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 Bucs have just rolled right along this year with the usual mess of distractions to a 9-3 record. As we head into the biggest game of the year on Monday Night Football, a couple other things have popped up. First let’s get to the Monte Kiffin to Tennessee rumor. I don’t think it’s a rumor, I think it’s a done deal. I have some questions for all those reporters and fans out there that keep harping on it though. What did you expect? What response did you think you were going to get from him now? Why is this being perceived as a bad thing? These are the things that annoy me with sports. Monte Kiffin has been here as defensive coordinator since 1996. He has shown no real desire to be a head coach. He’s produced great defenses over his tenure here. He’s plugged in players and coaches to fill voids left by others and things haven’t seemed to miss a beat. He’s done all this under two different Head Coaches and General Managers with completely different philosophies on how to run their ship. He’s done it all with a smile on his face in his father figure type persona. Why do we have to question his motives, his responses and now his character (Warren Sapp!)? If Monte wants to go and coach with his son at Tennessee at the great age of 68, why shouldn’t he be able to do so? I would miss him but I would also root for him to do well in his new position. When he gets asked a question like, “are you going to coach here next year or are you going to Tennessee?”, what do you expect him to say? He’s under contract here and his team’s still playing, so let him coach. If he decided to go already, it’s up to him and not us. He doesn’t need to make a big show of this being his final year with the Bucs and he doesn’t need to interrupt the current season to worry about the next. Leave him alone, enjoy the year and move on! Now, on to Warren Sapp. I always loved Sapp and he was one of my favorite players to watch when he was here. I think he’s doing a good job on Inside the NFL and Dancing With the Stars, he can really dance by the way. This all leaves me wondering why he would make this statement about Monte Kiffin. He stated on Inside the NFL that Monte Kiffin was selfish and that things have always been about Monte. What?! Ok, let me see, a guy that has been with the same team for 12 years, never left to be a Head Coach and never has been accused of such behavior by anyone else is supposed to be this way because you say so? C’mon Warren, let it go! It really sounds like Sapp has never gotten over not being able to finish his career here. It angers me when athletes say things like this, especially one with Warren’s reputation. I have always been a defender of athletes, Warren included, in the sense that their lives should be their own. They carry no responsibility to be “role models” for anyone off the field, they are required to do a job and that’s it. It’s like any other business out there. Show up, do your job, go home. If you choose to put yourself out there and take on responsibilities like that, great, but they are not required to. Everyone knows the type of work that Warrick Dunn and Derrick Brooks do off the field and we all admire and respect them for it. They are going above and beyond and deserve every ounce of respect they get for it, probably more. We all can’t hold athletes to this standard though, everyone is not ready to do these things and it doesn’t make them bad. These are the same reasons I don’t report on incidents in nightclubs, bars or DUI’S or anything like that. It’s their lives and they need to live it the best way for them, not us. Children need role models that they know, not that they know of. I tell my son this about athletes all the time. You can look up to him and what he does on the field and if you want to model yourself after that, great, but don’t try to be someone off the field that you don’t know anything about. These are the things I’ve always said when defending Warren Sapp. But there’s no defense for this. This is a bitter, self obsessed man attacking someone he played for and obviously had problems with when he was here. Has anyone ever heard Kiffin say anything like this about anyone? I haven’t. It’s an attempt to get more publicity or maybe a far reach in defending Rod Marinelli, whatever it is, it’s very sad to see and Monte Kiffin deserves much more than this. Listen up Warren, your career probably wouldn’t have been as good without Monte Kiffin whereas his would’ve been just fine without you, so get over it.

Technorati Tags: Derrick Brooks, Monte Kiffin, Rod Marinelli, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Volunteers, Warren Sapp, Warrick Dunn