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... ;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bucs 27  Falcons 20</description><link>http://bucca ...
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<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><rss xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:openSearch="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/" xmlns:blogger="http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008" xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0" version="2.0"><channel><atom:id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29445252</atom:id><lastBuildDate>Thu, 07 Mar 2024 07:29:34 +0000</lastBuildDate><title>Buccaneer Harbour</title><description>News and Opinion on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers</description><link>http://buccaneerharbour.blogspot.com/</link><managingEditor>noreply@blogger.com (Richard P)</managingEditor><generator>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>256</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29445252.post-2536701275332409851</guid><pubDate>Sun, 14 Dec 2008 02:39:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-12-13T22:27:26.511-05:00</atom:updated><title>The Talking Plank - Week 14</title><description>The Talking Plank - Week 14 <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1909/3126/1600/NewTalkingPlank.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1909/3126/320/NewTalkingPlank.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> Bucs At Falcons: Well, last week's game pissed me off so much that I really didn't have much of a desire to address that game (Defense gets an F, BTW). From the refs not making some proper calls, including missing a ton of obvious holds by the Panthers OL, to the missed tackles (number well into the 20's), it was a game best forgotten. The Bucs can still win the division by going 3-0 and the Panthers going 2-1 (or even 2-1 Bucs, 1-2 Panthers as long as we beat the Falcons tomorrow). The Falcons are looking to stay in the race, but the Bucs will be absolutely pissed on defense after a game like that. Plus, the Falcons are a much weaker defensive team than the Panthers. So who will win this one? On Offense, the Bucs come in ranked 12th overall (339.2y/g), 17th in points (23.3/g), 12th passing (223.6y/g), and 13th rushing (115.5y/g). The Falcons' defense is ranked 22nd overall (344.8y/g), 11th in points allowed (20.8/g), 23rd against the pass (223y/g), and 22nd against the run (121.8y/g). In last week's game, the Saints racked up over 180 yards on the ground against the Falcons. Now the Falcons get to defend against the Bucs with Jackson's knee banged up and with Abraham suffering with a thigh injury. The Falcons aren't good at all against the run with Jackson out or banged up, so the Bucs should be able to run against the Falcons up the middle at times. Where they really had success, though, was on the outside, and I expect Dunn and Caddy to get plenty of opportunities to take it to the outside on the Falcons' defense. The Falcons' have decent linebackers, but not good enough to deal with good edge rushing teams. Houston is their best, by far, corner, and the Falcons' safeties are alright, but not spectacular. So the Bucs should be able to exploit this secondary as long as the QB stays relatively upright. If Abraham can't go, the Falcon's lose over half of their 24 total sacks. If Penn can keep Abraham in check if he goes, then the Falcons' will struggle to get a pass rush going. Of course, the QB they will be rushing is a bit of a mystery. Gruden apparently believes Garcia will go, but if he doesn't, it will be Luke. That makes gauging the passing game a little difficult. Garcia has finally started trying to hit the deep ball with a little more frequency, but you can see that his deep accuracy isn't what it used to be, and he never had a really strong arm anyway. If Luke plays, he can accurately hit passes anywhere on the field, and he's a better, and much faster, runner than Garcia is, which could prove really usefull. Either guy should be able to take advantage of Bryant and Clayton going against this defensive backfield. One of them is going to be open on most plays, so we just need to hit them. Using the tight ends will also work well against the Falcons' linebackers. I exepect to see the offensive line play well enough to allow the Bucs to have a solid running game and give the QB time, on most throws, to hit the receivers down the field and stretch this Atlanta defense. I see the running game chewing up some clock, and giving the defense plenty of rest. I fully expect to see the Bucs post more than 20 points in this game. On Defense, the Bucs come in ranked 9th overall (293.7y/g), 5th in points allowed (18.3/g), 4th against the pass (182.6y/g), and 19th against the run (111.1y/g). The Falcons come in ranked 5th in total offense (366.7y/g), 9th in points (24.8/g), 13th passing (220y/g), and 2nd rushing (146.7y/g). As in week 1, the key to stopping the Falcons is to stop the run. After last Monday's debacle, the defense is going to be fired up and flying to the ball. Expect them to play top notch and take advantage of the fact that the Falcons' aren't as healthy on the