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I'm really surprised, I definitely expected a lopsided loss and it's a good thing I don't bet on the NFL anymore, I'd have lost money if I had played this one. I thought it was an absolute lock that we would lose, especially after Washington won to eliminate us from the playofs.
I don't have any delusions of grandeur here, this isnt a very good team. It's been a horrible year and they've had the worst luck with injuries that they may have ever had. They have a history for coming up small in big games (ie, they play with no spine or heart) but if not for one really dumb special teams play, we'd probably be staring at a 5 game win streak with a really thin roster. McCarthy can't coach them to postseason success, but he can take them to Oz to get that heart.
1) Still don't want McCarthy back as HC, even if they by some miracle won next week v Philly and again v Washington. They play hard for him (most of the time) but they don't play "good", certainly not good enough to ever win a championship. He's a more accomplished version of Jason Garrett, which is probably why Jones will bring him back. That said, I have to give him kudos for having them play like they did last night. They were a completely overmatched team in almost every way, but played a great 1st half and then made several key plays late to get the W. Tampa had everything to play for and was riding a 4 game winning streak. They came in as one of the highest scoring teams in the league (7 times 30+ and a season high of 51). Again to me, this was a fairly stunning win.
2) Brandon Aubrey really might be the greatest kicker in NFL history, and he's not even two full seasons into his career. I've never seen a guy kick with such power and make it look almost completely effortless. They talk about effortless power with the golf swing a lot, but I think it definitely applies to Aubrey kicking as well. 3 more 50+ FG's, including two no-doubters from 58 that probably both would have been good from 65 or more. Kicking in Philly next weekend probably won't be fun, but he's got another game in Jerry's Shitpile stadium in two weeks. I REALLY want to see him set the NFL record for career long FG. As noted in the game thread, Aubrey did set the NFL season record for 50+ yd FG's last night and still has two games to go. He's the MVP of this team this year and should be a unanimous All-Pro.
3) Have mentioned it a few times this yr, but they would be well served to figure out ways to keep some of these role player/rotation guys beyond this year. They currently have 20+ mils in cap space I believe. Chauncey Golston has turned into a really nice rotational piece on the DL. He has 49 tackles and 4 sacks, plus 4 passes defensed. He plays the run pretty well and can play inside on pass downs too. Carl Lawson has went from a guy I thought was probably washed due to previous injuries to a really nice 3rd down pass rush guy. He's tied for 2nd on the team with 5 sacks and has gotten fairly consistent pressure, especially the last 6-8 games. Jourdan Lewis has had a really good yr as the slot CB and busts his ass every week. Cooper Rush and Rico Dowdle have played their way into a situation where some real thought has to be given to their futures here. Brian Anger and Trent Sieg are both free agents, and both damn good at what they do. Osa Odighuzuwa is the one potential big price tag guy they need to make a decision on. He's had a really good yr and will no doubt be in demand due to his age, play on the field and upside.
4) Cooper Rush had a really, really superb 1st half and overall, threw the ball better than he has all season in my opinion (especially downfield). But he nearly blew the game with a late throw that should have been easily picked. That said, he's a UFA and they'll need to make a decision on him. He's very limited from a talent standpoint, but he does get rid of the ball quickly and we have a really, really good record with him starting. Not sure where he is compared to other career backups in terms of overall W/L %, but he has to be pretty high up there. Could see a number of teams needing a proven backup making a run at him, so he might not be cheap to resign.
5) Back to earth game for Rico Dowdle last night, with a paltry 23yds on 13 carries. Got no help from our OL, which was completely overmatched in run blocking against the Tampa from 7. Hoffman had been pretty good filling in this yr but appeared to have a really poor game last night. Steele didnt have a particularly good game either. Edoga appeared to do ok in pass pro but couldnt move anyone in the run game. Not sure why Tyler Guyton didnt play more, he needs the reps and is the future at one of the T spots. Edoga is a free agent and should not be retained IMO.
6) Every time I see Bucs DT Vita Vea play it amazes me. How can a guy that size move around like that? He's a real freak NFL talent and wish we had someone like that here.
7) I'm going to do something I don't think I have ever done and tell Dooms he may be winning me over a little on Baker Mayfield. I don't think he's elite or anything, but he makes barely half what Prescott makes and throws the ball A LOT better. He also is far more athletic than Prescott is now and can make some plays with his legs. I was surprised at how much zip some of his throws had on them. He also impressed me last night with some of his toughness, he took some big hits and kept getting up. Maybe he has grown up from the punk knucklehead he was at OU and early at Cleveland, but he definitely impressed me some last night.
8) I guess we're back to seeing Micah Parsons gang raped or choked to the ground repeatedly. I don't even know how many times the Bucs T's blatantly held him last night, but there had to be 6 or 8 obvious ones that weren't called. One came on a TD for the Bucs too and the ref was staring right at it.
