Buccaneers-Giants: Five Important Questions

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have stumbled out of the starting blocks this season. They’re 0-2 but Raheem Morris says not to panic, it’s time to keep believing in his young team. With that in mind, here are five major questions regarding this team as it goes through last-minute preparations for its Sunday home game against the powerful New York Giants:

 

Can the Defense Make a Stand?

The Bucs rank right at the bottom of the NFL in total defense. They’ve given up 30-plus points in each of their two opening losses. It is most important that they get off to a better start on Sunday. They cannot fall behind quickly. Per Morris: “We’re not that great of a come-from-behind offense.”

This defense missed 24 tackles last week. Horrible at best. Can they survive one of the better quarterbacks in the league—Eli Manning? Can they stop the Giants’ strong runner, ie: Brandon “The Beast” Jacobs?

 

Is This Gaines Adams’ Last Stand?

See if the Giants run the football at Gaines Adams. Morris may be just about fed up with this consistent underachiever. There have been hints that Adams could soon head for the bench and after that, could he be destined for deactivation at some point later in the season?

 

Can Byron Leftwich Survive the Punishment?

You have to give Bryon Leftwich a lot of credit. This guy is getting totally abused by opposing defensive lines. He has been bashed and battered in the pocket, still he stands and delivers. It’s a bad thing to ask him to throw the ball more than 50 times a game. “That is not Tampa Bay Buccaneer football,” Morris says.

The Giants have a very tough D-line. If the offensive line can’t perform better than it has, how long can Leftwich go before he really gets hurt? With all the chaos around him, we have to wonder if either Josh Freeman or Josh Johnson could survive this quarterbacking environment?

 

Will Key Injuries Continue to Cripple the Buccaneers?

It’s only game three and the Bucs have had a season worth of major injuries already. Center Jeff Faine, the key guy up front, is still out. Safety Jermaine Phillips is done for the year. Franchise tag receiver Antonio Bryant continues to limp around and who knows if and when he’ll play again.

Receiver Maurice Stovall has a knee problem. Defensive end Kyle Moore, who is likely to replace Adams at some point, had arthroscopic surgery this week and is out for a least a couple of weeks.

Cadillac Williams needs to avoid unnecessary contact if he wants to last a full season. Example: why put your head down and collide with a tackler and gain no extra yardage? Caddy is running hard but he also needs to protect himself better.

 

Is Mike Nugent Going to Be a Reliable Kicker? 

These larger margin defeats have allowed Mike Nugent to basically, well, hide! No one knows if this guy can do the job in a close game as the Bucs have not had a close game.

There is sentiment that Sunday’s game could actually turn out to be closer than anticipated. If the Bucs manage to get into a nail-biter, will Nugent be able to perform if called upon? No one knows.  

There you have it—some major food for thought while you eagerly wait for Sunday afternoon’s answers.

Morris wants everyone to “believe” in his young team.

Problem is that are still so very many questions besides these.

Sunday answers?

Stay tuned.

 

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Ship Is Leaking Badly

This Buccaneer frigate of Captain Raheem Morris is leaking badly. It is listing mightily as it pulls back into port here in Tampa after getting shot apart in Buffalo on Sunday.

It is leaking because it cannot defend itself. That was painfully evident in the 33-20 defeat at the hands of the Buffalo Bills.

It was clear that things weren’t going well from the start. The Bucs trailed 17-0 faster than Morris could say, “these young Tampa Bay Buccaneers are fighters!”

The Bucs fired their offensive coordinator before the season started but now they’d better ask defensive coordinator Jim Bates to stop the bleeding, stop the water that is pouring into the good ship Buccaneer.

This defense made someone named Fred Jackson look like the second coming of Adrian Peterson. Jackson hit the Bucs up for 163 yards rushing.

Can somebody please tackle someone?

And speaking of tackling, perhaps Raheem The Dream needs to have a rules clinic for his players this week. Buccaneer defenders latched onto the face masks of assorted Bills players FOUR TIMES to set the pace for a penalty party that would see the Bucs get slapped for 112 yards!

Real pirates pride themselves on cheating and devious methods.

In the NFL, they have to play by the rules.