OL as they were in week 2 when the Bucs got 4 sacks and shut down Turner. The Bucs still gave up 105 yards rushing, but they forced 2 fumbles and 2 picks and harassed Ryan all game as they made the rushing game average. If the Bucs' offense can get an early lead, the defense will really be able to tee off and make it even harder for the Falcons. Without a dominant running game, the Falcons tend to have a much harder time getting it done on offense. The secondary will be primarily focused on shutting Roddy White down. If they can double him up, single up on Jenkins, and keep the other safety up close to stop the run and defend agains the Tight Ends, the Bucs should be able to slow Atlanta's offense down. Atlanta will still score some points, but I don't think we will see anything like Monday's game. On Special Teams, the Bucs come in averaging 9.8 yards per punt return (16.7 by Smith) and 24.6 yards per kick (29 by Smith), while allowing 8.4 on punts and 20.3 on kicks. The Falcons are averaging 9.3 per punt (15.2 by Douglas) and 22.5 per kick, while allowing 1.7 per punt and 22.5 per kick. The Falcons have gotten teams to fair catch 20 times in the punting game, which helps reflect on the punt return numbers. In either case, Smith has been a big weapon for the Bucs, and I expect him to find a way to get some big returns this week. The Bucs should be up to the task of slowing down the Falcons. With this game in a dome, Elam will have the advantage over Bryant, but both kickers are solid and can win this game with a field goal if it comes down to it. I don't know if Special Teams will be big in this game or not. I have a feeling, after really not getting any shots last week, that Smith will be itching to bust a big return in the punting game. That could be the difference. When it comes right down to it, I think the Bucs' offense will put up some points, while I expect the defense to come in like a crazed banshee, wanting to prove that MNF was a fluke. Historically, the Bucs have followed up crappy games like that with a big game the next week. With the Bucs tending to have success in Atlanta, and against the Falcons in general, I believe the Bucs will come out and keep pace in the division and take the dirty birds down. Bucs 27 Falcons 20</description><link>http://buccaneerharbour.blogspot.com/2008/12/talking-plank-week-14.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Richard P)</author><thr:total>2</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29445252.post-3966631960585459605</guid><pubDate>Sun, 14 Dec 2008 02:28:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-12-13T21:39:08.898-05:00</atom:updated><title>McCown or Garcia?</title><description>Well, Gruden seems to think Garcia is going to go, but somehow I have a feeling that he may not go, or may not last long if it appears the injury is hampering him. The Bucs, though they can still get into the playoffs with a loss today, are in a tough spot where they really need to win this game to take control of their playoff destiny, and stay in the hunt for the Division. If the Bucs win out (likely if they win tomorrow) then they just need the Panthers to lose one game (they host the Broncos, go to the Giants, then go to the Saints), and they win the division. So Gruden isn't likely to give Garcia too much of a leash in this one if that injury hampers him. In fact, if he doesn't appear to be close to 100% in pre-games, I think Luke will get the nod. Luke started against the Saints last year in another "control for the division" game, and won. In fact, all three of his starts were solid, with him finishing with passer ratings of 108.7 against the Saints, 108.6 against the Panthers, and 86.1 against the Texans. Coming off the bench against the 49ers he had a 70.4 passer rating. All solid numbers. His biggest problem was taking a second or two too long to deliver a pass, and thereby taking some sacks. Of course, our line was a bit of a sieve up the middle, which is no longer the case with Faine in there. Soe we'll see what happens. McCown is clearly a more talented QB than Garcia and Griese combined, but his lack of game experience shows in the speed with which he goes through his progressions. Whether or not he'll be faster now is hard to say, though he did appear to be noticeably quicker in his reads in the pre-season. Whoever starts, let's hope we get this win and maybe we'll see the Panthers go down to the Broncos. If so, we can root for the Panthers to beat the Giants and maybe still actually have a shot at homefield throughout. Right now, we're the top wildcard, which still means hitting the road.</description><link>http://buccaneerharbour.blogspot.com/2008/12/mccown-or-garcia.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Richard P)</author><thr:total>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29445252.post-1055719692806502710</guid><pubDate>Mon, 08 Dec 2008 21:01:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-12-08T17:05:57.115-05:00</atom:updated><title>The Talking Plank - Week 13</title><description>The Talking Plank - Week 13 (MNF Style) <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1909/3126/1600/NewTalkingPlank.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1909/3126/320/NewTalkingPlank.