Alan Dell: Lovie Smith shows new edge after Buccaneers' loss to Giants

The results weren't much different against the Giants. There was a loss, and there are multitude of problems that remain for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The biggest change was in Lovie Smith, and if nothing else it had to bring a smile to long suffering Bucs fans.

Tampa Bay's head coach sent a not-so-subtle message that if he is going down with the ship, he is taking a good part of his crew with him.

Smith showed his anger, something Bucs fans have been wishing for since he took over the team two years ago. The sight of Smith grabbing defensive lineman Akeem Spence and shouting at him for a dumb unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the fourth quarter is a scene that can only be described as a Lovie moment.

Smith showing his anger happens as often as snowflakes fall in South Florida. He is too stoic, too laid back, too Lovie-able, if you will.

The Buccaneers are on pace to set a single-season record for most penalties and it is players like Spence who continue to rack up those unnecessary flags. Spence is a hothead who has shown he can't control his emotions. He is an albatross hanging on Smith's neck.

But Smith's outward demonstration towards Spence appears to be part of the new Lovie we see. He also refused to give high-priced defensive stars Gerald McCoy and Lavonte David any slack in his post-game analysis. Further, he benched his two starting cornerbacks, Johnthan Banks and Mike Jenkins, replacing them with undrafted rookie Jude Adjei-Barimah and Sterling Moore, a 2011 undrafted free agent.

"We had a lot of free agent-type players that came in and they had traits that we liked," Smith said. "Sometimes when you have traits and you are down on the depth chart, it takes a while before you get your opportunity, but when you do get your chance, you do something with it.

"That wasn't an All-Pro performance by Jude or anything yesterday, but we like some of the things he did."

On Monday, Smith waived cornerback Tim Jennings. He benched high-priced Alterraun Verner about a month ago and made him work his way back into the lineup. Right now, it's uncertain what he will do with Banks and Jenkins.

The Buccaneers have allowed quarterbacks to complete 70 percent of their passes and 19 touchdowns (second most in the NFL). A good part of this blame falls on the front four, but it seems Smith is picking and choosing his fights.

There might be those who agree or disagree with the personnel changes, but you would be hard-pressed to find anyone criticizing Smith for refusing to make excuses for defensive tackle McCoy and linebacker David.

McCoy has been playing incognito the past three games and recorded only one tackle against the Giants. The Bucs have a right to expect more from their highest-paid player,

"Forgetting about the stat sheet, both of those guys would say it's not good enough," Smith said.

The problem with McCoy could be that expectations are too high. He is a multiple-time All-Pro selection, but has yet to show he is a Hall-of-Famer in the Warren Sapp mold that some put him in.

It seems McCoy's personal evaluation of himself is also out of whack.

"If a team is going to make a turnaround or change to be successful, the best players have to produce," McCoy said. "We are just not doing that now."

While McCoy's poor play might stand out more, David has been a bigger disappointment. The linebacker currently ranks last among the 34 qualifying 4-3 outside linebackers with a -14.0 season grade by Pro Football Focus. Eli Manning had a field day exploiting David; The Giants' quarterback was 7-for-8 passing for 46 yards and a touchdown and a quarterback rating of 130.2 when targeting David, who also had four missed tackles.

The Bucs continue to have problems in the red zone on both sides of the ball. They managed only one touchdown in four red-zone attempts against the Giants and rank last in the NFL by allowing opponents to convert 66.7 percent of their red-zone opportunities into touchdowns.

This has been going on all season, but Smith's outward signs of anger might be the best antidote.

This story was originally published November 10, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Alan Dell: Lovie Smith shows new edge after Buccaneers' loss to Giants ."