,400, and NFL sack leader DeMarcus Ware has 309,000.

If you're a celebrity or a professional athlete using social media, you're almost guaranteed to have a huge following regardless of your status or position.

But what if I told you the man who currently leads the NFC in sacks and led the entire league in that category through three weeks has just 4,600 people following him on Twitter?

That's as good an indication as any that Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Jacquies Smith is flying below the NFL radar.

The 25-year-old has four sacks through four games, which many might construe as an aberration if not for the fact he's quietly been starting in Tampa since midway through the 2014 season or the fact he was so good late last season that the Bucs felt comfortable letting go of higher-profile pass-rushers Michael Johnson and Adrian Clayborn.

Or the fact Smith was so good late last year that Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune called him the best defensive end on the Bucs roster.


Or the fact Smith actually has 10.5 sacks in his last 13 games, which ranks tied for fifth in all of football during that span. And every one of the nine other players with nine or more sacks since that point have played more snaps than him.

Most sacks since Week 9 of the 2014 season
Player Sacks Games Snaps
1. J.J. Watt 17.5 12 819
2. Justin Houston 15.0 13 915
3. Elvis Dumervil 12.0 12 555
4. Clay Matthews 11.5 12 742
5. Jacquies Smith 10.5 13 551
5. Robert Quinn 10.5 13 682
5. Aaron Donald 10.5 13 695
5. Connor Barwin 10.5 13 876
9. Mario Williams 10.0 12 721
10. J.P.P 9.0 9 579
Pro Football Reference/Pro Football Focus

Where did Smith come from, and how'd he become the best NFL player you've never heard of? It was a journey that contained more than a few potholes, roadblocks and speed bumps.

Those obstacles were scattered throughout the United States and Canada, taking Smith from a destitute neighborhood in Dallas to Columbia, Missouri; to Miami and to Hamilton, Ontario; to New York, to Buffalo and finally to Tampa.

By the time Smith gained stability as an NFL player, he'd seen two of his football seasons derailed by elbow injuries, he'd fought to escape a Big 12 shadow cast by teammate Aldon Smith, he'd overcome a disappointing performance at the NFL Scouting Combine, he'd gone undrafted, he'd been cut by 75 percent of the teams in the AFC East, and he'd left and returned to the country.

It takes a lot of resolve to keep pushing when you're trying to cut it on your fifth professional football team in three years, but considering Smith's Dallas-area roots, it shouldn't surprise anybody that he has prevailed.

Growing up in the infamous South Oak Cliff neighborhood in Dallas, Smith had to overcome life challenges far before encountering those related to the game of football. And the challenges weren't just on the streets, because his father, Jimmy, was incarcerated for the majority of his childhood.

Fortunately for Smith, who was raised primarily by his grandmother, Opal, he still had plenty of support from her, his mother (also named Opal) and his late grandfather, Herbert Jones, who inspired a seven-year-old Jacquies to start playing football in the first place.

"A lot of people aren't able to make it out," Smith told Bleacher Report. "I've seen some of the best athletes in my neighborhood who don't generally make it out because they've gotten [into trouble]."

He credits his family and his coaches for instilling in him a work-first attitude—the type of attitude that had him delivering phone books and bagging and stacking newspapers during part-time graveyard shifts as a high schooler—but it's clear he wouldn't be the sack maestro he is today if not for Jones.

According to Smith, Jones, who coached future basketball stars such as Dennis Rodman and Larry Johnson at the AAU level, was an influential sports figure in that community. And he devoted much of his time and energy to his grandson's football, basketball and track and field endeavors.

So much so that Smith remembers receiving calls from Jones while he was in the locker room during halftime.

"That's just the way he was," said Smith of the U.S. Army veteran. "I would talk to him before I'd talk to the coaches."

Smith was dealt another blow when Jones died in 2003, which is when he decided to move in full-time with his widowed grandmother. With Jones gone and Jimmy locked up, Smith spent four years dominating as a South Oak Cliff High School defensive end without a father figure cheering him on. But he never takes the field without thinking of his grandfather.

"I go out there and try to play with his spirit," he said. "That's why I always drop to a knee and point to the sky before games, to honor him. I want to go out and play and do good while he's up there watching."

Jimmy Smith was released from prison four years ago, and according to Jacquies, the two now have "a great relationship." Jimmy, who is now finishing up ministry school while preaching in Tyler, Texas, first saw his son play live during Jacquies' senior season at the University of Missouri, but he's making up for lost time. Two weeks ago, he was at NRG Stadium in Houston as Jacquies suited up for a 64-snap, four-tackle performance against the Texans.

