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.

[Daddy-O]

(08-25-2015, 02:44 PM)BengalDawg Wrote: 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.

I know Marvin always likes to do the "right" thing politically (e.g. not run up the score, etc.) but c'mon man.  No way does he not take an opportunity to assess his roster so he can help out the roster of one of his buddies.

[BengalDawg]

(08-25-2015, 03:25 PM)Daddy-O Wrote: I know Marvin always likes to do the "right" thing politically (e.g. not run up the score, etc.) but c'mon man.  No way does he not take an opportunity to assess his roster so he can help out the roster of one of his buddies.

I think there was a lot to learn from the tape from yesterday. Im not accusing Marvin of throwing away the first few defensive series. I think it was a true test of our D. In standard cover 2 you have to:

1) Get pressure with the front 4 - Big fail. We didn't generate any pass rush until we blitzed.

2) Challenge secondary to communicate and step up and tackle - Tackling was suspect

3) Linebackers have to maintain depth in their drops and not miss tackles - Big fail. Winston dropped plenty of passes between them and the secondary and Doug Martin looked like a pinball off all of our tackles

I actually think this could be a huge benefit for our D. I just think it was potentially a move to keep from seeing ugly QB play and challenge both sides more.