11 Happy Thoughts
September 20th, 2009
"Let me get this straight, zebras, you saw the football hit the ground on the replay and you didn't overturn the interception. What you got against me?"
Joe can’t be all negative. It’s not like the Bucs have lost six in a row and have a raw, 21-year-old quarterback waiting to take the reins.
Oh, wait.
So Joe is reaching for 11 positives in these minutes following the 33-20 loss to Buffalo.
1) Cornerback Elbert Mack had excellent man coverage on Lee Evans on multiple occasions. Evans had just one catch.
2) Josh Freeman says he’s better than Mark Sanchez. And Mark Sanchez has proven in two games that he’s pretty damn good.
3) Kellen Winslow can get open and catch the ball. He blocks worse than many high schoolers, but he’s still a phenomenal weapon.
4) Byron Leftwich has a hefty set of jewels to take all those hits and hang in the pocket time after time. Hopefully, some of his toughness will rub off on Josh Freeman.
5) The loss to the Bills wasn’t all on the Bucs. The Bucs got outright screwed by the officials in the first quarter, when the Bills’ first interception wasn’t overturned on review. Might have been a very different game.
6) Earnest Graham is awfully fresh after three carries in two games.
7) Rookie defensive tackle Roy Miller got his first sack, and it’s obvious the third round pick at least belongs on the field in an NFL uniform. Joe can’t say that much for Gaines Adams.
8. Greg Olson’s playcalling is pretty good, considering they just handed him the offense. This isn’t Chucky’s anemic red zone offense.
9) Defensive end Tim Crowder flashed some speed, football smarts and energy. Not bad for a guy on his couch last week. The young former second-pick might be a steal.
10) Donald Penn has to be one of the top pass-blocking left tackles in football. Leftwich dropped back 50 times, and Penn was near perfect.
11) If Raheem The Dream is going to continue to foolishly go for it on fourth down at the wrong times, Joe’s going to lose weight from all the vomiting.
September 20th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
I agree with you Joe, I really enjoyed the offensive play calling and even though the game plan got away it was still entertaining to watch. This could have been much worse of a blowout. Olsen showed he has some talent for the job.
Going into the fourth quarter for the second week in a row, this team had a chance at it.
Loved the Seinfeld references by the way.
Face Masking- four times. C’mon your not trying hard enough. What’s the record?
Poor tackles were very reminiscent of the last four games of last season.
Too many penalties and not enough hitting and tackling.
Gaines Adams still fails to make any big positive plays and the face masking penalty was just plain stupid. He’s starting to look a lot like another high draft pick, Piñata Walker anyone?
Crazy thought, but any chance the Glazers can substitute the Mann U team for the Bucs in London and save airfare and hotel costs. The NFL might agree because then people might actually want to watch that game.
By the way, As a final note, don’t expect high attendance for the Giants game from the Buccaneer faithful. That last playoff game against them was probably the worst fan experience I ever had as a season ticket holder. I wasn’t the only one that felt this way. We have all been to games that had a lot of opposition fans and usually its good spirited fun, but in my opinion, Giant fans really don’t cut it as true sportsmen for a variety of reasons. They just suck.
September 20th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
“Drown the Dream”
September 20th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Joe, I like you for this reason. Even when you have your toung in your cheek, you still ferret out some positives. I also saw some positives.
The defense, while it has it’s flaws that need to be worked on, still showed speed and a certain amount of brutality that I liked! I saw some hits thrown in that game that were reminiscent of the John Lynch days. Even when the Bills completed a short pass, most of the time there were three defenders there to make him pay.
Offensively, the biggest difference between this year and last year is that these guys are puting out and willing to make the diving catches and take the hits. Unfortunately, the guy throwing to them is having to make rush decisions and not throwing the ball all that well when under pressure.
Another positive, even if the season is a wash…we get a high pick in the first round next season!!!
I like to win as much as the next guy, but when the prospects are grim, I like to see that the organization is looking to the future by going young and rebuilding so that we may find success in the future, instead of allowing Gruden to keep bringing in high priced journeymen veterans who are prone to injury and take up space on the roster for some future who might be with the team for a long time, instead of just one season.
Rant over…
September 20th, 2009 at 11:02 pm
hey joe how do you like my new catch phrase?
September 21st, 2009 at 12:55 am
Buffalo Blitzed almost every play….and Leftwich or Olie watched….and did vitually nothing about it. 2.nd half was the wost Bucs’ play on O & D inat least 20 years. Leftwich sucks and has to go. They should just push Bates out of the plane without a parachute. He was asleep for most of the game. Hey I hav an idea. Let’s rush 4 guys, and if we don’t get pressure, we’ll rush 4 guys again. Wow, they have no one in the backfield but the QB. Hey, I know, let’s rush 4 guys. Hey wait they’re tired, lets rush a different 4 guys. Buc rule = No more than 4 guys will be allowed to rush at any one time. Giants 52 – Bucs 17. Time to put Josh Johnson in. Fire Bates. Fire Raheem, Demote Olie back to where he belongs…and beg beg beg Bill Cowher or Shanahan to Coach this mess. You can even hire Chuckie for free. After all, your already paying him. He’s better than these bunch of Yeahoos. What a joke. Worst Buc performance in years. Sorry, I thought this team would be better than this. What an idiot I am. If they win 1 or 2 games this year, I’ll be shocked. I’m sure when they get the #1 draft pick, they’ll draft a FRANCHISE PUNTER. Incompetence is running rampid at 1 SUC Place. They have all run amuck. Raheem should have tried High School first as a HC.
September 21st, 2009 at 3:19 am
Agreed on Bates. What a joke. Where are all those agressive blitz packages. He sucks, and he doesn’t have the talent. A losing combination.