West Coast Woes

What is it with the Buccaneers futility on the West Coast? Is it the long plane ride? The time zone change? The Pacific Ocean air? Who the hell knows? Hopefully the Buccaneers know, or at least figured out some small piece of this mystery. For the first time the team left Tampa two days before the game in an attempt to acclimate themselves to their surroundings. Will it help? Who knows, but it certainly can't hurt. Seattle, San Diego, Oakland, San Fransisco......the city doesn't matter. Even the quality of the team doesn't matter. In the midst of the Buccs last Championship season, 2005, the Buccs lost to a bad 49er team.

What do these things have in common?
George Bush's Presidency
World Trade Center Bombings
HDTV
Playstation 2
2 Olympic games
Hybrid cars
Iraq War
Houston Texans
Turn of the milenium

All those things listed above took place after the Buccs last won a game on the west coast. That's right, the last time the Buccs won a game out there, was against Seattle in 1999. You remember that game? That was the last time Trent Dilfer ever threw a pass for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was also the first game of Shaun King's short uneventful career. Since kick off of that game, Tampa has had 9 QB's take a snap in a regular season game. There are kids in second grade now that weren't even born yet last time the Buccs claimed victory on the left side of the map. Let's hope the Buccs can get past this hurdle and start a winning tradition west of the Rockies starting this Sunday.
...JJC/ABuccsFan

The Good, The Bad & The Masterful! Saints

The Good

Luke McCown - There is a glimmer of hope to the future of the Buccaneer Quarterback position after all. This situation has a long way to go before it is played out to it's fullest extent, but not too long ago many Buccs fans were hoping we'd address the future at QB through the upcoming '08 draft. Sunday Luke McCown gave us reason to be optimistic the the future is already in Pewter and Red. Luke played superbly in his 5th career start. He made some mistakes that can be expected of an inexperienced QB. The key now is to learn and correct those mistakes. The most exciting aspects of Luke performance for me were his arm strength and accuracy. It's hard to believe a kid of his slight stature could put such zip on the ball. McCown dissected the Saints defense at one point with 15 straight completions, and finishing the game 29 of 37 (78%) for 313 yards and 2 TD's.

Ernest Graham - OK, it's getting very repetitive talking about how great Graham has been filling in for the injured Carnell "The Tricycle" Williams, and Mike Pittman. But yet again Ernest helped guide the Buccs to an important win with his legs racking up 106 yards on 22 carries and a 25 yard TD jaunt. EG also tied for the team lead with 7 receptions for 37 yards. His contribution is immeasurable, and has to be the front runner for the team's MVP.

Gaines Adams - Gaines showed Sunday that his early progress in the NFL is on the rise. His improvement from week to week has been very noticeable. I think Adams had his best game as a pro, and made a significant play to help the Buccs' outcome Sunday a favorable one. In addition to Gaines 4 tackles and 1 sack, he pressured Brees all day and got heavy penetration into the backfield. The biggest play of his young career came with 3:36 left in the game, and the ball on the Saints 49 yard line. Payton called a double reverse that should have featured Bush handing the ball off to Deverey Henderson. Gaines exploded off the LOS at the snap of the ball, and quickly got 6 yards deep in the backfield. The Saints LT had no choice but to go with Gaines, as he had the LT beat around the corner. Gaines' penetration forced a total disruption of the play, and got in the way of a possible hand off exchange of the ball. Bush's jerking body movements suggests to me that he panicked and had no idea what to do, not expecting Adams to be standing there in his way. With his view of Henderson now shield by 2 large linemen, in a last ditch effort he tried to toss the ball with his right hand to Deverey who was running by him on the left. The result, a widely inaccurate toss that resulted in a live ball rolling around on the ground and recovered by Tampa Bay.

Joey Galloway - Joey Galloway tore the Saints secondary a new one again Sunday. Joey torched the Saints in their week 2 match-up, and followed that up with 6 receptions for 148 yards in the 1st half alone. He added another catch in the second half for an additional 11 yards. Joey didn't see the endzone, but his play in the first half opened up the defense and allowed Graham to run all over them. He showed again Sunday why some call him the ageless wonder. Leaving guys just over half his age in the dust has been his trademark this season. Defenders line up across from him on the LOS, they notice the gray whiskers in his beard....then he disappears.

