Preseason Week 1: Game Turns Into a Laugher as Bucs Skin Jags 63-10
Wow.
That's really all that can be said about this game. The Bucs came out in midseason form while the Jags must have thought it was still early Spring. The very first defensive play for the Bucs was a fumble forced by MLB Gibson. Gabbert, though, threw 3 incomplete passes. That would be the worst the offense would look for the whole game.
The Bucs went into the game looking to try out the 46 defense. If this game is any indication, the team has found their new base set. OLB Murray had 5 tackles before the first quarter was half over, the CB tandem of Antonio Cohen and Carlos Cole shut down the Jaguars' receivers. When reverting to the more familar Nickle of last season, Gibson racked up 1 1/2 sacks and picked off a pass. He also knocked two players out of the game. Someone forgot to tell him it was preseason. Or maybe he just didn't care. SS Chauncey Cohen held his own in man coverage, and the Bucs were able to use both flavors of the 46 even against 3 WR sets in man coverage.
Offensively for the Bucs, the first pass rookie Case Murphy threw was a touch pass on a slant as WR Rucker beat double coverage for the score. Murphy's next TD came on a gutsy throw to 4th string HB Holmes on a 10 yd out route where Murphy stood strong in the pocket and took the hit as he delivered the ball.
QB Gabbert got "cheated" out of one drive, however, because WR Rucker ran back a kickoff 98 yards for a score. He did deliver a nicely thrown pass to rookie WR Emmanuel Jefferson for his TD on the day.
3rd QB Jake Stewart didn't get to throw a lot, and was just 2 of 4, but did hit HB Collins on a 20 yard pass for a TD.
"I was determined. You're not going to ace me out of a touchdown when we score 50 or whatever it was, " Stewart laughed.
Not to be outdone, the running game did its share of manhandling. As a team, the Bucs picked up, or perhaps laid down, 11 pancakes. Eleven.
All of this while the Jaguars only had 3 points. They finally got on the board again in the epitome of garbage time when a pair of rookies QB Brennen Williams and WR A.J. Robinson hooked up with 17 seconds left in the game.
That's right, for just about the entire game, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd string defenders shut down the Jaguars. Holding them to just a FG after CB Braden Smith muffed a punt and lost it.
The influence of the new coaching staff might be to "blame" for this performance. Derrick Mason has worked hard with the young (and not so young in the case of Wheeler) WR, getting to be more aware of space when running routes. He and DC Timothy Hixon have coordinate practices with Hixon working on the DBs to 'counter' what Mason has been teaching the WR.
As for the success of the 46, coach Baker said, "Well, it's one game, and it's preseason at that, but it is definitely encouraging to see it gel like that so soon. This tape will be saved as the ideal, so if things get rough later, we can refer to this."
As good as the game was, there were a couple injuries for the Bucs. OLB Barker is out, again. This time with a broken collarbone for 6 more weeks. HB Bailey suffered a minor injury, and will take a week of rest to heal. Barker won't be put on IR, but his roster spoke will probably be moved to the bench and Green, Brown, and Murray will get time in his place.
Notes: The Bucs put up 797 yards of offense... No QB for the Bucs threw an interception in the game...Both HBs Reed and Collins rushed for over 100 yards.
05-30-2012, 11:49 PM
