Week 1 - Bucs @ Vikes Support Group

Win or lose I like to re-watch the game already knowing the result so my take isn't as emotional.

The defense actually played very well. They stopped the run and the secondary played well sans the TD to evans. Godwin made one hell of a catch to seal it. And Baker was able to use him legs in a couple of key situations. They could have created more pressure but the Bucs were intent on getting the ball out quick. I would put 13 points on the defense and 3 of those were on a 57 yard FG.

The O-line lost this game. I was looking at the run game and Kirk and playing calling as the main culprits at first, but those were all just symptoms of the main disease. Mattison ran hard today and broke a bunch of tackles. But he was hit early and often. The screen failures were poor execution by the oline. And they also had some very costly penalties. My main bone of contention with KOC was trying to make Ham happen. He's not very good and if the point was to have him in there to chip in pass blocking then it failed miserably. He whiffed on the Winfield block that forced the fumble. He whiffed on several blocks in the passing game.

Kirk was actually fine. He was getting mugged all day. He still didn't go through progressions like we've always wanted him to, but that's Kirk. When he's under pressure, you get what you get. But he was good enough to win the game. Ingram knocked the ball out of his hands and really that 'pick' should actually be recorded as a catch and fumble by KJ. It was in his hands and just taken from him. He didn't play well (KJ). He wasn't open very much. I think part of the problem is that if he's going to be an available receiver it's cracking space in a zone or with a free release. He doesn't run short routes well in my opinion. In a game where receiving options needed to get open quickly, he's not the guy. A little bit of QB mobility would have also made a difference today.

I would also like to point out that the Tampa defense played really well.

Did you watch Daniel Jones last night? The guy who lit up our defense.

Hock- low yards per catch...but several of his catches were with Kirk throwing to him when he had zero shot of going anywhere, one where he was behind the line and should have just knocked it down rather than catch it.

Jefferson- 12 yards in the 2nd half.........12

Im sorry but the game is not on the defense by any means. They shut them down the whole first half and gave them multiple chances to put this game away. There is no secret this team is built around the offense and needs to be carried by it to have any chance. You cant put up 17 points at home and expect to win. If the defense only allows 20 pts per game I will take that all day. Given all the new players on the defense, new scheme, and question marks in general I thought they played very well.  

That was a brutal week 1 loss. Was looking like one of the easier games on the schedule heading into the season at home.

I think the defense overall looked solid. They were a bit lucky on some plays that bucs should have made but it was expected they would struggle some with the lack of talent. Overall the offense was not really helping them at all and put them in a tough spot or two but they only gave up 20 points in the end.

This loss was mostly on the offense. Kirk had a bad game. Turnovers, held the ball too long when wrs were open, missed open receivers, couldn’t navigate the pocket or pressure well. We couldn’t sustain drives at all, it basically felt like turnovers and 3/outs every drive we didn’t score. It wasn’t solely his fault though, the offensive line was definitely part of the issue. There were also times the play calling didn’t give us much of a chance. I think JJ and Addison looked good but outside of that the offense had a poor game.

We are in a tough spot now where we have 3 tough games in the next 4. We need some major offensive improvement or else we will be 1-4 after 5 games. I think better offenses are likely to have more success on our defense so offense needs to be ready.

It would be nice to have a coach that can create an effective blocking scheme and design routes to get receivers into position to create opportunities past the LOS.

That’s a problem though. Some rather keep favorites. I rather start who the best. I care about winning more than a buddy list.