The Bad

Greg White - Greg White has been a pleasant surprise this season. With that being said, Greg has showcased to the world what is is capable of at the NFL level now that he has been given the chance. We now have a benchmark to measure what we expect of Greg White, and when he is held off the stat sheet with 0 tackles, 0 assists, 0 sacks....that will earn him a spot on the bad list. Every player has an off day once in a while, and I fully expect White to atone for the game with a good performance next week.

Barrett Ruud - How does the MLB of the Tampa 2 defense record 1 tackle? That's all I have to say about that.

Phillip Buchanon - P-Buc got beat on 2 plays in a row, the first being a deep bomb from Brees to Colston. P-Buc was in good position and had MC covered closely, but he never turned his head to look at the ball, and that allowed Colston to reach over and snag the ball for a huge gain of 40 yards. On the very next play, Terrence Copper got the outside edge and Brees looped the ball right over P-Buc and into the waiting hands of Copper for the Saints first TD of the game. Those were 2 very good plays executed by the Saints. When you couple those 2 plays with the complete and utter gaff on a failed punt return, I had to add Phillip to the bad list. Mr. Buchanon...when you let a punt drop.....GET THE HELL AWAY FROM THE BALL!!!!!! The Saints coverage team wisely tried to push Buchanon into the loose ball, which would have made it a live ball. It was close, very close. A Saint defender picked up the ball and ran it into the endzone. Lucky for us, and P-Buc, the ref had a good look at the play and new it was a dead ball. But why even give the Ref a chance to make a mistake? Again Mr. Buchanon...when you let a punt drop....GET THE HELL AWAY FROM THE BALL!!!!

The Masterful

Jon Gruden - Jon called a hell of a game Sunday. The best call he made was declaring Luke McCown the starter over Bruce Gradkowski. He opened up the playbook, and confused the Saints defense. He mixed and matched runs and passes with great wizardry keeping the Saints defense on their heels. He made a gutsy, ballsy 4th down call that helped seal the deal. That one play call was a glaring example of how far our Offensive line has come, and just how much confidence Gruden has in his young line. Pulling Sears behind Joseph and T-Blood has become Jon's security blanket, and it has worked when he has needed it to. This game was the best showing of Gruden's playbook I have seen. Jon has worked with quarterbacks Brad Johnson, Rob Johnson, Shaun King, Chris Simms, Brian Griese, Bruce Gradkowski, Tim Rattay and Jeff Garcia over his tenure in Tampa. Why he chose Luke McCown and yesterday, to finally showcase the plays he designs while hiding in the darkness of his cave like office, we may never know. But it was very refreshing to finally watch a Buccaneer offense move down the field at will. We have been teased Jon, and we expect another display against the Texans.
...JJC/ABuccsFan

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly! Redskins

The Good

Ronde Barber - It was a vicious defense that led the Buccaneers to victory Sunday, and there is no better Buccaneer to start off with than Ronde Barber. Ronde had a great game and set a franchise record with his 32nd interception surpassing former Bucc and NY Jet Donnie Abraham. Barber added 4 tackles and 3 passes defended to his stat sheet to top off a day he will remember forever. A day Buccaneer fans will remember forever. Thank you Ronde for all you have given us over the years, and congratulations on becoming the biggest thief this franchise has ever had at Cornerback.

Derrick Brooks - Brooks looked ten years younger flying around the field yesterday making plays from sideline to sideline. Derrick notched a team leading 12 takedowns en route to the defense's best performance of the season. Brooks' best play of the game came as the third quarter was winding down. With 2:10 on the clock and the Skins facing a 4th and 1 on the Buccaneer 4 yard line, Clinton Portis' number was called to pick up 1 measly yard. Derrick Brooks shed a block and met Portis at the line of scrimmage and dropped him right there for no gain. It was the type of play we had seen a hundred times before by Derrick, but the type of play he hadn't been making recently. In my humble opinion, that was the play that saved the game.