Raheem’s fighters indeed tried to fight their way out of that early hole and seemed to get back in the game when it was 20-14. But as this game wore on, this team was getting beat physically and mentally.

The secondary remains vulnerable. Even the boisterous one—T.O.—got in on the action when he beat Aqib Talib on a 43-yard catch that doomed these Buccaneers for the second week.

T.O. could have had another one, too, had a long pass from Trent Edwards not gone right through his hands earlier in the game.

These same Buccaneers that ran for 174 yards last week against Dallas, chalked up 57 on Sunday.

“We want to be a running team, they took us out of our game,” lamented Morris. “We played catch-up the whole day.”

That catch-up mode forced quarterback Byron Leftwich to put up more than 50 passes and that just flat out isn’t going to cut it for this football team. You’re talking a depleted receiving corps that left Antonio Bryant back in Tampa.

Sure there were moments from Kellen Winslow and Maurice Stovall but Michael Clayton, Sammie Stroughter and the rest simply couldn’t do enough.

Neither could Leftwich, who was assaulted all day, beaten and knocked around like an aging boxer. To his credit, he kept getting up, and taking more from the Bills pass rush.

Tough son-of-a-gun, at the least.

“They beat us. They played better than us,” Lefty said afterwards. He was fortunate to be coherent with the beating he took.

While Buffalo’s pass rush came hard and often, Tampa Bay’s defensive line was very stoppable by a young, depleted Bills offensive line.

And that’s no good.

Gaines Adams was a no-show, as if that surprises anyone.

Yes, the boat, this Pirate ship commanded by the youthful Morris has a ton of leaks.

The treacherous waters of the NFL are rushing in.

It hasn’t sunk yet, but it’s listing, it’s in trouble and it needs all hands on deck to start bailing water.

Morris’ predecessor—Jon Gruden—had two favorite sayings he used to throw around.

“It is hard to win games in the National Football League,” he’d tell us.

Raheem Morris, Jim Bates and the rest of the coaches and players are finding that out firsthand.

And this one: “You get what you deserve in the NFL.”

These Buccaneers got themselves a loss on Sunday.

They’re 0-2 and now face the New York football Giants this coming Sunday at Raymond James.

And thus far, these Bucs have gotten what they deserve.

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers Have These Questions to Answer on Sunday

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers take to the road and visit Buffalo for the first time on Sunday. Here are the questions about this team on the minds of many Buccaneer faithful:

1. Will Antonio Bryant be able to play effectively, if at all, against the Bills?

Bryant’s surgically-repaired knee is flaring up. He missed practice on Thursday and his status is a concern for this team. Without him, the Bucs are at a strategic disadvantage.

2. How will Jeff Faine’s absence affect the offensive line play?

Sean Mahan was re-signed this week and will start at center on Sunday. 

3. Can the running game continue the success it had against the Cowboys?

Derrick Ward says he already has a named picked out for himself, Cadillac Williams, and Earnest Graham. Perhaps he’d better wait until they put together three or four solid games consecutively.

4. Will Byron Leftwich have success against the Buffalo secondary?

The Buffalo defensive line put tremendous pressure on Tom Brady, who is a bit more elusive than Leftwich.

5. Will the Buccaneer secondary correct the problems that surfaced against Dallas?

The absence of Tanard Jackson was the underlying cause for the breakdown in the secondary. Sabby Piscatelli had a miserable afternoon and needs to recover on Sunday.

6. Can the Buccaneer defense stop the Bills from running?

The Bucs had success stopping Dallas for the most part. Can they do it again?

7. Will Cadillac continue his comeback?

The biggest positive last week was Cadillac’s performance. He ran often and hard and gained major yardage in the first half. The Bucs had to move away from the running game in the second half when they started to fall behind.

8. Will Kellen Winslow play a bigger role?

Sure, he caught a touchdown pass, but at the end of the day, he didn’t contribute the way you’d think the highest-paid tight end in the NFL might.

9. Will Michael Clayton’s success continue?

Almost impressive as Cadillac was Michael Clayton’s performance. He was the leading receiver and made impressive catches for most of the afternoon. If Bryant is out of action, can he function as the No. 1 receiver?

