The Bucs went up to Charlotte and got it done against the Panthers, who have now lost four straight games.
It was Tampa Bay’s first series sweep of Carolina since since 2012 and just the third sweep since 2010, so you know there were plenty of good things to say after the game.
Bruce Arians on Ronald Jones II’s 98-yard touchdown run:
“Up in New York he had a rough fumble on a ball that was on the ground. This one he was trying to get a little extra. He went in the tank in New York – it really bothered him and he thought he really hurt the team. We told him, ‘Hey dude, you’re our guy.’ I knew he was going to break one sooner or later. Blaine [Gabbert] and I looked at each other and Blaine said, ‘He’s going to take it to the house.’ I said, ‘Good chance on this play.’ And he did.”
Thoughts: I was actually shocked to see RoJo remain in the game after his fumble and it’s obviously a good thing Arians and co. left him in the game. That 98-yard touchdown run (as are all 98-yard touchdown runs) was spectacular.
Arians on what he and Blaine Gabbert saw before the Jones touchdown run:
“We saw the defense and Blaine said, ‘This is going to the house.’ I said, ‘We’ve got a chance to split them.’ [And then] there he goes.”
Thoughts: It’s always amazed me how these guys can just diagnose something such as a defensive coverage, formation, personnel, etc. within seconds during a live game. My head would be spinning.
Arians on what he told RoJo after the touchdown run:
“I told him that’s what I expect of him. ‘You’re our guy and that’s what we expect of you all the time.’ He ran great today. He feels terrible when he makes a mistake and the fumble in New York really upset him. This one, I wasn’t going to let upset him and he bounced back really strong.”
Thoughts: That’s how you build confidence, right there. This staff usually yanks Jones out of the game when he makes a mistake and the results have been questionable. It was cool to see things work out during the one game they decided to let him stay in after a mistake.
Ronald Jones II on what Arians told him after the touchdown:
“He just said, ‘Let it go. The team’s going to need you today, so you got to get back out there.’ That’s what I did. Good play, bad play, you just have to forget about it, and that’s what happened. Again, still have a lot to improve on. I have to stop making those mistakes, but ultimately we came out with the win, so it feels good altogether.”
Thoughts: RoJo got the vote of confidence and he redeemed himself. Now let’s work on not putting the ball on the ground, at all.
Jones describes what he saw on the touchdown run:
“I saw the linebacker shift over, and then I’m thinking probably cut back to the left, and then it’s off to the races. [I] started looking at the jumbotron, and I’m like ‘Dang – buddy is moving back there.’ So, I changed the angle and keep striding cold turkey. [It] felt good to get that long run though.”
Thoughts: It’s always fun to hear what the players saw on big plays. I jumped off the couch during this play —it was that exciting. Hopefully there are more runs like this to come in RoJo’s future.
Jason Pierre-Paul on his interception:
“This week, I was like, ‘I’m going to catch it this week if I ever drop in coverage and I actually get another chance.’ I did [and] it feels good.”
Thoughts: Man, it would have been hard to live down dropping a sure-fire interception in consecutive weeks. You know the film review with the teammates would’ve been rough.
Arians on how the Bucs will handle game prep since they’re playing on Monday Night Football:
“We’ve got to try something because we’ve had really, really poor starts in night ballgames. We’re going to try practicing at that game time [on] Friday and Saturday night [and] do some more stuff, actually, Monday morning than we’ve been doing. We’ve got to try something, so luckily we have an indoor facility and we can work at night. We’re going to do that and hopefully get a better result to start a ballgame at night.”
Thoughts: I’m not one for superstition, but there appears to be some credence toward this whole primetime thing. Will the Bucs be able to conquer their demons against the Rams?
Arians on Ali Marpet’s progress:
“He’s still in the protocol. Some minor stuff, but he’ll have individual workouts with the trainers while the rest of the guys are taking off. We’ll see if we can get through this and get him through the protocol.”
Thoughts: Even though the offensive line played well, this line needs Marpet. Let’s hope he comes back soon.
Arians on if A.Q. Shipley was brought in for the situation that developed on Sunday:
“Exactly what we brought him in for – to have a veteran guy that the quarterback would be comfortable with calling out the fronts, calling out the MIKE linebacker and identifications. [It was good] having Ryan [Jensen] on the left side to make sure too. To have two veteran guys in there – I thought our communication was outstanding on the offensive line in that ballgame.”
Thoughts: This week was definitely an improvement from the Week 10 debacle, but the Bucs were also playing a far-less talented defensive front against the Panthers. We’ll see what happens against the Rams.
Cameron Brate on his increased role in Week 10:
“Kind of the way the game went on Sunday night against the Saints, we weren’t able to run the ball and that puts a lot of pressure on the offensive line. The negative game script definitely hurt, so it was definitely our priority coming into the week to be able to run the football. We thought that was going to be able to open things up in the passing game. Definitely was our gameplan to be a little bit more smashmouth with heavier personnel in the game, so that was exciting to play more. [I] always enjoy that. [On] the touchdown, they went to a man coverage look and I knew [Tom Brady] was going to come to either me or Mike [Evans], so I just had to create enough separation there. Great pass by Tom and I was luckily able to make a big play for us there.”
Thoughts: It makes sense the Bucs wanted to come out and run the ball. Carolina’s front isn’t very good and the Bucs needed to find some momentum in the ground game this week. Overall, it was a very good offensive performance.