I am not going to sit here and spend a lot of time defending Lovie. I am posting this topic to highlight that we have a lot more pressing needs than replacing the Coach. People like Scott Reynolds like to point out the excessive penalties which reflects an undisciplined team which in turn reflects badly on the head coach. But penalties have been there in our losses and wins. It is not the real underlying reason we are losing.If one were to look at it objectively, one can see that the Bucs have consistently struggled when Vincent Jackson is not on the field. We did not win every game he started, but clearly this is a different team when Jackson is present. Defenses stack the box to play the run and force the Bucs to win on the arm of Winston. This takes us out of our game plan and causes our defense to be on the field an absurd amount of time. The Bucs are just not the same team without Jackson and Evans working in tandem.Secondly, on top of losing Kwon Alexander for the last 3 games, we have no end pass rush. And no matter how much you want to blame that on Lovie and Licht, the reality is there was no stud available in the free agent market prior to the season. Yes, they tried a flier on George Johnson, but that went nowhere. Lovie's defense will not work without a consistent pass rush, period. Add in our weak secondary and you have a disaster in waiting. And while some of that can be placed at the feet of Lovie, the reality is that for all practical purposes, the Bucs believed, albeit wrongly, that Jonathan Banks would continue to improve from his decent year last season. That of course did not pan out and the hodge-podge of secondary players has continued to be a thorn in our side.The fact of the matter is the Bucs need more talent. While I am not a big Lovie fan, I do believe with the right personnel, the system can and will work. It worked with Dungy and will work here. Bringing in a new coach and building a new system will set this program back years.
