The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

The Good:

- Quincy Black: One of the few bright spots on defense Black had two tackles and three assists with an interception.

- LeGarrette Blount: I have to admit I really didn't think Blount would be ready to contribute after just two weeks of being with the team. But he looked really good running the ball for us yesterday. He ran hard to daylight and he wouldn't be denied on the goalline. I would definitely like to see more of him with the ball in his hands.

-Josh Johnson: I know it was during garbage time but JJ looked really good coming in and leading the team down the field for a touchdown. Six for six for 67 yards and one carry for 7 yards, it doesn't get much better than that.

- Connor Barth: Ask the Saints how important a good field goal kicker is. We are lucky to have that guy.

The Bad:

- Run Defense: We gave up over 200 yards rushing including a 26 yard run to the "elderly" Charlie Batch. While we weren't physically overmatched per se, we were undisciplined on our gap assignments on some breakout runs. I don't personally believe that we did enough to help ourselves on first down ie with blitzes against a running team like the Steelers but that's just my opinion.

- Turnovers: The Mike Williams fumble as well as the wide receiever screen pass to Sammie Stroughter that turned into a pick six were down right disastrous. The one thing that the Bucs could not afford to do was turn the ball over to that nasty Steelers defense. You have to wonder what would have happened but for those two some what fluke plays. Unfortunately there are no do overs in the NFL so we will never know.

- Offensive Line: In particular Donald Penn had a terrible game. He gave up two sacks,he had a holding penalty and he got a dumb 15 yard penalty near the end of the game. The rest of the offensive lineman didn't fare much better. The two bad snaps by Faine were direct results of the Steelers' nosetackle Casey Hampton giving him the business. Then Caddy had two of his better runs called back for a hold on Davin Joseph and a call on Jeremy Trueblood for lining up too far off the line of scrimmage. The offensive line gave up 4 sacks yesterday and that is simply unacceptable.

- Offensive game plan: The Bucs were in the shotgun wayyy too much yesterday and I believe we didn't run the ball nearly enough. I know that the were down early, but I still felt like we could have and should have continued to pound the rock until it cracked. I know we had a few penalties but to me a commitment to running the ball means running on first AND second down more often than not during a game. It also means going from under center most of the game so the defense can't be sure what you're going to do. It also allows the quarterback to see the coverage as it changes. Not only that it opens up play action because it allows the quarterback to fake the run in a way that might actually get the secondary to react or at least hesitate. If we are really going to have a tough, violent offense I would really like to see it rather than just hearing about it constantly.

- Chris Bryan: You know..the punter! I had no idea what our punter's name was yesterday but I was still MFing him all afternoon long. His efforts yesterday were pathetic. I swear one of his punts had to be no more than 20 yards. And make it so bad we were at or across teh 50 yardline when he uncorks this foul tip that doesn't come close to pinning them back close to their own goal line. After cutting our 6th round pick after the preseason only to sign another rookie I had a feeling it would come back to haunt us. Now we just have to hope that this guy Bryan gets better or its back to the drawing board. And thanks to commenter Bill for reminding me of his suckitude!

The Ugly:

- Its 4th and 3 and we are down 38-6 in the second half and we decide to....punt? WTF?!

- Its 3rd and 3, 23 seconds left in the half, we are on defense and the Steelers are at our 9 yard line. We go.....3 man rush with a spy? And Charlie Batch promptly throws a TD after making a sandwich, having a beer and playing a game of Madden whilst sitting in the pocket with no rush to speak of threatening him.

- I have to say that as an ex Buccaneers player it made me sick to my stomach to see the stadium that full of Steelers fans. It was straight up disgraceful and I'm as understanding as anybody. I can't even imagine how the players had to see looking up into the stands and having it look like an away game. We all have to find a way to do better to support our team.

Extras:

- There were a lot of people who had mixed games. They made good plays but then not so good plays as well. That is why there aren't more people in any of the categories.

- Cody Grimm kind of fits that description. Obviously he got burned on the early touchdown and that was really ugly. But he also had seven tackles and assist by my count including a tackle for loss and a big time stop on fourth down. But he also had a couple of missed tackles and one play where I believe he made the wrong fit in the run game and allowed a big run by Rashard Mendenhall.

- Aqib Talib is another guy who made a big play with an interception but also allowed a potential pick go off his hands into the Steelers' Mike Wallace's hands for a TD.

- I think the coaches need to stop moving Gerald McCoy around until he feels more comfortable and looks more dominant at undertackle. I also think there is no excuse for not having Brian Price on the field on third downs to rush the passer inside instead of Kyle Moore. You can read all about that and more about the defensive line in my "Bull Rush" column.

- Cadillac Williams has to be the most snake bitten running back in the NFL. Every time he has a break out run its called back. He had at least 19 yards taken off the board yesterday off of penalties. I don't know what you can do about that but I imagine it has to be very frustrating, especially with everybody now crowning Blount the starter as if he had a 200 yard day with 3 touchdowns or something.

- I really hope we either move Ronde to free safety or use our extra roster spot to go out and sign a veteran at the position. Cody Grimm gives his allbut he simply isn't ready to be a starter in the NFL atthat position yet and real soon we are going to play some teams that are a lot better at throwing the ball than Pittsburgh.