Rapid Reactions Week 14: 30-17 Win vs Falcons

[Nano]

So, with a 9-3 record, the Bucs are closing in on something we haven't done since 2007. That being winning the NFC South.

We can officially clinch the division next week. IF everything goes right for us. With a win against Buffalo, we will automatically eliminate Atlanta. If Atlanta beats the Carolina Panthers next week, that will eliminate the Panthers as well(assuming we win). The final piece, we need the New York Jets to somehow look like a semi-competent football team and beat the Saints.

If all those things happen next week, we will clinch the division.

[Defense5599]

Byron Leftwich is a piece of shit. He'd be unemployed if it wasn't for Brady

What did Leftwich do to you?

He was born into existence. He's a piece of shit play caller and has no business running an offense here or anywhere in the NFL.

[Snake]

Damn lol

[mdb1958]

What did Leftwich do to you?

He was born into existence. He's a piece of shit play caller and has no business running an offense here or anywhere in the NFL.

Tom and Byrons worst enemy are the long drives our defense gives up. When watching Tom staring straight down on the bench Tom was mumbling something like from the Accountant - shouda had the ball back by now.

[King Bootz]

What did Leftwich do to you?

He was born into existence. He's a piece of shit play caller and has no business running an offense here or anywhere in the NFL.

Ladies and Gentlemen and mdb, I present poor man's ATrain.

[AJPG]

I'm thinking the large number of pass plays was a dress rehearsal for upcoming games against teams, like the Saints, where the run won't work.

The best type of teams are those that can beat you either with the pass or the run. Bucs used the run a few weeks ago and the pass yesterday, both wins on the road.

It's teams that have an identity like the Ravens, Browns or Colts, where if their run game doesn't work, they can't beat you with only the pass game.

There have been numerous times where Brady had to fling the ball >50 times a game and he excels at it. Nobody else comes close. Having the GOAT at QB is the best insurance a team has when the running game doesn't work. Bucs defense obviously has to be able to play complimentary football but I'll take Brady in a shoot out all day long.

Good win.

[Backside]

So, with a 9-3 record, the Bucs are closing in on something we haven't done since 2007. That being winning the NFC South.

We can officially clinch the division next week. IF everything goes right for us. With a win against Buffalo, we will automatically eliminate Atlanta. If Atlanta beats the Carolina Panthers next week, that will eliminate the Panthers as well(assuming we win). The final piece, we need the New York Jets to somehow look like a semi-competent football team and beat the Saints.

If all those things happen next week, we will clinch the division.

I'd rather put the nail in the coffin ourselves against the Saints the next week, in the sequel to last years night game.

[Dread]

I'm thinking the large number of pass plays was a dress rehearsal for upcoming games against teams, like the Saints, where the run won't work.

The best type of teams are those that can beat you either with the pass or the run. Bucs used the run a few weeks ago and the pass yesterday, both wins on the road.

It's teams that have an identity like the Ravens, Browns or Colts, where if their run game doesn't work, they can't beat you with only the pass game.

There have been numerous times where Brady had to fling the ball >50 times a game and he excels at it. Nobody else comes close. Having the GOAT at QB is the best insurance a team has when the running game doesn't work. Bucs defense obviously has to be able to play complimentary football but I'll take Brady in a shoot out all day long.

Good win.

BA mentioned in the postgame presser that the decision heading into the game to pass the ball so much was based on how confident the Bucs were in their pass protection vs the Falcons pass rush.

Arians basically stated they felt confident they could protect Brady if the Falcons just rushed 4 and it would force them to blitz, which would create opportunities.

I can't really argue with that logic since the Falcons are one of the worst teams in the NFL at pressuring the QB while the Bucs Oline is one of the best in pass protection.

Like others have mentioned, I just think the recipe come January will need to include more running success with Fournette/Rojo, just like last season.

