FAB 5. SR’s Buc Shots

• Congrats to Bucs inside linebacker Lavonte David for being selected as the team’s nominee for the sixth annual Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award, which recognizes players around the league who exemplify outstanding sportsmanship on the field. David, a two-time All-Pro, has been designated as a captain in each of the past six years and his leadership has been praised by his teammates and coaches.

“I don’t know if you can quantitively put a value on [his leadership] – it’s so big,” head coach Bruce Arians said. “For a young guy to go to a guy, and for him – on the field, off the field, everywhere in life – to help these kids out the way he does, the ultimate pro is the only way I can say it. He is the ultimate pro.”

David has spent the last several years working to support Big Brothers Big Sisters in the Tampa Bay area with his annual Bowl For Kids’ Sake charity event at PinChasers Midtown.

One of the ways that David displays sportsmanship is by not getting penalized. Buccaneers.com’s Scott Smith brought up an amazing statistic about David not being penalized since the first game of the 2017 season. The Athletic’s Greg Auman followed up on that point with another eye-opening stat.

Just to follow up on wild stat on Bucs’ Lavonte David having no penalties since the start of 2017 … he only has six total in his NFL career, now in his eighth season, more than 8,000 total snaps. Remarkable at any position.

— Greg Auman (@gregauman) November 14, 2019

• Here is another interesting nugget from Auman, who is the go-to source when it comes to Bucs attendance figures. Sunday’s Bucs vs. Cardinals game drew just 40,038 actual attendees, which was a far cry from Tampa Bay’s last home game in September in Week 3 against the New York Giants.

Bucs were 1-1 when they played their last home game and had a strong drawing opponent in the Giants, who helped get that crowd to 55,070. Seven weeks away, a four-game losing streak and Cards in town turned that to 40,038 on Sunday. It’s a 27 percent drop between the two games.

— Greg Auman (@gregauman) November 11, 2019

Of course Giants fans travel well, and there are a lot of transplanted New Yorkers that live in the Tampa Bay area and throughout Florida. Arizona fans don’t travel well, as Auman points out that the last time the Cardinals were here in 2013 was also the last time that the Bucs’ home crowd was under 50,000. According to Auman’s research, that game drew 44,956.

Former Bucs coach Tony Dungy: Photo by: Getty Images

Last Sunday’s low attendance was the lowest since 1996 – 23 years ago – when 32,175 showed up to see the Bucs play the Vikings in the Big Sombrero. Tampa Bay was 0-5 at that point and the Bucs gave first-year head coach Tony Dungy his first win that day.

For the year, Tampa Bay’s average attendance is now 50,361, which ranks 30th in the league, right in front of Cincinnati and the Los Angeles Chargers. Last year, the Bucs averaged 54,356 fans per game, but there is still time to boost the home attendance with four home games remaining in the season.

• THE BUCS WILL BEAT THE SAINTS – TREVOR SAID IT! – PewterReport.com’s Trevor Sikkema guaranteed that the Bucs will beat the Saints last week prior to Tampa Bay’s game against Arizona. Does he still make that claim this week? Find out which Pewter Reporters picked the Bucs to win on Sunday, and hear the PR staff’s thoughts on the surprise release of former first-round pick Vernon Hargreaves in the latest Pewter Nation Podcast, which was taped on Thursday at the AdventHealth Training Center.

Pewter Nation Podcast Episode 160: How The Bucs Can Beat The Saints

If you missed last Sunday’s podcast and want to revel in the Bucs’ win over the Cardinals one more time (and why wouldn’t you?) then click below.

Pewter Nation Podcast 159: Bucs Have Some Home Cooking

There is no better time to listen to a new Pewter Nation Podcast, which is presented by Chris Garrido of Westshore Financial, than on your drive home from work on Friday or early Saturday morning at the gym before college football begins. The next Pewter Nation Podcast will be recorded Sunday evening following Tampa Bay’s home game against New Orleans.

