Now that I've had a night to sleep on the historic loss the Bucs defense snatched from the jaws of victory, I really think the reason this defense is playing at such a poor level doesn't fall on the talent or scheme ...it falls on the lack of leaders and overall apathy on that side of the team.Looking back at our glory years there were leaders all over the defense, from players, to position coaches, to coordinators. Guys with passion that will let their teammates know if they are missing assignments, slacking, whatever. We all remember how Sapp would bust on teammates for any failures. I'm not saying we need a Sapp type in the locker room but there are other examples of leaders from those years that all had their own approach, from Nickerson (in-your-face), Lynch (passion), Brooks (calm, do-your-job), etc. There's simply no player on this defense that provides any of that leadership on the field. McCoy should have that C removed as (IMO) he's not providing anything resembling the passion and desire that a Captain should. I get he's probably not going to make a play if he's double/triple teamed, but if I"m occupying 2-3 blockers myself then I'm letting my teammates know they better be taking advantage and making plays.Unfortunately where I think all this really starts is with Lovie and his defensive staff ...the defense has taken on their passive nature. Again back in our glory days we had fiery coaches all over the defensive staff from Kiffen, Marinella (sp), Barry, Tomlinson, etc. I don't see any passion from this defensive staff which translates to the players overall apathy.The good thing is I'm seeing some leaders on the Offensive side of the ball. Jackson (again IMO) has always had that calm leadership guys like Derrick Brooks had, but now I see Winston really emerging as a leader. I still expect rookie mistakes and ups and downs with him, but if there's one thing the scouts got right is that he has the "it" factor that makes teammates want to play for him. I actually though the unnecessary roughness penalties that Marpet and Hawley got reflected passion and desire to protect their teammates. Which, unfortunately I don't see that same passion on the defense.Sorry for the long rambling post, I just had to get out these thoughts to cleanse myself from yet another letdown by my (and your) Bucs. I have no idea how to correct these issues, other than of course a change in staff, but I'm hoping some leaders emerge from this debacle and we can truly see some improvement on the D moving forward.