I will say passing the ball so much will potentially soften teams up for the run as they gameplan against our offensive trends/tendencies. Also, the Bucs are going to see a ton of 2-high Safety looks, so execution in the short passing game will be very important to our success.

In regards to the short passing game, I haven't counted them all yet, but if you add up all the WR screens and quick swing passes we threw yesterday I'd bet it was close to 10. Those are essentially extensions of the run game.

How many of Godwin's 15 catches were WR screens? Those are basically outside runs. Evans had a couple quick swing passes since his guy was playing VH3 style coverage

[Dread]

So, with a 9-3 record, the Bucs are closing in on something we haven't done since 2007. That being winning the NFC South.

We can officially clinch the division next week. IF everything goes right for us. With a win against Buffalo, we will automatically eliminate Atlanta. If Atlanta beats the Carolina Panthers next week, that will eliminate the Panthers as well(assuming we win). The final piece, we need the New York Jets to somehow look like a semi-competent football team and beat the Saints.

If all those things happen next week, we will clinch the division.

I'd rather put the nail in the coffin ourselves against the Saints the next week, in the sequel to last years night game.

Yup. Let's beat the Bills first and foremost so we keep the pressure on the Packers and Cards for the #1 seed.

But I'd be fine if the Saints beat the Jets (which will likely happen) so that when they visit RayJay in 2 weeks on SNF we can win the division by defeating them.

Not that the Bucs need incentives, but that would be some nice extra motivation for that game.

[Doctor]

Another great get-right game leading up to our biggest dress rehearsal of the regular season: The Bills.

Everything seems to be coming together. The main thing I want to see in the final month is a good rhythm, which it looks like we are getting.
We took what the defense was giving us and what they were giving us were a ton of passing lanes.

[MJW]

Not So Rapid Reactions:

1) Our pass blocking has been a cheat code recently. The pockets Brady is seeing are insane. Admittedly, the Falcons don't have a dynamic pass rush. But still. For as much as we threw that game (50 attempts? More?), for him to get hit maybe twice is very encouraging.

2) Our defense appears to be getting it's swagger back. Can't wait until our secondary gets it's talent back. Matt Ryan couldn't exploit our lack of safety depth. Josh Allen will delight in trying to do so.

3) We've officially reached a stage in his development where passes to Leonard Fournette are a reason to get excited. He's a legit weapon in that phase. This is a "Uh Oh, looks like Happy learned how to putt" type of development for our offense.

4) Shaq is looking like Shaq again. I really think the D feeds off his energy when he's playing well.

5) The Front Seven got their ASSES KICKED in the first half. It was embarrassing. It was like watching the Raheem era defenses. Thankfully, I read that Bowles "talked" to them at halftime and they improved from that point forward. Hopefully this isn't a trend.

6) JTS is on pace to set a rookie record for "So damn close to making a play there" plays. If he turns even half of those into "plays he made" going forward, look out!

7) I love Leftwich coming out with 13 straight passes or whatever it was. It showed both confidence in what he was seeing on film and a desire to demoralize the Falcons D.

8) With this game and AB's recent troubles, the decision about how to proceed at WR is getting made in real-time.

9) But I think when Josh Allen starts pressing Andrew Adams and Jordan Whitehead (maybe) down the field on Sunday, we'll decide to forgive Mike Edwards.

10) I appreciate Ryan Succop's willingness to save his bad kicks for terrible opponents.

11) I didn't laugh at the time, but you kinda have to laugh at the Brady Pick Six. Hey, the other team has 11 guys on the field too. Sometimes one of them will make a great play. That was a brilliant read.

12) Vita Vea is the 2nd most important man on the roster and I'll die on that hill.

13) Cameron Brate sighting! That was a very Gronk-esque TD. BTW, what do you think Unfrozen Caveman Gronk and Harvard Guy Cameron Brate talk about?

14) Evans, just 7-90 or whatever with a couple of great grabs, NBD.