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> Bucs At Panthers: Both teams come into this match-up at 9-3. If the Bucs win, they are fully in the driver's seat and can wrap up the division with just 2 more wins or a combination of losses and one win. If the Panther's win, then the Bucs will need to win next week. Doing so get's them back in front on the tie-breakers, and they can still win the Division if the Panthers fall to either the Giants or Saints (both road games). But the winner of this game is clearly in the driver's seat for the crown. On Offense, the Bucs come in ranked 12th overall (335.4y/g), 17th in points (23.3/g), 13th passing (217.4y/g), and 11th rushing (118y/g). The Panthers are ranked 12th in overall defense (313.3y/g), 7th in points allowed (19.2/g), 11th against the pass (200.5y/g), and 19th against the run (112.8y/g). For the Bucs, this will be a tough venue to play in, as the Panthers are undeafeted at home. For the Bucs to be succesful on offense, they will need to establish the running game and will probably need to get Williams more involved. The Bucs need to attack the Panther's on the edge and run of left guard to attack the weaker areas of Carolina's run defense. If they can accomplish this, then the Bucs shouldn't have too much trouble keeping Garcia upright, assuming he doesn't keep running into sacks. Assuming Garcia is given time to throw, he'll need to find the open receiver and hit them quick, without hesitation, to keep the Panthers' secondary from defensing the pass. Last time Garcia used his tight ends well, and was able to hit 75% of his passes. I expect a similar result tonight. The Bucs should be able to move the ball pretty well. If they keep Peppers in check again, then the passing game should be able to feed off that running game and hold onto the ball. The Panthers have had trouble with teams holding the ball longer than them through an effective running game with some good play action passing. The Bucs will have some success. How much is the key. If they keep the Panthers on the sidelines for 32+ minutes, I would say the Bucs will win. On Defense, the Bucs come in ranked 4th overall (279.5y/g), 4th in points allowed (16.7/g), 4th against the pass (184.1y/g), and 11th against the run (95.4y/g). The Panthers are ranked 17th overall (325.8y/g), 13th in points (23.8/g), 22nd passing (192.6y/g), and 7th rushing (133.2y/g). It's no secret, the Bucs need to contain Williams and Stewart in the running game to slow the Panther's' offense. If they do this, they will indeed make it tough for the Panthers to move the ball and score, much as it was a problem for them back at Ray Jay. In fact, the Delhomme has struggled more against Tampa 2 defenses this season than any other. If the Bucs can repeat their efforts against the running game, and get pressure in Jake's face, he'll likely have another bad game, and then it's all up to the offense putting up enough points. While Smith will continue to be the focus in the passing game, getting Jake bothered will do more than anything else can for the defense. Barber has been playing exceptional the last couple of games, making a lot of big plays. He was playing rather poorly the last time these teams met, which could bode very well for our secondary. If the Bucs can hold Brees in check, they can do it to Delhomme, especially with the cold conditions expected tonight. If the Bucs can man up and shut Williams and Stewart down, it will be a long game for the Panthers' offense. I do, howver, expect the Panthers to have better success than last time. On Special Teams, the Bucs come in averaging 10 yards per punt (17.6 by Smith - 2nd in the league) and 25.3 yards per kick return. They are allowing 8.2 per punt and 20.4 per kick. The Panthers come in getting 11.1 per punt and 23.8 per kick while allowing 7.2 per punt and 21.8 per kick. The Panthers have a solid kick and punt coverage team, but they didn't face Smith in the first contest, and he could be a factor in this game where field position could be critical. On the flip side, after the Bucs held Bush to -16 yards on punt returns, and continued their excellence in kick coverage, look for them to put the brakes on the Panthers' return teams. If the Bucs can consistently win the field position battle, it could go a very long way toward winning this game. If it comes down to field goals, the Panthers' have a leg up, but Bryant seems to have a mission, so either kicker could be key in winning this game. Both punters are excellent. The coverage and return teams will determine the winner in this area. Personally, I think the Bucs are going to win the field position battle more often than not in the return game. I can also see this game coming down to a last second field goal to win it, which could go either way. With the cold conditions tonight (37 at kickoff, falling to 36) this game isn't likely to be easy. Quite frankly, I think the Bucs are the better team, and I think Gruden has them coming in with a chip on their shoulder about not hosting the MNF and, instead, being on the road for it. That lack of respect could drive the Bucs, but the Panthers' are likely pissed about the blow out in Ray Jay. This game can easily go either way, but I'm going to call it for the Panthers, knowing full well the Bucs could repeat their earlier performance. I hope they do. Panthers 20 Bucs 17</description><link>http://buccaneerharbour.blogspot.com/2008/12/talking-plank-week-13.