DH, does this mean you’re playing Sawgrass this week? Do you intentionally play to get close to the PGA experience with rough etc?
I ask because I’ve done that twice but more by circumstances than choice.
I knew you’d figure it out. Well done, sir.
And, no, not headed to Ponte Vedra.
Have played it a few times after the Players.
Of every listed “bucket list” course, this might be the most overrated of them all.
Thanks I was just wondering if you would see Sawgrass the same way
literally every single close late game, give up a game winning or tying drive with zero resistance.
JC is over the top, but not sure you're accurately describing the Commander playoff game, as one example.
In that game the defense is playing sort of extreme bend don't break (I hate it so I am not trying to credit it) and it works because through 3 quarter the defense has given up only 13 points and we have the lead.
Its not pretty but the 4th quarter begins with a BIG defensive stop. Its the offense that immediately turns the ball over so the Commanders get the ball right back ON OUR 13 YARD LINE. The defense actually holds them to a 4th down try yard line, but at this point Dean is out so TD to McLaurin GUARDED BY HAYES.
Its only a 3 point game so all the offense has to do is drive and score a TD and the game is OVER, but they CHOKE. I say "choke" because they drive right down with several big plays BUT THE MOMENT IS TOO BIG FOR THEM.
I say too big because we run for 9 yards on 1st down but then go weird QB run and snap issue, IIRC. Basically backwards/nothing, only need a yard. So, like the Falcons game early in the season were sort of shoot ourselves.
One reason the moment is probably too big -- and why I am not defending the defense - is that the offense probably knows that they are going to leave too much time and only a FG and that means a LOSS unless they score a TD . . but choke they do.
Even with a goose egg in the 3rd quarter the Lions defense gave up 31 points by Qtr 3 (to our 13) and then when ut was at least close in the 4th gave up 14 (to our 10). and as I pointed out before that not just the turnovers, the Lions defense is struggling WORSE versus the Commander run game and QB
All of that said the defense is the weak link on the season BUT not every game is on them, situationally speaking.
My argument is literally just pointing out the things that happened at the end of the games. The offense choked at the end of games with the turnovers and leaving points on the board, it was too often for this offense to be considered elite or even great. If this offense is great we win the Falcons game, win the 49ers game, win the Cowboys game, win the Commanders game. I went throught all the moments so I'm not doing it again. Bottom is line is the offense choked more than people want to admit and the defense made more stops than people want to admit.
The offense is being held to a different standard than the defense because we were accustomed to it carrying the offense.
So when the offense marches down the field to tie to game with a FG instead of taking the lead with a TD, you get your red market out and call it a failure.
It deserves to be criticized but in the simplest terms...
Offense tied the game with a FG and left less than 90 seconds left. SUCCESS
Defense allows SF (or Atlanta, or KC, or Washington) to easily march down the FG and tie/win the game. FAILURE.
It's not that complicated... And in the Niners game Coen did it without Evans or Godwin. Both of which were our because Bowles is a bad head coach.
Different standard? How about dont fumble the ball. Don't botch snaps. Don't lose 14 yards in FG range. Don't give it to White on the goal line (or dont give the ball to him period)
Or don't, in literally every single close late game, give up a game winning or tying drive with zero resistance.
Key defensive stops this season with subsequent offensive drives.
Bucs 20 Lions 16, 13:05 left, 3rd and 7 at TB 41, Incomplete pass. Offense: 4 plays, 14 yards, recovered own fumble, punt.
Bucs 20 Lions 16, 7:48 left, 2nd and 16 at TB 28, interception. Offense: 4 plays, 9 yards, punt.
Bucs 20 Lions 16, 1:01 left, 4th and 8 at TB 11, tackled short of first down. Offense: 3 plays, 4 yards, 11 seconds taken off the clock. Did White run out of bounds? And incomplete pass on 3rd, punt.
Bucs 20, Lions 16, 33 seconds left, Lions 1st and 10 at TB 44 with 2 timeouts. Lions end the game with 3 consecutive incompete passes.
Bucs 30, Falcons 27, 6:43 left, Falcons 3rd and 6 at TB 36, incomplete pass. Offense: fumble
Bucs 30, Falcons 27, 1:52 left, Falcons 4th and ATL 20, interception. Offense: 4 plays, -14 yards, 23 seconds off the clock, punt.
Bucs 31, Saints 27, 15:00 left, Saints 1st and 10 at NO 29, interception. Offense: TD.
Bucs 17, 49ers 13, 12:37 left, 49ers 3rd and 9 at TB 36, tackled short of the first down. Offense: 3 plays, 4 yards, punt.
Bucs 17, Panthers 16, 7:31 left, Panthers3rd and 10 at CAR 30, incomplete pass. Offense: 2nd and 4 from the CAR 5, FG.
