WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections 2016 NFL DraftInjuriesFree AgencyGame FilmThe Crow’s Nest: The new guys
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http://www.buccaneerslockerroom.com/authentic-ryan-jensen-jersey , Hump’s officially gone, and more DJaxNew,205commentsWeb links on the
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officially gone, and more DJaxPhoto by John Babiak/Bucs NationBucs’ Perriman
Excited To Get To WorkThe Buccaneers’ newest downfield threat, Breshad Perriman,
spoke with the Tampa media for the first time on Thursday.Detroit Lions sign
Bucs’ interception leader at safetyThe Detroit Lions brought in some more
competition at the safety position on Thursday, inking former Buccaneer Andrew
Adams to a one-year deal.Breshad Perriman and Jameis Winston Walk into a Bruce
Arians Offense??he Buccaneers nabbed free agent wide receiver Breshad Perriman
from the Cleveland Browns on a one-year deal that was made official on Thursday.
Key Member of Bruce Arians’ Staff Swayed New Bucs Punter Bradley Pinion to
TampaHead Coach Bruce Arians does things his way. That’s been evident from the
moment he’s stepped into AdventHealth Training Center.Wondering who is supposed
to rescue the Bucs? (Hint: You already know him)While other NFL cities are
toasting newly acquired stars, Tampa Bay’s entire 2019 season will revolve
around a player who arrived years ago.Buccaneers address need for LB, WR,
punterThe Tampa Bay Buccaneers didn’t make much of splash on the opening day of
NFL free agency.Titans Agree to Terms with Former Buccaneers WR Adam
HumphriesAdam Humphries was an underdog who earned his way onto an NFL roster as
an undrafted free agent.Key Nuggets From DeSean Jackson’s News Conference With
The EaglesArguably the worst free agent signing of the Jason Licht regime,
DeSean Jackson, met with Philadelphia media today and dropped a few intriguing
nuggets. With their Week 16 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
now stand at 5-10 with one game remaining.If there’s a silver lining, it’s going
to come in the form of a high draft pick in April of 2019. Tampa Bay currently
sits in the sixth slot heading into Week 17.How did we get here? Let’s break it
down.THE PLAY: The fumble - or - the missed blockThis play became a point of
debate in the twittersphere Sunday afternoon after Jameis Winston fell victim to
a Randy Gregory strip-sack and Dallas Cowboys linebacker Jaylon Smith scooped
and scored from 69-yards out.Who was to blame? Well, there were two schools of
thought.First
Bryan Anger Jersey White , here’s the play.There are those who put the majority of the blame on Jameis Winston. The quarterback receives the snap with
1:57 on the game clock, and is hit by Gregory at 1:53. That’s four seconds.
Traditional thought is the quarterback needs to have made a decision on what to
do with the ball at or around the three second mark.Here, at three seconds, not
only has Winston not made a decision with the ball, he’s trying to direct
traffic while holding the ball exposed in one hand. This approach is neither
smart or successful as any number of hits would have likely knocked the ball
free, just as it did here.Then, there are those who blame Donovan Smith, whose
job it was to block Gregory in the first place.At the snap, Gregory takes an
outside bend against Smith relying on speed to get around the large and
lumbering offensive tackle.Smith extends trying to push the Cowboys pass rusher
off his arc and out of the play, but Gregory dips below his outstretched hands
to continue his pursuit of Winston.As Winston steps up and out of the pocket,
Gregory’s continuous effort pays off as he gets a clear and unencumbered shot at
Winston, which leads to the fumble. Meanwhile, Smith is not only ‘jogging’
behind the play, but at one point completely comes to a stand-still while
watching his assignment barrel down on his quarterback.There was a minority
third school of thought too. The play-call was a bad one. At the time of this
writing, all-22 film is not currently available. But here’s what we know from
the Fox broadcast tape.On 3rd-and-5, Tampa Bay came out with a shotgun spread
formation using five receivers split-out to try and thin out the Cowboys
defense.Dallas came out in their nickel package with a four-man defensive
front
Kendell Beckwith Jersey White , four corner backs, two linebackers and single-high safety coverage.Pretty standard arrangement for the situation.