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Richard P)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29445252.post-9206328764077240707</guid><pubDate>Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:47:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-12-04T20:55:46.395-05:00</atom:updated><title>Clifton Smith NFC ST Player Of The Month...Duh!!</title><description>In what was obviously a no-brainer, Clifton Smith was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Month for November. His outstanding returns, which include a kick and punt return during the month, are the primary reasons for his award. Clifton Smith has one of the highest punt and kick return averages in the league and continues to pile up the yardage. In the Lions' game he had 232 return yards, 158 in the Saints game, and 259 in the Chiefs game. The Vikes game only netted him 48 yards, but that added up to a total of 697 return yards. The equivalent of nearly 7 football fields, or nearly 70 first downs. All in just 4 games. When was the last time the Bucs ever had a returner this good? I would say never. Smith continues to be explosive on nearly every return attempt, and those short fields help the offense out a lot. Too bad he wasn't playing earlier this season. Congrats to an outstanding job, and here's to more returns for TD's, with hopefully one coming up this Monday night against the stinkin' Panthers!</description><link>http://buccaneerharbour.blogspot.com/2008/12/clifton-smith-nfc-st-player-of-monthduh.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Richard P)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29445252.post-5703241389910652432</guid><pubDate>Tue, 02 Dec 2008 01:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-12-01T20:13:08.898-05:00</atom:updated><title>SH_T! Bucs To Play In London Vs. Pats!!</title><description>In what I can only describe as a "this is total bullsh_t!!!!!!!!" moment...the Bucs have been tagged by the NFL to have a home game against the Patriots in London. This totally blows chunks. That's one less home game I can go to next year. I don't care that I won't have to pay for the game. I just want to be able to go to the stadium for a game that counts. The game is scheduled for October 25th, and the Bucs will get a BYE week the week after that game. If only they would give the teams an extra draft pick or something for this crap.</description><link>http://buccaneerharbour.blogspot.com/2008/12/sht-bucs-to-play-in-london-vs-pats.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Richard P)</author><thr:total>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29445252.post-3520114576345340606</guid><pubDate>Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:16:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-12-01T20:00:18.666-05:00</atom:updated><title>Bucs Beat Saints 23-20!</title><description>The Bucs, in the pouring rain, managed to hold on and beat the Saints, allowing them to stay on top of the division, go 6-0 at home, and set up a battle of 9-3's on MNF. How did the units do? Offense: The offense managed to move the ball at times, while being stuffed for stretches. Dunn had problems consistently getting traction on lateral runs, and had to pound it up the middle quite a bit. The result was an average per carry of 3.4 yards. Williams managed to get 4 carries and pounded out 20 yards, including his first TD in over a year, as he ran to the edge while getting excellent blocks from Trueblood and Clayton. Garcia was hot and cold, but more cold than hot. He made some critical plays running the ball for key yards, but his passing efforts left a whole lot to be desired. He went 9 of 23 for the game, and missed some open receivers, including a pass he threw to Clayton that would have been a TD if it was thrown correctly. He did manage to hit Bryant, however, for a 39 yard TD bomb, where he let the ball go just as he was getting creamed. Bryant had to slow up for the ball, but he was wide open after getting both safeties to squat on his moves. Clayton was also the recipient of a 26 yard pass when he was open on an intermediate crossing route. While some of those plays by Garcia were excellent, there were too many times, especially late in the game, when he couldn't convert a third down, and when he ran right into a sack. If Garcia doesn't settle down and maintain sharper play, we won't go far in the playoffs. Let's hope he gets back on track and stays there. Williams should also start getting more carries to give the Bucs another runner to spell Dunn and to give us more power. Caddy looked very good on his runs, and should have gotten more. The offense put up 23 points and did just enough to win the game. Overall grade: B- Defense: The defense had a tough task ahead of it: stopping Drew Brees. They managed to shut down the Saints running game, and pretty much forced the Saints to pass for most of the game (Brees threw 47 passes). The Bucs top tier pass defense was solid for much of the game, but did give up some yards. They