Six Topics Suitable For Conversation
1.) Are We About To See Another House Cleaning? I wrote last week about how I wanted to see the Gruden to Tampa train derail and urged everyone to stay the course with Dirk Koetter, as ugly as things have been. After the way this team performed today – and truly, for the entire season – I don’t think my arguments hold weight any longer. Jason Licht has four seasons under his belt and this is Koetter’s second as head coach. There has been an inexplicable regression on both sides of the ball and now Licht may have to pay the piper for being unable to build a pass rush throughout his tenure. I hate the idea of firing yet another coach after only two seasons, but the body language on the sidelines, in the locker room, and most importantly on the field suggests this team is going to go nowhere fast. The Glazers are not going to take this big of a disappointment lightly, especially after opening their checkbooks for guys like DeSean Jackson, Chris Baker, and T.J. Ward to put this team over the top following a nine win season. Heads will roll. The question is, which ones?
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2.) Enough Is Enough. Time To Shut Jameis Winston Down. Another thing I spoke about following the Panthers loss was the need to potentially shut Jameis Winston down for the remainder of 2017 in order to ensure he heals properly moving forward. This wasn’t performance related, it was injury related. We’ve all seen the roller coaster the Colts and their fans are on with Andrew Luck and that could be catastrophic for a franchise and fan base who finally have a franchise quarterback in the building. Another game, another brutal shot to the shoulder which led to Winston missing the entire second half. There’s nothing left to play for but draft position – shut him down. Let him heal. Don’t risk that shoulder on a lost season.
3.) Even Pat Murray Wasn’t A Bright Spot. But seriously… what kind of jerk ices a kicker in the third quarter up by 27 points? Seriously? That might be as much of a bush league move as Mike Evans‘ cheap shot on Marcus Lattimore.
4.) I Might Join The Trade Gerald McCoy Bandwagon. Gerald McCoy is one of the few players on this team worth a crap. I love McCoy and the haters that attack him are some of the most obnoxious within the fan base. They don’t seem to appreciate what he does, what he creates, and the overall talent he possesses. That said, he doesn’t deserve this anymore. If the Buccaneers are going to blow it all up yet again, trade McCoy somewhere that he’s appreciated by the fans and has a chance to win a ring. He’s earned it. No matter what the haters try to tell you.
5.) Jameis And Mike Are Potentially Looking At Suspensions. First off, Jameis should’ve known better than to come off the bench the way he did. Then, he pokes Lattimore in the back of the head, leading to Lattimore shoving him. Evans loses his cool and races over, completely blindsiding Lattimore leading to an all out fight. Yes, I’m sure the emotions got the better of the both of them and the frustrations are boiling over, but you have to be smarter than that. At least with Winston, if they were gonna shut him down, they can keep him active to serve the one game suspension before placing him on IR. For Evans, that suspension will hurt. I mean, maybe not a ton because this team can’t do anything right anyway, but still. Evans should have been ejected right then and there. It’ll certainly cost him some serious money, but will it cost him playing time?
6.) Marketing Department Needs Some Changes. Lose “Siege The Day.” It’s time to return to “It’s A Bucs Life”, because this team is every bit as reminiscent as the Raheem, Schiano, or Lovie disasters we know and loathe so well.