The Good The Bad And The Ugly

How bout dem Bucs?! Ladies and Gentlemen after one game we are tied for the division lead. Gotta love it!!!

The Good

- Cadillac Williams: 22 carries for 75 yards with several big runs called back for penalty. Add in 23 yards on 2 catches and you have a nice start to the season. It was great seeing Caddy get 2 or more extra yards after first contact on just about every carry in that game. Hopefully next game when he breaks off a couple the refs will keep their laundry in their pockets

- Michael Spurlock: Spurlock ended up with just two catches but when one of them is the game winning 33 yard touchdown catch, you gotta give it up for the guy. Here is a player who probably wondered if he had played his last down in the NFL just a year ago. Its a testament to his heart and perserverence that he is back in Tampa and still making plays.

- Mike Williams: 5 catches for 30 yards and one amazing touchdown is a damn good start to a career. If he stays healthy Mike Williams has all the makings of a star. Imagine how his stats will improve when Josh Freeman's thumb gets better.

- D Line: Just check out my Bull Rush post

- Ronde Barber: People keep counting Ronde out and my old teammate just keeps proving them wrong. What a momentum changer his interception and run back was right before halftime. But we wouldn't expect any less from the wiley playmaker at this point in his career.

- E. J. Biggers: I was supremely impressed with Biggers yesterday and even moreso when I watched the game for a second time. This kid has a lot of presence on a football field. He didn't panic all day and he had a bunch of good open field tackles. Although he helped to give up a touchdown by not turning the ball back on a run in the first half, he made up for it with an outstanding interception in the second half with the game still in the balance. He also had a couple of really good pass break ups to go along with everything else. I know Myron Lewis was the third round pick this year but I don't think Biggers will be giving up that starting nickel spot any time soon.

- Quincy Black: The guy just fills up your stat sheet. Led the team in tackles. Had a huge play recovering a fumble. Had some decent pass rushes out of our 3-3-5 alignment and was really physical all day. Maybe the most underrated part of his game is pass coverage where he was all over the tight ends and slot receievers all day long.

- Connor Barth: I know it was only one field goal but I still remember the debacle our kicking game was to start off the year last year. Besides that the field goal represented the margin of victory. It is such a good feeling knowing that we have a kicker that is very accurate and very consistent.

- Kickoff and Punt Teams: Holding Joshua Cribs without a big return for a whole game is an impressive feat indeed!

The Bad

- Pass Blocking: My goodness, our offensive line and backs made the Browns look like the Steel Curtain several times yesterday. It got to the point where almost every time they blitzed they got pressure on Freeman. And its not like Free is a sitting duck or anything nor were they running anything all that exotic. The Bucs are going to have to fix this and fast if they expect Freeman to last the whole season

- Kellen Winslow's run blocking: Still pathetic. Look it, I don't expect K2 to be the second coming of Eric Green, but jeebus if he's going to be in when we run the ball something is going to have to give!

- First Half Tackling: Several times guys didn't wrap up and the Browns got big plays off of it. One play in particular Sean Jones looked turrible just running into the tight end who ended up gaining an extra 20 yards or so. We got better in the second half but that is not winning football. Not ever!

- Deep Balls: Its scary that we are still having problems with deep balls even with the change in defensive scheme. I'm not blaming him because honestly its not always his fault, but its not good that Elbert Mack seems to always be involved when somebody gets behind our secondary either. Tanard Jackson is probably still kicking himself over the poor angle he took on the Brown's first touchdown of the game. That not only should have been a pick, it should have also gone for big return yardage. We have an angle problem in the secondary that needs to get squared away quickly

The Ugly

- Turnovers: In my mind we had 3 turnovers in the Browns territory yesterday. We had the interception, Earnest Graham's fumble and the turnover on downs at the end. We can't keep giving our opponent opportunities. Instead of handily winning the turnover battle it ended up being a push. Which is why Bucs fans still had to hold their breath at the end of the game. The interception is probably due to Freeman's thumb but the fumble was inexcusable. And Freeman had two guys wide, and I mean wide open to throw it to on the fourth and 1 at the end of the game. If the coaches call that play evidently they have confidence that Freeman can throw those completions if the outside linebacker doesn't bite on the run fake (which he didn't). Therefore Freeman is going to need to find that same level of confidence in himself. Those were passes little league quarterbacks could complete but he ate it in what looked like a lack of self confidence. Maybe he was worried about the thumb or something, I don't know. I do know that a play like that can come back to bite you in the ass. Fortunately for the Bucs it didn't yesterday.

Extras

- Josh Freeman definitely deserves an honorable mention. The guy fought through what I am sure was excruciating pain and threw two touchdowns to lead his team to victory. I couldn't find myself to say he had a good game though because....well he didn't. Along with the interception and the bad decision on fourth and one at the end, several balls sailed on him. Balls that were thrown to guys who were wide open, sometimes for big plays. I love his heart but there comes a time when playing does more to harm your team than help it. If Freeman's thumb hurts so bad that he's going to be as wild as he was yesterday the Bucs need to consider sitting him another week or two. I know he is the face of the franchise and yes I would agree he usually gives us the best chance to win.

But his backup, Josh Johnson, is no slappy. He showed during the preseason that he possesses the tools to move the team up and down the field. And maybe his healthy thumb gives him an equalizer with Freeman's injured thumb. It will still be Freeman's team, I'm pretty sure everybody knows that. But both for short term concerns (ie winning ball games) as well as long term concerns (How much permanent damage is really being done to Freeman's thumb?) they should at least consider making that move in my opinion.

- Our run defense was a little shaky in the first half but in the second half we tightened up tremendously

- Geno Hayes had a good game but he could have had a great game had he been on some details. I'll keep saying it until I'm blue in the face. This kid can be special if he just learns to do the little things. He already makes the big splash plays, when he learns to make the routine ones on a regular basis he is going to give offenses hell!

- I do not agree with not dressing Michael Bennett. The guy is in my opinion our second best pass rusher at defensive end and he's pretty good against the run as well. We got away with it yesterday but I don't think we will be so lucky dressing only 7 defensive linemen going forward. If Bennett needs to play special teams then dammit coach him up to play special teams but we need to be able to get after opposing quarterbacks on our home field.

- If you aren't excited about yesterday's win...if you are looking for reasons not to be happy about it...if you can't enjoy it for even a few moments...congratulations, you are offically a HATER!