The popularity of the Pewter Nation Podcast continues to grow. In addition to listening to the Pewter Nation Podcasts on PewterReport.com you can also subscribe to the free podcasts at PodBean by clicking here and on SoundCloud by clicking here. And of course the Pewter Nation Podcast is also available on iTunes. Make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode.

• In Fab 2, Tampa Bay kicker Matt Gay discussed overcoming his big miss on a 34-yard field goal that would have beaten the New York Giants. That field goal is only one of three misses this season, and in that game Gay, who is connecting on 86.6 percent of his field goals, missed an extra point and had one blocked. Otherwise the rookie has been perfect on extra points for the year.

I spoke with Gay about the difficulty he’s faced as a rookie with extra points no longer being easy kicks from the 3-yard line.

Bucs K Matt Gay – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“One hundred percent – an extra point is another field goal,” Gay said. “There are no more extra points. They are 33-yard field goals. It’s the biggest change for kickers coming out.

“In college you don’t even think about it. You can shank some extra points in college and they still go through. Coming out that was one of the biggest adjustments for me. Every kick is a field goal at this level, and you see guys miss more extra points at this level because they attempt more of those kicks.”

• PEWTER REPORT IS NEARING 34,000 FOLLOWERS ON TWITTER! A big “thank you” to all of you in Pewter Nation for following the PewterReport.com Twitter account as we close in on a big milestone – 34,000 followers – during football season. We are over 33,700 followers thus far, and if you are not among them, please follow us today. The PR staff cover Bucs practices, Bucs press conferences, Bucs games and break news on our @PewterReport Twitter account.

So if you aren’t one of the 33,700 Bucs fans that follow PewterReport.com on Twitter join us so you don’t miss out on our Bucs coverage, including injury updates, breaking news and notifications about the latest stories and columns on PewterReport.com. Follow us today and help us get to 34,000!

• One thing that could help Chris Godwin’s Pro Bowl candidacy is the fact that he’s second in the league without a drop this year, right behind New Orleans’ Michael Thomas, according to a post by ESPN’s Field Yates per ESPN Stats & Info.

Most catches without a drop (charted by @ESPNStatsInfo) this season:
1. Michael Thomas: 86
2. Chris Godwin: 60
3. Austin Ekeler: 57
4. Austin Hooper: 56
5. Allen Robinson: 53
6. Larry Fitzgerald: 50
T-7. Jamison Crowder: 48
T-7. Christian McCaffrey: 48

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) November 14, 2019

However, FoxSports.com has Godwin with one drop on the year, according to its own statistics department. Drops can be a subjective stat depending on the perceived “catchability” of the throw. Nevertheless, the fact that Godwin has zero drops – or one drop – along with 60 catches is quite good.

• PewterReport.com is proud to welcome Thee Burger Spot as a new advertising partner. Thee Burger Spot is located in downtown Tampa at 3917 N. Tampa Street and is a fabulous place for lunch or an early dinner as their hours are from Monday – Saturday from 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. to accommodate the downtown work crowd.

Naturally, there are plenty of burgers to choose from at Thee Burger Spot, but the favorite is The Donut Burger, which features a quarter pound of beef topped with cheese and bacon sandwiched between two hot Krispy Kreme donuts, which is available on Fridays. Another popular burger is The Crazy One, which features bologna, salami, ham, pepper jack cheese and American cheese on top of your burger.

Thee Burger Spot also has a tremendous Steak & Cheese sandwich, a grilled chicken breast sandwich and for seafood lovers – Thee Grouper Sandwich. Visit them online for more burger and sandwich options at TheeBurgerSpot.com.

Thee Burger Spot also has some of the tastiest onion rings and French fries around. Get your fries loaded with melted cheese, bacon and ranch dressing, too. Or get the steak fries, which comes with ranch, steak and jalapenos.

If you’re in downtown Tampa and you’re hungry, bring your appetite and make sure you stop in for lunch or an early dinner at Thee Burger Spot. And be sure to tell the fine folks at Thee Burger Spot that PewterReport.com sent you.