The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

Normally I would go right into the categories of The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly but I wanted to start the post off this week with somewhat of a reality check. We have all heard about how young the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are compared to the rest of the NFL but sometimes that measurement can be deceiving. It could be that you have a team with veteran starters but a bunch of rookies and young guys as back ups to skew the average. Coming out of the preseason we pretty much knew for sure that the Bucs would have two rookie starters in Gerald McCoy at undertackle, and Mike Williams at receiver which in and of itself could make a coach nervous. But lets talk about the starters in the game on Sunday. In addition to McCoy, you had rookie Cody Grimm starting for the third time after Pro Bowl caliber free safety Tanard Jackson was suspended for the year. In addition you had E.J. Biggers, a second year player who didn't play a down last year, starting as the nickle back. They also had Kyle Moore another second year player starting at left end and second year player Roy Miller starting at nose tackle.

On the other side of the ball in addition to Mike Williams they had Arrelious Benn start for the first time opposite him at the other wide receiver spot. The slot receiver position was manned by second year player Sammie Stroughter. The Bucs also started rookies Ted Larsen at left guard and Erik Lorig at fullback. And of course while rookie running back LeGarrette Blount wasn't listed as the starter, he got the majority of the carries on Sunday as well. And even though he is playing far beyond his years so far we can't forget that Josh Freeman is still a second year player as well.

Even our punter is a rookie.

And that's not even talking about our backups.

Add that up and 12 out of the starting 22 players on offense and defense have less than a full two years in the NFL. And remember that two of those guys weren't even on our team until after the preseason ended.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is a BIG deal.

The fact that we are 4-2 right now says a lot not only about front office the past two years but also the coaching. Don't get me wrong, I have and will continue to be critical of some of the coaching decisions made in the first 6 games. After all there are always areas of improvement. But you HAVE to give credit where credit is due in this situation. Look around the NFL and you would be hard pressed to find another team starting that many guys with less than two years experience having success let alone only having two losses. Now the two losses were definitely ugly, there is no doubt about that. But the four wins were pretty awesome when you factor that in.

It remains to be seen how successful the Bucs will be with their remaining schedule but so far I would have to say they are out performing most people's expectations heading into the season.

Now on to my observations.

The Good

- Josh Freeman: You just can't say enough good things about the guy. He continues to be clutch in the fourth quarter of close games and he never seems to lose his confidence no matter what the conditions during the course of a game. He threw a couple of balls that were almost picked off but you didn't see him shy away from sticking the ball into tight spaces in big moments. His numbers didn't jump off the page this game but one thing did, this guy just knows how to win. No interceptions and some huge runs to pick up first downs win the protection broke down. Its pretty apparent at this point that Freeman is the franchise quarterback that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been looking for for a very long time.

- Ronde Barber: Ronde does so many things for the Bucs that its easy to over look him at times when he isn't getting picks. But he literally lined up as a linebacker several times in nickle on Sunday and he ended up with 7 tackles and 5 assists by my count. He also had a pressure coming in on Rams quarterback Sam Bradford on a blitz. Even as the elder statesman of the Bucs, Ronde continues to go out there and make plays all over the field every Sunday. And he was a big reason why we won the game.

- LeGarrette Blount: Blount had a very impressive debut as the featured running back for the Bucs. The fact that he gained 72 yards on just 11 carries is impressive, but even doubly so when you factor in the long runs he had that were called back due to penalties. And he even had a pretty good blitz pickup.

Now realistically the Rams were pretty basic on defense and the offensive line opened up huge holes that we hadn't seen in previous games so we can't assume that Blount will have the same kind of success the rest of the way. But if he can. If he can go out there and give us 70 or 80 or even 100+ yards the rest of the way our chances of winning will go up significantly.

- Stylez G. White: Coming off a Saints game where his improved pass rush was overlooked by the demoralizing lopsided loss, White continued to show improvement against the Rams. You can check out my critique of Stylez and all the other D Linemen in my Bull Rush column.

- Cadillac Williams: I know some fans are ready to discard Caddy in favor of Blount and it does look like Blount is going to be the man carrying the load for the foreseeable future. But its important to note Caddy's contribution to the win against the Rams. It wasn't just that he caught the game winning touchdown, but also he was the guy who made several catches right before half time that helped us move the ball down the field and get in position for a field goal which cut the lead to 17-6 at intermission. Because the game was decided on a single point his contributions on that drive are magnified. He ended up with 8 catches and I would say that's pretty damned good for a guy that most people said couldn't catch just a few years ago. He also had a key run for a first down on 3rd and 3 on the game winning touchdown drive to keep the drive alive.

I don't know what his role will be going forward but we aren't a better team with out him.

