Michael Vick believes letting go of Bruce Arians tore apart Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers missed a prime opportunity to put some distance between them and their NFC South opponents on Sunday. They inexplicably lost in overtime to the Cleveland Browns.
There have been a lot of issues with the team this year, as they've already exceeded their loss total from last season. Former quarterback Michael Vick believes Bruce Arians' departure is a big issue. Here's what he said on the Club Shay Shay podcast:
"It was no cohesiveness. And you know... the run game was not present. It was no cohesiveness.... Any season I was a part of where we didn't have a run game, It was tumultuous. It was horrible. It was hard to move to town was hard to modify and think fiscal click does not give people the best way to put an action."
Vick continued:
"So I always felt like Tom was at his best when he had guys like James White even, you know, he could dump it all jam and this extension of the passing game, but you know, I see them turning the corner and turning the page."
He thinks Arians not running the offense is a big reason for the regression this year:
"I also think Bruce Arians influenced I love Brian Leftwhich and what he's brought to the table but also, Bruce Arians is like an Andy Reid overseer. You always need to obey and when we think we got all the answers as players and you think we great and we sometimes we don't you know sometimes we need to oversee."
The Buccaneers are 5-6 and first in the NFC South. However, they're just a game and a half above the Carolina Panthers and the New Orleans Saints who are in last place.
Are the Buccaneers going to win the NFC South?
It's hard to pick any team in the NFC South to win the division, but someone has to. That someone is probably going to be Tampa Bay, even if they're not playing well.
They have the least glaring holes out of any team in that division. Despite a bad start, they still have guys like Mike Evans, Tom Brady, Chris Godwin and a stellar defense.
FiveThirtyEight still gives the Buccaneers a 69% chance of winning the division at this point. We will see if they can do it as the season unfolds in the coming weeks.
If you use any of the above quotes, please credit the Club Shay Shay podcast and H/T Sportskeeda.