FanPost

Takeaways from Bucs-Panthers

This game was totally meaningless for the Bucs, although there were a few good performances to lighten the mood. There was a big scare when Gerald McCoy left with a knee injury, but luckily it's not too serious. We should shut him down for the season just in case, however, as this knee thing is looking like a reoccurring problem. Oh yeah, and we still have the #1 pick, which is a big positive. BUC FOR DUCK.

1. Time to bench Josh McCown. Not only has he been awful, he's starting to hurt Mike Evans' production as well. Evans managed only 2 catches for 13 yards on 8 targets, and McCown's downfield inaccuracy was the main culprit. Of course, McCown was under siege the whole game, but this doesn't excuse his awful week-by-week performance. Besides, we might as well give Mike Glennon a shot, as he's probably our backup for next season.

2. Doug Martin had a very nice 63-yard scamper, but was held to just 13-33 otherwise. Still, it was encouraging production overall, but Marcus Arroyo abandoned the run in the second half, like he's done all year. Martin has looked good enough in recent weeks that I would give him another shot next year with a new (and better) offensive coordinator. (Another thing: why didn't Bobby Rainey get any carries?)

3. Charles Sims is looking like a very good weapon out of the backfield, as he caught 3 passes for 45 yards at the end of the second half to put us into field goal range. This is a great way to utilize him- short passes that can get him in space, where he can use his blazing speed to pick up yardage.

4. As I mentioned, Mike Evans didn't do much (although he did catch a nice TD pass). Vincent Jackson looked very good once again, however, grabbing 6 passes for 70 yards. After a slow start to the year, VJax looks to have regained his 2012-2013 form. Now, both Jackson and Evans have a shot to go over 1,000 yards on the season- a first in Buccaneers history.

5. Anthony Collins, our "prized" 30 million dollar free agent was benched. 30 million down the drain. This has to be one of the worst free agent signings in Buccaneers history- and that's saying a hell of a lot.

6. Benching Collins didn't really help the Bucs O-Line at all, as the incompetent Oniel Cousins was absolutely manhandled by Charles Johnson. Just the fact that Lovie keeps playing Cousins is making me lose faith in him. The rest of the pass protection was pretty poor as well, although the run-blocking was a bit better. Logan Mankins and Evan Dietrich-Smith opened up some nice holes for Doug Martin.

7. Gerald McCoy went down with a hyper-extended knee, and the pass rush and run defense suffered from it. We weren't able to get much pressure on Derek Anderson, and that let him shred us for the second time this year. Jacquies Smith managed to get a sack, but he was held to a pretty quiet game otherwise.

8. Lavonte David should've been IR'd, and not playing. It's important to care more about the long-term health of a player then their play on the field. That said, he looked great yesterday. He got off to a slow start to the year (by his standards), but he has been the LVD of last year as he's starting to get comfortable with the scheme. He was fantastic against the run and in coverage, and got his first sack of the year as well. He finished with 12 tackles and a forced fumble.

9. We finally started to blitz our linebackers! I've been calling for us to do this all year, and we managed to do it successfully yesterday. Lavonte David had a sack that forced a punt, and Danny Lansanah had two (one limited the Panthers to a field goal, the other forced a punt). I'm positive that if we hadn't utilized out LBs this way yesterday, we would've given up over 30 points. Unfortunately, Lovie may stop blitzing them now that he knows it works.

10. That roughing the passer call on Larry English that negated an Orie Lemon interception was complete BS. We probably would've one if not for that horrid call.

11. Although Alterraun Verner dropped an interception, he had a fantastic game otherwise, and was the best player on our defense. He allowed only 4 receptions for 38 yards, and had 2 pass breakups and a forced fumble as well. Some people have this weird idea that Verner is not having a good year, but he's actually been one of our best players. Definitely a free agent hit.

12. Bradley McDougald was filling in for the injured Major Wright, and had a decent performance. He allowed too many Greg Olsen catches (10-110), but he had 15 tackles and didn't give any huge plays. When Wright is healthy, I'd like to see McDougald to take over for the mediocre Dashon Goldson at free safety.

13. Patrick Murray nailed a 48-yard field goal, and is possibly the best kicker in the league. I'm not joking. Murray is now 17-21 on the season, and would be even better if not for a couple of blocks. He's 5-of-6 on kicks of over 40 and 50 yards on the year, respectively. A terrific find.

We have some talented to build around, but we still have lot's of work to for us to be a good team. I'm going to write a fanpost later detailing what we should do this offseason.

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