5 Thoughts
- One thing that has always stuck with me about good football teams. They're disciplined. During the years I covered Don Shula's teams, Miami was always the least or second-least penalized team in the league. A coach doesn't have to be bright to realize that it's a rare team that can give away a football field and still win.
2. During the last two weeks, Ronald Jones has 217 yards. I would have bet the under...by about 117 yards.
3. I wonder if Tom Brady knows how many Beatles there were.
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4. Can we blame this loss on Jon Gruden? If he hadn't gift-wrapped Khalil Mack to the Bears, the Bucs win this game.
5. Somebody ought to sue over that call on Shaq Barrett for roughing the passer. Just saying.
5 Quotes
(From Bruce Arians' day-after press conference)
(On DL Vita Vea’s injury): “Vita’s got a broken leg and [will] probably miss the rest of the season. It’ll be a big loss. (When) you lose players like O.J. [Howard] and Vita, you can plug the next man in, but they’re not the same. I hate it for him because he was having such a great year. I don’t know if there was a better nose tackle out there”:
(On what the coaching staff can do to try and minimize the amount of penalties throughout the game): “Just have to do a better job of coaching. It all falls on the staff – mistakes that we’re making in ballgames that shouldn’t be made, and they’re not every week. There are games where there’s a bunch of them – that was one of those games where there was a bunch of them. Penalties, technique errors [and] things that we should have coached better.”
(On if the amount of injuries to offensive players made it difficult to create a game plan for Thursday night): “Short weeks are never easy. It would have been easier had they been able to practice full speed and Tom [Brady] get to see some guys run some routes full speed rather than everything being walkthroughs. But, Thursday night ballgames – that’s when you get hung up sometimes with injuries on Thursday night games because you would have [had] some guys on Sunday. You don’t get the practice time for Thursday night ballgames. I think the guys that stepped in – I thought they did a good job.”:
(On the performance of Ronald Jones II): He’s playing at an extremely-high level. I still can’t believe he didn’t get his touchdown where he made that catch, but that is the rule that you don’t get the forward progress after they blow the whistle. He’s running the ball well [and] making people miss, [getting to the] second level and making people miss."
(On if this loss stings more because the team had multiple chances to win): “Any time you have the ball with 2:56 left and the lead, you’re anticipating winning the ballgame, whether it’s the offense running out the clock or the defense stopping them. So yeah, it stings a little more that way.”
Game Balls
Offense: Ronald Jones II was the Bucs' best player Thursday night. Repeat that. Really.
Defense: Lavonte David had just five tackles. Devin White had just three. That left the heavy work to Carlton Davis, who had seven and an interception.
Special teams: Ryan Succop made four field goals.
Grades
Quarterback: A few days after his first comeback in a Tampa Bay uniform, Brady wasn't sharp, especially in the fourth quarter. Frankly, he looked like a lot of Bucs' quarterbacks in the fourth quarter. Grade: C.
Running back: Jones has turned into a very good running back. Would it have been so terrible for Dirk Koetter to have played him a bit more as a rookie? Grade: A-.
Wide receivers: Injuries whittled down this unit so badly that Tyler Johnson was the best receiver. Grade: C.
Offensive line: Battered, bruised and bewildered is no way to go through life. Grade: F.
Defensive line: The Bucs will miss Vita Vea. Grade: B.
Linebackers: Normally, it's a team strength. Not Thursday night. Grade: C-.
Secondary. The top four Bucs' tacklers. were all defensive backs. That shouldn't happen. Grade: B.
Kicking: Solid, but not spectacular. Grade: B-.
5 Greener Pastures after 5 Games
(Quarterbacks who relocated)
Joe Montana, Chiefs. 37 1993 6 1 97.2
Peyton Manning, Bronco 36 2012 11 2 101.6
Brett Favre, Jets 39 2008 13 6 103.0
Kurt Warner, Cardinals 34 200 3 5 78.7
Tom Brady, Bucs 43 2020 12. 4. 96.8
5 More Thoughts
- Strategically speaking, when is the best possible time for a head butt?
2. Here's the problem with a coach saying "you can blame this one on coaching." After a while, fans tend to believe you.
3. This secondary has supposedly grown up. I wonder what Aaron Rodgers, who gets them next, thinks?
4. So who scores next for the Bucs: Chris Godwin or Leonard Fournette? Or one of next year's draft picks?
5. I wonder if Tom Brady knows how many leaves are on a four-leaf clover?