What would be acceptable defense?

[RobertWeathers]

Exactly Sup. No it wasn't the 85 Bears we saw last night but it was clearly an improvement. Winston has put up 300+ in 3 of his 4 games and his 56% comp% is his lowest of the season. Fyi, the game he didn't put up 300 the Bucs jumped out to a 26 to 0 lead before half then ran the ball like crazy in the second half.

On a scale of 1 to 10 the D up until last night has been at best a 1.5. Last night we saw something closer to 5.5. Still not where it needs to be/far from perfect but it was a clear and unambiguous performance improvement over previous performance level. Why some posters have this visceral need for gloom is perplexing.

Allowing 14 points, holding Winston to a low completion % and 4-13 3rd down is a helluva lot better than a 5

 

[Sicilian]

Allowing 14 points, holding Winston to a low completion % and 4-13 3rd down is a helluva lot better than a 5

Seriously, the narrative going into this game (again, a misguided attempt to turn football into a formula rather than a professional sport), was that Tampa Bay's offense was SO much better than Carolina's, so we'd have to put up 50 to beat this team because NO WAY does our defense hold TB under 40 if Carolina scored 33.

Now, today, after only giving up 14 points with the other numbers you described, it's because Winston sucks.

 

[Ring 6]

An improvement, but not good and unclear if it can be good.

How is 14 points not good?

 

[condon84]

An improvement, but not good and unclear if it can be good.

This is dumb. The Bucs accumulated all those yards when we played soft coverage towards the end of the game. Our coverage was really good prior to us playing prevent.

 

[WaterfallJumper]

If the defense had played at this level all year, we would be 5-0. Always room for analysis and improvement, but once this team rounds into form, they will be the cream of the of the NFL crop -- again.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Seriously, the narrative going into this game (again, a misguided attempt to turn football into a formula rather than a professional sport), was that Tampa Bay's offense was SO much better than Carolina's, so we'd have to put up 50 to beat this team because NO WAY does our defense hold TB under 40 if Carolina scored 33.

Now, today, after only giving up 14 points with the other numbers you described, it's because Winston sucks.

This fan base drives me nuts

 

[RobertWeathers]

This is dumb. The Bucs accumulated all those yards when we played soft coverage towards the end of the game. Our coverage was really good prior to us playing prevent.

Winston had 145 yards on the last 2 drives.

With that said the defense on the last drive was dicey.

 

[Ring 6]

Minus letting Doug Martin average 5.7 YPC it was a great performance until garbage time. That part of it was frustrating because they backed off so much they almost blew the lead. The prevent you from winning defense. If the offense does it's job in the red zone it's not an issue but still. My favorite moment defensively was after the ST penalty on Bolden they held. Too often this year there's been a penalty on 3rd down and they they give up a big drive. Yes some of those calls have been awful but that doesn't change what comes after.

Martin was only successful on one drive. On that drive, after the first 3 resulted in 4 and out, 4 and out and 3 and out all with 4 man fronts and more beef on the field we switched it up and played 335 nickel. (Obviously thinking Tampa would adjust to what we were doing and expecting more throws)
Martin was 6-56 on that drive but the entire rest of the game he had 7 carries for 18 yards.
All other bucs ran 7/16.
So aside from one drive the run d allowed 14 carries for 34 yards all night including QB runs.
I will take that every game without a question.

 

[Ring 6]

Winston had 145 yards on the last 2 drives.

With that said the defense on the last drive was dicey.

But you are playing the clock as well. It worked. If there were more time left or they had timeouts we would have played it differently.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Seriously, the narrative going into this game (again, a misguided attempt to turn football into a formula rather than a professional sport), was that Tampa Bay's offense was SO much better than Carolina's, so we'd have to put up 50 to beat this team because NO WAY does our defense hold TB under 40 if Carolina scored 33.

Now, today, after only giving up 14 points with the other numbers you described, it's because Winston sucks.

This week’s narrative will be that if TB’s kicker made those field goals the pats would be 2-3.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Winston had 145 yards on the last 2 drives.

With that said the defense on the last drive was dicey.

The defense looked tired at the end there, probably because the offense wasn’t as good as it should have been.

 

[Sicilian]

This week’s narrative will be that if TB’s kicker made those field goals the pats would be 2-3.

Which again ignores the realities of in game strategy. If any of those field goals had been made, calls would have been different, formations would have been different, and clock based decisions would have been different. Football is NOT a linear equation, where you change one variable and the rest of it remains unchanged.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Which again ignores the realities of in game strategy. If any of those field goals had been made, calls would have been different, formations would have been different, and clock based decisions would have been different. Football is NOT a linear equation, where you change one variable and the rest of it remains unchanged.

Nicely put.

 

[RobertWeathers]

But you are playing the clock as well. It worked. If there were more time left or they had timeouts we would have played it differently.

I am totally fine sacrificing yards and points for clock burn.

What I am not fine with is the ball inside the red zone for the last play of the game. I'm quite positive they did not wish to allow the long chunk gains to Humphries and Brate.

 

[RobertWeathers]

The defense looked tired at the end there, probably because the offense wasn’t as good as it should have been.

Yea that might be it too.

Can't complain with only 14 points allowed.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

I just want to see improvement on D in eliminating big plays.

That's what made last year's defense so reliable. They knew how to stop the run AND eliminate big plays. That's my standard for this season.

 

[Ring 6]

I am totally fine sacrificing yards and points for clock burn.

What I am not fine with is the ball inside the red zone for the last play of the game. I'm quite positive they did not wish to allow the long chunk gains to Humphries and Brate.

I'm sure they didn't wish to but they played a scheme that prioritized other areas. Every defense you call has wek spots. They chose to give the weaksoits in the areas least likely to hurt GIVEN THR CLOCK AND TO SITUATION.
Ultinately trading time for braces yards was smart. Taking that away and weakening the sidelines would have been dumb.
I think a lot of fans think they should just stop them damn it and don't understand what goes into situational football.

 

[patsinthesnow]

We’re back to 2016; awesome. Blame the opponent, ignore the performance.

Who cares the Bucs are a pretty good offense that added Howard & Jackson in the offseason. Not as if they threw for three TDs vs. the Giants secondary.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I'm sure they didn't wish to but they played a scheme that prioritized other areas. Every defense you call has wek spots. They chose to give the weaksoits in the areas least likely to hurt GIVEN THR CLOCK AND TO SITUATION.
Ultinately trading time for braces yards was smart. Taking that away and weakening the sidelines would have been dumb.
I think a lot of fans think they should just stop them damn it and don't understand what goes into situational football.

Sure but on the 3 chunk plays in question, the trailing coverage by Malcolm, JJ and Richards was not very good.

 

[JMC00]

14 points allowed on the road on 3 days

13 points allowed to Drew Brees in the Superdome (Ya it was 20 but 7 of those came with under 5 minutes when the Pats were up 36-13)