9) Micah Parsons missed 4+ games with the high ankle sprain, but he leads the team in sacks with 9.5 now. The interesting thing is that as a team, we are now tied for 3rd in the NFL in sacks with 46 (Denver leads with 51, followed by Baltimore with 47). We're also tied for 6th in its , even though nobody on our team has more than 2. Those stats arnt bad, but the team ranks near the bottom of the league in comp% allowed and yds per attempt allowed (next to last here). Zimmer does create some blitz schemes that work more often than not, but overall leaves a lot to be desired. It would have been nice to see the defense remain mostly healthy though, it's been decimated by injuries and we only got 1 game where Bland and Diggs got on the field together. Sam Williams might have been a 10+ sack guy in this scheme and never played a down. DLaw has missed almost the entire yr. Overshown was having a great yr and then shredded his knee again. Parsons missed over a quarter of the season. The defense as a whole only has a few players that have managed to play in all 15 games. (only starters are Odiggy, Mazi, Dono Wilson and Hooker). I'm still in the GROZ mindset but will admit he has had a terrible hand dealt to him with the injury situation.
10) CeeDee Lamb is an amazing player and we are lucky to have him. Despite mediocre to poor QB play the dude is having another all-pro caliber season, and he's done it for a good bit of this yr with a really bad shoulder that gets pounded on every game it seems. He got paid a ton, but he's earned every cent.
11) There's a lot to like about rookie Ryan Flournoy. He had 3 catches for 41 yds last night and showed some separation skill. He's got pretty good size and excellent speed. I'm not sure if he can be the #2 next yr, but he certainly could move into the 3 role and have an impact.
12) Another game, more injuries. Matt Waletzko got hurt and never returned and WR Jalen Tolbert dislocated/injured his finger and never returned after that long throw before halftime (dude was completely mugged on that play too, should have been PI)
We beat them up all the time for lackadaisical/unmotivated play, but last night was the opposite end of it and overall, they've played pretty damn hard for the last 5 weeks+. They even gave Philly a good game for a half before getting beaten up in the second half. I still wouldn't keep McCarthy, but will give him credit for getting the most effort he can from them here at the end of the yr. It would have been super easy for multiple guys to sit out or give half-ass effort last night, but they busted their asses. Kudos to them. Will be interesting to see what we get from Philly next week. Hurts suffered what some are saying was a major concussion so he might be out, and I thought I read Pickett got hurt as well. Two other key starters (Sweat and Jordan Davis) also got hurt and their status might be up in the air. Philly is pretty much in a must win situation if they want the #1 seed and they are now a full game behind both Detroit and Minnesota.
I don't have any delusions of grandeur here, this isnt a very good team. It's been a horrible year and they've had the worst luck with injuries that they may have ever had. They have a history for coming up small in big games (ie, they play with no spine or heart) but if not for one really dumb special teams play, we'd probably be staring at a 5 game win streak with a really thin roster. McCarthy can't coach them to postseason success, but he can take them to Oz to get that heart.
1) Still don't want McCarthy back as HC, even if they by some miracle won next week v Philly and again v Washington. They play hard for him (most of the time) but they don't play "good", certainly not good enough to ever win a championship. He's a more accomplished version of Jason Garrett, which is probably why Jones will bring him back. That said, I have to give him kudos for having them play like they did last night. They were a completely overmatched team in almost every way, but played a great 1st half and then made several key plays late to get the W. Tampa had everything to play for and was riding a 4 game winning streak. They came in as one of the highest scoring teams in the league (7 times 30+ and a season high of 51). Again to me, this was a fairly stunning win.
2) Brandon Aubrey really might be the greatest kicker in NFL history, and he's not even two full seasons into his career. I've never seen a guy kick with such power and make it look almost completely effortless. They talk about effortless power with the golf swing a lot, but I think it definitely applies to Aubrey kicking as well. 3 more 50+ FG's, including two no-doubters from 58 that probably both would have been good from 65 or more. Kicking in Philly next weekend probably won't be fun, but he's got another game in Jerry's Shitpile stadium in two weeks. I REALLY want to see him set the NFL record for career long FG. As noted in the game thread, Aubrey did set the NFL season record for 50+ yd FG's last night and still has two games to go. He's the MVP of this team this year and should be a unanimous All-Pro.
3) Have mentioned it a few times this yr, but they would be well served to figure out ways to keep some of these role player/rotation guys beyond this year. They currently have 20+ mils in cap space I believe. Chauncey Golston has turned into a really nice rotational piece on the DL. He has 49 tackles and 4 sacks, plus 4 passes defensed. He plays the run pretty well and can play inside on pass downs too. Carl Lawson has went from a guy I thought was probably washed due to previous injuries to a really nice 3rd down pass rush guy. He's tied for 2nd on the team with 5 sacks and has gotten fairly consistent pressure, especially the last 6-8 games. Jourdan Lewis has had a really good yr as the slot CB and busts his ass every week. Cooper Rush and Rico Dowdle have played their way into a situation where some real thought has to be given to their futures here. Brian Anger and Trent Sieg are both free agents, and both damn good at what they do. Osa Odighuzuwa is the one potential big price tag guy they need to make a decision on. He's had a really good yr and will no doubt be in demand due to his age, play on the field and upside.
