The Good
- The Defense: Two turnovers, six sacks, hold the 10th leading rusher to less than 25 yards and a shut out on the road. That's what you call an ass whupping!
- LeGarrette Blount: 26 rushes for 82 yards and two more highlight reel runs. If he can just fix that fumbling problem he is going to be a monster.
- Cadillac Williams: He didn't start and only got 7 carries but he gained 51 yards and scored a touchdown. People who think Caddy is washed up are sadly mistaken.
- Donald Penn: He kept Josh Freeman clean for most of the day and he caught a touchdown. Nuff said!
The Bad
- Fake punt: Don't mind the idea but the execution was horrible. I don't think that play had a chance in Hell of working.
The Ugly
- Fox's closeups: I'll keep complaining about this until it changes. I don't want to see a closeup of the quarterback or whichever player the announcers feel like talking about before the snap. I DO want to see the whole got damn play from the wide angle well before the snap. I can't understand who Fox is trying to appeal to with that bullshit.
Extras
- About that run defense: Not sure what it was about their offense that gave it away but it appeared the Bucs had a really good handle on when they would be running or passing. And because of that you saw a LOT more 8 man fronts with one of the safeties either walked down in the box presnap or coming down from a cover 2 look at the snap. Cody Grim obviously had a big day with by my count 6 tackles and 2 assists but everyone seemed to be a lot better with their gap discipline from the front four to the back line. That's why there weren't many places for Frank Gore to find to run. Its also possible that the Bucs just didn't fear the 49ers downfield passing game and so they felt more comfortable with a rolled up safety on most early downs.
The only problem of course is that every team won't be as easy to read and so it may be hard to duplicate that success when they aren't able to play as much 8 man front. But hey, I'll take it especially in a win.
- Mike Williams' arrest: I made a decision not to blog about the arrest or the Bucs' decision to play Williams until after more information came out. I know personally that the area he was pulled over in is an area where you can get pulled over for DWB. I have been pulled over at least 3 times but thankfully never charged with anything. And it turns out that all of the most recent information is pointing to Williams not being over the legal limit for alcohol and not having been on any other illicit drugs. So it appears he was only guilty of speeding late at night, hardly worth a full blog post.
- James Lee/Jeremy Trueblood: When Trueblood went down I said that he might end up getting Wally Pipped. Well he was healthy and dressed for the game on Sunday but Lee started and played every snap. Now the Bucs' twitter feed says that they will decide who starts based on who practices better during the week. From my experience there aren't enough reps to go around at practice during a game week for one guy to beat another guy out unless one of them falls completely on their face. So who does a tie go to? Worth watching...
- Ted Larsen: Did Larsen get hurt during the game? I missed it if he did but I noticed that Jerremy Zuttah played the end of the first half and all of the second half. What's up with that?
- Don't forget to check out my Bull Rush post to find out how the Bucs got all of those sacks.
Also, Zuttah came off the field in the 4th quarter (right after the Bucs had to use a timeout, deep in their own territory) and he was irate. Morris tried to calm him by patting him on the shoulder but Zuttah didn't want any part of it. He took and helmet off and was pissed off about something. Then he went back in on the next play after the timeout. Anybody know what he was upset about?
ReplyDeleteDWB? Amazing how we still haven't learned our lesson. And by "we" I mean humanity. There are parts of Vegas where that goes on. A friend of mine (he's white) is married to a black girl and she's the one who gets pulled over when she is in a certain part of town. But not him.
What happened this game Steve? How did we go from such poor D-line play to dominant in ONE game? If I had to guess I would say they have a laminated copy of every one of your Bull Rush columns in the D-line room every Monday!! lol. Way to go Steve. At least we know now that we CAN stop the run. There are no excuses any more and it should be expected. I was reading a review of the Ravens v. Panthers game and the Ravens didnt do as well as their score indicates which makes me believe that we have a chance this Sunday. What are your thoughts on the Ravens and the 3-4 defense as a whole? Go Bucs!
ReplyDeleteI think we all know WHY Mike Williams was pulled over. Had it been a white man, or a non Tampa Buc, he would have been let go the minute he blew under the legal limit. Looks to me like some Cowboy Cop wanted to make a permanent name for himself by arresting a Tampa Football Player ?
ReplyDeleteI have a lot of friends out of state who have long had a dim view of the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Department. My friends know the HCSO as out of control police who throw crippled people out of wheelchairs, and illegally wiretap the home of a couple who had their baby stolen. Next, they arrest a black Tampa Football Player for simple possession of a little weed, and make a sales case out of it.
Then they arrest Mike Williams, also a black man, even after he was under the legal limit!
I had a friend up in Tennessee call me, to ask WTF was up with the Police in Tampa arresting so many black Tampa Bay Buccaneers , especially after it was the Community Investment Tax passed to keep the Bucs here that built them their over sized jail!
Hey steve any reaction to Ryan sims getting cut???
ReplyDelete-ANT
Steve, do you think the Bucs will bring in another DL to replace Sims? I think I remember you saying in an early season blog that we didn't have enough D-linemen.
ReplyDeleteFrom the soapbox, a different topic: I can't help but add my two cents on the biggest non-story of the year. The entire episode serves to show that some practices die harder than others. I am not only talking about the cops here (that's been said), but also the media frenzy; it was excessive, and reminded me of sharks circling a bleeding seal. This time though, there was no blood, and without blood, there is no story, a sad truth that was probably disappointing to many in the national media just dying to say I told you so. For me the best part of this sad interlude to a great Buc season was Williams’ reaction to the harassment - on point by dealing with it directly, and classy by man-ing up and taking responsibility.
On the Ryan Sims release, Im actually a lot more curious aboit this than most of the local media. Yes Al Woods has played surprisingly well but he gor pancaked a couple of ti,es Sunday. Besides that the team is getting healthy right now so there are no obvious needs. Add to that the fact that as a vested vet Sims gets the rest of his salary so there is no money savings and this becomes a head scratcher. Some said it was to open a space to bring in recently cut Jarvis Moss but he just signed with the Raiders. So now Im watching ro see who we sign before I make a post out of it. There may be something more here though.
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff Steve .. When Cody Grimm comes up in the box is he playing SS or FS ??
ReplyDeleteAlso FOx is awful
Also .. I view SS as a need for the Bucs
ReplyDeleteDo you believe Cody Grimm would be as effective at SS ??
Fact is Tanard Jackson will be back and the Bucs will atleast play him while they have him .. But Im not sure if TJack can attend Training camp like Ben Roethlisberger did .. That is a big deal
Steve,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy this blog. Your technical analysis of the defensive line is the best I've seen. I never played organized football at a high level but I watch a lot and enjoy learning about the game. This blog goes beyond the "he just wins" and "he just wants it more" nonsense that populates sports analysis today. Keep up the good work.