Tampa Bay Sports Blog

Well, it was as ugly as it could possibly be. Not only did they drop the final four games of the season and miss the playoffs, but they did it in old school orange Buccaneer fashion. I think we all took the Carolina loss fairly well, it was on the road against a tough team and the Bucs were banged up. The Atlanta game was tough to swallow, but it was another tough road game and we could all understand it a little. The San Diego game was an absolute disaster and no one wanted to believe that it actually happened. It all could have been salvaged though with a win against an awful Oakland team and a Cowboy loss. The Cowboys did their part by taking an absolutely laughable beating at the hands of the Eagles, but it was too little too late. The Bucs had already lost to the second most dysfunctional team in the NFL, and it wasn’t as close as the 31-24 score would lead one to believe. This monumental collapse has left me wondering, who do we blame for this? Let’s try to figure it out.

• The offense? Jon Gruden’s offense has never really taken off in Tampa Bay and this season seemed to showcase all the problems we’ve had offensively in the Gruden era. Joey Galloway was the once favored WR who all of a sudden vanished. Warrick Dunn was the aging RB who emptied his tank yet didn’t have enough to carry them. The QB madness continued on with Garcia, Griese and McCown. The offensive line was up and down, mostly down. Any of this sound familiar? As bad as it seemed, this wasn’t the problem.
• Injuries? There is no doubt that the Bucs lost more than their fair share of guys to injuries and that always plays a factor, but this team has been allegedly avoiding big name free agents to build depth. Where was the depth? Again though, this wasn’t the problem.
• The players? Now I’ve got to admit, I’m going to put a lot of this on the players, especially in the playoff stretch. The stars in Brooks, Barber, Galloway and Garcia are all close to the end and their skills have diminished noticeably. That being said, I expected a lot more out of the defense, especially since Monte Kiffin announced his intent to depart to Tennessee, but they didn’t step up. I thought we might see that one last charge of Kiffin and his boys toward greatness, but they didn’t even achieve averageness (is that a word?). I put much of the demise on the players, but not all of it.
• Monte Kiffin? I do not put this one Monte Kiffin. As bad as the defense was in the final quarter season and as equally bad the timing was on the announcement of his decision to leave, I don’t blame Monte. He has shown us that he’s nothing if he’s not prepared and professional. I guarantee you Monte had the scheme’s in place to beat every last one of the teams the Bucs played throughout the entire season. He can’t force guys to not miss assignments or actually tackle someone that they are close to. This is not on Monte Kiffin.
• The defense? I will lump this one in with the players. Ronde Barber has been exposed as an aging corner, Derrick Brooks was in on less plays than in any season I could remember and there still isn’t enough of a rush being put on by the front four. The defense had enough physical impairments that the schemes couldn’t overcome. Barrett Ruud went from all-world to all-ok late in the season. Gaines Adams I’m officially calling a bust. Phillip Buchanon looked like he was still a Raider and the rest of everyone on the team basically filled in where they could. I think Monte saw this and that helped him make his decision to leave easier. Trying to find replacements for Brooks and company will be tough and I think he wants to spend his golden years having a little more fun than that. Defense is lumped in with the players so that’s not it either.
• Gruden/Allen?I think we all know where I was headed with this. I put it on Gruden and Allen.

Now it’s hard to put a late season meltdown on Bruce Allen, but he’s Jon Gruden’s do boy, so he takes it on the chin there. Bruce Allen has not done a good job of enticing quality free agents to come here and the drafting has been questionable at best. The draft’s have gotten somewhat better, but not much. This all still leads to Jon Gruden though.

Gruden has been the man here, especially since Allen arrived, and all things get fixed on his shoulders. The drafting of offensive talent, particularly the skill positions, has been bad. The management of talent on the field has been questionable at best and the lies have become more abundant in the process. Galloway is hurt, oh wait no he isn’t. Jeff Garcia is hurt, oh wait he isn’t. How bout this one, hey Luke McCown, if Garcia is hurt this week, you will start so I’ll have you take a majority of the snaps this week to get ready. Sunday comes and Brian Griese starts? Now I’m going to try and come at this from a different angle for all those Gruden defenders and everyone else who thinks Gruden should keep his job. The “core” of this team is still on defense and is getting on in years. Derrick Brooks and Ronde Barber don’t have time on their side. The offensive core is really questionable. This is an offensive coach who’s core right now are an aging QB in Garcia he can’t get along with, an offensive line that is still a work in progress, a WR in Galloway that watched the season from the bench, another WR in Bryant who is going to get big money and doesn’t seem all that happy here, a RB group that includes an aging Warrick Dunn and a broken Cadillac Williams (whose career is now in jeapordy) and TE’s that are seldom utilized or productive. I think the time has come for all us fans to realize that the run is over.

