No Excuses!

Sad times for Tampa Bay Bucs fans.

Sitting and watching the product that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have put on the field as they’re blown out by the Baltimore Ravens, one thing is very clear: there is very little pride in this team. In their first game back home after a brutal three games on the road, the Buccaneers have regressed back to the form shown in the 56-14 blowout loss in Atlanta after being competitive against the Saints after beating the Steelers . As disappointing as the play on the field has been, the coaching has been equally discouraging.

The Buccaneers Are in Rebuild Mode

Regardless of what fans may believe or how much faith has been shown in Lovie Smith’s ability to quickly return this team to relevance, there should be no doubt that Tampa Bay is in full rebuild mode. There is a good amount of talent on the roster presently, but also needs for upgrades at very important positions. Some of this cannot be blamed on the new regime, but it is very disturbing to see. That lack of depth has really hindered the Bucs in their quest to climb from the cellar of the NFL The focus going forward now will be how competitive the Bucs can be, while hopefully showing improvement. Consider the rest of the season as an extended roster analysis, as the Bucs coaches go over this roster with a finetooth comb to see who deserves to be on this roster in 2015. That sure sounds like a rebuilding team to me.

Hot Seats

The play on the field has been preposterous on many levels; however, the coaching has left much to be desired as well. A big complaint during Schiano’s second year was that he was not putting players—primarily the defensive linemen—in position to succeed. Watching this defense get shredded week in and week out, that claim can be applied to the entire defensive unit, sans Gerald McCoy. With that said, Leslie Frazier’s job security should be non-existent. Despite the failings of the offense, Frazier’s unit has run away with the award for the most disappointing unit on this team, and likely in the league.

The secondary is regularly out of position, playing an off coverage that makes it easy for any competent QB to complete passes at a high rate. So far, opposing QBs have completed 71 percent of their passes for nearly 295 yards per game, as the defense approaches historical ineptitude defending the pass—a mark that they came close to in Schiano’s first year as head coach. However, that 2011 team at least could hang its hat on a top-ranked run defense. The current roster hasn’t been good in any aspect of….well, anything. To make matters worse, in this six-game span, the Buccaneers defensive unit has been on the short end of several QB/WR records:

·      Austin Davis’ first career win, in which he completed 75.9 percent (22 of 29) of his passes for 235 yards

·      Team record for completion percentage for Falcons’ Matt Ryan: 87.5%

·      Career-high nine catches by Heath Miller , as Roethlisberger completed 72.5 perent of his passes

·      Five TDs thrown by Joe Flacco in just 16 minutes and 3 seconds of gameplay

o   Five TDs also is a new career high for Flacco, who had thrown seven TDs prior to this game

·      Oh, and there’s this:

The Bucs’ porous defense has been picked apart by every quarterback it’s faced this season. It’s best game so far was a showing against the Saints in which they surrendered over 500 yards of total offense, but forced three turnovers—mostly due to McCoy’s pressure on Drew Brees throughout the game.  Without McCoy in the lineup, the team was ravaged and embarrassed, suffering one of the franchise’s worst losses in recent memory. When they came out and put together a comeback win in Pittsburgh, many thought it was the turning point in the season. Combining that performance with the competitiveness shown in New Orleans gave fans hope that the team was finally turning around and could be consistently competitive if they managed to not beat themselves by committing penalties. The sad showing against Baltimore surely shattered the fans’ dreams of being anything more than a team headed for a top five draft pick…and the amateurish defense is a prime culprit of the terrible start to the season and the likely 5-11 or worse season record.

Long-term Outlook

The remainder of the 2014 season should be dedicated to talent evaluation. With the Bucs sitting at 1-5 with no hopes of competing for the playoffs, Lovie Smith and Jason Licht should be changing their focus to long-term thinking rather than immediate results. Beyond extending Gerald McCoy and Lavonte David (as soon as possible), not a single player’s roster spot should be safe. Finding 53 players who can contribute to the success of this team (rather than its failures), is crucial to the future of the franchise and Lovie Smith’s tenure as head coach of the Buccaneers.

Roster Evaluation

The current roster has far too many players who seem to have come face-to-face with the Peter Principle. To be clear, the Peter Principle is a concept in which members are promoted until they reach a level at which they are no longer competent. My candidates for the Peter Principle award include:

·      On Defense

o   Leonard Johnson

§  Johnson looks completely lost every game. Often seen as a prototype corner for a Cover 2 scheme, Johnson has been terrible.

o   Dashon Goldson

§  Goldson…wow. Since signing his big deal as a free agent with the Bucs, the ex-49er has been alarmingly disappointing. More of an in-the-box safety, Goldson has been pathetic in pass coverage.

o   Dane Fletcher

§  Although he wasn’t a starter by design, Fletcher had to step in while Mason Foster sat with a shoulder injury. His play has left plenty to be desired, as he’s regularly sucked in by play action, consistently overmatched (by everyone) in pass coverage and hasn’t even played very well in run defense.

While I’ve highlighted these three players specifically, there are plenty more who could be listed alongside them. And still, there is absolutely no reason for this team to be playing as poorly as they have been. This lack of competence is simply inexcusable.