Bucs 23, Panthers 23, 5:12 left in OT, Panthers 1st and 10 at TB 34, fumble. Offense: TD
Bucs 14, Raiders 10, 12:47 left, Raiders 3rd and 9 at LV 21, tackled short of sticks. Offense: TD (a 34 yard Sean Tucker run)
Bucs 24, Cowboys 26, 2:00 left, Cowboys 3rd and 6 at DAL 34, tackled short of the sticks. Offense: fumble
Bucs 20, Saints 19, 7:56 left, Raiders 3rd and 23 at NO 38, incomplete. Offense: TD
Bucs 17, Commanders 13, 14:03 left, Commanders 4th and goal at TB 3, incomplete. Offense: fumble
So this is 14 critical stops by the defense in close games in the 4th qtr and OT.
Offensive 13 drives summation: 4 touchdowns, 1 FG, 5 punts, 3 lost fumbles.
I believe many people owe Todd Bowles an apology and Rachaad White needs to be exiled to Jacksonville.
Why stop there? I'm sure you can stretch it even further to key stops in the 2nd quarter.
JC is over the top, but not sure you're accurately describing the Commander playoff game, as one example.
In that game the defense is playing sort of extreme bend don't break (I hate it so I am not trying to credit it) and it works because through 3 quarter the defense has given up only 13 points and we have the lead.
Sorta... That is largely because of possessions. They had long sustained drives to keep our offense off the field.
They constantly got to and converted third downs and forth downs. We did get 2 forth down stops which left points on the table for them... The nature of the beast when you're aggressive.
But you gotta be able to force punts and turnovers and heaven forbid a three and out so the offense can have more chances to score.
They only had 7 possessions.
JC is over the top, but not sure you're accurately describing the Commander playoff game, as one example.
In that game the defense is playing sort of extreme bend don't break (I hate it so I am not trying to credit it) and it works because through 3 quarter the defense has given up only 13 points and we have the lead.
Sorta... That is largely because of possessions. They had long sustained drives to keep our offense off the field.
They constantly got to and converted third downs and forth downs. We did get 2 forth down stops which left points on the table for them... The nature of the beast when you're aggressive.
But you gotta be able to force punts and turnovers and heaven forbid a three and out so the offense can have more chances to score.
They only had 7 possessions.
Overall, they defended better than Lions, but my post was about the 4th quarter. The 4th quarter of a playoff game breaks down just like I described. The offense choked TWICE. That is the "nugget of truth" in JC's absurdity. It doesn't mean the offense is to blame, it just means that two things can be true. a ridiculously bending defense can still cause you a game because it keep the offense off the field. A good offense can choke away a game in the 4th quarter.
Football is a team game and complimentary football is of upmost importance. Bucs defense has to forced turnovers and punts to give to the high octane Bucs offense more chances to score. The Commanders said we need to keep TB offense off the field and they played the game of ToP which is why the bend but don't break concept on defense is a failure and doesn't work in the modern game post rule changes of defenseless receivers, etc. You are not playing to the strengths of your team which is the offense. Worse, the offense did make a bad turnover but what turnover did the defense force to negate that?
Bowles gambled that the defense could carry them to victory and they did for three quarters. But that is not playing to win which is the Bucs offense. Had the defense forced punts the Bucs could have had a larger lead and then even if the defense falters then it does not matter.
The difference between Bowles and Arians in the following.
Arians knows you must score early, often and do not put the foot on the brakes. Bowles wants to coast to victory but the Commanders said not happening.
In the modern game you can not "coast to victory".
Pete Carroll made a living doing that with RW winning close games in the 4th quarter but that well dried up with the rule changes which also hampered the legion of boom and many other defenses in the NFL.
Modern NFL game is to score early and often through the air in the first half while using a very traditional method of ball control using the run to control ToP in the 3rd and 4th quarters respectively.
So I think saying the offense lost the game in the 4th quarter is wrong.
Truly the offense would be more at fault for only putting up 10 points before half time. But then again the defense has to force a punt or turnover in the first half or second half.
That is the difference in the game really.
JC is over the top, but not sure you're accurately describing the Commander playoff game, as one example.
In that game the defense is playing sort of extreme bend don't break (I hate it so I am not trying to credit it) and it works because through 3 quarter the defense has given up only 13 points and we have the lead.
Sorta... That is largely because of possessions. They had long sustained drives to keep our offense off the field.
They constantly got to and converted third downs and forth downs. We did get 2 forth down stops which left points on the table for them... The nature of the beast when you're aggressive.
But you gotta be able to force punts and turnovers and heaven forbid a three and out so the offense can have more chances to score.
They only had 7 possessions.
Overall, they defended better than Lions, but my post was about the 4th quarter. The 4th quarter of a playoff game breaks down just like I described. The offense choked TWICE. That is the "nugget of truth" in JC's absurdity. It doesn't mean the offense is to blame, it just means that two things can be true. a ridiculously bending defense can still cause you a game because it keep the offense off the field. A good offense can choke away a game in the 4th quarter.