also gave up a few big plays, but also stuffed some as well. Not only did the secondary manage a few defensed passes, they also picked the ball off 4 times, though one was taken back on a BS penalty on Barber. I should clarify that, of the three that stood, 2 were by DB's, while the third was caused by Barber tipping a pass to the endzone up into the air for June to pick off. That ended a Saints scoring driving. Buchanon's pick basically sealed the game. The linebackers were active with Brooks knocking a pass away and nearly picking another one, giving him 2 defensed passes to go with 5 tackles. Ruud continued to play well, racking up some big stops. June had a couple of key plays including the pick in the endzone. The defensive line helped to make it difficult for the Saints to run. They had problems getting consistent pressure on Brees, but managed to get it at some opportune times. Adams managed to turn the heat up late in the game getting a half sack, several pressures, and hitting Brees on one pass attempt that forced the pass to go awry. Overall, the defense slowed the Saints down enough to win the game. If not for the BS call on Barber, the Saints might have only scored one TD in the whole game. Overall grade: B+ Special Teams: The Special Teams were awesome yesterday. Smith continued to make big returns happen, helping the Bucs get some excellent field position. He took the opening second half kick 39 yards to the Bucs 39, but got 15 more yards because his face mask was used to bring him down from behind, as he would have gotten more yards than even that. The extra 15 yards set up the offense in Saints territory and led to a TD. Smith averaged 16.4 yards per punt return which helped convert some long punts by the Saints (Gross of 49.4 yards) into a net of just 33 yards per punt. The Bucs' coverage units did an outstanding job of shutting Bush, and others, down in the return game. Bush was held to -16 yards on 2 punts (-4 and -12), for an average of -8 yards per punt return. That made for the weird statistic where Bidwell's net (39.5) was larger than his gross (36.8). The two kick returners, Roby and Meachem, were held to an average of 16 yards per kick return. Overall, the coverage teams were outstanding all game and really helped limit the Saints starting field position. Bryant hit all 3 field goal attempts, including the game winner. His ability to hit 87.5% of his kicks this year, despite the tragic loss of his son, is amazing. Overall, the Special Teams played a huge part in this win. Overall grade: A Coaching: Gruden had a solid game plan that worked well at times, but at other times was hampered by poor decisions on Garcia's part. Some nice plays hit the Saints for some big gains, including a nice end around by Bryant, the big wide open pass play to Bryant, Clayton's play, and Williams TD run, all examples of excellent plays that were called and well executed. Some plays could have been better executed, and I think Gruden should have used Williams more, though I think the field conditions may have led to his reluctance to use him. Monte had a pretty good defensive game plan, forcing the Saints to be patient, which is tough for Brees, and to go the whole field. There were times when I think he should have played a little more man coverage, but the defense got it done and made some key turnovers. Bisaccia had his unit playing almost as good as it can possibly play. Only thing missing was a TD return, which nearly happened twice. Overall, the Bucs were able to win a game in sloppy conditions and slow down the Saints' best units to win the game. Overall grade: B This was a much needed win and sets the Bucs up with their best record ever after 12 games, matching the 2002 Super Bowl year at 9-3. The Bucs have 2 road contests coming up against the Panthers and Falcons, them come home for two straight winnable games. If they can win one of these road games, and win their last two home games, they'll be in the playoffs, and likely will win the Division. If they beat the Panthers, then they only need to win their home games to win the South and probably to get the BYE.</description><link>http://buccaneerharbour.blogspot.com/2008/12/bucs-beat-saints-23-20.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Richard P)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29445252.post-6405229675185280933</guid><pubDate>Sat, 29 Nov 2008 01:52:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-11-28T22:10:17.201-05:00</atom:updated><title>The Talking Plank - Week 12</title><description>The Talking Plank - Week 12 <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1909/3126/1600/NewTalkingPlank.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1909/3126/320/NewTalkingPlank.