"I'm not one to hold grudges," he said. "We all make mistakes."

But it was his grandmother who helped him jump his first football-related hurdle way back before he was recruited by Michigan State, Texas A&M, Nebraska, Kentucky and Missouri, among others. During his sophomore year at South Oak Cliff, he suffered an elbow injury that he says tore a very important season to pieces.

"I remember the doctor told me I wasn't going to play, and I literally sat in the corner and cried for like an hour," he recalled. "And my grandmother just sat there and talked to me. She's always the first person I call or go to whenever I'm having a tough time or I need answers. She's the glue of the family, so my relationship with her is probably second to none."

Everything is relative, which is why with those experiences in mind, it's easier to understand why Smith kept fighting to earn an FBS scholarship during his next two seasons at South Oak Cliff. And why he overcame a slow start behind a deep defensive line at Missouri.

"He was a slow starter when he got here, too," said Mizzou head coach Gary Pinkel, comparing Smith's college career to his NFL tenure thus far. "He's a guy that just got better each and every year he was here."

His earlier trials also explain why he wasn't fazed when another elbow injury damaged his draft stock as a senior at Missouri in 2011. With Aldon Smith off to the NFL, that was supposed to be Jacquies' breakout season, but he was limited that year and was held to five sacks. As a result, he faced an uphill battle in the predraft process and—after a lukewarm combine performance—found himself without an NFL home after the seventh round had ended.

"I was honestly shocked," said Smith of not getting drafted, "because I had received a pretty decent grade, but it just didn't work out. I was shocked going through draft day and seeing the other guys' names called before me. It was just another speed bump."

His numbers didn't jump off the page, and his size might have been a factor as well; at 6'3", 253 pounds, lots of scouts saw him as a little bit of a "tweener." But when trying to identify what cost Smith the most coming out of college, his agent, Josh Arnold, points to that elbow injury and less-than-ideal results at the combine, where he ran an uncharacteristically slow 4.81-second 40-yard dash.

"I don't think he had the greatest combine workout, but it's one of those situations where a guy can have a non-elite day," said Arnold, who first pinpointed Smith as a potential client when watching him as a junior with the Tigers, noting the emerging pass-rusher reminded him of the legendary Derrick Thomas. "It happens to the best of players out there, and I just think he didn't have his best day at the combine."

Known for his speed, Smith compensated for that combine effort by running a sub-4.6 40 at Missouri's pro day that spring, which Arnold felt should have solidified him as a late-round pick. Still no love, although Arnold claims several teams have since admitted they missed on Smith's draft grade.

After the draft, Smith got his first chance as an undrafted free agent with the Miami Dolphins. And that's when he suddenly became a young pro football journeyman.

He spent the 2012 offseason on the Miami roster and went to training camp with the Dolphins but barely played in the preseason and was cut when the Dolphins were forced to trim their roster to 75 in late August.

"I was having a pretty good camp," he said of his Miami experience. "But one of the main things I learned pretty quickly when I got in the league is it's not all about what you're doing in camp, it's also about the preseason. And I felt I never really got a chance to play in the preseason, to go out there and showcase myself for the other 31 teams out there. I feel like that's kind of what hurt me the most."

Out of the league as a rookie that fall, Smith ignored Arnold's advice and crossed the border to play for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League, where he recorded just one tackle during a short and miserable stretch.

"I pleaded with him," said Arnold. "I said, 'Jacquies, you're way too talented. Don't even say the word CFL.' But he's so hungry, and he's got that chip on his shoulder, so he just wanted to play."

Feeling homesick, he got out of his contract with the Tiger-Cats after only a few weeks and returned to the United States, where he got his second kick at an NFL camp with Rex Ryan and the New York Jets. Same division, similar story, as he was limited to just 73 snaps in the 2013 preseason and was released after spending a month on the Jets practice squad.

Cue the doubts.

"I felt like I had a solid camp again," he said. "I kind of got to play a little bit, and it's another level of disappointment. It had me questioning myself like, 'What am I doing that's not right?' I feel like my confidence in my talent and my game never wavered, but it's like when are these speed bumps gonna stop, and when am I gonna find a home?"

But while he didn't find a home at his next stop, either, his experience with the Buffalo Bills in the summer of 2014 was different. Only five defensive players were on the field more often than he was that preseason, and he flourished with five tackles and 10 pressures on 144 snaps.