10. Will the special teams improve from their sub-standard performance?

The Bucs need to get Clifton Smith rolling and need to find out if Michael Nugent is a reliable field goal kicker. Take away the blocked kick and he was still 0-for-1. In close games, he’ll be needed.

There you have it, Buccaneer fans. Ten questions. 

The answers?

They’ll come around 7 p.m. Sunday.

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This Buccaneer Loss Was ‘Secondary’

Perhaps Raheem Morris should consider demoting himself and return to handle the Tampa Bay Buccaneer secondary.

If he does, he better take a bucket of water with him. His secondary was burnt, scorched, and fried in the opener Sunday against Dallas.

The Bucs once had a defensive back named Rod Jones. His nickname was “toast” because he was burnt so often.

The Bucs have a new “toast.” His name is Sabby Piscatelli.

The burning secondary was hit for 353 yards and three touchdowns by Tony Romo in that dreadful 34-21 debacle of an opener Sunday at Ray-Jay. Piscatelli was so far out of position that two long scoring strikes came as a result of his mistakes.

Romo hit the Bucs with bombs of 42, 66, and 80 yards.

You think they were missing the suspended Tanard Jackson?

Morris afterwards put the spin of a rebuilding program on the loss.

“We will get better. We’re building blocks. This was a building block.”

More like blockhead.

Blockhead play by the secondary.

Linebacker Barrett Ruud knew where the problems were. “This was more about breakdowns than getting out manned,” he said.

And it was sad that it was the defense that buckled in this debut game of the Morris era.

The offense played and played well and the stadium was energized by the running return of Cadillac Williams, who ran early and often and finished with 97 yards on 13 carries while Derrick Ward added 62 on 12 carries.

The three-headed attack failed to materialize as Earnest Graham saw little action.

Byron Leftwich did remarkably well and appeared exhausted and physically battered when it all ended.

Michael Clayton played well. Antonio Bryant did as well, but re-injured his surgically repaired knee.

His wasn’t the only injury. Center Jeff Faine left with an elbow injury and Jeremy Zuttah hurt an ankle. Sammie Stroughter suffered a shoulder injury.

In all, not good news for these newbies.

Yes, the Bucs secondary made Patrick Crayton (4/135) and Roy Williams (3/86) look sensational.

It may take a few days for the flames to subside.

Morris better throw a heavy dose of water on his former charges.

And the biggest bucket better land on Piscatelli.

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Here’s The 2009 Prediction!

“…A lot of people are sleeping on us because we’re young with a new coaching staff and a new system.”

   Tampa Bay Buccaneer defensive end Jimmy Wilkerson

 

This is what you’ve waited for. It’s what you have demanded, dreamed about.

This IS the prediction for the 2009 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

No, Jimmy Wilkerson, we are not “sleeping” on the Bucs. Nor are we making our playoff reservations quite yet.

We’re breaking this thing down after OTAs, mini-camp, training camp and four preseason games.

Here’s what we’ve got.

Preface the prediction with two scenarios:

THE ULTIMATE OPTIMIST: Byron Leftwich turns into Tom Brady. Cadillac Williams, Derrick Ward and Earnest Graham combine to rush for 3,000 yards. Kellen Winslow Jr. actually plays an entire season and makes splash plays. Michael Clayton climbs out of Jon Gruden’s dog-house and is born-again as the second coming Jerry Rice. The team goes virtually injury-free all season. The Buccaneer defense racks up 30 sacks, terrorizes the NFC South, NFC East and AFC East.

Buccaneers go 12-4 and deep, deep into the playoffs. Raheem “The Dream” Morris is declared the second coming of Mike Tomlin and Tony Dungy combined.

THE ULTIMATE PESSIMIST: Leftwich is a total bum, throws seven interceptions in the first four games, get “planted” standing in the pocket and Josh Freeman is forced into action. The running game is stifled by tough NFC East defenses, Williams, Ward and Graham rush for 1,000 yards COMBINED. Antonio Bryant gets double-teamed. Clayton is dogged all season by a hamstring injury. Winslow Jr. suffers an ankle sprain in Game Two and is ineffective the entire season. The team is riddled with injuries. The defense spends too much time on the field thanks to no offense and wears down in most games.