I wouldn't call scoring a game tying FG "choking".
The fumble, of course.
JC is over the top, but not sure you're accurately describing the Commander playoff game, as one example.
In that game the defense is playing sort of extreme bend don't break (I hate it so I am not trying to credit it) and it works because through 3 quarter the defense has given up only 13 points and we have the lead.
Sorta... That is largely because of possessions. They had long sustained drives to keep our offense off the field.
They constantly got to and converted third downs and forth downs. We did get 2 forth down stops which left points on the table for them... The nature of the beast when you're aggressive.
But you gotta be able to force punts and turnovers and heaven forbid a three and out so the offense can have more chances to score.
They only had 7 possessions.
Overall, they defended better than Lions, but my post was about the 4th quarter. The 4th quarter of a playoff game breaks down just like I described. The offense choked TWICE. That is the "nugget of truth" in JC's absurdity. It doesn't mean the offense is to blame, it just means that two things can be true. a ridiculously bending defense can still cause you a game because it keep the offense off the field. A good offense can choke away a game in the 4th quarter.
I wouldn't call scoring a game tying FG "choking".
The fumble, of course.
They couldn't run a play on 3rd and 1 at the Washington 12....
I wouldn't call scoring a game tying FG "choking".
Think about how it played out though. I am talking about that.
As I recall, two big pass plays to get right down the field. First and 10 somewhere around their 20 and we rip off a 9 yard run on 1st down. The next two plays though go down sort of like a YOUNG team losing its nerve because all we need is a yard and I think - going off memory -- Mayfield does so weird play that seems like he decided to keep it and then Irving gets a 2 yard loss . . then the snap issue
This is why I mentioned the FIRST Atlanta game. That game is on the defense, but its also true that the offense kind of chokes there at the end of that game.
Believe me, our very promising Center certainly puts part of both of those losses on himself and that is fine. That is how it works. YOUNG players learn by experience that the DETAIL (holding against Atlanta and snap in the playoff) matter. In fact the holding in the Atlanta game is actually about NOT giving the referees a chance to make tht kind of call.
The offense had a great season. The defense had a bad season, but football is a team sport and NFL football is almost always about SITUATIONAL performance, especially in the playoffs. The offense was watching all game as the defense gave up yards to hopefully get stops, even once or twice in the end zone. The offense fumbled the ball previously on one of these big stops. So, the offense is under EXTRA pressure because they RIGHTFULLY feel they choked with the fumble and that if they dont get a TD the game is likely over because the defense doesn't probably have an answer to stop a FG
If you want to blame Bowles for the playoff loss then wouldn't you look to the Commanders pass to the RB with Diaby in coverage? Not because Diaby is dropping, but because the Commanders see it coming.
Again, just going off my memory, I think if you go back and watch that play you will see that pre-snap the Commanders RB does not move over to the fake pressure we are showing. If that is correct then that is a sure sign that the Commander game planned the zone blitzing and when they really needed to move the ball they saw it coming BEFORE it happened and took advantage of it. Thats the point of the RB not moving.
You can't call this a great offense when they do not close games at a high enough rate. Found this interesting though. 4th qtr yards per carry: Tucker 7.3, Bucky 6.8, White 2.7.
You can't call this a great offense when they do not close games at a high enough rate.
The way the vast majority of Bucs media and fans talk about the defense is derangement. The stats and game situations show they were an average defense.
Cool story. Now do the offense.
Great statistically. Poor situationally.
You're headlining a fun circus.
You can't call this a great offense when they do not close games at a high enough rate.
The way the vast majority of Bucs media and fans talk about the defense is derangement. The stats and game situations show they were an average defense.
Cool story. Now do the offense.
Great statistically. Poor situationally.
You're headlining a fun circus.
Great statistically and poor situationally does not mean great overall.
If you want to blame Bowles for the playoff loss
yeah i mean it came down to two things
1 - Mayfield and Barton going Ben Stiller in Tropic Thunder on 2 critical 4th quarter plays
2 - not enough talent on defense
Snap count that game
KJ Britt - 19 snaps
JJ Russell - 22 snaps
Deion Jones - 18 snaps
Josh Hayes - 25 snaps
Tyrek Funderburk - 5 snaps
Kaevon Merriweather - 14 snaps
Joe Tryon Shoyinka - 31 snaps
Greg Gaines - 26 snaps
would be nice to have replaced those guys with better talent. So far we have seen them add Reddick. I expect they will do more in the draft to correct this
KJ Britt - 19 snaps
JJ Russell - 22 snaps
Deion Jones - 18 snaps
Josh Hayes - 25 snaps
this is a real killer, all season but especially in that game because the Commanders go right after Hayes for a TD as soon as Dean goes down . . as he ALWAYS does
3 LBs to play one position and Hayes Funderberk etc.
