Vanilla D

[BengalDawg]

Did anyone else catch Gruden's comment about our D in the first 2 or 3 series? We basically ran a very vanilla cover 2 with zero blitzing or disguised coverage. Maybe its me being hopeful, but I'm wondering if that wasn't at the request of Lovie Smith. Let the rookie gain some confidence and bring him along slowly. Its not out of character for coaches to make these kinds of requests in the preseason. Often you will ask your opponent to run plays or formations to help evaluate your team during the preseason. Lovie and Marvin are friends.... so I thought maybe that explains some of the lack of "creativity" from our D. Once we did switch over to less disguised coverages and dialing up blitzes, Winston started to show signs of being a rookie.

This should not be read as an excuse. I thought we blew some very basic coverages, and looked downright awful at tackling. All I am saying here is the way the Bucs moved the ball was not concerning to me in any way other than the repeated missed tackles.