The Tampa Bay Bucs would like to try something new this week.
They’d like to win at home.
It’s been a while. The Bucs haven’t won at home since Dec. 8 of 2013, 10 games ago. Coach Lovie Smith has never won a game at Raymond James Stadium.
“It would be great just for this city to have some wins behind it.” said quarterback Jameis Winston. “Unfortunately our only win was on the road this year, but it would be big for the city. We need that. We need to bring that winning atmosphere back into Raymond James. Get it electric in there. It’s a big win for us – division game, help us toward our record of winning in the division. They are the defending champs, but it will be very important to get a win here this week.”
“It would also be big, coach Lovie Smith said, for the Bucs to go to 2-0 in the NFC South.
“It’s huge for us,” Smith said. “I know we talked about finishing up the quarter 2-2, but what I’m talking to our team about is – and we understand what our record is – we have a chance to be 2-0 in the division and that’s what it’s about. To defeat the team that’s held that title, yes they’ve beaten us – they swept us both times – they are at the top. They are the defending champions in our division. In order for you to say you are ready to make a move, you’ve got to knock out the champ. That’s where we are.”
To perform better, it would take a few things. For one thing, the Bucs need to commit fewer penalties. And they need to drop fewer passes.
“I played terrible,” said Mike Evans, who caught seven passes but was targeted 17 times. “This team needs better from me and I will get better. But it’s in the past; the game’s behind us. We should have definitely won if I make one or two more plays. I’ll work hard in practice this week and hopefully I’ll make those plays come Sunday.”
Offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter was asked if rust might have been part of Evans’ problem.
“Pick whatever word you want, but we have to make those plays,” Koetter said. “You’ve got to be able to throw and catch. Again, you want to be a big-time receiver, you want to be a big-time quarterback, the protection’s there, the route’s there, we have to make the plays. Now, there’s times that the route won’t be there and then that’s my fault – I’ve got to give them better and that’s fine. We’re not pinning it on anybody. It is what it is; we’ve got to do better.”
Koetter said part of the problems was Winston’s lack of accuracy on third down.
“First of all, let’s talk about the positives,” Koetter said. “Jameis did a great job of getting the ball out on time in this game. A great job. We had zero sacks against one of the best rush teams in the NFL, with two elite – two elite – pass rushers. Very few teams have that. And what’s strange about the game is, on first and second down, Jameis was as accurate as could be. He threw some beautiful balls. Unfortunately, on third down, he wasn’t as accurate as he needs to be.
“Two of them that just come to my mind right off the bat, he didn’t set his feet good enough. He got his base a little bit too wide. Get your base wide and the ball tends to sail on you. So we had two of those. But Jameis threw some great balls in that game. That just shows what he can do. We have to remember that it’s his third game. I think plenty of people out there were wondering if a team did shut down our running game and force us to throw, could we do it? It wasn’t good enough, but we made progress.”