Greg White - WOW! That's pretty much what comes to mind when I hear the name Greg White. Talk about undiscovered talent. Sunday Greg displayed yet again his non-stop motor while harassing Campbell. The guy never quits on a play, he's a smart heady player who sniffs out screens like a hound dog. He notched four tackles, 2 forced fumbles, 1 sack to elevate his team leading total to 5.5. Thank you to the Orlando Predators' scouting department who discovered White while shopping for a PS3 at Best Buy last Christmas.

****Honorable Mention - BJ Askew. Tanard Jackson, Jermaine Phillips, Phillip Buchanon.

The Bad

Bruce Gradkowski - Bruce displayed yet again his uncanny knack for missing wide open receivers while replacing injured Jeff Garcia. Every week Buccs fans sit at the dinner table and say Grace before their meal. I know personally when my children are finished saying grace, and I complete the sign of the cross I request, "GOD please keep Jeff Garcia healthy." Well they say you don't always get what you wish for. Bruce has enough experience under his belt now that his putrid display yesterday is totally unacceptable. I read one fan's comment about Grads not turning the ball over. His passes are so far off their mark, even the defending team can't catch his errant throws. The future is not Bruce Gradkowski, and I hope Jon Gruden realizes that.

Anthony Becht - You might ask yourself how a player involved in just one play can be considered to have had a bad game. I have grown tiresome of watching passes bounce off Tony's hands. When you have a QB like Gradkowski, it's very rare that you'll get a pass to hit you square in the numbers, and when you do you best be catching it. Becht is one of the best blocking TE's in the NFL, but that's just not enough for a former 1st round pick. Being picked that high means you better be a prolific pass catcher, and Tony just isn't that.

John Wade - The entire offensive line played well as a unit, but Wade once again was being man handled. It wasn't as glaring in the first part of the game, before Washington adjusted to take away the run and dared Bruce to pass. When Wade was getting help from the Guards, Graham was ripping off huge chunks of yardage. When the Skins brought up 9 guys within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage to shut down the run and Wade couldn't receive help from Joseph and Sears, he was getting blown off the ball. Our O-line is light years ahead of past O-lines, but Wade is still a big weakness physically.

The Ugly

Jon Gruden's Offense - Since Gruden has gotten to Tampa his offense has struggled. The young coach had been labeled an offensive genius before his arrival to Tampa. Except for a short run at the end of 2002, the offense has been dismal. Johnson, Griese, Simms and Gradkowski have all failed to run Jon Gruden's offense to his or our liking. During Sunday's game, the offense did not earn one first down the entire 2nd half. Why does it seem only Garcia and Gannon can succeed in this offense? Why can AJ Feeley step in for McNabb and lead them to a division championship? Why can Quinn Gray step in and go 2-1 and beat our Buccs? Why can the perennial loser Cleveland Browns challenge for a division championship with their back-up QB? Trent Green was the starter in St. Louis not Kurt Warner. If only one certain type of QB can succeed in Gruden's offense, how long will it be until we find a Gannon/Garcia clone? Will we have to wait and suck until we find the next one?

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly! Falcons

***As in the past, sometimes the outcome of the game, and the performances on the field don't allow me to follow the traditional format of TGB&U

The Great

Ernest Graham - Graham has been a huge surprise since Carnell and Pittman went out of the lineup due to injury. Formerly nicknamed Mr. August because of his good performances against 3rd string defenses in pre season games, Graham has graduated to Mr. Graham. Mr. Graham may not have received the respect he deserved from fans in the past, but he's certainly getting the respect he deserves from his opponents as he runs over and around them. Graham gashed the Falcons defense for 102 yards and a TD on 17 carries at 6 yards per carry. With a full workload, Graham could have easily eclipsed the 150 yard mark. Enough can't be said about the job Ernest Graham has done as the starting tailback.

Greg White - Sometimes a player falls through the cracks. Terrell Davis was a 6th round pick. Tom Brady was a 5th round pick. Kurt Warner went from AFL QB/grocery store stock boy to SuperBowl MVP. No one knows what the future holds for DE Greg White, but no one can dispute the fact that he belongs in the NFL. White put in another blue collar effort Sunday harassing Byron Leftwich all day long. If he wasn't sacking the QB, he was in his face and disrupting his timing. White racked up 2 solo tackles, 2 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. The former Orlando Predator has found a home in the NFL.

