Remember Chris Simms, the quarterback who was drafted in the third round of the 2003 draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? Simms recently appeared in a Bleacher Report podcast after the Chicago game and had some harsh yet justified words for the Buccaneers’ coaching staff, particularly defensive coordinator Mike Smith.
To put Simms‘ message in a nutshell, he is surprised Mike Smith even gets paid by the Bucs. Furthermore, he claimed that he is working the same way he did when he coordinated the defense of the Jacksonville Jaguars when Simms was still active as an NFL quarterback. “When I played against him when he was the d-coordinator of the Jacksonville Jaguars, he’s doing the same thing now as he was doing then…”
Beyond that, Simms believes that the Bears and other NFL head coaches and offensive coordinators as well, for that matter, knew exactly what Mike Smith was going to do on defense, and he simply did not have an answer for the basic offensive concepts Chicago used last Sunday: “You have no answers for it? That is totally mind-blowing to me. I mean mind-blowing. It was like watching seven-on-seven, but it was actually worse than seven-on-seven…”
According to Chris Simms, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaching staff will be in trouble soon: “They are all going to be in trouble soon… I know Mike Smith is going to be. It is mind-blowing, the Bucs defense.”
Barring any miraculous turnaround in Atlanta after the bye week, Simms is probably right about his prediction. However, just two weeks ago nobody would have thought this team would find itself in such a deep hole after week 4. Things change quickly in pro sports. Hopefully the Bucs can find a way to get back on track with a much-needed win in a very tough divisional game on the road against the Falcons.
If you would like to check out Simms‘ podcast yourself, you can listen to it HERE.
