Great point by Bradie James

[Hoofbite]

So that's why they put up 450 yards on us today. Now it's all clear.

Yeah, clear as mud isn't it?

Someone should have asked him how a new OC equals piss poor tackling.

 

[YosemiteSam]

http://www.dallascowboys.com/multimedia/multimedia_center.cfm?id=B6C50D2B-F671-1EEA-2A61DCDB9FB462D4

Postgame interview with James. Towards the end of the clip, he talks about the difficulties of game-planning for this game, with the Bucs having recently firing their offensive coordinator.

After being asked about it...


"We're not even really supposed to talk about that, but it was tough preparing for these guys, because you don't know what you're going to get from their offensive coordinator.

"I mean, you gotta be realistic. They fired their guy from preseason, so what are we looking at (film-wise)? We're looking at the Rams... this coordinator was the Rams coordinator two years ago. But it was different personnel. So you're just out there playing, almost like sandlot, basic football. Trying to be aggressive, get to the QB.

"We knew what they were doing by the 2nd half. But before coming in, we really didn't know."

Sounds more like an excuse. Wade said they stuffed the run in the second half. They did nothing of the sort! They averaged 5.2 yards per attempt in the second half. The reason they didn't get as many rushing yards is because they were forced to pass with the Cowboys scoring on 3 long pass plays and going down by so many points.

Notice they threw for 276 yards? Most of that came in the second half when they gave up on the run. In the end, they only had 12 less yards of offense than the Cowboys. The Cowboys gave up 450 yards of offense and didn't produce a single sack or turnover.

Leftwich is notorious for holding on to the ball for way to long, and they still couldn't sack him. Sure, they beat him up, MOST of the hits on the QB came after 5 seconds into the play. You CANNOT give a QB that much time to throw the ball. It is the EXACT reason the Bucs threw for almost 300 yards.

If the Cowboys play defense like that next week, you might as well write it up as a loss. The Giants won't give up 3 40+ yard TDs in the same game.

 

[skinsscalper]

I mistakenly thought Tampa would flat out suck in 2009.

Today they didn't. Not sure why people think this is a horrible team. 9-7 last year just like us.

I think the gloom and doom predictions for the Bucs stem from such a drastic overhaul, Hos. From head coach to team leader Derrick Brooks, and in a surprise move, the O- coordinator right before the start of the season. They looked pretty damn tough to me through the 1st half. If they can learn to finish they'll be tough. That defense flat out flies to the ball.

 

[Goldenrichards83]

Sounds like an excuse to me. They weren't running around us but threw us. There were alot of yards after contact. However they did do a great job in ther second half against the run so it does make a lil sense.

 

[skinsscalper]

Sounds more like an excuse. Wade said they stuffed the run in the second half. They did nothing of the sort! They averaged 5.2 yards per attempt in the second half. The reason they didn't get as many rushing yards is because they were forced to pass with the Cowboys scoring on 3 long pass plays and going down by so many points.

Notice they threw for 276 yards? Most of that came in the second half when they gave up on the run. In the end, they only had 12 less yards of offense than the Cowboys. The Cowboys gave up 450 yards of offense and didn't produce a single sack or turnover.

Leftwich is notorious for holding on to the ball for way to long, and they still couldn't sack him. Sure, they beat him up, MOST of the hits on the QB came after 5 seconds into the play. You CANNOT give a QB that much time to throw the ball. It is the EXACT reason the Bucs through for almost 300 yards.

If the Cowboys play defense like that next week, you might as well write it up as a loss. The Giants won't give up 3 40+ yard TDs in the same game.

I'm thrilled that we won, but I have to agree with most of this post. Another thing to point out was the fact that the Bucs killed many of their own drives with dropped passes. I'm glad we got the win, but the D REALLY needs to tighten up quickly. That type of defense will get us killed in the NFC East.

 

[ElGatoGrande]

However they did do a great job in ther second half against the run so it does make a lil sense.

they did only slightly better against the run in the second half, but mostly because the Bucs had to start passing to catch up. They still averaged over 5yds per carry in the second half,,, that is not even good, much less "great". The fact that the Cowboy D seems pleased about the "improvement" is a joke.

 

[Doomsday101]

What ever the reason the run defense played poorly. I do think they did a better job in the second half but overall run defense was poor. I expect better from this group.

 

[SMCowboy]

Sounds more like an excuse. Wade said they stuffed the run in the second half. They did nothing of the sort! They averaged 5.2 yards per attempt in the second half. The reason they didn't get as many rushing yards is because they were forced to pass with the Cowboys scoring on 3 long pass plays and going down by so many points.

The running D was MUCH improved in the second half. While it is true, that they did average over 5 yards per carry in the second half, most of that was on 1, 22 yard run by Derrick Ward. If you take away the one run, they only averaged 4 yards per carry. They also had exactly 2 runs of over 6 yards out of 12 runs in the second half.

So while out run D still wasn't where we want it at, the 5.2 yard per carry average doesn't give anywhere NEAR the whole picture about how our run D looked in the second half.

 

[silverbear]

Y'know, that's exactly what I was worrying about before the game, and exactly what I was thinking as I watched it... the Boys' defense played quite tentatively, as if they just weren't sure what to expect from play to play...

Thank goodness our offense and special teams showed up ready to play...

 

[viman96]

I mistakenly thought Tampa would flat out suck in 2009.

Today they didn't. Not sure why people think this is a horrible team. 9-7 last year just like us.

Not to mention at one point their record was 9-3.

 

[SMCowboy]

they did only slightly better against the run in the second half, but mostly because the Bucs had to start passing to catch up. They still averaged over 5yds per carry in the second half,,, that is not even good, much less "great". The fact that the Cowboy D seems pleased about the "improvement" is a joke.