Buccaneers go 4-12. Fans call for the head of Raheem Morris. Season ticket sales drop to an all-time low.

Okay, perhaps reality is somewhere in between.

Here’s our “SCIENTIFIC” breakdown:

Games the Bucs have a decent chance to win:

at Buffalo; Jets; Green Bay; at Miami; Carolina; Dallas; at Seattle.

They will win FIVE of those games.

Games the Bucs have a much lesser chance to win:

at Carolina; Atlanta; at Atlanta; at Washington.

They will win ONE of those games.

Games the Bucs have little-to-no chance to win:

Giants; at  Philly; New England (in London); at New Orleans; New Orleans.

They will win ONE of  those games.

Wow, that adds up to SEVEN WINS. That’s 7-9.

Could have been better but the suspension of Tanard Jackson for the first four games will be costly. With Xavier Fulton on injured reserve and the guy from Alabama with mental problems, Aaron Sears, not reporting for duty, the offensive line suddenly lacks the depth  that was anticipated.

There you have it.

SEVEN WINS, NINE LOSSES.

We’re not sleeping on the Bucs, just sitting back, relaxing and ready to watch and see.

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Josh Freeman: Buccaneers Place Him One Good Hit From The Starting Role

For the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the dye is cast.

The team is chosen, including the “Chosen One.”

The roster is set, players have been released and serious business is at hand.

This Buccanner team is set to start the 2009 season with new coaches and a lot of new faces on that roster.

The quarterback lineup shows that fact.

For all intents and purposes, it appears it’s Byron Leftwich followed by Josh Freeman then Josh Johnson.

That was set up by a late trade Saturday that sent backup Luke McCown to the struggling Jacksonville Jaguars for a draft pick that will probably turn out to be a fifth or sixth round selection.

Fact is, the Bucs were fortunate to find a taker for McCown. It helped them dump more than $4 million in salary.

And it helped them roster-wise by keeping three quarterbacks rather than a crazy Jon Gruden-like total of four.

There were no huge surprises when it came to the cuts.

Kick Matt Bryant knew he was on his way out with his sore hamstring.

Two surprise roster winners were offensive linemen Demar Dotson and University of South Florida product Marc Dile.

Running back Kareem Huggins didn’t make it but will probably be back on  the practice squad if he clears waivers.

Rookie Xavier Fulton went on injured reserve with a bad knee and safety Tanard Jackson is off the roster for the first four games under suspension by the league.

But the story goes back to the quarterback trio.

Leftwich, who has been known as the fragile-type, is one good hit away.

He’s one good hit away from the backup taking over.

We all know Byron is not the quickest guy around. He’s vulnerable in that pocket.

He’ll be vulnerable to some very strong defensive lines that make up  the NFC East and NFC South competition.

It all starts this week.

Dallas will arrive in seven days.

Raheem Morris has his roster, and his hopes and dreams.

And he has Byron, Josh, and Josh.

By gosh.

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers Preseason Is Done, Thank Goodness

“The kid is impressing me. I would like to see him get more reps. I feel like I’m running a campaign for him…”

Former Buc John Lynch on Josh Freeman during WFLA telecast

 

Thank goodness it is over, done, in the books.

Buccaneer preseason 2009 ended with a 27-20 loss to the Houston Texans Friday night, as if that really matters.

The Bucs won one, lost three of these practice games.

Doesn’t matter.

What matters is that the Bucs must now find their 45-man roster and eight-player practice squad.

What matters is that GM Mark Dominik came on the tube during the game and declared that this team will probably have all four quarterbacks on its roster come Saturday afternoon.

How very Jon Gruden-like.

Former Buccaneer safety John Lynch was emphatic during his work in the broadcast booth Friday night. He likes rookie Josh Freeman and thinks he should be closer to the lead, rather than projected as the third quarterback on the Tampa roster.

Freeman shook off a couple of interception Friday night and managed to throw his first touchdown pass as he ran a nifty two-minute drill that ended with a perfect 23-yard bullet of a pass to Cortez Hankton for the touchdown. That score made it 17-10, Houston at the half.

Josh Johnson looked good as well. He played with enough poise to make a case for not keeping Luke McCown on the roster. Johnson finished with 187 yards passing and a TD, going 12-for-21.