Something of interest however, is the Cowboys defenders - except for the high
safety - played within six-yards of the line of scrimmage. This shows the
Cowboys are fully expecting the Buccaneers to target the sticks.DeSean Jackson
and Adam Humphries are split widest on the right and left sides respectively.
Mike Evans and Chris Godwin lineup in the slot with Godwin lined up closest to
the offensive line as Cameron Brate lines up between him and Jackson in a three
receiver set on the left.Before the snap, Winston motions Humphries in and he
takes up tight alignment on the offensive line leaving Evans as the further most
right side receiver.When Humphries motions, corner back Jourdan Lewis moves, but
only so slightly and he maintains his depth.Quarterbacks are taught commonly to
read this defender as the outside corner while assuming the defender closer to
the line will likely take the inside release.Cornerback Byron Jones maintains
his position on Evans despite Humphries’ motion, and jams his man at the
line.Meanwhile, Humphries’ own release is hindered by the jam causing his
five-yard out-break to come late. Evans’ deeper break is only two-yards deeper,
likely another effect of the early jam by Jones as the receiver looks to get
into his break on time rather than focusing on depth.By the time this happens,
Winston is already under pressure from the four-man rush and his ability to do
anything on his left side is wiped out.On the right side, Brate and Jackson run
a crossing patter with a built-in pick coming from Brate to try and free-up
Jackson.Like the right side, by the time these route combinations take shape,
Winston is already under pressure and moving up in the pocket. There is a moment
when he clears the pocket when Brate has solid position against his defender,
but Winston is looking deep, not short.Godwin breaks out of the slot with an
inside release and breaks over the middle on a slant. Again, by the time he’s
getting into his break
Brent Grimes Jersey White , the pocket is collapsing and Winston’s field has essentially been cut in half with Godwin moving in the wrong direction to be
of any immediate assistance to his quarterback.While we can’t see it for
certain, it’s a safe assumption Winston is trying to direct Jackson to an open
spot on the right quarter of the field as he’s approaching the line of
scrimmage.This ‘touchdown to check down’ passing game theology calls on the
quarterback to start on deep reads and check down after examining those deeper
routes.With a pass-rush barreling down on him, Winston continues to try and
execute this mindset to the detriment of himself and ultimately, the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers.There were no quick releases on this play, and every route took
approximately two or three seconds to develop with one deep route, two
in-breaking routes on the right and two out-breaking routes on the
left.Essentially, the play design requires the quarterback to have at least
three seconds of clean time in the pocket and negates the right side outside
quarter of the field and the inner quarter of the left side.It’s just not a good
play design. But was it solely to blame?If you ask me, all of these played equal
factors to the outcome. The early pressure given up by Demar Dotson and Caleb
Benenoch negated any use Winston could have gotten out of the initial breaks by
his receivers. Bad route combinations gave Winston few options once he came
clear of the initial rush.Tampa Bay’s ‘touchdown or check-down’ mantra ensured
Winston’s eyes were deep on Jackson instead of short on Brate who had a clean
second to make a short catch if given the opportunity.Winston’s usual
determination to make a big play over the safe play - Winston has the
opportunity to throw the ball away - causes him to hold the ball into the four
to five second range trying to direct Jackson into open space.Gregory’s
continuous effort paired with Donovan Smith’s lack of continuous effort gives
him a clean shot from behind on Winston.Jaylon Smith’s freedom to move with no
threat to his zone places him in perfect position for the scoop-and-score.As you
can see in the clip, this play happened early in the first quarter and came with
the Buccaneers down just four with the ball at the Cowboys’ 34-yard line.It’s
not the only reason they lost, but this play alone was a big-time ‘here we go’
moment in the game, and became a point of conversation through the final gun.For
that reason, this is the only play in this week’s key plays column. And I’ll
leave it to you fine readers to assign final blame.
