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Buccaneers’ State of the Team Address

By Alan Schechter

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Time for the “State of the Buccaneers” address.

Periodically, the President of the United States comes on national TV and addresses the nation on all matters that are pressing. It’s known as the “State of the Union”. Each team has a break in the season when they have their bye week. So, it seemed high time to give the “State of the Buccaneers” address.

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So here it goes (in the style of a public address).

Hello Bucs’ fans all around the globe. Thank for gathering to read at this all important time. And is it is a crucial time for our Bucs, isn’t it, ladies and gentlemen? We are at that critical point where the season could cruise ahead to bigger things, or fall back the opposite way.

Let’s talk about the offense. We start with the young quarterback, Jameis Winston. On paper he is looking good, ranked 10th in the league at the quarterback position. But we need consistency out of him, ladies and gentlemen. He threw four touchdowns in one game and four interceptions in the next.

It comes down to decision-making. He has to make better ones, and improve upon that 9-8 TD to INT ratio. Coach Koetter stated that he still trusts his quarterback, but his play calling put that in question, as James Yarcho talked about. Winston needs to earn that trust. That will come with consistency, and it starts next week.

We need more out of the running attack. We got a glimpse last week, how about Jacquizz Rodgers, huh? This guy was on the street a month ago, now he’s running for over 100 yards. We should get Doug Martin back next week, but we haven’t gotten much from him yet. Imagine how good they will be together if Martin is healthy. Unfortunately we don’t have Charles Sims, but those two together. There are prosperous times ahead if these two are looking good, am I right?

Let’s talk about our boy to my left, Mike Evans. With 62 targets in five games, I guess we know who Winston’s favorite target is, huh? But he has answered the bell. With 449 yards and four touchdowns so far, he’s on his way to an almost 1,500 yard season with double-digit touchdowns.

But Mike needs some help! The closest man on the stats board (Adam Humphries) has posted less than half the yardage Evans has (Humphries has 216). The wide receivers and tight ends need to rise up! They need to help Evans out, and take Bucs Nation through the next part of the season make an impact!

The offensive line is getting better every game folks. Be excited for this group. They finally pushed through for a 100 yard rushing performance, and they deserve some credit! In pass protection, Football Outsiders ranks our offensive line ninth! Don’t forget, J.R. Sweezy hasn’t even played a down yet. Take a look right here at how good the offensive line is getting. They get too many dumb penalties, but if they up the discipline, the sky is the limit.

The defense. What is going on with the defense, my friends? Not much would be the answer. So far, they are ranked 20th! Teams are gashing up the Bucs like they are a brick of Swiss cheese, and it’s not good! Think about this for a second. Two of our top four tacklers so far in 2016 are defensive backs. If the other team is meeting your defensive backs more than the linebackers and defensive linemen, something isn’t going right.

Someone has to help Kwon Alexander and Lavonte David. Right, Bucs’ fans? Let me hear you!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have to stop the ball through the air! It flies through the air with the greatest of ease, just like it did in 2015. What’s wrong with this picture? I’ll tell you what’s wrong, the Bucs’ secondary was supposed to be better than this. That’s the problem. We made too many changes to still be this bad.

But, it’s not just the secondary. No way. You know what’s going to help these guys out? The pass rush! The quarterback can’t complete the pass if he’s lying on the ground! Right now, the Bucs have gotten to the passer nine times, ranking them tied at 22nd in the league in sacks. For all the guys we brought in? Not good enough. Come on Noah Spence, hit somebody! Robert Ayers, we need you! Let’s get this done!

Who ever thought that we would have to spend some time on the kicker? Roberto Aguayo is a guy that has inspired a lot of talk amongst us.

It’s no surprise. This man was a second round pick! We expected him to be great! Jason Licht took a big risk taking this guy so early. But oh, has he taken us into some tough times in the first five games.

Aguayo has literally been a 50/50 toss-up. Will he make it? Will he miss? The young man has made us think back to darker days, to players like the “great” Connor Barth. Some of you have wondered what we should do with this guy. Maybe we need to bring in that guy from Chicago, Robbie Gould.

I remind you as I did earlier this week, stay the course! This is a young man who just arrived on the big stage. It’s a new world, the NFL. He hasn’t lost a game for us, and he won the last one. Let’s all look at that one more time.

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/785684313798881284

He has it in him. Keep faith in Roberto!

Next: The Bucs Can't Afford Setbacks

It’s not going to be easy, my fellow fans. We are looking up at a lot of teams. The Bucs are going to have to work hard to have a shot to make the playoffs. But, it can be done. We’ve got to stick together. Let our new head coach get his program moving. Let the players return from injury and play together as a group again.

Thank you for joining us for the “State of the Bucs”. I leave you with, “Fire the cannons!” (Press play below)

Let’s go Bucs!

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