This is NOT completely true, the Bucs did average over 5 yards per carry, but that number would have been much lower had the game been closer and the Bucs not been forced into throwing the ball most of the 4th quarter. Most of Tampa Bay's rushing yards in the second half came on 1, 22 yard run by Derrick Ward. And they had only 2 runs over 6 yards in the second half. They also had 6 of their 12 running plays going for 3 or less yards. That is a very solid run D. While saying that they stuffed the run in the second half was a bit of a reach, it was not near as bad as some on this board are making it out to be.

 

[YosemiteSam]

This is NOT completely true, the Bucs did average over 5 yards per carry, but that number would have been much lower had the game been closer and the Bucs not been forced into throwing the ball most of the 4th quarter. Most of Tampa Bay's rushing yards in the second half came on 1, 22 yard run by Derrick Ward. And they had only 2 runs over 6 yards in the second half. They also had 6 of their 12 running plays going for 3 or less yards. That is a very solid run D. While saying that they stuffed the run in the second half was a bit of a reach, it was not near as bad as some on this board are making it out to be.

I'm confused at what point you're making. They gave up 5.2 yards per carry. It doesn't matter how it was done, the fact is that is what happen.

The Cowboys defense had their lunch eaten in both the first and second half. They gave up HUGE rushing yards in the first half, and HUGE passing yards in the second.

Stop trying to sugar coat it. The defense failed in all aspects of the game yesterday. The offense, special teams, and Bucs offensive blunders were the difference. There were zero bright spots for the defense.

 

[DFWJC]

"We knew what they were doing by the 2nd half. But before coming in, we really didn't know."

Like everyone, I had issue with the "D"...but there is no doubt that Wade made some nice adjustments at halftime. I also give credit to TB, we knew they would have good run game, but Leftwich (who is an up and down guy) was really on his game.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

I do think the D will play MUCH better against the GMen on Sunday night. I also think that most likely those who think they totally suck will not be around to give them any credit for playing good against the Giants.

 

[DaBoys4Life]

Is that you Roy ?

 

[Alexander]

crazy, I LITERALLY just got done watching this video..so it is funny that their is a thread about this..and I also related it to a team facing a pitcher for the 1st time...The bottom line is we will know after next week if that was the case or if this defense just simply needs to get better..It is my opinion that there is a lot of merit to what Bradie said.

Even if having nothing to go on is valid (which I don't buy), how does this explain poor tackling and loose coverage.

The defense didn't play very well, that is all there is to it. Sandlot or not. Unprepared or not. We didn't even execute the basics. Our defensive line was pushed around, our back seven missed too many tackles and didn't fill the gaps very well.

 

[ElGatoGrande]

This is NOT completely true, the Bucs did average over 5 yards per carry, but that number would have been much lower had the game been closer and the Bucs not been forced into throwing the ball most of the 4th quarter. Most of Tampa Bay's rushing yards in the second half came on 1, 22 yard run by Derrick Ward. And they had only 2 runs over 6 yards in the second half. They also had 6 of their 12 running plays going for 3 or less yards. That is a very solid run D. While saying that they stuffed the run in the second half was a bit of a reach, it was not near as bad as some on this board are making it out to be.

No, I think you're rationalizing a very poor performance. No doubt there are similar Buc apologists saying, "If it hadn't been for three long pass receptions for touchdowns our secondary played GREAT!"

 

[Future]

Whether or not you know what they are going to do isn't an excuse for the DLine getting blown off the ball over and over again and poor tackling.

 

[SMCowboy]

I'm confused at what point you're making. They gave up 5.2 yards per carry. It doesn't matter how it was done, the fact is that is what happen.

The point I am tring to make, is that as a whole the D did play the run very well in the second half. Stats never lie, but they also NEVER tell the whole story either. In this case you are attempting to use a stat to tell a story that is not completely true.

Did we give up over 5 yards a carry in the second half, absolutely we did. But, we also held them to 3 yards or under on half of the carries in the second half. They really had two good running plays in the second half. Is it a bit of a reach to say we stuffed the run in the second half, yeah, as the 5.2 yard per carry average says. But, to say "They did nothing of the sort!" as you did in your previous post is stretching the truth just as much. To hold a team to 3 or fewer yards on half of its running plays, is doing a very good job on run D as a whole. You can rest assured that Tampa Bay doesn't feel that they did a good job running the ball in the second half even though they did average 5.2 yards per carry.

 

[cowboyjoe]

http://www.dallascowboys.com/multimedia/multimedia_center.cfm?id=B6C50D2B-F671-1EEA-2A61DCDB9FB462D4

Postgame interview with James. Towards the end of the clip, he talks about the difficulties of game-planning for this game, with the Bucs having recently firing their offensive coordinator.

After being asked about it...


"We're not even really supposed to talk about that, but it was tough preparing for these guys, because you don't know what you're going to get from their offensive coordinator.

"I mean, you gotta be realistic. They fired their guy from preseason, so what are we looking at (film-wise)? We're looking at the Rams... this coordinator was the Rams coordinator two years ago. But it was different personnel. So you're just out there playing, almost like sandlot, basic football. Trying to be aggressive, get to the QB.

"We knew what they were doing by the 2nd half. But before coming in, we really didn't know."

i kinda figured this would happen, when wade said that we dont think they will go vertical too much. But thats exactly what they did.

Like you mentioned all you had to do was go back and look at the rams coordinator and what he did with the rams. Should have told you.

This could be a gem for us later in the season. For example, say a teams certain QB goes down, or RB, and they have to insert a new player. Then, you had better be prepared and not take them for granted, but get the players ready.

This might wake up the coaches to, well we thought that tampa bay wouldnt change their plays to what they did during the preseason, but they did. So, hey we had better coach our players right and get them ready.