It’s time, especially with Kiffin’s departure, to lovingly let go of the old and bring in the new. We all loved Gruden in the Super Bowl season and we all have loved the run of the defense under Kiffin that gave us Brooks, Barber, Sapp, Lynch, Nickerson, Quarles and so on. I will cherish these memories for the rest of my life as we all will as fans. But we now must look at turning the page and starting over. We have tons of cap room and great ownership who let’s football guys do their jobs so when, if not now, will it be time to turn the page? It’s hard to do, but don’t you think you’ll be excited when the new wave comes through? I was excited with what I saw from Ruud and Talib this season and there could be more than that if we start looking toward the future now instead of holding on to the past. I hear people saying “who would we get better than Gruden if we fired him?” I don’t know, but do you think no one is better than him, seriously?

Look at what Mike Smith did in Atlanta this year. Look at what Tony Dungy did here when he was an unknown. It doesn’t matter whether you are a Gruden basher or a Garcia basher or whatever, it’s time for us to let the past go and embrace the future. I’m not saying that Gruden can’t build it from scratch here, but I would bet against it. How’s his track record with young players? Do you think that Matt Ryan would play that well under Gruden? I think not. Gruden’s success has always been with veterans and I haven’t seen any veteran players beating down the door to play here other than Jeff Garcia and we see how that’s going. Let’s all let it go and Gruden/Allen with it. Let’s take a chance on one of those up and coming coordinators and see what happens. Maybe it will work out again.

Technorati Tags: Antonio Bryant, Aqib Talib, Atlanta Falcons, Barrett Ruud, Brian Griese, Bruce Allen, Cadillac Williams, Carolina Panthers, Dallas Cowboys, Derrick Brooks, Earnest Graham, Gaines Adams, Hardy Nickerson, Jeff Garcia, Joey Galloway, John Lynch, Luke McCown, Matt Ryan, Mike Smith, Monte Kiffin, Oakland Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles, Phillip Buchanon, Ronde Barber, San Diego Chargers, Shelton Quarles, Super Bowl, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Volunteers, Tony Dungy, Warren Sapp, Warrick Dunn

The list continues to grow for Buccaneers players in the rehab center. Jon Gruden came out and talked about it today.  They now have at least 10 players I could count on the weekly injury list..

• Michael Clayton
• Brian Griese
• Jeff Garcia
• Jovan Haye
• Chris Hovan
• Greg White (oops, I mean Stylez G. White)
• Sean Mahan
• Jeremy Zuttah
• Joey Galloway (not officially listed but Gruden says he’s injured).

Then we have the injured reserve guys…

• Earnest Graham
• Torrie Cox
• Byron Storer
• Cortez Hankton
• Maurice Stovall
• Geno Hayes
• Jermaine Phillips (assumed)

Not sure if I missed anyone, but that is a lot of injuries. Here’s why we shouldn’t feel bad for the Bucs though. They have built themselves to be deep, not star heavy. That’s a great way to build to try to remain competitive when injuries pile up (sound familiar) but doesn’t lend to having a dominant team. That’s why, when healthy this team doesn’t light up the scoreboard or rout too many teams, but that’s also why we’re in a position to make the playoffs with so many injuries. It’s tough to deal with and handle. I want a deep team, but I long for some hardcore play makers on the offensive side. I like being able to compete throughout the season, but I would desperately love to see this team have some play makers. I realize that we all can’t be the New England Patriots, who seem to be able to plug guys in and cruise right along without skipping a beat (even Matt Cassel threw four TD’s yesterday). Say what you want about those guys but Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli do it better than anyone, cheating or not. I have come to the realization that we will never develop a QB under Gruden, we will always have the revolving door of “veteran” QB’s, but why can’t these guys stumble into a great player on the offensive side of the ball? Maybe Clifton Smith is it, but we’ll never know. I’m still excited about the Bucs maybe making the playoffs, but I will be disappointed with a one and done performance, won’t you?

