Leonard Johnson....."I certainly could have tackled him''

[michael89156]

Unable to run, Bucs' opponents succeed through air

By ROY CUMMINGS | The Tampa Tribune
Published:  November 26, 2012 - 12:54 PM




TAMPA --

Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie safety Mark Barron says opponents continue to have success throwing the ball because they really don't have any other option.

"People know it's hard to run the ball against us, so they feel their best option to win the game (is to throw),'' Barron said. "They just know they're going to have a hard time running against us.''

The Bucs have stingiest rush defense in the league, where they allow only 81.5 yards per game. Their pass defense, however, continues to be the league's most forgiving.

After Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan lit the Bucs up for 353 passing yards during the Falcons' 24-23 victory on Sunday, the Bucs saw their yield against the pass increase to 315.5 yards per game.

Another reason opponents might be targeting the Bucs secondary is its youthful makeup. With veteran cornerback Eric Wright out on Sunday with a sore left Achilles tendon, the Bucs started undrafted rookie Leonard Johnson at left corner.

On the other side, fourth-year veteran cornerback E.J. Biggers made his 19th career start. From there, the Bucs relied on inexperienced reserves such as first-year corner LeQuan Lewis and first-year safety Ahmad Black in substitute packages.

"Yeah, we're young, but we're in the NFL,'' said Johnson, who gave up an 80-yard pass play to Julio Jones on Sunday. "We get paid a lot of money, just like the guys we go against.''

Johnson had not had a chance to review the 80-yard pass play he gave up, but said he could have prevented it had he done a better job of tackling Jones after he made the catch.

"I certainly could have tackled him,'' said Johnson, who also has three interceptions on the season. "I don't really remember much about the play, other than missing that tackle.''

[lyronmewis]

He's not a solid tackler, it was a knock on him coming out of college. Sometimes you just get burned and you can't avoid it, but you can't turn a 20-30 yard gain into an 80 yard TD because of a missed tackle. That's twice this season so far.

[Morgan]

Most NFL teams have moved to a pass-first run second offense awhile ago. The NFL has promoted a passing league by protecting QBs and WRs. It's not about them taking advantage of the Bucs' weakness.

[JM2]

I still like LJ just fine. People miss plays, get over it and move on. The guy was covering one of the most dynamic WRs in the league and is on the wrong end of both the size and speed measurables. And, oh yeah, he is a rook. All I ask is that you learn from it and keep your head up. Make a better play next time.

[Dolorous Jason]

Problem for Leonard is he should be a nickel guy , and we have to start him against guys like Julio Jones. Thanks Wright , ya bum.

[RHBucsFan]

Head up kid, you'll be fine. Missed tackles happen. You shouldn't have been left on an island like that.

Where is Myron Lewis??

[GameTime]

You shouldn't have been left on an island like that.

he had help from barber?

[BucNY]

Johnson had solid coverage on the play. It looked like he stumbled a bit at the end and Matt Ryan dropped a dime on Julio Jones. I'm not mad at the guy for that play.

[Holy Facepalm]

You shouldn't have been left on an island like that.

he had help from barber?

Believe we were playing Cover 3 with Barber in the shallow middle, not a Cover 2 with 2 deep safeties.  That's a lot of ground to cover for the old man to get there in time.

[BucsnNoles]

You shouldn't have been left on an island like that.

he had help from barber?

Believe we were playing Cover 3 with Barber in the shallow middle, not a Cover 2 with 2 deep safeties.  That's a lot of ground to cover for the old man to get there in time.

It was either 3 deep (putting Ronde in the DEEP middle) or man on the outside with a single high safety (Ronde).  Ronde gave up on the play and thought Johnson was making the tackle.  I'm pretty sure they ran streaks on both outside WR's and Ryan looked the other way until he turned and threw the ball, so I can understand Ronde not being there to help with coverage.....but he should have been there to clean up on the tackle.

[apkbuc]

I can remember some young cornerback who spent half of his career with the Bucs with the nickname "Brian TOAST Kelly" because of one play.  Fans are funny like that.

Guys a rookie, mistakes happen.  We may well need to upgrade at CB, but honestly he had pretty good coverage on that play right up until the ball arrived.  Hell of a throw, anyone would have had trouble defending that (the tackle on the other hand was a whoops).

[Benchwarmer#1]

Head up kid, you'll be fine. Missed tackles happen. You shouldn't have been left on an island like that.

Where is Myron Lewis??

..In the doghouse, where talib's momma is?

[BucsnNoles]

I can remember some young cornerback who spent half of his career with the Bucs with the nickname "Brian TOAST Kelly" because of one play.  Fans are funny like that.

Guys a rookie, mistakes happen.  We may well need to upgrade at CB, but honestly he had pretty good coverage on that play right up until the ball arrived.  Hell of a throw, anyone would have had trouble defending that (the tackle on the other hand was a whoops).

Agreed.  I liked him coming out of college and he has played pretty damn good for a UDFA.

[NotDeadYet]

Johnson had solid coverage on the play. It looked like he stumbled a bit at the end and Matt Ryan dropped a dime on Julio Jones. I'm not mad at the guy for that play.

   It looked to me like Jones did a quick stutter-step, then went into high gear. Leonard, instead of just conceding a possible completion and making sure to stay in front of Jones and tackle him, tried to mirror him a stumbled. Now he was in serious trouble, with no help coming...

[wreck ship]

That play broke the game in the falcons favor. They took our momentum away. Had he made that tackle, I think we win but that's hindsight and on the not-so-bright-side, we we're inches from winning the game and shaking up the conference. Oh well, go Bucs.