There’s definitely much to appreciate from this season and last night’s game, but after a performance like that, the focus tends to shift towards our shortcomings and near misses.
**Edge Pass Rush** – I’ve been saying it all offseason: we won’t achieve consistent defensive success without stronger talent at the edge position. It ranks as one of the top three most critical positions in the NFL. I’m not sure if it’s Bowles insisting he can compensate through schemes or Licht claiming there was no opportunity to bolster the position, but it remains our most glaring weakness. Many argued, “Yaya will excel” or “We have plenty of depth,” or “We can’t just go out and add someone.” While I believe Yaya will develop into a solid player, he isn’t the elite edge rusher that teams typically rely on to anchor their pass rush. He’s a dependable #2, excelling at run defense and disrupting play-action, but he doesn’t deliver a consistent pass rush when opposing linemen are in pass pro. As for depth, having a couple of decent options is akin to having two good quarterbacks—it highlights the lack of a standout player. Lastly, while financial constraints might limit our options, that doesn’t negate the impact on overall team performance.
**Depth** – Aside from Lavonte, our inside linebacker situation is concerning. Britt has potential but struggles with coverage and lateral defensive play. And let’s be clear: Devin White isn’t the solution. He hasn’t been effective for the past two and a half years and has been a liability, except for when we blitz him. Our cornerback depth is also lacking. Zion shows promise, but beyond that, we’re in trouble.
**Defensive Scheme** – Player performance is one aspect, but in the NFL, it’s crucial to align schemes effectively. Bowles struggles to contain or even slow down a McVay-style offense. He can manage against run-heavy teams like the Eagles, but I’ve maintained for years that teams should exploit our weaknesses by passing against us. They should target us on first and second down. Our defense is designed to stifle the run, leaving us vulnerable to the air attack. That’s precisely what Denver and Atlanta did last night.
**Offense** – If this game had taken place over the past two to three years, the outcome would likely have been a lopsided 30-13 defeat. Our offense kept us competitive, and I hope we take away a crucial lesson: we can never afford to ease off the gas. We need to keep scoring and maintain that momentum.
I said it another thread, despite the shit defense performance and offense going dead in second half; the two reasons we lost were the Bucky fumble and the Barton holding penalty
we had two opportunities to add a field goal and we shit the bed
look no further than those 2 plays as to why we lost
defense came up big with David INT despite being shit all night. Those 2 offensive plays did us in
Agreed. Those two rookies makes those mistakes changed the outcome of the game and took points off the board. Bowles should get blame though for not adjusting but we had the game won.I said it another thread, despite the shit defense performance and offense going dead in second half; the two reasons we lost were the Bucky fumble and the Barton holding penalty
we had two opportunities to add a field goal and we shit the bed
look no further than those 2 plays as to why we lost
defense came up big with David INT despite being shit all night. Those 2 offensive plays did us in
@badabingbucs - definitely those plays were huge. But it doesn’t takeaway the fact that we gave up 509 passing yards to an offense that had been in quicksand for the first four weeks. It’s troubling and won’t go away.
i am by no means defending the defense. when we look back at this game, by strictly looking at the box score, we will blame the defense for this loss. Hard not too.
BUT...in the first half, the offense came to play, scoring on every drive and we knew early on this was going to be a high scoring game. Hell, it was 24-17 at half with the defense not showing up on either side.
To put up 24 points at half and then only muster up 2 field goals in the second half was disappointing. The offense went full "Ben Stiller in Tropic Thunder mode" and it cost us the game - again mainly pointing to those 2 rookie errors as the route cause.
we better bounce back against the Saints.
Doing a deep drop back pass on 3rd and 2 DEEP in their territory. Got sacked. Settled for FG.
Also, if dude in front of Rachaad White executes a block, he's got an easy TD.
The rookies will bounce back but they all played like shit.
Bucky might have scored on that fumble. Eyes got wide and he lost ball security.
Coen playing calling after the pick was beyond stupid. PLAY TO WIN
Coen playing calling after the pick was beyond stupid. PLAY TO WIN
To be fair, he had Mike Evans running WIDE OPEN on the screen. The ref was the only guy that could have tackled Evans. But Mayfield didn't look his way.
Atlanta was all over the screens. He's gonna need to tell Mayfield to look at the other options before dumping it off.
So we're just going to pretend Barton doesn't stink right now.
The screen pass to white on the last drive was an awful call. Everyone in the building knew it was coming. They needed to be aggressive and run their normal offense.
Defense was awful all game but they threw the ball 9 times in the second half. 9 times.
I said in the game thread during the second half. FGs not enough. Need TDs on every possession to win. Failure to understand the D was getting torched, and the absolute need to keep the foot on the gas like in the first half. That's on the coaches and play calling. Awful missed opportunity to take command of the NFCS. The Saints will be looking at the film of the Bucs D and drooling.
@biggs3535 safeties read the offensive line and as soon as the linemen went upfield to block for the screen pass the safeties let Evans be. At that point any pass across the line of scrimmage would be a penalty of illegal man downfield. We see one thing on tv. The players have reads.
So we're just going to pretend Barton doesn't stink right now.
He had a bad game, as did most of the rookies and several veterans.
@biggs3535 safeties read the offensive line and as soon as the linemen went upfield to block for the screen pass the safeties let Evans be. At that point any pass across the line of scrimmage would be a penalty of illegal man downfield. We see one thing on tv. The players have reads.
I just checked. None of the offensive linemen were beyond the LOS when Mayfield threw the screen to White. He definitely could have thrown it to Evans. And Atlanta’s defense immediately attacked the screen, as they did all night. White had three catches for -6 yards on the night.
Was thinking it was a designed screen - and a focus - just not sure how Mayfield isn’t looking at Mike as a read on that play. Was a TD.@biggs3535 safeties read the offensive line and as soon as the linemen went upfield to block for the screen pass the safeties let Evans be. At that point any pass across the line of scrimmage would be a penalty of illegal man downfield. We see one thing on tv. The players have reads.
I just checked. None of the offensive linemen were beyond the LOS when Mayfield threw the screen to White. He definitely could have thrown it to Evans. And Atlanta’s defense immediately attacked the screen, as they did all night. White had three catches for -6 yards on the night.
Hopefully they incorporate that in the scheme, especially after going to the screen game too often.