Technorati Tags: Bill Belichick, Brian Griese, Byron Storer, Chris Hovan, Clifton Smith, Cortez Hankton, Earnest Graham, Geno Hayes, Greg White, Jeff Garcia, Jeremy Zuttah, Jermaine Phillips, Joey Galloway, Jon Gruden, Jovan Haye, Matt Cassel, Maurice Stovall, Michael Clayton, New England Patriots, Scott Pioli, Sean Mahan, Stylez White, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Torrie Cox

   The Bucs have finished the first half of their season 5-3 with a 4-0 home record and there are still a ton of questions hovering over them. The first half was riddled with typical Gruden drama, questionable play calling and player personnel decisions along with the typical “D” we’ve gotten so used to seeing. Some of the good things we’ve seen so far include…

• Earnest Graham is the workhorse RB we saw last season and looks like he’s improving on every aspect of his game. He was always a good blocker so that’s just the norm there, but his improvement on catching the ball out of the backfield and his field vision have made him my leading candidate for offensive MVP on this team.
• Antonio Bryant has stepped up and done more than anyone could’ve expected in Joey Galloway’s absence. We’ve had reclamation projects at this position before who we’ve been told would make big impacts (remember David Boston?) but this one looks to be the real deal.
• The defense in still headed by Monte Kiffin, why expect less? The entire defense has showed they’re still one of the top units out there. D-Brooks looks 25 again, Barrett Ruud is playing out of his mind, Aqib Talib makes us not miss Brian Kelly and the line is doing enough damage to keep teams honest.
• Matt Bryant has performed well after a pre-season where everyone wanted to get rid of him and through the horrible turmoil his life became after his infant son’s (Matthew Tyson) death. There may be no other story this year more heart wrenching than his and it should make us all feel good that he can remain on a positive path after such an event.

I think we can sum up the good there for the first half. The bad and questionable I will not harp on too much right now as there was way too much to put it out there. The bad stems around Jon Gruden and that’s where it needs to be kept. His decisions on starting Brian Griese over Jeff Garcia, not running the ball enough and the fiasco that has become Dexter Jackson (another phenomenal draft choice by Gruden/Allen) is enough to make my head spin. The one thing I take out of watching this team so far this year is that this is still Monte Kiffins team. The defense is what makes this team successful and our season depends on them continuing to dominate opposing offenses. I’m gonna sit down and watch the second half now with the Bucs in Kansas City. Does this scream “trap game” to anyone else?

Technorati Tags: Antonio Bryant, Aqib Talib, Barrett Ruud, Brian Griese, Bruce Allen, Derrick Brooks, Dexter Jackson, Earnest Graham, Jeff Garcia, Joey Galloway, Jon Gruden, Kansas City Chiefs, Matt Bryant, Monte Kiffin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

   First things first, don’t think that I’m grouping these guys in any way except they both play for the Bucs. That being said, Jeff Garcia is sounding like an idiot! I was on his side at the beginning of the off-season when he said he wanted a new deal. I have no problem with Garcia wanting a new deal, the Bucs have the money and he did a very good job for us last year. Considering the way NFL contracts work and the age of the veteran QB, I don’t blame him for trying to get as much as possible. This is getting a little out of control now as Garcia is making empty threats to the team as if they can’t survive without him. Check out this excerpt from Stephen Holders column..

“For me to go into this season and if it doesn’t work itself out, if a contract is not presented as far as a renewal and a chance to finish my career here, then I will seriously think about . . . what my alternate options may be. It may come to not even playing football anymore.  And I’d hate to even say that, but I feel like when you mistreat people there comes a time when it doesn’t matter how much money you’re going to be paid. If you’re not being treated the right way it’s going to lead to some drastic decisions and those decisions may just take me away from the game.”

   These are quotes from Garcia that he made on Sirius yesterday. Look Jeff, I would love to see you playing for the Bucs this year as you are the best of the bunch, but to think the Bucs owe you something is asinine! You signed the contract, play you moron. If you play well again Gruden will bring you back, if you don’t you will have a nice retirement with your hot wife and millions of dollars. Get over yourself! If you don’t play the Bucs have Luke McCown (who played well when you were INJURED last year) and Brian Greise who played well before going to Chicago. You don’t have the leverage you think you do so move on!