The Good

Cato June - Happy birthday Cato. Thanks for giving us Buccs fans a birthday present on your birthday. June put a nice red bow on his performance Sunday flying around the field wreaking havoc, and hitting anything within reach. June amassed 9 team leading solo tackles, and a forced fumble. June has been a great addition to our defense, and it's hard to believe June hung around on the free agent market as long as he did.

Gaines Adams - Adams is progressing nicely evidenced by his latest performance. After starting out extremely slow, Gaines had some detractors wanting to pin the "bust" label on him already. Adams had flashes two weeks ago before the bye week against the Cardinals, and he followed that up Sunday nicely. While his totals were modest at 2 solo tackles and 1 sack, it was his effort that was impressive. Gaines was all over the field and showed nice pursuit to the opposite field. When he wasn't sacking the QB, he was in his face like his fellow DE White. Adams just needs to build off of each start, put in quality effort from week to week, and he'll have a nice career in Tampa.
***EDIT:11/21/07 "That strange bit of news arrived at One Buccaneer Place on Wednesday, courtesy of a statistical review of the game by the Elias Sports Bureau, the official stat compilers for the NFL. As it turns out, a play that was originally interpreted as an interception has now been ruled a fumble recovery, and the result is an additional sack for Adams."

Ronde Barber - Ronde had a nice day Sunday finding the endzone again as he has done so many times throughout his career when he picked up a Byron Leftwich fumble caused by Greg White and raced 41 yards untouched. Barber's tackling was suspect at the beginning of '07 but has looked like the Barber of old lately. He notched 4 tackles(3 solo) and was very good in coverage allowing the defensive line to do their thing.
...JJC/ABuccsFan

Scouting Department Sleeping?

Whether you're a Tony Dungy/Dick McKay fan. Our a staunch Jon Gruden/Bruce Allen supporter, the one constant that remains is our player personnel departments are dropping the ball big time. Lets take look at Tampa's drafts dating back to the 1998 draft class and see who remains on the Buccs' roster, and what type of player they are.

1 will designate a good player drafted
2 will designate a serviceable player drafted
U+ will designate undecided yet, with upside
U- will designate undecided yet, not looking good at this time.

1998 - 1 Good player remaining.

2a Jacquez Green
2b Brian Kelly 1
3 Jamie Duncan
4 Todd Washington
5 traded to NY Jets for FB Lorenzo Neal
6a James Cannida
6b Shevin Smith
7 Chance McCarty

1999 - No players remaining

1 Anthony McFarland
2 Shaun King
3 Martin Gramatica
4 Dexter Jackson
5 John McLaughlin
6 Lamarr Glenn
7a Robert Hunt
7b Autry Denson
7c Darnell McDonald

2000 - No players remaining

2 Cosey Coleman
3 Nate Webster
5 James Whalen
6 David Gibson
7 Joe Hamilton

2001 - No players remaining

1 Kenyatta Walker
2nd-round pick to Buffalo
3 Dwight Smith
4 John Howell
5 Russ Hochstein
6a Jameel Cook
6b Ellis Wyms
7a Dauntae` Finger
7b Than Merrill
7c Joe Tafoya

2002 - 1 Good player remaining

3 Marquise Walker
4 Travis Stephens
5 Jermaine Phillips 1
6 John Stamper
7 Tim Wansley
7 Tracey Wistrom
7 Aaron Lockett
7 Zack Quaccia

2003 - 1 serviceable player remaining

2 Dewayne White
3 Chris Simms
4 Lance Nimmo
4 Austin King
5 Sean Mahan
6 Torrie Cox 2

2004 - 3 Serviceable players

1 Michael Clayton 2
3 Marquise Cooper
4 Will Allen 2
5 Jeb Terry
6 Nate Lawrie
7 Mark Jones 2
7 Casey Cramer
7 Lenny Williams