4) Cooper Rush had a really, really superb 1st half and overall, threw the ball better than he has all season in my opinion (especially downfield). But he nearly blew the game with a late throw that should have been easily picked. That said, he's a UFA and they'll need to make a decision on him. He's very limited from a talent standpoint, but he does get rid of the ball quickly and we have a really, really good record with him starting. Not sure where he is compared to other career backups in terms of overall W/L %, but he has to be pretty high up there. Could see a number of teams needing a proven backup making a run at him, so he might not be cheap to resign.
5) Back to earth game for Rico Dowdle last night, with a paltry 23yds on 13 carries. Got no help from our OL, which was completely overmatched in run blocking against the Tampa from 7. Hoffman had been pretty good filling in this yr but appeared to have a really poor game last night. Steele didnt have a particularly good game either. Edoga appeared to do ok in pass pro but couldnt move anyone in the run game. Not sure why Tyler Guyton didnt play more, he needs the reps and is the future at one of the T spots. Edoga is a free agent and should not be retained IMO.
6) Every time I see Bucs DT Vita Vea play it amazes me. How can a guy that size move around like that? He's a real freak NFL talent and wish we had someone like that here.
7) I'm going to do something I don't think I have ever done and tell Dooms he may be winning me over a little on Baker Mayfield. I don't think he's elite or anything, but he makes barely half what Prescott makes and throws the ball A LOT better. He also is far more athletic than Prescott is now and can make some plays with his legs. I was surprised at how much zip some of his throws had on them. He also impressed me last night with some of his toughness, he took some big hits and kept getting up. Maybe he has grown up from the punk knucklehead he was at OU and early at Cleveland, but he definitely impressed me some last night.
8) I guess we're back to seeing Micah Parsons gang raped or choked to the ground repeatedly. I don't even know how many times the Bucs T's blatantly held him last night, but there had to be 6 or 8 obvious ones that weren't called. One came on a TD for the Bucs too and the ref was staring right at it.
9) Micah Parsons missed 4+ games with the high ankle sprain, but he leads the team in sacks with 9.5 now. The interesting thing is that as a team, we are now tied for 3rd in the NFL in sacks with 46 (Denver leads with 51, followed by Baltimore with 47). We're also tied for 6th in its , even though nobody on our team has more than 2. Those stats arnt bad, but the team ranks near the bottom of the league in comp% allowed and yds per attempt allowed (next to last here). Zimmer does create some blitz schemes that work more often than not, but overall leaves a lot to be desired. It would have been nice to see the defense remain mostly healthy though, it's been decimated by injuries and we only got 1 game where Bland and Diggs got on the field together. Sam Williams might have been a 10+ sack guy in this scheme and never played a down. DLaw has missed almost the entire yr. Overshown was having a great yr and then shredded his knee again. Parsons missed over a quarter of the season. The defense as a whole only has a few players that have managed to play in all 15 games. (only starters are Odiggy, Mazi, Dono Wilson and Hooker). I'm still in the GROZ mindset but will admit he has had a terrible hand dealt to him with the injury situation.
10) CeeDee Lamb is an amazing player and we are lucky to have him. Despite mediocre to poor QB play the dude is having another all-pro caliber season, and he's done it for a good bit of this yr with a really bad shoulder that gets pounded on every game it seems. He got paid a ton, but he's earned every cent.
11) There's a lot to like about rookie Ryan Flournoy. He had 3 catches for 41 yds last night and showed some separation skill. He's got pretty good size and excellent speed. I'm not sure if he can be the #2 next yr, but he certainly could move into the 3 role and have an impact.
12) Another game, more injuries. Matt Waletzko got hurt and never returned and WR Jalen Tolbert dislocated/injured his finger and never returned after that long throw before halftime (dude was completely mugged on that play too, should have been PI)
We beat them up all the time for lackadaisical/unmotivated play, but last night was the opposite end of it and overall, they've played pretty damn hard for the last 5 weeks+. They even gave Philly a good game for a half before getting beaten up in the second half. I still wouldn't keep McCarthy, but will give him credit for getting the most effort he can from them here at the end of the yr. It would have been super easy for multiple guys to sit out or give half-ass effort last night, but they busted their asses. Kudos to them. Will be interesting to see what we get from Philly next week. Hurts suffered what some are saying was a major concussion so he might be out, and I thought I read Pickett got hurt as well. Two other key starters (Sweat and Jordan Davis) also got hurt and their status might be up in the air. Philly is pretty much in a must win situation if they want the #1 seed and they are now a full game behind both Detroit and Minnesota.
