National Football League

Yarcho's Pick Six: Buccaneers Get Trounced By Cardinals

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Well, the debut of my “Pick Six” was celebrating a Buccaneers’ win. This time around, things won’t be so fun. In a pathetic display, the Buccaneers got worked by the Cardinals to the tune of 40-7.

That. Was. Painful. Shades of the Lovie Smith era loomed over University of Phoenix Stadium Sunday as the Buccaneers could get literally nothing going. In what started out as a promising, competitive contest, the Cardinals obliterated the Bucs 40-7, winning the turnover battle five to nothing, and outplaying Tampa in every aspect of the game. With that said, let’s get to it…

Six Topics Suitable For Debate

Six Numbers To Consider

Sep 18, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson (21) intercepts a pass intended for Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans (13) during the first quarter at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

0 – Number of tackles by Lavonte David. Yes, the same guy who just had the longest streak in the NFL of games with five or more tackles had zero. Not okay.

0 (again) – Number of turnovers by the Buccaneers’ defense. Bucs are losing the season turnover battle 6-0

52 – Pass attempts by Jameis Winston – a career high

67 – Receiving yards by Adam Humphries – a career high

4 – Years its been since a Bucs WR had a touchdown catch in each of the first two games. Mike Evans is the first since Mike Williams in 2012

39.2 – Winston’s passer rating – one week after being named NFC Offensive Player of the Week

Six Reasons It’s Not Panic Time

6.) You can’t predict injuries. No, they aren’t an excuse, but no one would’ve expected Arizona to win if they lost Peterson, David Johnson, Michael Floyd, and Tyrann Mathieu either. Injuries happen, but when you lose key players at pivotal positions, it wreaks havoc.

5.) This isn’t Lovie Smith’s team anymore. Although that was a very Lovie-esque performance – minus stupid, undisciplined penalties – we don’t know how this team will react.

4.) It was against the Cardinals. It wasn’t as competitive as we thought it would be, but all of us chalked this one up as a loss before the season. I even picked the Cardinals to win the Super Bowl. Week one was not indicative of who the Cardinals truly are, just like week two is not indicative of who the Bucs truly are.

3.) Back to back road games to open the season is no small task. The Bucs needed to come home at least 1-and-1 to start the season and they did. Yeah, this loss hurt, but they’re still in first in the division.

2.) Jameis Winston is still quarterback. Jameis Winston is still the leader. Believe in Jameis.

1.) This was a gut check. It was over by halftime, but the team kept fighting. Winston wouldn’t come out because he wanted to keep fighting. It’s how they respond that matters. It’s what they learned, what adjustments they’ll make that matter. This team wasn’t going 16-0, but you just watched them get their brains bashed in by a Super Bowl contender. Now, are they going to roll over and die like they have before, or do they snap back and take it out on the next team like we just watched Arizona do?

Six Top Performers

This is where I list the top performers of the week, but I … I got nothin. Aside from Larry Fitzgerald being one of the best receivers of this generation – possibly ever – and Patrick Peterson being the best corner in the game (eat your heart out, Richard Sherman)

Six Worst “Hot Takes” The Over-reactors Will Have

(Yes, these are all things I saw Bucs fans say after the game)

6.) “Same old Bucs” – No, they’re not. Again, have to see how Koetter gets them ready and how they respond to the adversity

5.) “There’s no way this is a playoff team” – Maybe. Maybe not. 14 games left and not a single team on the schedule is unbeatable.

4.) “SEE?! Told you Aguayo was a waste of a draft pick!” – Guys, get over it. The draft was almost five months ago. Yeah, he missed a kick. Was Lavonte a waste of second round pick because he had no tackles? Was Kwon a waste of a pick because he missed so many tackles? Was Winston a waste of the top pick because he had a bad game? It’s over. Aguayo is on the team. Stop rooting for him to fail to support your narrative. Rooting for a Buccaneer to fail is rooting for the team to fail. If that’s your thing, go be a fan of someone else.

3.) “Doug Martin got his money and now he doesn’t care” – Martin is in as good of shape now as he was last season. Injuries happen. To think Martin would intentionally bail is moronic. Is Cecil Shorts faking his injury since he got a contract? What about Robert Ayers? He got a big pay day and got hurt. See how bad of a narrative that is? Nobody is more upset about Martin being hurt than Martin. That much I can guarantee you.

2.) “Dirk Koetter is in over his head” – This time last week you were crowning him the best coach since Gruden. Relax. This is a first year head coach having to clean up the you-know-what-show Lovie left behind. He ran a record setting offense for this team last year. This is not a Super Bowl team, yet. One game is not going to dictate what kind of coach Koetter is long term.

1.) “Jameis Winston is a fraud” – For anyone that actually watched the game, they know Jameis had a bad day. Every player has bad days. Just so happens all our players had a bad day at the same time. Winston is legit and there’s no denying it. Also, anyone who watched the game knows which turnovers were actually his fault, which we’ve already discussed here. However, as we all know, the haters come out in droves when a performance fits their narrative.

Six Final Words

At least the Rams are next.

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