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> Saints At Bucs: The Bucs begin a 3 game NFC South stretch that can define their playoff position, or could end their playoff run before it starts. The Saints just got off a Monday Night game against the Packers, one in which they ran up the score. Now the Bucs need to take revenge for their game 1 loss and take control of their Division. On Offense, the Bucs come in ranked 12th overall (342.8y/g), 16th in points (23.4/g), 11th passing (227.6y/g), and 13th rushing (115.2y/g). The Saints come in ranked 22nd in total defense (345.9y/g), 24th in points allowed (25.3/g), 24th against the pass (235.1y/g), and 18th against the run (110.8y/g). The Bucs were able to put up some yards and points against the Saints in week 1, despite really poor play from Garcia, which ended up in his benching. Since then, Garcia has started to play like the Garcia from early last season. He's starting to take more chances, and starting to attack down field more. Now the Bucs, having come back, yet again, on the road, come home where they are 5-0. Dunn will continue to be the primary runner, but Williams will likely start to get more carries, and more opportunities in the passing game. With both runners, the Bucs should be able to mix it up enough to make it tough on the Saints' defense to key on the runners, assuming Gruden does leave Williams in on enough pass plays to keep them honest. Alex Smith may be available for the game, but will be a game time decision, but Stevens can abuse the Saints, who can't match up. The Bucs will likely focus on attacking the Saints through the air to open up the running game, and to attack the endzone. Bryant, Clayton, and Hilliard should be able to take advantage of this secondary. If Garcia continues to attack more, and hit the receivers that are open down the field, the Bucs will score points, and score plenty. The Saints only have 20 sacks, and I don't expect him to be under too much pressure. If he keeps his cool and stays upright, he should have a good game, and the running game should augment the passing game enough to score well over 20 points. On Defense, the Bucs are ranked 4th overall (274.7y/g), 3rd in points allowed (16.4/g), 2nd against the pass (174.6y/g), and 13th against the run (100.1y/g). The Saints' offense is ranked 1st overall (411.9y/g), 3rd in points (28.8/g), 1st passing (319.5y/g), and 27th rushing (92.4y/g). The Bucs played somewhat poorly against the Saints the first time these teams met. Since then the defense has become much better, and been very good against a plethora of highly rated offenses. The Bucs are currently holding opposing QB's to a 71.4 passer rating, and look to have a better game against Brees than the first time. They've recently gotten a much better pass rush, but this has been against weaker offensive lines. The Saints have only allowed 9 sacks all year, with one coming from the Bucs. Brees was able to hit some big plays in this game, and the Bucs must be weary of that happening again. Look for the Bucs to start, as always, with the running game, and then to try and put some pressure on Brees. I expect some creative blitzing, and aggressive play by the offensive line. The Saints aren't nearly as good on the road as they are in the dome, and the Bucs only lost game 1 by 4 points and were driving for the winning score when Garcia threw a pick. So the Saints can be slowed down, and I expect the environment at Ray Jay to be tough enough for the much improved defense to take the Saints down a notch. I can see a couple of picks in this game. Bush is not nearly as fast on the grass as he is on turf, and I believe the Bucs will slow him down dramatically. While I don't expect the defense to stuff the Saints, I do expect them to slow the Saints down. This may be helped out by our offense holding the ball for long periods of times and keeping the Saints' offense off the field. On Special Teams, the Bucs are averagin 9 yards per punt return (18.1 by Smith) and 25.2 yards per kick (30.3 by Smith). The Bucs are allowing 9.5 yards per punt and 20.9 yards per kick. The Saints are averaging 19.8 yards per punt and 23.3 yards per kick, while allowing 11.7 yards per punt and 23.3 yards per kick return. The Bucs will definitely have to work hard to shut down the Saints' punt return teams, but, at the same time, the Bucs should be able to take advantage of the Saints' coverage units. Smith could be a factor in this game. Whether or not Bush, who is averaging 10 more yards per punt than Lance Moore, will return punts or not is questionable. He expects to play and perform in all facets, but we'll see. Both punters are excellent, so there's no significant advantage for either team. The Saints are on their third place kicker, so it will be interesting to see the impact here. The Bucs are probably the team most likely to benefit from the field position battle, but the Saints can get great position as well, especially if Bush returns punts and the Bucs struggle to stop him. Hopefully, the home field advantage will play out here. In the end, the Saints have to come here, on the road, on a surface that negates some of their speed, and face a much improved Bucs' team that nearly beat them in game 1. Look for the Bucs to come out hitting and making plays. The Bucs win this game and start to take control of the South. Bucs 24 Saints 17</description><link>http://buccaneerharbour.blogspot.com/2008/11/talking-plank-week-12.