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Tampa Bay Buccaneers Column
By:
Michelle Morant
2/2/09
A new “Child’s Play” in Tampa?
Well it has been a couple of weeks
since the shock of the Jon Gruden firing, which by the way, I
personally want to thank him for ruining my Friday night. I’ll
be honest – I’m sort of gonna miss Chucky – from the funny
facial expressions to the theatrics on the sideline. Coach
Gruden finished what coach Dungy started and I will forever be
grateful to him for our one and only Super Bowl. However, I
agree that a change needed to be made. The Bucs offensively were
stale and Coach Gruden has too big of an ego to change his
style. Now how the decision went down to remove Jon has been
the hot topic of Tampa. Word has it that the owners (the
Glazers) not only went to the players, but members of the
community to ask their opinions. Never knew what I had to say
would carry that amount of clout, but apparently the citizens of
Tampa and players were ready for a change. Its no surprise that
players and media members have either taken their shots or shown
support for Gruden. So far, the negative comments far outweigh
the positive ones.
Now enter in Raheem Morris, who is
younger than veteran Derrick Brooks and a year older than
myself. I’m not sure if this experiment is going to work.
Already he has been compared to Mike Tomlin. The Bucs players
also seem to have his back. I guess that is one thing he has
going for him because maybe the players will play hard for
him. I’ll admit I’ve only been a football fan since 1994 and
in all my years, I have never seen a press conference like his.
He openly admitted that he never had one of these before. Word
of advice to coach Morris…at least pretend like you’ve been
there before. A bit of good news, Jim Bates will now be the
defensive coordinator and now the news just came down that the
old BC coach Jagazinski has now been hired as the offensive
coordinator. I’m hoping that this is a good move.
So we go from the old star of Childs
Play to a new one. I’m not sure if we will be going through
this process again in a couple of years but I’m anxious to see
what Coach Morris can do. I’m not expecting too much next
season.
Nothing like having the Super Bowl
in Tampa and having the home team sit and watch….
12/24/08
All I want for Christmas is a
playoff berth….
Well, week 15 has been nothing short
of strange at One Buc Place. Actually, we can even go back to
week 13 to when the wheels started to come off during the Monday
night game at Carolina. We give up nearly 300 yards rushing to
a Carolina team to a pair of rushers who (geez, I can’t remember
their names) and the defense had only allowed just one 100 yard
rusher all season. It was actually a tight game for a minute.
Too bad for the Bucs, they play four quarters instead of three.
We had a must win game at Atlanta.
All week we heard starting QB Jeff Garcia was limited in
practice. Backup QB Luke McCown got the “majority of snaps” in
the event that he would play in case Jeff couldn’t go. Game day
arrives and sure enough, Jeff is out. In comes McCown right??
Wrong! In goes Brian Griese, who had not even practiced all
week, however, according to Gruden, they went with him because
he played the Falcons before and had veteran experience. Griese
is still coming off an injury and it was apparently clear he was
still hurt because he under threw too many passes. Oh yeah and
the penalties. Lawd!!! At least the defense did a better job
but the lack of offensive production and penalties did cost the
Bucs this game. Still in control of our own destiny and all we
have to do is beat a 6-8 San Diego team.
Well now strolls in San Diego, which
strangely had something to play for being in the horrific AFC
west. Again another defensive meltdown making Phillip Rivers
look damn near like Joe Montana. This was the first loss at
home and unfortunately, it could not have come at a worse time.
Many are saying that this team
changed ever since Monte Kiffin made an official that he was
leaving at the end of the season to coach with his son, Lane at
Tennessee. I would have liked to think that (the defensive
players) are professionals and would not lay down so to speak in
a crucial stretch run. Now our playoff fate lies in the hands
of the Philadelphia Eagles which must beat Dallas in order for
us to go to the playoffs. But oh wait – we have to beat Oakland
first!!!! Ordinarily I thought this was an automatic win but the
way the Bucs have been playing, I don’t know.
11/15/08
Well it’s a little after the halfway
point of the NFL season and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sit at 6-3 tied
for second in the NFC south with Atlanta. They’re coming off their
bye week, in which head coach John Gruden gave the team the entire
week off. Not sure why. It’s been an interesting two weeks down
at One Buc Place, from the movement of player personnel to coach
Gruden giving the obligatory response of “No I’m not interested in
the University of Tennessee job”. I thought I would drop in my
thoughts about the Bucs so far and preview the next game.
