Week 3 Monday Rant

### Week 3 Monday Rant

I'm feeling incredibly frustrated after yesterday’s performance, and there are several reasons behind my frustration that I've been discussing for quite some time.

#### Rants

I'm obviously disappointed in the players' performances, but what concerns me the most is Bowles' inability to slow down the offenses run by the likes of Payton, McVay, Reid, and Shanahan. They make it look far too easy. Scoring 20 points in the first half, they could have easily dropped 40 if they wanted to.

Yes, I've been around football for a long time, but I can't fathom why it takes the Bucs so long to recognize issues that I've been pointing out for ages:

- **Lack of Edge Pass Rushers:** All offseason, I've heard claims like "Yaya is the real deal," "We drafted an Alabama guy in the second round," and "Ramirez is the guy." No! I've been saying for two years that we need an edge rusher; otherwise, our defense will hit a ceiling much sooner than it should.

- **Game Strategy:** Check my "we win if this/they win if that" takes each week. I predicted the Saints would throw the ball on first down because Bowles sells out on the run with five guys on the line and run blitzes. If I were a rookie QB, I wouldn't want to face 2nd and 8s and 3rd and 6s. I’d throw when Bowles is stacking the line to stop the run. Payton threw on every first down but one in the first half, and continued that trend into the third quarter.

- **Offensive Approach:** I cautioned against forcing the run and advised taking what the defense gives us. I appreciated that we did this in the first two weeks, even if it didn’t yield huge rushing numbers. However, yesterday we tried to establish the run on every first down, which backfired and left us in tough down-and-distance situations, particularly with a struggling right side of the line.

- **Player Performance:** I had been saying Devin White’s play fell off since the second half of 2021. JTS has only been a rotational player since his rookie year. Logan Hall should have been a fifth-round pick. Camarda has been inconsistent since last year. KJ is too slow to be a starting linebacker, and now Mauch is really hurting us—his performance was even worse than Skuul's yesterday. How long do we wait to make a change?

Yes, this is just another overreaction Monday, but I think this frustration stems more from the first two weeks than from yesterday. If we have to send five or six pass rushers 50% of the time because we can’t generate pressure with our four-man rush, we’re in real trouble against competent offensive coaches. I've seen teams with just one elite edge rusher transform their entire defense. Meanwhile, we sit back, satisfied with a rookie who had seven sacks, JTS, and our other options like Alabama, Nelson, Watts, and Ramirez. This is a serious personnel issue—one of the most critical positions on defense in the NFL.