- Mike Williams: Williams continue to make the case for being the steal of the draft. With his 5 catches for 82 yards on Sunday he now has 28 catches for 365 yards and 3 touchdowns for the season so far. The Bucs aren't even half way through their schedule and he has almost as many catches and yards as our leading receiver last year. The play that he made on the catch at the end of the game moving the ball to just shy of the endzone showed off his impressive combination of speed, quickness and strength. He has seemed to have picked up a nasty fumbling habit which needs to get fixed ASAP but aside from that he has been everything the Bucs could have asked for and then some.

- Kellen Winslow: K2 had one of the biggest plays of the game with his catch for a conversion on 4th and 3 on the game winning drive. I know other tight ends get a lot more hype than Winslow but I can't think of another guy I would want on my team if we HAVE to have a first down.

- James Lee: I don't know how severe Jeremy Trueblood's injury was on Sunday but he might want to familiarize himself with the story of Wally Pipp. I have been shouting out Lee since the preseason because he is the perfect combination of athletic and mean in my opinion. He doesn't just try to block guys, he tries to dump them on their head! You saw it early on in the game when he came in to play tight end for a few plays. And you saw it after he came in for Trueblood at the end of the game. Lee did have that stupid penalty for jumping on the pile and that is simply unacceptable. But he moves people in the run game and he also shut Chris Long down on pass rush after he had given Trueblood fits for most of the game.

Now I don't really believe that the Bucs would replace Trueblood at the moment if he is ready to play. BUT if he can't go this week against Arizona and Lee ends up starting and turning in another strong performance the move could end up being a permanent one. Trueblood did have a stupid penalty of his on after all which negated a long run by Blount. And the truth of the matter is I'm not so sure that Lee isn't the better player hands down. Its a situation that is worth watching over the next few weeks. One thing is for sure, the Bucs now have to have some confidence in Lee that they may not have previously had.

- Connor Barth: After a rough day against the Saints Barth bounced back to go 4-4 on field goals including a 53 yarder as well as making all his extra points. Its easy to overlook how important he has been to the Bucs success but just look around the NFL at teams that lose because of poor kicking every week. Better yet just think back to last year before we had Barth and the Redskins game where with better kicking we had a legitimate chance to win. If he doesn't have any more blips like he had against the Saints Barth may well get a Pro Bowl nod at the end of the year or at least serious consideration.

The Bad

- Aqib Talib: Its not that Talib gave up a lot of passes to the guy he was covering and he didn't give up a bomb against the Rams like he did in previous weeks. But down at the goal line he had two separate opportunities for interceptions and dropped both of them. By no means were either one of them an easy play but for a guy with his talents he has to come up with at least one of them. Especially because the Rams went on to score touchdowns on both drives. To be considered one of the best cornerbacks in the game you have to make the most of every opportunity that comes your way. That is how Talib has to be judged at this point and he didn't get the job done in that regard on Sunday.

- Sean Jones: If you would have told me before the game that our starting Strong Safety would only have 1 tackle and 1 assist against the Rams and running back Steven Jackson I would have told you that you were nuts. But that's exactly what happened. I can't say that it all falls on Jones though because one thing that I've noticed about our defense is that they rarely line up our safties in the box when we want to have an 8 man front. Instead the safties usually roll into the box on the snap. I understand the need to disguise the coverages at times but I'm not a fan of doing it as much as the Bucs do it because I think it makes it harder for the safties to get their correct run fits on the run. But even having said that I just don't understand how Jones could be that invisible against a running back that went for over 100 yards on us.

Some how, some way that has to change right away.

- Michael Bennett: I have been a Bennett fan and I still am but he had a very forgettable game on Sunday. Again you can check out my Bull Rush column for the details but to put it short and sweet he needs to pick it up if he expects to continue getting playing time.

The Ugly

- Penalties: 12 penalties for 92 yards is unacceptable and losing football. The Bucs were able to over come them against the Rams but just barely. That can't happen against a better team or they will get embarrassed. As I pointed out they have a lot of young starters on the team but at this point there are no excuses. It hasn't been a problem for most of the year and hopefully this was just a one off.

- Fox's game production: I continue to be frustrated with whomever at Fox it is that believes fans want to see close ups of the quarterback or any other player before the snap at the expense of seeing the whole field before the play starts. You have to shift your focus from a helmet to all of this action happening at the same time and try to find the ball all in a blink of an eye. Its friggin horrible and I don't know of anybody who likes it. You don't see the same thing on CBS or NBC so I have to believe its a Fox production issue. I really wish they would cut it out though because it makes it a helluva lot harder to evaluate what happened on any given play.

In addition, can we get some better announcers please??? I almost want to poke myself in the ears listening to the games unless its the radio broadcast because the commentary is so boring AND wrong. For instance the announcers for our game at one point kept harping that we were "in an 8 man front" and therefore the Rams shouldn't have been able to run the ball on us. Well we WEREN'T in an 8 man front any of those times. We were either in nickle and Ronde was out of the box on the slot receiver, OR we had base in but there wasn't a safety rolled down.

