The Pewter Plank
FanSided

Buccaneers’ Dirk Koetter Knows Pressure Is Coming From Cardinals

By James Yarcho

Aug 31, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter watches the action during the second half of a football game against the Washington Redskins at Raymond James Stadium. The Redskins won 20-13. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 31, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter watches the action during the second half of a football game against the Washington Redskins at Raymond James Stadium. The Redskins won 20-13. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

As the Buccaneers prepare to play in University of Phoenix Stadium Sunday, head coach Dirk Koetter knows the Cardinals are going to bring pressure – early and often.

It was impressive to see what Jameis Winston did in week one against the Falcons. In fact, it earned him NFC Offensive Player of the Week and FedEx Air Player of the Week honors. He faced plenty of pressure from the Falcons but was never sacked. On Sunday, the amount of pressure he and the Buccaneers will face will be exponentially more – and Dirk Koetter knows it;

"“I’m expecting that we’ll see more pressure than we saw last week. Arizona’s always been a pressure team. Sounds like they were maybe wanting to pressure more than they did last week. That’s just speculation, things that you hear out of their media side. I think they’ll try to heat Jameis up a little bit. They’ve got good personnel [and] that’s worked for Arizona in the past. How we respond to the pressure – pressure can work two ways. It can be big for them and it can also be big for us.”"

If there is one thing that the Cardinals pressure can do for the Bucs, in a positive manner, is give

Jameis one-on-one opportunities down the field. Whether that’s exploiting the middle of the field with Adam Humphries, Cam Brate, or Austin Seferian-Jenkins or giving him single coverage on the outsides with Mike Evans or Vincent Jackson, Winston can use the Cardinals’ blitzing techniques against them for big play opportunities.

It’s not crazy to think this may be a down week for Mike Evans, given that Patrick Peterson will shadow him everywhere on the field, but the rest of Arizona’s cornerback corps is suspect, which Winston will have to take advantage of.

The Bucs must also get the run game going and if the Cardinals are sending multiple blitzes, Doug Martin has to break tackles at the line like he did so well last season. Getting past that first wave of defenders will give Martin all kinds of space in the second level. He doesn’t have breakaway speed, but gaining big chunks of yards will help neutralize the Cardinals’ offense by keeping them off the field.

When the schedule was released, many Bucs fans and media – myself included – chalked this one up as a loss. Now, it seems like the Bucs have a puncher’s chance to defeat the Cardinals with the right game plan from Dirk Koetter.

Home/Bucs News