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Richard P)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29445252.post-2833736073159144277</guid><pubDate>Thu, 27 Nov 2008 18:29:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-11-27T13:34:39.106-05:00</atom:updated><title>Ronde Named NFC Defensive Player Of The Week</title><description>Ronde Barber was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week due to his two interception performance, with one being returned for a TD, and the other setting up a TD drive. This was clearly an overdue performance, as Barber was getting picked on repeatedly, and has begun to show signs of slowing down. Whether or not this performance will launch him forward and impact his play in the future games is a big question mark. If it does, however, it will certainly help this team's defensive play down the stretch. The Bucs could certainly use a more effective Barber to help solidify the pass defense further and make this team a dominate defense for the play offs. We'll get to see real quick if it does with the Saints coming to town. If this team can markedly improve it's defensive effort against the Saints over what it did in the first game, that will be a real good sign. We shall see.</description><link>http://buccaneerharbour.blogspot.com/2008/11/ronde-named-nfc-defensive-player-of.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Richard P)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29445252.post-554155618098462253</guid><pubDate>Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:43:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-11-25T12:01:21.090-05:00</atom:updated><title>Bucs Beat Lions 38-20</title><description>Well, I haven't been able to see the whole game, just a lot of highlights, and a scouring of the game book. As such, I won't do a full review of this game. What is obvious, though, is that this team, more than any team in Bucs' history, at least to my recollection, is capable of coming back from just about any deficit. The Bucs were down 17-0 in the first quarter, primarily off blown coverage and a fumble return for a TD. The Bucs came back, scoring 21 points in 9 minutes. Garcia actually attacked early during this stretch hitting for a couple of deep TD passes. Dunn ripped off a long TD run. And Smith did it again by returning a punt for a TD. Before you knew it, the Bucs were up 35-17 before both teams finished their scoring with field goals. The defense had problems stopping the run early, but then shut the running game down. Barber, who got picked on early, intercepted two passes, setting up a quick TD pass on one, and returning the other for a TD. Together, all three phases continued to be effective overall and led the effort. Now the Bucs gear up to face the Saints who just ran the score up on the Packers last night. The Saints are 1-4 on the road, and the Bucs are certainly looking for a little revenge after the season opening loss. The Bucs follow this game up with games against the Panthers and Falcons. The next three games could make or break the Bucs' playoff aspirations. If the Bucs can pull off wins against all three, they'll be in the driver's seat for a BYE in the playoffs and will have likely won the division (Panthers would need one more loss to guarantee that). Should be interesting down the stretch, and the Bucs may actually have something to play for down the stretch.</description><link>http://buccaneerharbour.blogspot.com/2008/11/bucs-beat-lions-38-20.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Richard P)</author><thr:total>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29445252.post-1302221138258946709</guid><pubDate>Sun, 23 Nov 2008 01:11:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-11-22T21:59:59.947-05:00</atom:updated><title>The Talking Plank - Week 11</title><description>The Talking Plank - Week 11 <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1909/3126/1600/NewTalkingPlank.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1909/3126/320/NewTalkingPlank.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> Bucs At Lions: After making a tight game out of what should have been a blow out, the Bucs now travel to Detroit for the classic trap game. This is a team they should handle, but the Bucs have had troubles taking care of Detroit in the past, including last year. Detroit...umm...sucks. But hey, let's look at the match-ups. On Offense, the Bucs come in ranked 9th overall (351.6y/g), 21st in points (21.9/g), 8th passing (236.5y/g), and 14th rushing (115.1y/g). The Lions are ranked 31st in total defense (402.1y/g), 31st in points allowed (30.8/g), 23rd against the pass (230.6y/g), and 32nd against the run (171.5y/g). The Lions will not have the two defensive linemen that gave the Bucs a lot of trouble last year. Shaun Rodgers is gone, and Dewayne White is out for this game. The Lions have only managed 17 sacks, and are on pace to have given up 2000+ yards on the ground in after this game and the next. The Bucs will need to take advantage of the Lions' run defense, and their knowledge of the defense in general. The Lions will have a really hard time producing sacks against an offensive line that has only given up 11 sacks all season. With the lack of real size on the Lions' DL, the Bucs should be able to get some movement up front and generate some nice holes. The Lions' linebackers are quick, but undersized, and can be moved by our tight ends and fullbacks. The Lions' secondary isn't very good, and only has one of the Lions' meager 