I mean they are showing REPLAYS and STILL calling it an 8 man front when it obviously wasn't. And the effect is some fans who don't know any better take them at their word and start grumbling about teams running the ball against our 8 man fronts and it gets echoed all over the place until it becomes conventional wisdom when from the get go it was bullshit. And really and truly this isn't just a Fox issue, I have beef with a BUNCH of football announcers. But Fox most consistently brings the stupid in my opinion.


Extras

Between the Bull Rush column and then one I don't actually have any extras this week lol. I'll look for your remarks in the comments section.

Have a great one.

Bull Rush

4-2 and it feels so good!

First off, raise your hand if you thought the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would be 4-2 right now. And remember that I have some of you guys' predictions, lol.

I DID predict they would have won 4 games at this point in the season but I thought we would beat the Steelers here at home and probably lose to the Bengals on the road. But the truth is for all the predictions in the world, nothing really matters until the games are actually played. I'm just happy that the team lived up to my expectations and is showing the signs of turning things around from an abysmal year last year.

Now people will try to detract from all of the Bucs' wins, but I say let em. I can tell you one thing, some preseason darlings like the Cowboys and the Vikings would LOVE to have their record right now. And in the end, that's all that matters.

The game yesterday was pretty ugly in the first half but by holding the Rams to no points in the second half and coming back to win the game, the Bucs showed a maturity that was rare last year. They weren't perfect, but they were good enough win it counted and that's how they won the game.

One thing I want to point out is that they ran the Over Stick call that I drew up a couple of weeks ago at least four times yesterday. I am not in any way shape or form trying to take credit for that but the point is IT WORKED! It gave the Rams fits because they weren't used to our weakside in coming inside and it really messed with their blocking schemes. It appeared that Geno Hayes was going to blitz outside a couple of times too which made it even better. I'm hoping that it becomes a regular part of the call sheet.

Was it just me or did the Bucs keep Gerald McCoy out of the game longer than usual in the second quarter? The Rams were driving and I kept wondering "Where the HELL is McCoy?!"

Also last week the Saints really got after the defensive line with cut off blocks by the fullbacks and tight ends. As I predicted, because this is a copy cat league, the Rams tried to do a lot of the same. Thankfully the ends were a lot better on it this week. But on the other hand the Rams ran three or four bootlegs with some pretty good results and so I would expect that they will see a lot of those in the coming weeks as well.

One last thing, we didn't play one snap of 3-3-5 this game that I saw. I don't know if that was just because of something the Rams did or not but I do think we were better off for it. I wouldn't mind seeing it once or twice a game on 3rd down but we were running it entirely too much in my opinion.

The defensive line had a lot to do with the win as they were very productive and played pretty good ball through out. So without further delay here are my individual breakdowns.

Kyle Moore: I thought Moore played well coming off his shoulder injury. He had two tackles and a assist along with a fumble recovery by my count. He also had a good bullrush and showed really good hustle on one of those tackles. If I had a complaint its that he still isn't dominating the tight ends the way he could and should be. But one thing he did well was getting under the cut off blocks that were killing the defensive ends last week against the Saints. That made a big difference in our run fits.


Gerald McCoy: McCoy promised that we would see a different player on Sunday and I think he lived up to his words. He came out of the game with 2 tackles and 3 assists by my count. The most significant and noticeable change was how he got off the ball and up the field. The only problem was that he got reached a couple of times. But the reality is it was worth it to have him pushing the offensive line backward and making the running back have to cut deeper or bow his track a little. He still didn't notch his first sack but he did have a good rush on a rip and run. The more he continues to get off the ball and get up field like that the higher the more plays he will make and those sacks will surely come.

Roy Miller: Just as the team looked distinctly different from half to half yesterday, so did Miller. In the first half he was still getting pushed around a little too much. But in the second half he started really hunkering down and played a lot better. I had him with 3 assisted tackles and he showed good hustle all day. What he has to do now is learn to play the whole game the way he played the second half and the whole defense will benefit from it.

Stylez G. White: Lost in all the negative talk about the loss to the Saints last week was the fact that White really picked up his pass rush against them. He beat a guy clean coming around the horn and he also was a lot more physical and even, gasp, made some inside moves. Unfortunately Dree Brees was able to get the ball off but Sam Bradford wasn't so lucky. Stylez got his second sack of the year along with a caused fumble that set the offense up with a great opportunity for a score. The offense ended up coming away with only a field goal after a series of miscues, but in a game where the margin of victory was a single point, that play was HUGE!

And it wasn't just that one play. I had him with 2 other tackles, two more pressures, another hit on the quarterback and one other good rush where Bradford completed the pass. He had a great hump move right off the line of scrimmage and but for Bradford getting the ball off quickly would have had another sack. Mind you its not like he had a ton of opportunities as the Rams ran quite a few bootlegs and quick passes. If he continues to play at this level then those double digit sacks he (and I) predicted will become a reality.