15) Falcons observations - it's amazing nobody tried Patterson at RB earlier. The book on him was he wasn't sharp enough to grasp the nuances of route-running, but he was a physical marvel. Russell Gage with the quietest 11 catches of the season. Great job containing Kyle Pitts. Great run blocking by the Falcons - well executed and coached. Matt Ryan probably has 1 more competent year left in his arm, but it would be really sad to see him hang on too long.

[Buc2]

Not So Rapid Reactions:

10) I appreciate Ryan Succop's willingness to save his bad kicks for terrible opponents.

Yep. I laughed. Good observations all around. I like your, "Not so rapid reactions," posts and I hope you'll keep it up throughout the rest of the season.

[Draftline]

I had Davidson in some of my Muck drafts.. He did go 20-30 earlier than I expected though.

[Primeminister]

Not So Rapid Reactions:

1) Our pass blocking has been a cheat code recently. The pockets Brady is seeing are insane. Admittedly, the Falcons don't have a dynamic pass rush. But still. For as much as we threw that game (50 attempts? More?), for him to get hit maybe twice is very encouraging.

2) Our defense appears to be getting it's swagger back. Can't wait until our secondary gets it's talent back. Matt Ryan couldn't exploit our lack of safety depth. Josh Allen will delight in trying to do so.

3) We've officially reached a stage in his development where passes to Leonard Fournette are a reason to get excited. He's a legit weapon in that phase. This is a "Uh Oh, looks like Happy learned how to putt" type of development for our offense.

4) Shaq is looking like Shaq again. I really think the D feeds off his energy when he's playing well.

5) The Front Seven got their ASSES KICKED in the first half. It was embarrassing. It was like watching the Raheem era defenses. Thankfully, I read that Bowles "talked" to them at halftime and they improved from that point forward. Hopefully this isn't a trend.

6) JTS is on pace to set a rookie record for "So damn close to making a play there" plays. If he turns even half of those into "plays he made" going forward, look out!

7) I love Leftwich coming out with 13 straight passes or whatever it was. It showed both confidence in what he was seeing on film and a desire to demoralize the Falcons D.

8) With this game and AB's recent troubles, the decision about how to proceed at WR is getting made in real-time.

9) But I think when Josh Allen starts pressing Andrew Adams and Jordan Whitehead (maybe) down the field on Sunday, we'll decide to forgive Mike Edwards.

10) I appreciate Ryan Succop's willingness to save his bad kicks for terrible opponents.

11) I didn't laugh at the time, but you kinda have to laugh at the Brady Pick Six. Hey, the other team has 11 guys on the field too. Sometimes one of them will make a great play. That was a brilliant read.

12) Vita Vea is the 2nd most important man on the roster and I'll die on that hill.

13) Cameron Brate sighting! That was a very Gronk-esque TD. BTW, what do you think Unfrozen Caveman Gronk and Harvard Guy Cameron Brate talk about?

14) Evans, just 7-90 or whatever with a couple of great grabs, NBD.

15) Falcons observations - it's amazing nobody tried Patterson at RB earlier. The book on him was he wasn't sharp enough to grasp the nuances of route-running, but he was a physical marvel. Russell Gage with the quietest 11 catches of the season. Great job containing Kyle Pitts. Great run blocking by the Falcons - well executed and coached. Matt Ryan probably has 1 more competent year left in his arm, but it would be really sad to see him hang on too long.

Great points all throughout. Please keep this going.

[Dread]

Not So Rapid Reactions:

8) With this game and AB's recent troubles, the decision about how to proceed at WR is getting made in real-time.

Great list, enjoyed the mix of insight at wit.

I don't know how to interpret this one though. In AB's absence we're getting squat from our WR3. Tyler Johnson, Perriman, nor Scotty Miller are close to the player AB is.

Let's remember the fact the Bucs have won 12 straight with AB in the line-up, in addition AB is the most productive WR we have when he plays.

So any decision other than putting AB back into the lineup when his suspension is over (and he's healthy) would be crazy to me.