2005 - 2 Good players, 2 serviceable players, and 1 undecided remaining

1 Carnell Williams 2
2 Barrett Ruud 1
3 Alex Smith 1
3 Chris Colmer
4 Dan Buenning 2
5 Donte Nicholson
5 Larry Brackins
6 Anthony Bryant
7 Rick Razzano
7 Paris Warren U+
7 Hamza Abdullah
7 J.R. Russel


2006 - 2 good players, 3 undecided players 1 with upside and 2 not looking good remaining

1 Davin Joseph 1
2 Jeremy Trueblood 1
3 Maurice Stovall U+
4 Alan Zemaitis U-
5 Julian Jenkins
6 Bruce Gradkowski U-
6 T.J. Williams
7 Justin Phinisee
7 Charles Bennett
7 Tim Massaquo

The 2007 class is just too green to make a decision on. Tanard Jackson looks like a future star, but we'll skip this year's for now.

That leaves us with 6 good players, 6 serviceable players out of the 74 players drafted since 1998. You be the judge.
...JJC/ABuccsFan

Money to Burn...No One to Burn it On

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers face a salary cap situation like they haven't faced in over a decade. Thanks to the shrewd business dealings of General Manager Bruce Allen, the Buccaneers find themselves way below the salary cap limit with a hefty surplus on money to burn. The last figure I had heard, and may have been adjusted, was more than $15 million cap space. With the trade deadline come and gone a week ago, there really isn't anyone to spend money on outside the current roster unless Bruce signs a free agent. At this point in the season, if someone is unemployed, it's for a damn good reason. But with the players on the Buccs' 53 man roster dropping like flies, the team may very well look to some of these gentlemen standing in the unemployment line and hope to catch lightning in a bottle. Even if the Buccs travel down this path, there is no way they will find enough quality to spend all that money on.

So who else can they spend on? Well they can spend that cash to restructure contracts and give extensions to deserving players already on the roster. Who is worthy of a raise or an extension at this point in time? I'm really not sure. Derrick Brooks is on his last contract hopefully, and will soon retire. Derrick has shown some flashes of brilliance this season, but to anyone who has followed the Buccs and Derrick for the last decade plus it's clear that his time in the NFL is coming to an end. Joey Galloway seems to have beaten the sands of time with his play the last 3 seasons, but with his age, injury history and recent contract restructure, would it be wise to give him and extension? I don't think that would be a smart move at all. Ronde Barber just got and extension not too long ago, and his play has been shoddy at times and sporadic. Ronde used to be one of the squad's surest tacklers, but this season he looks like the farmers kids trying to chase a greased pig around the farm yard. Even when he does get a hold of his opponents, they seem to slip right out of his arms. Spires? No way. His play has fallen off dramatically this season and one could argue he doesn't deserve his current contract let alone a new one. You have a list of young kids still playing off their rookie contracts, and seeing as how almost the entire 2002, 2003 and 2004 draft classes have been less than spectacular, or not even with the team anymore that leaves only one player I can think of worthy of an extension, and that's Jermaine Phillips.

So now we take a look at recent free agents brought into from other teams that maybe deserving of an extension. Garcia was signed for 2 years, and at his age and reckless playing style, I can't imagine it to be good business to extend his contract at least until the middle of the 2008 season. His play this season has been nothing short of spectacular, but for a player at his age he could slam into that wall at anytime even though he has not showed any signs of slowing down. Askew looks to be one of the better free agent acquisitions this off season, and as his role has been increasing due to the injuries that have hit the running back position, he appears to be a guy we should hold onto for a long time. Askew though was signed to a multi year deal already, so at this time it wouldn't be wise to resign him either. Chris Hovan just got an extension, and June is working on the first year of a 3 year deal. Brian Kelly is a player who has often been mentioned as being deserving of a contract extension. There were even rumors this off season that he would be a contract holdout. Those rumors proved to be false, and Kelly showed up on time to the first day of training camp. With Kelly's recent history of injuries problems seemingly becoming a chronic problem as opposed to isolated incidents, giving Kelly the big raise he once deserved almost seems foolish at this point. If Kelly is willing to take an incentive laden contract with playing time bonuses, that may be the way to go. Phillip Buchanon was signed to a one year deal, and with the increased playing time he has received in Kelly's absence, has certainly earned an extension. He's still a young guy, and has the skills to play cornerback for a handful more years. The Buccs need to make it a priority to sign P-Buc to an extension.