Midseason analysis -
Quarterback – So far the Jeff
Garcia/Brian Griese experiment hasn’t exactly killed the Bucs since
they do have a winning record. The worse thing that has happened to
Griese is that he got injured and now won’t be getting back on the
field since Jeff is back in coach Gruden’s good graces. The knock
on Brian was that he was turnover prone. Had it not been for the
defense and the tremendous play of WR Antonio Bryant, the Bucs would
not be sitting where they are.
Wide Receivers – Joey Galloway,
who is about 104 years old, goes down with an injury at the
beginning of the season causing the receiving corps to be in
disarray. Antonio Bryant has been a surprise this season, but they
need another big play receiver that can stretch the field. I mean
let’s face it, Galloway is injury prone and Ike Hilliard ain’t
getting any younger. The 2009 draft, WR needs to be the focus. Yes,
Texas Tech’s Michael Crabtree would be on my wish list, but looks
like he’ll go in the top five, unless the Bucs can swing a trade.
Offensive line – Now when guard
Davin Joseph went down with an injury at the beginning of the
season, I was a little concerned on how this group would perform.
The OL has been solid this year. Center Jeff Faine could get to the
pro bowl this year with his play thus far. OT Donald Penn, since he
stepped in when last season Luke Pettigue went down with an injury,
has been solid as well. Also OL Rookie Jeremy Zuttah from Rutgers
is also making a tremendous impact for a third round choice.
Running Backs – As much as I love
and respect Warrick Dunn as a player and as a person, this free
agent signing really concerned me this past off season. I wondered
how he would mesh with Earnest Graham, who had been the Bucs
featured back. And now to make matters a bit more interesting, last
Wednesday, the Bucs activated Carnell “Cadillac” Williams and
released RB Michael Bennett. Word in Tampa as to why Bennett wasn’t
getting a lot of touches was that he wasn’t getting Gruden’s
offense. Now I can’t fault Bennett with that because even students
at MIT could struggle with Gruden’s offense. I guess that could be
another reason why Gruden won’t go to Rocky Top. Now the quandary
becomes, how will Caddy fit with these other backs? Is he even
ready to come back? Who’s gonna get less touches? There is talk
about having him run a “wildcat” like offense, a la Miami. In any
event, the Bucs need to be careful here. Certainly he will play
this weekend because you don’t just release a player (and a decent
one) and have the activated player sit.
Defensive line – It has been no
secret that this group has been getting older with the veterans like
Derrick Brooks and Ronde Barber. The jury is still out on 2007
first round draft choice Gaines Adams, although he has been steadily
improving. With Adrian Peterson still on the draft board, this pick
almost looked like a “bust” last year, but give it to Gaines for
improving his pass rush ability as he does lead the team with 4
sacks. Also LB Barrett Rudd has been a beast so far with his play
this year. The defense overall ranks 7th in the NFL,
however, it ranks 24th in QB sacks, something that this
defense is not particularly proud of.
Special Teams – Kicker Matt
Bryant is probably the MVP right now from what he has gone through
personally and coming back and kicking some game winning field
goals. I would hate to think where the Bucs would be without this
guy.
Biggest surprise – It’s hands
down Antonio Bryant, who on March 10, 2008 was signed for the league
minimum, and has made Bucs GM Bruce Allen look like a genius. For
$650,000, Bryant has accounted for 45 catches for 566 yards, putting
him way ahead of the other big WR free agents that signed big money
contracts this off season like a Javon Walker and Jerry Porter.
Biggest Disappointment – Dexter
Jackson was a second round draft choice in 08 from Appalachian State
(yes, that Appalachian State). He is not the impact player
that the Bucs had hoped for and for the past two games, Clifton
Smith has been the return specialist and Jackson has not even seen
the field. For someone with a lot of expectations coming in,
Jackson had better step it up in practice or he may be looking for
another team soon.
Week 11 match-up:
I look at this match-up with the Vikings
as a critical swing game for the Bucs. I got a chuckle when I
learned Gus Frerrotte was still in the league. On paper, they
should win, but the same could have been said against Denver and a
Romo-less Cowboy team. But the Vikings are pretty much one
dimensional and the Bucs have a strong run defense, only allowing
only one 100 yard rusher. This game is crucial, and hopefully
coming off a bye, the Bucs should be ready. Let’s hope they had a
productive bye week healing injuries and looking at film instead of
hanging out in Cabo with Jessica Simpson.
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