Bucs excel at turning turnovers into touchdowns

[michael89156]

Bucs excel at turning turnovers into touchdowns






CLIFF MCBRIDE/STAFF
Of the 20 turnovers the Bucs have forced this season, 11 have resulted in touchdowns, including Ronde Barber's 78-yard interception return against the Chiefs in Week 6. The Bucs have turned 13 of those 20 turnovers into points.


By ROY CUMMINGS | The Tampa Tribune
Published:  November 22, 2012 - 12:00 AM




TAMPA --

As he ran onto the field following Tampa Bay's recovery of a first-quarter Carolina fumble on Sunday, Buccaneers receiver Mike Williams kept shouting the same word over and over again.

"Points,'' Williams shouted, "points.''

"Whenever we get another opportunity off a turnover like that, we always yell 'points' to each other as we're running onto the field, because that's what we want,'' Williams added. "We want to score points.''

More often than not they do. The Bucs go into their game against the Falcons on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium ranked third in the league in points scored off turnovers with 83.

Only the New York Giants (96) and Chicago Bears (88) have scored more this year, and in most cases the Bucs are maxing out on the additional offensive opportunities.

Of the 13 takeaways the Bucs have turned into scores, 11 were touchdowns. Eight have been converted by the offense, which may as well shout "touchdown'' as it takes the field.

"Well, yeah, maybe, because we always want a touchdown in those situations,'' Williams said. "I mean, if we get a field goal it's still like we're stealing points.

"But it's touchdowns that we're after.''

Their propensity for getting them hasn't gone unnoticed. After watching quarterback Matt Ryan throw five interceptions last week, Falcons coach Mike Smith expressed some concern about the Bucs' penchant for turning takeaways into touchdowns.

And rightfully so. The Bucs have shown an even greater tendency to simply take the ball away this year, recording the sixth-most takeaways in the league with 15 interceptions and five fumble recoveries.

"They've done a really good job when they take the ball away,'' said Smith, who refers to takeaways and points off takeaways as two of the most "critical'' elements of the game.

"Those are things that we look at very closely as a coaching staff that are often overlooked by everyone else,'' Smith said. "When you look at the top teams, they're usually (among the league leaders) there.

"So yeah, they are definitely some of the most important stats. All the others can be empty yards or fluff yards. It's really about scoring points and being able to possess the football.''

Bucs coach Greg Schiano has long been a subscriber to the theory that the best way to win any football game is to win the turnover battle and outdistance your opponent in time of possession.

That's why he puts so much emphasis on ball security and why he has made it a priority of his defense to either score itself or create increased opportunities for the offense to score by taking the ball away.

The takeaway, though, is only part of what he says is a winning equation. Producing points off the takeaway, particularly when the turnover comes deep in the opponent's end of the field, is just as critical.

"When you get a takeaway back in your own end, it's not quite as big a deal,'' Schiano said. "Certainly you're stealing a possession there, but when you're getting the ball on the plus side of the 50-yard line, then I think it's very important that you come away with points."

The Bucs have done a good job there as well. Of their 20 takeaways, 10 have come beyond what they call the plus-side of the 50-yard line. Seven have been converted to scores, including six for touchdowns.

"That short field really has its advantages,'' Bucs offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan said. "It gives you a little more wiggle room, so to speak, so we're very fortunate any time we have that.

"And we're very fortunate that our defense and special teams have done such a good job of taking the ball away and giving us those short fields to work with and those extra scoring opportunities.

"Any time you get an extra possession where you're stealing another opportunity to score on offense, you have to take advantage of it, and we've done a good job of that this year. It's been an important part for us.''

 

[buchead]

Matt Ryan ain't hearing none of that. He threw 5 picks last week and now he's playing the worse pass defense in football. He is going to throw it 50 times and he's going to be looking for the big play.
He can throw it all he wants we just need 2 picks and a pick six. I'm thinking ronde or Anthony gets the pick six.

[The Anti-Java]

Matt Ryan ain't hearing none of that. He threw 5 picks last week and now he's playing the worse pass defense in football. He is going to throw it 50 times and he's going to be looking for the big play.
He can throw it all he wants we just need 2 picks and a pick six. I'm thinking ronde or Anthony gets the pick six.

Leonard.

[Benchwarmer#1]

Matt Ryan ain't hearing none of that. He threw 5 picks last week and now he's playing the worse pass defense in football. He is going to throw it 50 times and he's going to be looking for the big play.
He can throw it all he wants we just need 2 picks and a pick six. I'm thinking ronde or Anthony gets the pick six.

I've been wondering.

I used to think of Kiff's defense as 'fishing." The cover-2 is pretty good against the pass if the front wins at the line. Everyone covers eachothers butts. Group tackles. And of course, the bend-don't-break mantra. As the defense got closer to goaline, obviously the field becomes less for the offense to work with, the defense tightened up, and many times a INT would occur...

Is Schiano's defense the "evil twin" of Kiff's defense, or a screwed up doppelganger? Schiano rules the run. It's his most important ideal on a defense. He said it when he was hired to coach the Bucs. But it was obvious, that with all the blitzing, the sorry backfield wasn't going to cover elite WR's. But he went that way besides that fact. He gives up huge yardage in the air, but as the field get shorter, the DB's can play closer, the WR's are slowed a bit, and they cannot run to get the TD. I hope I'm not the only one seeing this use of space as advantage, just like Kiff did years ago. The only difference, Schiano chose to concentrate his efforts into stopping the run first.

One thing is for sure. If they can't run, Matt will cough it up sooner or later.

[The Anti-Java]

As he ran onto the field following Tampa Bay's recovery of a first-quarter Carolina fumble on Sunday, Buccaneers receiver Mike Williams kept shouting the same word over and over again.

"Points,'' Williams shouted, "points.''




LOL    Love that.