Yarcho’s Pick Six: Buccaneers Get Trounced By Cardinals

Well, the debut of my “Pick Six” was celebrating a Buccaneers’ win. This time around, things won’t be so fun. In a pathetic display, the Buccaneers got worked by the Cardinals to the tune of 40-7.

That. Was. Painful. Shades of the Lovie Smith era loomed over University of Phoenix Stadium Sunday as the Buccaneers could get literally nothing going. In what started out as a promising, competitive contest, the Cardinals obliterated the Bucs 40-7, winning the turnover battle five to nothing, and outplaying Tampa in every aspect of the game. With that said, let’s get to it…

Six Topics Suitable For Debate

The Buccaneers are not even close to who we thought they were. Which team is a better sample of the Koetter Bucs? The one we saw against Atlanta or the one against Arizona? Well, one would like to think it leans more towards the Atlanta game. When you look at Robert Ayers leaving with an injury – and wearing a walking boot after the game (yikes) – the pass rush left with him. You look at Doug Martin leaving with a hamstring injury. Doug was starting to click before Jameis Winston threw his first of four interceptions. Forget what some of these knuckleheads want you to believe about Charles Sims; this offense doesn’t function properly without Doug. Add in Cecil Shorts, Gerald McCoy, Luke Stocker, Vernon Hargreaves all getting hurt and this was just not Tampa’s day.

Where was the pass rush?! As I just mentioned, the pass rush disappeared when Ayers left the game. With Jacquies Smith already done for the year, losing Ayers would be devastating. Hopefully he can return soon, but until then the rest of the line has to step up. You can’t face guys like Carson Palmer, Cam Newton, Drew Brees, Russell Wilson, and Phillip Rivers without putting pressure on them and sending them to the turf. As Palmer displayed today, they will carve you up.

Jameis Winston – His fault? Make no mistake about it, Winston was off the whole game. Throwing high, missing open receivers. However, three of his five turnovers – if you even want to count the hail Mary interception at the end – weren’t actually on him. Winston took the blame 100% in his press conference because that’s what leaders do, but how much of this game is really on him?

Wake up,

There’s no way around it – Vincent Jackson has looked bad through two games. He isn’t on the same page as Winston and it’s showing. VJax needs to get his head in the game and help out. Quit running the wrong routes, hold on to the ball, and be the captain and leader we know he is.

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Is Brent Grimes an enormous waste of money? Well, he’s allowed two touchdowns now in four passes towards him in the end zone. One of the misses was an overthrown ball by Palmer. The other was a ball he should’ve intercepted and didn’t. Hit him square in the hands and he dropped it. The Cardinals would score two plays later. If you’re going to command that kind of money, have a wife that won’t quit running her loud mouth and bashing any and everyone in sight, you might want to actually produce on the field and help the team out. For every play he’s made, he’s blown two. Get it together. Alterraun Verner was a roster bubble guy and has outplayed you through two weeks.

Sims is not a suitable replacement for Doug Martin – so stop acting like he is. Losing Luke Stocker didn’t help the run game at all, but Charles Sims – for all he provides this team – is not even close to the running back Martin is. There is zero chance Sims breaks a tackle at the line and creates something. Martin does. There is zero confidence Sims can find the smallest of holes and bust off a big run. With Martin, there is. Stop pretending Martin was overpaid or is milking an injury because he got paid – you sound stupid.

Six Numbers To Consider

Sep 18, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson (21) intercepts a pass intended for Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans (13) during the first quarter at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

0 – Number of tackles by Lavonte David. Yes, the same guy who just had the longest streak in the NFL of games with five or more tackles had zero. Not okay.