I may be leaving some players out, as I took this info off the top of my head. But at this time we have a lot of money to spend, and only 2 players deserving of a contract extension, and another deserving of an incentive laced deal. The Glazers aren't hurting for money, but they get several extra million dollars of unpaid salary this season to put back in the safe. Too bad the NFL's salary cap isn't like Cingular Wireless, and we could roll over our minutes......errr millions.
...JJC/ABuccsFan

Spotlight: Donald Penn

After the Buccs game vs. the Indianapolis Colts, many Buccs fans had differing opinions as to how Donald Penn performed in his first NFL start. I knew what I thought of his performance after my first viewing of the game, so I was somewhat baffled to read some of the critique by others on various fan message boards. I wanted to go back and re-evaluate after a couple days. What I did was review the first half of the game, watched each play Penn was on the field multiple times, in some instances frame by frame to get a better idea. The format is as follows: The bold numbers are the possession by the Buccs offense. The letter next to it is the grade I gave Penn for that possession. The Italic numbers represent the play, and not the down.

1st:A
1st - Nice cut block on Freeney, takes him out of the play. Garcia completes pass.
2nd - Run right, Penn non-factor
3rd - Penn stonewalled DT, as Freeny made a looping stunt. Sacked by Rocky Boiman, Freeney gets credit with 1/2 sack.

2nd:B
1st - Chipped Freeney advanced to second level to engage LB
2nd - Freeney makes tackle on Pittman for a loss. Penn engaged nicely, and a hole was there if Pittman cut inside.
3rd - Blocked Freeney effectively, kept him away from Garcia, completes pass.

3rd:A
1st - Penn blocked Freeney effectively. Dwight, inside spin move, Penn rode him inside. Inside was clogged up, so freeney looped outside and Penn rode him out.
2nd - Penn double teamed DT with Sears as Freeney tired another loop stunt. No penetration from left side.
3rd - Freeney lines up very wide. Taken by Alex Smith, passed off to Pittman. Penn double teams DT with Sears.

4th:B
1st - Entire O-line down blocks, gets 4 yard push. Penn blocks DT.
2nd - Penn stops Freeney's outside move. Gets beat with a spin inside. Garcia gets the ball off in time.
3rd - (Freeney out for a rest)Quick strike pass, neither player a factor.
4th - Not sure what the blocking assignments were on this play, seems to have been a breakdown somewhere. Sears pulls right. Penn steps inside to close gap between he and Wade, then tries to engage DE with cut block. Penn whiffs being too far away from the DE, but he's a non-factor being a run to the right.
5th - (Freeney re-enters)Freeney loops way inside, Penn stonewalls DT.
6th - Freeney takes outside first step, quickly changes direction and again loops inside. Penn double teams DT with Sears.
7th - Penn downblocks DT, Smith downblocks Freeney.
8th - Garcia rolls right, away from Penn. Freeney takes an outside angle, then spins inside. Tough to tell if Penn falls or intentionally cut blocks Freeney, but either way it has the same effect in neutralizing Freeney.
9th - Entire line downblocks right, Garcia rolls out right TD pass to Smith.

5th:A
1st - Inside dive Penn and Freeney non factors.
2nd - Freeney is lined up so wide to the left, he's not Penn responsibility at this time. Freeney chipped by Smith, passed off to Graham as Smith goes out for pass in the flat. Penn flows to the outside behind Graham looking to pick up Freeney if he beats Graham.
3rd - Again Freeney lined up so wide he's not Penn's responsibility. Penn chips DT and leaves him for Sears. Penn awaits pressure and flows to the outside protecting Garcia's blind side.

**it was between these last two plays that Moose Johnston was commenting on Penn needing help from a TE and a RB to neutralize Freeney. That simply was not the case during the first half, and Freeney had 1/2 sack and 1 tackle the entire first half. It's these comments that lead me to believe where the opinion of Penn playing poorly came from. Freeney doesn't record another tackle for the rest of the game.
...JJC/ABuccsFan