What Game Was Pat Yasinskas Watching?

Ward going nowhere?

Below are quotes from Pat Yasinskas

• I know the playbook is a lot more sophisticated with offensive coordinator Greg Olson. But there was one moment when I had to laugh out loud as the Bucs ran a play that reminded me of the mid-1990s. Derrick Ward took a handoff and ran straight into fullback Chris Pressley’s back. It was just a one-time thing. But there was a time back in the dreary old days when Errict Rhett taking a handoff, running into Mike Alstott’s back and plowing for a yard or two was Tampa Bay’s signature play.
• Speaking of Ward, who’s fighting to earn more carries, he looked good at times. He even was having a nice run on a third-down draw play, until he fumbled. Turning the ball over probably will wipe out the rest of the good stuff he did Saturday. The Bucs aren’t going to be a team with a big margin for error, so they’re not going to give a lot of carries to a guy who puts the ball on the ground.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcsouth/post/_/id/11903/observations-on-the-buccaneers-2

I'm not going to sit here and bash Pat Yasinskas, because he is the Professional. He is the one who gets paid to write and give his sports opinion, and in the grand scheme of things I am nobody. However I have to ask, what game were you watching Pat? Derrick Ward looked terrible. Terrible the entire time, not "good at times" as you stated. The field conditions sucked but that can not and should not be used as an excuse. Caddy and Kareem Huggins both ran on the same surface and performed leaps and bounds better than Ward. Sure you could also argue that Huggins was playing against lesser competition later in the game. I will counter that it didn't matter what Huggins was up against, as Kareem looked fluid with a nice burst of speed. He hit the holes with authority and was able to cut nicely on a ghastly playing surface. Ward looked slow, tentative to hit the hole and almost confused as to where he should be running.

So I now ask, how does Ward's horrible running Saturday night become Olson's fault? It's not like the Buccs had a different Offensive Coordinator calling the plays when Caddy and Huggins were on the field. How is it Olson's fault that Ward flat out ran badly? With every article about the Buccaneers that you write, there can always be found at least 1 pot-shot taken at the team. I too remember Rhett running into the backs of O-linemen and fullbacks. I also remember Mike Pittman doing the same thing under the direction of Jon Gruden. That was weak Pat, very weak.

Go Buccs!!!
ABuccsFan/JJC