Bogged down.
For a while there this afternoon, Joe thought the Bucs were playing ping-pong the way they were throwing so many short passes.
And not just short passes like 5-8 yards downfield. Try a one-yard pass.
Late in the first half, Joe was screaming (silently) for Bucs offensive coordinator Zac Robinson to start throwing the ball downfield more than three yards.
Look, we’re talking about the Browns here. Maybe the worst team in the NFL. Last Joe saw, they did not have Darrelle Revis or Deion Sanders or Ronnie Lott in their secondary. The Bucs may have the most talented group of receivers in the game.
Joe nearly jumped out of the press box when Baker Mayfield lobbed a pass to Kenny Gainwell when Gainwell was maybe one yard away from Mayfield.
What. In. The. Hell! You can’t tell Joe the Bucs couldn’t find a way to scheme open Chris Godwin or Ben Hurst or Emeka Egbuka or Tez Johnson on an intermediate pass or two.
Those runs up the middle and less than dink-and-dunk passes went nowhere, which allowed the Browns to get the ball back.
Allow a team to hang around instead of putting them out of their misery and don’t be surprised if that team beats you. That’s exactly what happened to the Bucs today.
It was an outrage to watch that dink-and-dunk crap. Joe knows quarterback Baker Mayfield claims this collection of Hall of Famers the Browns have in their secondary had taken out all the Bucs receivers.
Well, Joe had a Bucs receiver tell Joe after the game they were not locked down by the Browns’ secondary.
That dink-and-dunk crap that wasn’t working allowed the Browns to hang around before they made a play in the fourth quarter — and you look up and all of a sudden the Bucs are losing.
Just shameful football. And if you ask Joe, if this continues, that tells Joe the Bucs aren’t that talented. Otherwise, dudes can get open.
When is the last time a good team’s air attack got squeezed by a Browns secondary?