Gus was pissed because even though we only won 1 game in the first quarter of the season, the defense gave great effort stopping the run (fourth in the league until yesterday) and we played tough.  The offense needed time to develop and I can understand him being patient with the first year in a new scheme etc. 

 

 

Yesterday...  the bucs averaged 28 yards per punt return.  AVERAGED.  When you have a third round specialist kicking the ball over 60 yards with good hang time you don't expect to give up 28 TOTAL punt return yards.  That was embarrassing.  at that clip you would think that we were blocking for the other team... 

 

183 rush yards...  embarrassing, even worse considering they have a mistake prone rookie qb.  They only forced 19 pass attempts and we gave up 31 points as a defense. 

 

We give up a fumble return TD because we have an unblocked end on a toss play...  Mind you the second toss play that we ran with corey grant to that side.  embarrassing. 

 

We have a QB who throws for three hundred yards and 4 tds, but 50 or so yards of that total and 1 td were to make up for the six sacks that we took because we can't sight adjust a hot route against 6 and seven man pressures and there were at least two instances where the defense DID NOT COVER our #1 receiver and blake tried instead to force the ball to Mercedes lewis. 

 

That would cause me to have a shouting match at the end of a game too. 

 

Allen & Allen are proving to be a lethal combination.  That's the second straight week where they have combined for close to two hundred yards and they are developing consistency.  Walters pitched in and had a decent game for the 5th guy in a receiver rotation.  the TE position is non existant and the running game has gone from below average to embarrassing. 

 

Yesterdays game was a little bit of a flashback for me.  I remember all those years where reggie Williams was tough as nails and would run through a brick wall but couldn't adjust to the ball, jump, or run past anyone.  So what do we do?  send him deep every play when he can't make a play on the ball.  Matt jones was soft as cotton, didn't want anything to do with getting hit blocking or any of the non basketball parts of being a receiver.  What did we do?  nothing but slant routes over the middle where he would alligator arm the ball. 

 

Mercedes lewis is to the point in his career where he is essentially an offensive tackle that can be a not so sure handed check down option 5-10 yards away from the line of scrimmage.  He's listed as 6'6 but plays at 5-11' in the passing game.  so what do we do?  Let's put you on a deep corner (pick) deep seem route ({pick against new England) what about the deep post (throw into double coverage incomplete in the end zone).  Julius Thomas, 9 million dollar free agent, 24 TD's in two years, the move TE that we planned most of the offense around.  Let's run you on a three yard curl route. 

 

I think most of the problems we are having as a team is because through injury we are counting on so many undrafted free agents and rookies (Corey Grant will be an asset but had a really bad play.  Armbrister is no Poz.  Nick Marshall has been counted on and this time last year he was a QB for crying out loud) so I can understand some of that.  But when you're a coach and you admit publicly that you didn't have a gameplan ready for the most coveted offseason FA I gotta say, that's pretty much BS at the professional level.  Maybe that has something to do with you not being able to hit a hot route against pressure either.  Maybe that's why the Defense blew a coverage on 3rd and 15 for 56 yards. 

 

something has to change. 

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