Tim Crowder: Crowder had a really good all around game. He had 2 tackles and an assist by my count. He also had a pressure and two other good rushes where the pass was completed. Hidden in that is two hustle plays that he made. One that was huge was on the draw in the fourth quarter late in the game on 3rd and 11. He went up field and then turned and ran to the ball to stop Steven Jackson a couple of yards shy of the first down. That forced the punt that eventually led to the game tying score in the final seconds. If he doesn't make that tackle its highly likely that Jackson falls forward for the first down and perhaps seals the win for them. Its plays like those that don't have an asterisk beside them in the stat sheet but have a major effect on the game.

Ryan Sims: If they could keep Sims at nosetackle I think we would be much better off. He is a big guy who is strong and and hard to move and plays with pretty good leverage. He held the point well against double teams and also had some success against cut off blocks from a G technique. But he doesn't look good playing undertackle and that is just a fact. He got reached all the way to the opposite A gap on one play and that isn't easy to do.

I actually like Sims as a player and I love the effort he gives every Sunday, but I am hoping that the Bucs realize he is suited to nosetackle a lot more than undertackle and consider moving Roy to undertackle when McCoy needs a blow.

Michael Bennett: I have been high on Bennett since training camp but he had a bad game yesterday. He was basically the only end that still had some problems getting underneath the kick out blocks. He jumped offsides on a crucial 3rd and medium. He was soft a couple of times against the run and he also was on the ground. He did have a pretty good inside move at end versus play action pass but that was really the only pass rush he generated all game. On the bootlegs he got fooled bad at least once.

I'm not down on him after one bad game but he needs to pick his production up if he expects to continue getting opportunities.

Well that's all for now. Also its my birthday so my normal The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly post will have to wait till tomorrow. As always you can leave questions and add your two cents in the comments section. I'll be sure to try to get to them asap.

The Best I Ever Had

So I am on Hulu looking through their videos and it turns out that they have a section of NFL Films now. I ended up finding the Buccaneers 1999 season recap, my best season by far, and I figured I would share.

Enjoy.

Rush Limbaugh

I haven't said anything on this blog about Rush Limbaugh's attempt to buy the St. Louis Rams as part of an ownership group led by the owner of the NHL's St. Louis Blues. There were primarily two reasons for my silence. For one he had absolutely no shot at being approved as an owner and this was more than likely just a big publicity stunt. And for two I wanted to see just how far his supporters and apoloigists would go to try to defend him.

On the first reason I think its clear now that I was 100% right on this. Checketts wasted no time in dropping Limbaugh like a bad habit as soon as it was clear his membership in that ownership group would imperil their chances of buying the Rams. But Checketts isn't anybody's fool and neither is Limbaugh. Even football fans who have no interest in politics at all remember his racist and incendiary remarks made about the Philadelphia Eagles' quarterback Donvan McNabb just a few years ago. They knew good and hell well that just the kind of backlash that occurred would occur. But Limbaugh has shown time after time that he believes any press is good press for him. And Checketts has now set himself up as a "good guy" by jettisoning Limbaugh from the group.

It was all so very predictable and plenty of people called it before it ever went down. And now of course Limbaugh will once again position himself as an oppressed victim of the liberal media and his radio following will probably increase. Mission accomplished Rush.

Now on the second reason it has been very interesting watching Rush's apologists and supporters rally around him. If you noticed just about all of the criticism of Rush coming from the NFL player, former and current, focused on his plethora of racist, bigoted rhetoric over the years. But the right jumped in to claim that Rush was being slammed for his "political" free speech. See this was a very important moment in our recent history because essentially these folks were owning up to the fact that Rush uses race baiting and sexism to push his own twisted political agenda and evidently they don't have a problem with that.

You can go look at any article where someone is quote opposing Rush Limbaugh as an NFL owner. You won't see them speaking out against tax cuts. You won't see them speaking out against smaller government. You won't see them speaking out against gun rights. Time and time again the consensus centered around things Rush Limbaugh has said over the years to divide the country by race and or by sex. I know Limbaugh has tried to claim he has been smeared or taken out of context but if you want a quick overview of documented on air statements by him you can simply go here and check it out for yourself. But to claim that this is about him being a Republican or him being a Conservative is laughable on its face. And its also very interesting that the same people harping that Rush was being "persecuted" for exercising his first amendment right to free speech, don't get the irony of they themselves working furiously to silence his critics.

Now I am not going to get into a Democrat vs Republican or a Liberal vs Conservative conversation on this sports blog. But I will say that people on the right staking out racist and sexist rhetoric as political speech just to try to defend one of their ideological allies are doing their movement a disservice.

It is what it is.