   Now on to more fun stuff. There is a new site up in the area dedicated to the Madman that is Jerramy Stevens! They have the full list of what makes this guy a large pile of feces and they also have “Fire Jerramy Stevens” type apparel. I love this! As I stated in my previous post on this guy I usually don’t get into the personal lives of pro athletes, but this guy is a special kind of asshole! He is a much worse person than Michael Vick and he’s doing time. At least Vick was just a twisted weirdo who thinks he loves his dogs even though he murdered them. Stevens has no regard for anyone, Man, Woman or beast. He’s a walking litter box who should be next in line for lethal injection. It’s scary to think that the only thing keeping this guy from full fledged maniacal behavior is football. It will be scary to see what happens when he retires. I put the over/under at 1 year after retirement that he move into a permanent cell. Go to the site and read the rap sheet.

Scott Brannelly

Links: Fire Jerramy Stevens, Stephen Holder

Technorati Tags: Brian Griese, Jeff Garcia, Jerramy Stevens, Luke McCown, Michael Vick, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

   OK the Bucs must be messing with us now. This must be some sort of twisted joke by the Gruden/Allen show. According to Yahoo NFL the Bucs have brought in undrafted free-agent QB Sam Keller from Nebraska to ‘compete’ for a roster spot. We shall now see the Bucs camp begin with Garcia, Griese, McCown, Gradkowski, Johnson, Simms (although he’ll be a no show), and Sam Keller. When will it end? How many is enough Gruden? I know this guy has virtually no shot and has said that if it doesn’t work out here then he’ll be off to the Arena League but come on! Maybe the QB guru that is Jon Gruden is scouting this guy for his brother Jay and we’ll see him in Orlando. Why must the Bucs use so many damn spots on QB’s when there are plenty of other areas they could look at. This is comical and insane. If the Bucs sign another one then I want Gruden and Allen Baker Acted!

Sources: Yahoo NFL, Lincoln Journal Star

Technorati Tags: Brian Griese, Bruce Gradkowski, Chris Simms, Jeff Garcia, Josh Johnson, Luke McCown, Sam Keller, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

   Well the draft is over and all the hoopla began on how great everyone is or why did they draft a guy like Dexter Jackson so high and then I saw something that was actually interesting. Roy Cummings reported today that the Bucs received trade offers for Chris Simms and turned them down. Huh?! I don’t understand what is going on with this guy. Let’s try and review what we know and see if we can figure out what the Bucs are thinking here. First thing is Simms doesn’t want to be here anymore. I get this but I still can’t figure out why he resigned here to begin with. Granted he was a restricted free-agent when he re-signed but I don’t know why he didn’t at least test the waters. That’s Simms fault. Now we have Jeff Garcia, Brian Griese, Luke McCown and Josh Johnson in some order in front of him and there is no reason I can see the Bucs kept him. I know you want to get the most out of a trade but when you have a guy, who is obviously out of your plans, and someone wants to give you something for him, take it. I’m not a Simms supporter or basher, he’s played poorly and well, but I certainly can’t see a scenario that keeps him here. Griese has proven himself in this system and so has Garcia and McCown so why hold on to him? Gradkowski will be gone and Jake Plummer is retired (sort of) and now there’s a ‘new protoge’ so what’s the deal? I’m no GM but Bruce Allen isn’t that far ahead of me with this type of reasoning. According to Cummings the Bucs were pushing Gradkowski when asked about trades. Maybe there is a chance in hell that Gradkowski could be decent but no one is giving up a draft pick to find out, so why not unload someone you don’t want? This is extremely puzzling and this is one of the many things that Gruden and Allen do that aggravate the crap out of this fan base. Simms was a 3rd round pick and hasn’t performed better than that, plus he has no spleen now and is at least 4th or 5th on the depth chart so what in god’s name makes these guys think he is worth more than a 6th or 7th round pick? If anyone know please explain it to me because I’m lost here. Wait maybe I’ve got it, Gruden tried to coax Phil Simms out of retirement so he could have another ‘veteran quaterback’ and Simms told him to go to hell. Now he’s taking it out on his kid. Sounds good to me. Got a better explanation?

Sources: Roy Cummings,

Technorati Tags: Brian Griese, Bruce Gradkowski, Chris Simms, Dexter Jackson, Jeff Garcia, Josh Johnson, Luke McCown, Tampa Bay Buccaneers