When all was said and done, these were some key points:

The Buccaneer first-team defense got in some early work and was again, impressive.

The Bucs’ second-team defense made Rex Grossman look like an All-Pro quarterback. Gross threw for 197 yards. He hit a long 87-yarder to Jacoby Jones, who got behind Tanard Jackson for a touchdown.

Jackson, beaten on that long one, played most of the game. It will be his last time in uniform until week five of the regular season.

Head coach Raheem Morris had predicted at halftime that his team would come out and win the game in the second half.

Didn’t happen.

Didn’t matter.

What matters is that he must now choose his roster and get this team ready for Dallas.

He has eight days.

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Buccaneers Coach Raheem Morris Tap Dances Around Jagozinski Firing

Just call it the “Raheem Morris Shuffle.”

A skittish dance at best by the Buccaneers’ birthday boy.

He has fired his offensive coordinator, Jeff Jagodzinski Thursday morning and stepped forward with his explanation at a press conference shortly after the announcement.

“Today we had to make some changes, today we let Jeff Jagodzinski move on…” is how Morris began his explanation process.

“We have to be more precise, more detailed,” is how Morris said as he went into more detail on the decision to cut Jagodzinski loose. A decision, Morris explained, “that is on me and Mark Dominik (GM).”

Morris kept saying the offense needs, “more direction, more direction,” but was vague in explaining what exactly that meant.

Morris said the offense “was going in the right direction,” but then contradicted himself saying, “we need more direction, more precision, we weren’t getting it. You gotta make the change.”

He went on to say that new offensive coordinator, Greg Olson, promoted from the quarterback’s coach position, “is being more precise.”

There you have it. Precision, direction.

“We’re trying to grow constantly,” Morris told reporters gathered at One Buc Place.

Of course there was the company-prepared statement from Jagodzinski:

“I’m certainly disappointed…..I wish nothing but the best for the organization.”

Ho-hum.

A shocking and difficult announcement by the head coach who turns 33 today.

As far as those difficult decisions, Morris said:

“They get more difficult every day….”

Buccaneers Fire Offensive Coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski

If you think everything’s good at One Buccaneer Place, think again.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made the shocking announcement Thursday morning that offensive coordinator Jeff Jagozinski has been fired.

You read that right. He’s been fired, dismissed, canned.

Raheem Morris, head coach of the Bucs, celebrated his 33rd birthday with the stunning move.

It was reported on ProFootballTalk.com, then confirmed on the team’s website.

Per PFT, there may have been friction between Jagodzinski, the former Boston College head coach and quarterbacks coach Greg Olsen. Olsen has been elevated to the offensive coordinator position, only 10 days from the season opener against Dallas.

The friction, per PFT, may have stemmed from the decision to start Bryon Leftwich at quarterback.

Stunning news, to say the least.

And it has to leave people wondering if things are really going well at One Buccaneer Place.

Buccaneers Say Goodbye to Dexter Jackson

He was a mistake by the Bruce Allen-Jon Gruden administration.

It was no secret that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers seemingly made a huge draft mistake in April of 2008 when they selected Dexter Jackson from Appalachian State in the second round with the 58th overall pick.

Jackson was a complete and total bust and the Buccanners admitted it Monday when they released him to get to the NFL-mandated 75 players roster limit.

Head coach Raheem Morris told us early that Jackson wasn’t his kind of player.

The knock on Jackson was that he was contact-shy, a fatal disease for an NFL football player.

Draft experts declared him a “reach” when Allen and Gruden went for him. They were blinded by Jackson’s 40-time.

“I want to know who scouted him?” WDAE radio host and former Tampa Bay Buccaneer player Ian Beckles asked.

Beckles’ question has been asked by many since the day Jackson was drafted.

Jackson also showed an inconsistency when it came to pass-catching. You could see that during the Buccanners training camp. Dropped passes doom NFL hopefuls.

The release of Jackson shows that the new regime has no attachment to the players they did not select, although new Buccaneer GM Mark Dominik was on Allen’s staff and it is uncertain if he had any input with those high draft decisions.

Jackson is gone and 22 more players will be on their way out of the organization before the start of the regular season.

This one came as no surprise. 

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