Tampa Bay Sports Blog

I’ve got a lot on my mind right now within the sports world and in trying to kick off the new year with more posts I just wanted to comment on a few things I thought about over the weekend.

• The playoff games I watched this weekend were pretty good for the most part. The Ravens showed everyone who the real Chad Pennington was and Ed Reed proved that he is the sickest defensive ballhawk we’ve seen since Deion Sanders and you could even make an argument that he might be better.

• Tony Dungy may have coached his last game with the Colts and I would find it pretty sad if it was his last game ever coached. I do get the feeling that he wants a little time away from the game and if anyone deserves it, it’s Tony Dungy. I would like to think though that Tony would jump back into the coaching ranks after a few years of sitting home with the family. He’s only 53 and he would still be fairly young by coaching standards if he jumped back in five years from now. I hope it’s not over for Tony Dungy.

• The Patriots are supposedly going to put the franchise tag on Matt Cassel and that’s a very smart move (not shocking from the Pats). I will say though that I don’t see a better fit for Cassel than with the Vikings. That game would’ve been different had the Vikings had a real QB. I don’t know how many picks the Vikings have, but if the Patriots are confident enough in Tom Brady coming back healthy that they do shop Cassel, Minnesota should be first in line to snatch him up. Imagine the Vikes pulling that off and signing a good WR, say Antonio Bryant, and that team would be set up for a nice run at the Super Bowl next year. I could also see the Vikings looking at Jeff Garcia as a starter or backup this offseason.

• The Celtics and Cavs both lost yesterday which further proves that the Magic belong in the discussion with them, even though the Magic lost also.

That’s all for now, more later on.

Technorati Tags: Antonio Bryant, Baltimore Ravens, Boston Celtics, Chad Pennington, Cleveland Cavaliers, Deion Sanders, Ed Reed, Indianapolis Colts, Jeff Garcia, Matt Cassel, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, NFL Playoffs, Orlando Magic, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tom Brady, Tony Dungy

Let’s wrap up the goings on with the Bucs this week, and we don’t need to talk about the Carolina fiasco anymore than we already have.

• Adrian Peterson has accused one of the Bucs players of trying to take him out. I can’t go back and watch the game to figure out who it was but Peterson does not strike me as a liar and he’s definitely not a wuss, so I’m going to believe him. That being said I’m not going to try to rip anyone on the Bucs either. If someone actually tried to take him out than, whoever it is, needs to check themselves. Football is a tough sport for tough men and there should be no room for guys like this in a sport like this. The game is tough enough without having to worry about cheap shots and dirty plays. There’s guys on every team from the NFL to High School Football who pull this crap and they should be taken care of by their own teammates any time it happens. I hope it wasn’t what Peterson thinks because I would hate to see him get hurt, I love watching him play and I want him healthy to see what he can accomplish in this league.
• Jeff Garcia’s injured calf is limiting him in practice and he will apparently be a game day decision. In the mean time Luke McCown is slated to start if Garcia can’t go. Garcia has been playing decent and I would really like him to play, but if he can’t go I know I’m much more comfortable with McCown than Griese back there. This is going to be a wait and see thing so we’ll check it out on Sunday.
• Antonio Bryant responded to Emmitt Smith and Trent Dilfer’s comments about him and it was pretty entertaining. As far as Bryant’s comments go I’m absolutely going to side with him because we all know my feelings on professional athletes and their private lives, but I will say two things. He is really harping on the disrespect thing too much, as most men do, and needs to let some of this crap just roll off him. I also have to laugh at how much he says man. Man he say man a lot, man! Now I must talk about Smith and Dilfer. I loved Emmitt as a player but could really do without him on TV. He’s slow, basic and very un-entertaining. I have more fun clipping my toenails than listening to him discuss football. As far as what he said about Bryant, didn’t you play for the Cowboys Emmitt? Wasn’t Michael Irvin on your team? Didn’t half of that team get arrested for something? Good thing Bryant didn’t play with you then or he might have some real problems. Dilfer is quite the opposite of Emmitt. I think he does a decent job on TV but I hated watching him throw interceptionsplay football. Dilfer also needs to shut his mouth. I realize that everyone is trying to get ratings and talk trash about someone, but I absolutely hate it when athletes talk about other athletes personal lives. I’m sure if I dug hard enough I could find some skeletons in both of these guys closets, but I don’t care to do so. I would love to see Bryant get 5 minutes alone in a room with either one of these two even though I don’t think Smith or Dilfer would last that long.

