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Ronde Barber Calls it

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Avatar Of Olafsnowfake
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“Every year, you come into the season, you all have expectations,” Barber said. “Part of the joy of sports is that you have expectations for your team. It’s funny, because [expectations are] always predicated on feelings and whatnot, but there is a reality. It’s hard to be good year in and year out. We haven’t been great this year… we’re a pretty average team, but there’s a lot of pretty average teams in the league. At this point, just have to realize that’s who this team is, man. Try to find the best version of ourselves.”

“You know what it is after this loss that just hurts you?” Barber questioned to his co-host J.B. Biunno. “You realize that every game earlier in the year could have been this. We were just buoyed by Baker [Mayfield] heroics earlier in the year.”

“If you roll it back to the beginning of this season, we won all those one-score games. We should have lost to the Jets, dude, but we found a way to make plays at the end of that game, Baker [Mayfield] did, to win that game. We could have lost to Atlanta… "

 


 
Posted : Dec. 14, 2025 12:26 pm
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Avatar Of Olafsnowfake
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This

 

"“This team does not have a base defense that we can rely on and watch,” Barber said. “We had base defense back in my day, played Cover 2. Anything was going wrong, we were like, ‘Let’s just go to Cover 2.’ We had any doubt, ‘Just go to Cover 2.’ Did we do a whole bunch of other stuff? Yes, we played 3 Deep, we played Quarters, we blitzed a ton. But we had a base defense; this team does not have a base defense…”

 

Bowles cant dumb it down and also doesn't have players who, like in Barber's era, were going to gang tackle every play. BOTH ON BOWLES


 
Posted : Dec. 14, 2025 12:38 pm
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"Sometimes the message gets a little stale,” Arians said.


 
Posted : Dec. 14, 2025 1:00 pm
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When Dungy was fired there was also a mass roster overhaul. 

When Koetter was fired for Arians there was no initial roster overhaul and the season was over by October. Then in year 2 there was a roster overhaul. 

We need a roster overhaul. TE, LG, C, both edges, both MLB. 


 
Posted : Dec. 14, 2025 3:22 pm
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I’ve said for the last 4 years that we have no base defense. I’m watching games on this Bucs-less Sunday and watching the best defenses (Houston, Philly, San Diego, Cleveland, etc.) rush 4 and get consistent pressure. Bowles blitzes, and if it doesn’t get home, we’re shredded. 


 
Posted : Dec. 14, 2025 3:46 pm
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Bowles is a nice guy but he's not a good hc and I wouldn't let him near a defense coordinator job right now. He's got experience and could be a guy to listen to about a few different things that people wouldn't know due to his experience. So there's that. Again he's a good guy. Not always easy to find guys like that. Is that ideal for hc not at all important.


 
Posted : Dec. 14, 2025 4:02 pm
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Mic
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Our base defense has been majority cover 3 the corners are just bad at it


 
Posted : Dec. 14, 2025 7:33 pm
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Posted by: @mic

Our base defense has been majority cover 3 the corners are just bad at it

I think he means we don't have something to fall back on when things aren't going well. 

The defense Barber is talking about was built on fundamentals but it also had multiple HOFers

 


 
Posted : Dec. 14, 2025 7:36 pm
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Mic
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yea just hasnt been good defense


 
Posted : Dec. 14, 2025 8:12 pm
Alldaway 2.0
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Bucs base defense was cover 3 for most of the post SB era and after the SB era ended until Monte stepped aside.

Posted by: @mic

Our base defense has been majority cover 3 the corners are just bad at it

These are m2m corners.

Not sure why they think they can train these corners to play off coverage and cover 3.  


 
Posted : Dec. 14, 2025 8:33 pm
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Posted by: @alldaway

Bucs base defense was cover 3 for most of the post SB era and after the SB era ended until Monte stepped aside.

Posted by: @mic

Our base defense has been majority cover 3 the corners are just bad at it

These are m2m corners.

Not sure why they think they can train these corners to play off coverage and cover 3.  

Bingo

Jam at the line and disrupt

 


 
Posted : Dec. 14, 2025 10:05 pm
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Mic
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Tbh they arent even that good m2m except the auburn corners we had in dean and davis. Those guys from the SEC had a heavy man2man scheme and that is what they practiced everyday, which is why zone is harder when they come to our team. You cant just turn off the brain and say i got this guy and we good. I also like Morrison.

Here when you learn zone you have to learn everyones responsibility to know how to pass off because 1 weak link is all you need in a defense, so theres more mental strain. Though I will say having elite man corners will make life a helluva lot easier, its just saying im better than you, (its what sabans alabama primarily ran in the famous manziel beating alabama game legit they just played m2m all game and got outathleted).

Its why ronde always struggled in man(4.68 40yd 5'9 corner) he was primarily a zone corner that could take advantage of space and processing with his film study, toughness and brain. 

 

Bowles has traditionally been a fire zone guy with cover 3 in the back thats what makes the defense so complicated.

When you instal fire zone blitzes and sim pressures, theres a lot of guys attacking different gaps than their "intended" alignment, lots of cross gapping. Now if youre a dlineman/lb/cb/s and youre coming you better know which gap youre hitting for every play, and what your coverage is in the zone. Having to remember and understand that in tough situational football puts a lot of responsibilities because guys need to not only know how to rush, they need to know how to cover and what to do in all situations.

The blitzes do work, I just think the corners need to play better and the vets need to tell these young guys how to play defense(route concepts etc) either a end has flat responsibility or a dt in hook zone . Thats what communication is all about not only just in the play but after the play if something went wrong, not everyone is a natural teacher but these are things that should always be communicated and if you dont have that guy,  find that guy for your defense and your life as a coach will be much easier.


This post was modified 6 hours ago by Mic
 
Posted : Dec. 15, 2025 9:42 pm
Mic
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The hard part is that these Dends linebackers dont know that when you cover the flat and that if noone is in front of you, you have to carry your man, or in morrision buffalo game sometimes that flat receiver wants to turn upfield and attack your deep third zone. These are unfamiliarities with these young guys, but someone has to always say something so they dont make the same mistake twice or multiple times, eventually if you tell them enough times they will learn


 
Posted : Dec. 15, 2025 9:48 pm
Mic
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I do admire Bowles sim pressures and firezone blitz packages they are NASTY. But if I had to tell a qb how to play "if all else goes to shit throw it here" and make sure there is a fail safe throw anytime my qb needs it expecting I'm gonna miss a firezone or sim pressure


This post was modified 6 hours ago by Mic
 
Posted : Dec. 15, 2025 9:57 pm
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