Captain Fear
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- Mar 20, 2019
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Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians recently said that, when it comes to constant barbs directed to quarterback Tom Brady, Arians isn’t criticizing Brady; the coach is simply being honest.
On Tuesday, Arians had some honesty for defensive coordinator Todd Bowles.
“We just got to get off to a better start,” Arians said on Bucs Total Access, via JoeBucsFan.com. “We’re not matching teams’ best plays. You know, every week, the [offensive] coordinator, whoever’s calling plays, has got his top-15 that he’s going to start with. And we’re not matching it. We’re not matching the speed of it. We’ve given up too many early touchdowns and making us play from behind. Then we adjust and play really well, probably the best second-half defense in the league right now. But we’ve got to play better in the first quarter.”
The Buccaneers quickly fell behind the Chiefs on Sunday, with an early 17-0 margin. Six days earlier, the Rams had a 7-0 lead. In Week 10, the Panthers led 7-0, 14-7, and 17-10. In Week Nine, the Saints had a 14-0 lead after one quarter and a 31-0 lead after two.
The prior Monday night, the Giants built a 14-3 lead in the first half. The Raiders in Week Seven were up 7-0. The Packers led 10-0 in Week Six.
An exception came in Week Five, when the Bucs led the Bears 13-0 before quickly blowing the lead and losing the game. In Week Four, the Chargers had amassed a 24-7 lead in the second quarter. The Broncos and Panthers never led against the Bucs in Week Three and Week Two, respectively. In Week One, the Bucs scored first but New Orleans had a 17-7 halftime margin.
So there seems to be something to Arians’ concerns. With a late bye week, it’s one of the various things on which the Bucs need to work before their next game, in Week 14 against Minnesota.