Technorati Tags: Adrian Peterson, Antonio Bryant, Carolina Panthers, Emmitt Smith, Jeff Garcia, Luke McCown, Minnesota Vikings, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Trent Dilfer

   In not so surprising news today the Bucs placed RB Earnest Graham and LB Geno Hayes on injured reserve and they will be gone for the rest of the season. Graham hurt his ankle in the first quarter of the Viking game and coach Jon Gruden immediately speculated that he was gone for the year. Coach was right for once and Graham’s done. Hayes also left the game Sunday with a knee injury and has been lost for the season. Hayes’ injury isn’t a big blow but Graham’s absence will be huge. This puts a lot more pressure on the aging Warrick Dunn and rookie Clifton Smith. The Bucs added free agent RB Noah Herron and brought back LB Matt McCoy to fill Graham and Hayes’ spots on the roster. McCoy played in a few games earlier in the year when Barrett Ruud went down and did an adequate job. Herron hasn’t played since 2006 and will likely fill the emergency back role once occupied by Micheal Bennett (think the Bucs miss him now?). There is also speculation now that Edgerrin James has asked for his release and, in a round about way, is interested in the Bucs. Buc ‘Em shot this article up pretty quick and has a poll up already. Damn those boys are quick. It will definitely be interesting to see how this all pans out for the Bucs this season as Graham’s loss seems so huge right now. Gruden doesn’t seem to like the run the ball much anyway so it may not be as big as we think, but I do believe the passing game has been opened up due to Graham’s presence and effectiveness when he is used. Garcia has been good so far and Dunn still has life left in his legs, but big Earnest did a lot more dirty work than most so we’ll have to see how it goes. As all this was going down everyone seemed to think Cadillac Williams would immediately fill in but that’s being shut down for the moment. I personally don’t see Williams making much of a difference down the stretch anyway. I thought he was over-rated before and I don’t think everyone out there realizes how hard it’s going to be for him to come back from his knee injury right now. No amount of rehab and practice he could’ve had to this point is going to have his knee and mind in good enough game shape to go out and make a difference on any Sunday this season. This all has made the rest of this season a whole lot more interesting. On another note, there’s not much going on until Friday so I’m taking tomorrow off. Whatever goes down I’ll get to Friday morning and I’m going to get out and enjoy myself for the rest on tonight. See ya!

Technorati Tags: Barrett Ruud, Cadillac Williams, Clifton Smith, Earnest Graham, Edgerrin James, Geno Hayes, Jeff Garcia, Jon Gruden, Matt McCoy, Michael Bennett, Minnesota Vikings, Noah Herron, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Warrick Dunn

   I had to work Sunday so I didn’t get to look at the whole game until last night. Man did the Bucs look good this week though. The Bucs couldn’t get a good running game going after Earnest Graham went down with an ankle injury after one carry, and apparently this injury may end his season. Jeff Garcia stepped up in a big way going 23 of 30 with 255 yards, 84 of which went to the hated Jerramy Stevens. It was a nice showing for Garcia, but the Bucs defense again proved itself one of the best. The Bucs defense, as good as they’ve been over the years, have always had problems with bigger running backs and Adrian Peterson is as imposing as it gets. The Bucs held Peterson to 85 yards on the ground with no touchdowns. The Bucs have now faced seven of the top ten running backs without giving up a touchdown. Derrick Brooks really looks reborn this year, especially in his play on Sunday. That play in the fourth quarter in pass coverage with Peterson got everyone fired up! The Bucs are still struggling to score in the red zone and that needs to change if they’re going go deep into the playoffs. These guys are still a defense first team and it appears they’ll be so as long as Monte Kiffin is running the show. Matt Bryant was 4 of 5 in field goals and is having a very good season with 24 of 28 field goals, which includes 21 of 21 inside 40 yards. This is on the heels of him strugglingin the pre-season and the death of his infant son. You could make a legitimate case for Bryant being the offensive MVP of this team given their struggles in the red zone. The Bucs are now 7-3 heading into Detroit with three tough division games to follow. They play New Orleans at home and then go on the road to face Carolina and Atlanta. We should know how the season is going to shake out for the Bucs by the time the Chargers come to town on the 21st of December.

Technorati Tags: Adrian Peterson, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Derrick Brooks, Earnest Graham, Jeff Garcia, Jerramy Stevens, Matt Bryant, Minnesota Vikings, Monte Kiffin, New Orleans Saints, San Diego Chargers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers