Buccaneers: Pick Six – Bucs are a massive disappointment

In the most epic of fashions, the Buccaneers found yet another way to give a game away losing 30-27 to the Buffalo Bills.

No excuses. This team has too much talent to be this bad. The 2017 Buccaneers might be the biggest load of frauds this city has ever seen – and that’s saying something. In the off-season it was Mike Smith’s defense this and Mike Smith’s defense that. It was offensive explosions. It was division titles and playoff runs. Instead, it’s weekly let downs, frustrations, and disappointments.

How else would you put it?

Last week, there was a full on onslaught towards Jameis Winston and – despite injuring his throwing shoulder – Jameis did everything humanly possible to shut up the haters. He played one hell of a game and had his team in position to win with three minutes left. Instead, the defense allowed a 75-yard touchdown drive in 46 seconds. FORTY SIX FREAKING SECONDS. Add to that a fumble by Adam Humphries on the first play by the Bucs following the score, and it’s game over.

Let’s Pick Six.

Six Topics Suitable For Conversation

1.) This Defense Is A Pathetic Joke.  Show me where I’m wrong. Please. I dare you. They can’t generate pressure on the quarterback, they can’t defend against the pass, they can’t stop the run. There are three bright spots and it’s the same ones we always have – Gerald McCoy, Lavonte David, and Kwon Alexander. Brent Grimes is the only one in the secondary worth a crap and even he doesn’t care anymore, per his wife;

T.J. Ward wants to run off at the mouth about how he didn’t come here to be a part time player and expects to play more. Hey T.J.! Maybe don’t leave Nick O’Leary WIDE OPEN for a touchdown and you’ll see the field more! The Winston haters are gonna keep blaming Winston. Overall, I’m not a fan of Dirk’s play calling but it was much improved this week, yet that is going get blamed. It’s the damn defense! They’re stealing money week after week while not showing up and doing their damn jobs!

2.) DeSean Jackson Was Finally Utilized The Way We’d Hoped. Look at that. Get DJax the ball in space and he can make things happen. He and Winston finally connected on a deep pass, good for over 50 yards – that of course was called back thanks to a holding call against Donovan Smith (we’ll get to holding calls in a minute). Jackson was also a shoestring tackle away from busting off a run after time expired that could have potentially won the game. It’s about time we saw DJax being utilized on more than just piss poor deep passes.

3.) These Refs Are Complete Garbage. Look, the Buccaneers beat themselves, but the referees sure as hell didn’t help. I counted six consecutive plays where Bucs defensive linemen were held and that was in real time. Wait ’til I watch the All-22 film. I even tweeted about it when this particular hold resulted in a huge gain on third down;

Yet, the refs had NO PROBLEM finding their flag on a “hold” that cost the Bucs at 50+ yard gain. When players’ lower bodies are changing direction, but their upper bodies aren’t, there’s a problem. Not only that, but we saw Cam Brate drop a pass on third down that would have moved the chains, yet the defender had one arm wrapped around his waist while the other was batting the ball away on one of the most clear cut defensive pass interference penalties you’ll see. We’re talking textbook DPI. And it was right in front of a ref. No call. This crap is getting OLD.

4.) O.J. Howard Had A DAY. Career highs in receptions, yards, and touchdowns. Not much else to say. He was a beast.

5.) We Have A Kicker. Pat Murray was perfect on the day. Bucs fans rejoice, after they stop being confused on whether or not making all your kicks is actually legal or not.

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6.) Playoff Hopes Are All But Dashed. We had expectations of a postseason appearance this year. Coming off a 9-7 season and (supposedly) improving on both sides of the ball, it was finally time for the Buccaneers to return to playoff football. Instead, the Bucs are in a position where they have to win ten of their remaining eleven to give themselves a realistic shot at getting in the postseason. Still have all their division games left, plus the 4-2 Dolphins, the Lions, the surprising Jets, and the Packers. The odds are not in their favor – especially when they keep playing like shit.

Six Numbers To Consider

9 – Career 300+ yard games for Jameis Winston

31 – Career touchdowns by Mike Evans – tied with Kevin House for second all-time in Bucs’ history

4 – Consecutive games with 400+ yards of offense for the Bucs – longest streak in team history

2 – Games out of first in the NFC South

15, 9 – Forced fumbles and recoveries by Lavonte David – top ten in both categories in NFL since 2012

7 – Career 3+ touchdown games for Winston, second most all-time for Bucs (Brad Johnson: 8)

Six Biggest Disappointments

6.) Pass Rush as a whole – No explanation needed

5.) T.J. Ward – He was brought in to be a difference maker. Instead, he’s been injured and a liability in coverage. You want to run your mouth, back it up with your play. Don’t leave tight ends and future Hall of Fame receivers wide open for touchdowns.

4.) Dirk Koetter – The play calling took a big step forward this week, but he hasn’t had this team ready to play too many times this season. The responsibility of all three facets falls on his shoulders. That’s part of being a head coach. As far as the offense is concerned, it’s not playing well and part of that falls on play calling. Why keep relying on a deep ball that hasn’t been there all season? Why keep running end arounds with Bernard Reedy or throwing bubble screens to Adam Humphries when you have DeSean Jackson? Why are you calling toss plays when we don’t have the speed to execute them? If it’s not working, fix it or remove it.

3.) Vernon Hargreaves – He would’ve been higher on this list had he not played so well against the Bills. Putting him in the slot and playing press man showed his strengths and allowed him to make an impact rather than be a liability. Maybe stay with that since it’s working?

2.) Mike Smith – This defense, as a whole, is complete and total garbage. There are no adjustments, no pass rush, crappy pass coverage. You can’t keep doing the same thing week after week after week and expecting it to work when it clearly isn’t. All those things that went perfectly last season are going as wrong as they possibly can now. There’s a reason Smith was retained and this is not it. Fix it, or get out.

1.) Us, the fans – This isn’t to say we’ve been disappointing. More to say we’ve been disappointed. The Buccaneers thought they were giving us every reason to be excited. HBO and Hard Knocks thought they were giving us every reason to be excited. The coaches, the front office, the media gave us reasons to be excited. Instead, we’ve taken body blow after body blow this season to the point that it’s getting difficult to defend some of the decisions being made. I, personally, have gone to bat for this team. I’ve argued with doubters and haters. I put my name on the line on a national radio show explaining to an expert what an idiot he was for predicting the Bucs would finish with a sub .500 record. So far, we’ve been proven wrong and are being laughed at by too many people. This team is too talented to suck this bad and it’s pissing every one of us off.

Six Best (Or Worst) Tweets In No Particular Order

Next: Bills 30 Bucs 27 - Immediate Reactions

Six Super Bowl Bets

*Note – This list is always compiled before the Sunday Night game is completed*

1.) Kansas City Chiefs – Tough loss Thursday night, but they’re still elite

2.) Philadelphia Eagles – Painful to see them doing this well

3.) New England Patriots – Never count out the greatest quarterback and coach ever

4.) Minnesota Vikings – They keep winning and no Aaron Rodgers in their way

5.) Oakland Raiders – Derek Carr makes all the difference

22.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers –

Inexcusably pathetic performances from this much talent

Six Final Words

This Ship Is Taking On Water