0 (again) – Number of turnovers by the Buccaneers’ defense. Bucs are losing the season turnover battle 6-0

52 – Pass attempts by Jameis Winston – a career high

67 – Receiving yards by Adam Humphries – a career high

4 – Years its been since a Bucs WR had a touchdown catch in each of the first two games. Mike Evans is the first since Mike Williams in 2012

39.2 – Winston’s passer rating – one week after being named NFC Offensive Player of the Week

Six Reasons It’s Not Panic Time

6.) You can’t predict injuries. No, they aren’t an excuse, but no one would’ve expected Arizona to win if they lost Peterson, David Johnson, Michael Floyd, and Tyrann Mathieu either. Injuries happen, but when you lose key players at pivotal positions, it wreaks havoc.

5.) This isn’t Lovie Smith’s team anymore. Although that was a very Lovie-esque performance – minus stupid, undisciplined penalties – we don’t know how this team will react.

4.) It was against the Cardinals. It wasn’t as competitive as we thought it would be, but all of us chalked this one up as a loss before the season. I even picked the Cardinals to win the Super Bowl. Week one was not indicative of who the Cardinals truly are, just like week two is not indicative of who the Bucs truly are.

3.) Back to back road games to open the season is no small task. The Bucs needed to come home at least 1-and-1 to start the season and they did. Yeah, this loss hurt, but they’re still in first in the division.

2.) Jameis Winston is still quarterback. Jameis Winston is still the leader. Believe in Jameis.

1.) This was a gut check. It was over by halftime, but the team kept fighting. Winston wouldn’t come out because he wanted to keep fighting. It’s how they respond that matters. It’s what they learned, what adjustments they’ll make that matter. This team wasn’t going 16-0, but you just watched them get their brains bashed in by a Super Bowl contender. Now, are they going to roll over and die like they have before, or do they snap back and take it out on the next team like we just watched Arizona do?

Six Top Performers

This is where I list the top performers of the week, but I … I got nothin. Aside from Larry Fitzgerald being one of the best receivers of this generation – possibly ever – and Patrick Peterson being the best corner in the game (eat your heart out, Richard Sherman)

Six Worst “Hot Takes” The Over-reactors Will Have

(Yes, these are all things I saw Bucs fans say after the game)

6.) “Same old Bucs” – No, they’re not. Again, have to see how Koetter gets them ready and how they respond to the adversity

5.) “There’s no way this is a playoff team” – Maybe. Maybe not. 14 games left and not a single team on the schedule is unbeatable.

4.) “SEE?! Told you Aguayo was a waste of a draft pick!” – Guys, get over it. The draft was almost five months ago. Yeah, he missed a kick. Was Lavonte a waste of second round pick because he had no tackles? Was Kwon a waste of a pick because he missed so many tackles? Was Winston a waste of the top pick because he had a bad game? It’s over. Aguayo is on the team. Stop rooting for him to fail to support your narrative. Rooting for a Buccaneer to fail is rooting for the team to fail. If that’s your thing, go be a fan of someone else.

3.) “Doug Martin got his money and now he doesn’t care” – Martin is in as good of shape now as he was last season. Injuries happen. To think Martin would intentionally bail is moronic. Is Cecil Shorts faking his injury since he got a contract? What about Robert Ayers? He got a big pay day and got hurt. See how bad of a narrative that is? Nobody is more upset about Martin being hurt than Martin. That much I can guarantee you.

2.) “Dirk Koetter is in over his head” – This time last week you were crowning him the best coach since Gruden. Relax. This is a first year head coach having to clean up the you-know-what-show Lovie left behind. He ran a record setting offense for this team last year. This is not a Super Bowl team, yet. One game is not going to dictate what kind of coach Koetter is long term.

1.) “Jameis Winston is a fraud” – For anyone that actually watched the game, they know Jameis had a bad day. Every player has bad days. Just so happens all our players had a bad day at the same time. Winston is legit and there’s no denying it. Also, anyone who watched the game knows which turnovers were actually his fault, which we’ve already discussed here. However, as we all know, the haters come out in droves when a performance fits their narrative.

Next: Bucs Lose To Cardinals 40-7: Immediate Reactions