Agree, with Fire & BC - and it’s exactly my takeaway prior to the season: we’re about a year away from Licht’s goal. Continues to pay down the credit card. Focused on o-line early, but also committed draft capital to Bucky & JMac - one of those picks is paying dividends already, the other flashed early, but needs to take care of his body to be ON the field.Yeah a couple things. Even without those stats, the eye ball test on Winfield this year is really bad. It's not that he's playing poorly it's that he's playing poorly in big moments and trying to do too much. Recently he missed a huge tackle on Jennings during the game winning drive, and he also had an easy pass break up on Hopkins for that deep pass that Mahomes inexplicably threw into double coverage (side note Mahomes hasnt been good this year).
There's other examples but if you just watch him you can easily see he's not playing well... And if he wants to be the highest paid safety he has to play better or we are fucked.
As far as Licht's drafting I think he's been pretty dang good as of late and we can all arm charm QB him to death... But my biggest grip are his picks in or near the 2nd round and going after mediocre edge players that are drafted too high (Hall, JTS, Braswell) instead of getting a really good LB or safety there. Going need over BPA rarely works out unless you're an elite team and you just need a few pieces to make your run.
Obviously I hated the Trask pick and still hate it. I hate that keeps drafting kickers/punters. I hate that he doesn't draft CBs late (lots of gems) and I hate that he took Devin White over Josh Allen.
But the rest of his body of work is really quite good.
agree with all of that
I even agree with the approach they seem to be using now, which is to get the credit card paid off while seeing what we've got in draft picks, young players. Frustrating for the "win now" crowd but probably the best way for the team long term.
I think that plan was just interrupted by better than expected results because of schedule, no injuries etc.
We did land Tykee Smith & Braswell for the defense, but we guessing the we overvalued the defensive pieces we had, and were decimated by some early & untimely injuries there, which highlighted the defencies even more. Also guessing the plan was always to address the defense in 2025.
10 games in and we still have some opportunity to play for the post-season. While we’ve seen this defense produce some incredible wins against Detroit & Philly, we’ve also endured some gut-punching losses. Even some of those we somehow managed to play close in games against Baltimore, KC, and Frisco… the lone head scratcher was Denver - but Sean Payton has swept the entire NFC South this season, so in retrospect, maybe not so surprising.
Absolutely think this season was meant to give the Bucs brass a true view of where we are/what is needed - and maybe not just from a personnel perspective.
How we end this season will inform a lot of decisions going into next season.
I think building a winning culture is important and I also think we could have paid the credit card off AND added some vets with late picks.
You'll see Ravens added Dionte Johnson for a late pick and they'll get that pick right back via comp pick when they lose them.
But I don't hate the approach either. Would love to see us finish strong for players like Evans and David that won't be around much longer. Steal the division from the Falcons who gifted us 2 losses.
Scoring ranks of Bucs opponents this year
1, 2, (Bucs are 3), 4, 7, 8, 11, 12, 17, 17, 20. Average rank is 9.9
Schedule rest of the way: 12, 18, 24, 24, 29, 29, 32. Average rank is 24.
Scoring ranks of Bucs opponents this year
1, 2, (Bucs are 3), 4, 7, 8, 11, 12, 17, 17, 20. Average rank is 9.9
Schedule rest of the way: 12, 18, 24, 24, 29, 29, 32. Average rank is 24.
I don't think anybody disputes that the remaining schedule is easier. But it could be argued that one of the reasons the previous teams have high scoring ranks is they played the Buccaneers 27th ranked scoring defense and 30th overall defense.
But it could be argued that one of the reasons the previous teams have high scoring ranks is they played the Buccaneers 27th ranked scoring defense and 30th overall defense.
This is only true for the Falcons. They average 33.5 vs us but only 17 vs the rest of the league. The other 8 opponents average 27 vs the rest of the league and we've held them to 25.
The Bucs have played a historically brutal schedule. Before the 49ers game it was the second hardest schedule since realignment in 2002. Then we played them coming off a road Monday Night OT game and they were coming off a bye week.
This is only true for the Falcons. They average 33.5 vs us but only 17 vs the rest of the league. The other 8 opponents average 27 vs the rest of the league and we've held them to 25.
Denver scored 26 vs TB, but average 21.4 overall
Atlanta scored 36 vs TB, but average 22.2 overall
New Orleans scored 27 vs TB, but average 23.8 overall
Baltimore scored 41 vs TB, but average 30.4 overall
Atlanta scored 31 vs TB, but average 22.2 overall
Kansas City scored 30 vs TB, but average 24 overall
So, it not only true for Atlanta. Out of 10 games, TB defense has allowed their opponent to outscore their average 60% of the time. The four that did not are Washington (I bet they would score more than 20 now), Detroit (excellent defensive performance), Philly (lots of injuries that game - they too probably score more than 16 now) and San Francisco.
Scoring ranks of Bucs opponents this year
1, 2, (Bucs are 3), 4, 7, 8, 11, 12, 17, 17, 20. Average rank is 9.9
Schedule rest of the way: 12, 18, 24, 24, 29, 29, 32. Average rank is 24.
I don't think anybody disputes that the remaining schedule is easier. But it could be argued that one of the reasons the previous teams have high scoring ranks is they played the Buccaneers 27th ranked scoring defense and 30th overall defense.
Correct. This is like in FF when the last place team says they have the most posts scoring on them while they're also last in scoring...
Yes my guy, you aren't dishing out any points so that makes sense.
Bowles defense has inflated average offenses into "good" offenses.
You can see it even in FF. Anyone that plays the Bucs their trade value goes through the roof. I had Hopkins and traded him right after the Bucs game. People really thought he was gonna for for 100 yards and 2 TDs the rest of the way lolz.
TB defense has allowed their opponent to outscore their average 60% of the time. The four that did not are Washington (I bet they would score more than 20 now), Detroit (excellent defensive performance), Philly and San Francisco.
Games 1, 2 and 4
makes game 10 standout given the impact of injuries
Philly (lots of injuries that game - they too probably score more than 16 now) and San Francisco.
Look at you . .. INJURIES impact performance.
@white-tiger - I totally disagree. Example 1… Washington had the worst defense in the NFL last year. They bring Dan Quinn in as their new Head Coach and they have a top 5 defense with pretty much the same players. Coaching and scheme is huge in football. It makes all the difference in the world.
@white-tiger - I totally disagree. Example 1… Washington had the worst defense in the NFL last year. They bring Dan Quinn in as their new Head Coach and they have a top 5 defense with pretty much the same players. Coaching and scheme is huge in football. It makes all the difference in the world.
Spot on.
They added Wagner and their offense has the ability to actually score and control clock which helps the defense.
I'd hardly call that the same team in terms of talent.
Also spot on.They added Wagner and their offense has the ability to actually score and control clock which helps the defense.
I'd hardly call that the same team in terms of talent.
their offense has the ability to actually score and control clock which helps the defense.
Ours does too.
Well, I mean, it did…until the idiot HC nuked our 2 best offensive weapons.
@firebowles2023 - as a whole… the defense is mostly made up of the same guys. The main difference being the coach and scheme. It’s called maximizing your talent with your scheme. That isn’t happening here.
…but the injuries, aging stars, walking wounded, are happening here. Hard to maximize when you’re forced to play 2nd, 3rd, and 4th stringers for long stretches of games.@firebowles2023 - as a whole… the defense is mostly made up of the same guys. The main difference being the coach and scheme. It’s called maximizing your talent with your scheme. That isn’t happening here.
But we don’t like talking about that reality.