"I got a chance to play a ton in the preseason," he recalls, "and I had a feeling I'd get a chance somewhere else because of that. It felt totally different in Buffalo—it was the most comfortable I've ever been in the league, and I found myself playing really fast, and I feel that helped me out a lot."

Jason Bridge-USA TODAY Sports
Added Arnold: "People might say he had opportunities in places before Buffalo, but I'd beg to differ on that because to get a real opportunity, you need to get significant reps. And he didn't get significant reps until that preseason. Once he got that, the rest is really history."

He made Buffalo's 53-man roster but was released after Week 1, caught up in a numbers game as the team brought Nigel Bradham back from suspension. The Bills, who have one of the deepest and most talented defensive lines in football, just didn't have space.

Thing is, Smith was stuck behind too many high-quality defensive linemen in each of his first three spots, which is why he wasn't sticking despite the fact he had a lot of important folks believing in him. He remembers receiving extremely positive feedback from then-Dolphins defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers as well as Ryan, then-Bills head coach Doug Marrone and then-Buffalo defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, all of whom figured he'd make it big elsewhere.

"Even though the numbers didn't work out, a lot of them told me they really didn't want to release me and they wanted to bring me back," he said. "But they flat-out told me, 'Once we put you on the waiver wire, you're probably not going to be back with us because we know another team's going to pick you up.' And that held true."

When Bills general manager Doug Whaley released Smith last September, Arnold told him he was "making a big mistake" and that he'd "never see Jacquies again." But Whaley probably knew that. It seems everybody did.

The benefactors were the Buccaneers, who claimed Smith that week in what might have been the best move thus far in general manager Jason Licht's short tenure.

While he says it took him some time to get the scheme down in Tampa, by the time November arrived, Smith was getting regular rotational reps. In a midseason meeting with defensive line coach Joe Cullen and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, he says he was told he'd be seeing increased reps in order to show the coaching staff what he's got in him.

Smith started his first career game in Week 10 against the Atlanta Falcons. The next week in Washington, he played a career-high 48 snaps and recorded two sacks and five pressures. From that point forward, he replaced William Gholston as the regular starter opposite Johnson.

"I kind of took [the increase in snaps from Cullen and Frazier] as a challenge," he said, "and that Washington game is when it happened. That's when I feel like it all started coming together."

It has indeed come together, which is why he leads the NFC in sacks entering Week 5.

Success, though, means never being satisfied, and Smith knows his best strategy might be to find new obstacles. He's finally gained some job security and comfort at the NFL level, but now he's setting his sights on a new goal.

"I'm trying to get to double-digit sacks," he said, "because that kind of puts you in the elite crowd. A lot of guys around the league, that's kind of where they want to get to season in and season out."

If he keeps plowing through speed bumps, that might happen before 2015 has expired. And he'll probably have at least a few more Twitter followers, too.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2576 ... =editorial

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

even though it was against the Jags and was very heavily contested, yesterday i was feeling

[E.H. Ruddock]

even though it was against the Jags and was very heavily contested, yesterday i was feeling

Definitely happy with the outcome, and the o-line played much better. Gave Martin some holes and Winston only sacked twice. But man, the Bucs defense is not very good at all. Very worrisome.

But hey, Barth is back!

[E.H. Ruddock]

Lol classic bucs blowing a 24-0 lead

[E.H. Ruddock]

I fucking hate being a bucs fan. Jesus Christ they were in field goal range before that fumble.

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

man yesterday was bad, especially since i had a couple of Washington fans over to watch the game with me

im kinda wishing Lovie would give the play calling back to Fraizier or fire him and bring in someone he will trust to make the defensive play calls because they are just awful. the offense is doing enough right now to win games but the defense is shitting the bed

[E.H. Ruddock]

man yesterday was bad, especially since i had a couple of Washington fans over to watch the game with me

im kinda wishing Lovie would give the play calling back to Fraizier or fire him and bring in someone he will trust to make the defensive play calls because they are just awful. the offense is doing enough right now to win games but the defense is shitting the bed

Yeah, the only bright spot from yesterday and the past couple of weeks is that Winston isn't making mistakes, and is on the money with some great accurate throws to Evans. The O-line is on and the running game is benefiting. Hell, the offense looks great! But the defense, boy oh boy it is bad. What makes things worse is they have good players on defense. And what about those penalties yesterday?!

I say it all the time and I'll say it again; prevent defense doesn't prevent anything. I don't know why coaches continue to run it in these last minute situations.

I'm looking forward to Jenkins coming back at TE to give Winston yet another great weapon.