The last two years, the Bucs were anything but explosive even though they had explosive players.
Wanna blame the coach, the offensive coordinator, the players, a horoscope, walking under ladders, whatever. It was the Bucs defense that usually kept the team in games.
Yesterday, Bucs left tackle Tristan Wirfs said it is time the offense pays the piper. He sees how many injuries the Bucs defense has after just one game. So Wirfs thinks the offense needs to step up in a major way and help the defense its time of need.
“I think so,” Wirfs said when asked if the offense will have to score a bunch of points to cover for the defense in Detroit.
“I mean, for them too – next man up mentality, but we have to do our part.
“They’ve held us in a lot of ball games before so now we have to take the burden off them and try to be on the field for as long as we can. Sustain drives [and] you know, give them a break when needed and definitely finish in the end zone too to kind of take the pressure off them a little bit.
“We know they’re going to go out and ball out and they expect the same of us. We just have to get after it.”
Joe didn’t think of it that way. He figured with so many defenders out or possibly out — the Bucs could be down five starters — and Detroit having a potent offense, the Bucs would have to score at least 35 to have a shot.
But Wirfs was of the mind the Bucs will have to play ground-and-pound. Hold onto the ball. Keep the defense off the field. That’s interesting.
If your defense is depleted, the best way to help the defense is to keep it off the field. The defense can’t get lit up if it’s on the bench sipping water, watching the offense play smashmouth ball.
You do that by sustained, clock-eating drives that hopefully end up in touchdowns, not field goals.