2 picks. This is a team the Bucs' offense should be able to take advantage of as long as Garcia doesn't play tentative and fail to take advantage of the plays that are there. I expect Dunn to be the main ball carrier, but also expect to see Caddy activated and used for a 5-10 plays in the game. Smith will likely get carries as well, but needs to hold onto the ball...something they worked on during the week. The Bucs' receivers should be able to take advantage of this secondary and havfe a pretty big game. In the end, I expect the Bucs to rack up the yards and score some points. On Defense, the Bucs defense is ranked 5th overall (281.5y/g), 4th in points allowed (16/g), 4th against the pass (182.2y/g), and 12th against the run (99.3y/g). The Lions' offense is ranked 28th overall (276.9y/g), 28th in points scored (17.3/g), 22nd passing (196y/g), and 30th rushing (80.9y/g). The Lions will be without their starting Center again, and will apparently be going with Culpepper at QB. The Bucs will need to pay attention to Johnson,and keep the deep ball from being a major weapon against them. Beyond that, the Bucs' defense should be able to corral the Lions' offense. They'll start with containing Kevin Smith. If they accomplish that, they should be able to get after Culpepper. The Lions' have given up 37 sacks so far this season. While their line is big, they seem to have problems dealing with athletic lineman and can't seem to consistently open holes. If the Bucs can contain Peterson, they can contain Smith. The Lions' various QB's have also coughed up 12 picks, and are -7 in turn over ratio. If the Bucs can keep the Lions' from hitting on the big plays, and keep the running game in check, the Lions' will be lucky to score more than 10 points. On Special Teams, the Bucs are averaging 7.5 yards per punt and 24.8 per kick return, while allowing 9.3 yards per punt, and 20.7 yards per kick. The Lions' are averaging 8.9 per punt and 21.4 per kick, while allowing 7.1 per punt and 21.1 per kick return. The Bucs are slightly better in the punting area with Bidwell, while Hanson is a better kicker. Bryant is still reasonably reliable, though. The Bucs should be able to continue to get excellent results from Smith, and look to continue to do better against opponent return teams. Field position shouldn't be too big of a deal in this game, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Bucs get a big return from Smith in this game. When it comes right down to it, barring the Bucs having a blow-up, they should be able to beat up on the 0-10 Lions. The only concern I have is that the Lions don't have anything to lose and will pull out every stop. I think the Bucs will be ready for them after what happened with the Chiefs. I see a big win in this game. Bucs 27 Lions 10</description><link>http://buccaneerharbour.blogspot.com/2008/11/talking-plank-week-11.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Richard P)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29445252.post-7380922034062042408</guid><pubDate>Sun, 23 Nov 2008 00:58:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-11-22T20:09:24.511-05:00</atom:updated><title>Blogging From WV</title><description>I haven't had time to blog about the last game and some of the happenings for the Bucs this week. The reason is the rather large number of things I had to take care of this past week in preparation for a trip to WV with the wife and kid. Now that I'm here, I have time to mention that losing Graham for the year really sucks. He was the team's power back, and we saw the results of not having that short yardage power back. Luckily, Williams may be ready to go down the stretch, and Askew can fill in for short yardage as well. The Bucs will really need to get Caddy going if they are going to get back to being successful on the ground. Dunn is an excellent scat back, and Smith is one as well, but Graham was the guy that got the yards even when defenders hit him. Caddy can do that as well, though maybe not as well, and has more power than Dunn or Smith. But if he goes this week, they'll be testing that knee on an artificial surface at Ford Field. Let's hope Caddy can come back and carry a few times to help relieve the load. Don't need Dunn to get overloaded on the carries.</description><link>http://buccaneerharbour.blogspot.com/2008/11/blogging-from-wv.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Richard P)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29445252.post-4475230828507286068</guid><pubDate>Sun, 16 Nov 2008 04:02:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-11-16T00:00:51.204-05:00</atom:updated><title>The Talking Plank - Week 10</title><description>The Talking Plank - Week 10 <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1909/3126/1600/NewTalkingPlank.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1909/3126/320/NewTalkingPlank.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> Vikings At Bucs: The Bucs are coming off a much needed BYE week, one that was proceeded by the largest comeback victory in franchise history. Now the Bucs get the 5-4 Vikings, who have the best running back in football. Will they be able to stop the run? Will they be able to run on the Vikings' top tier run defense? On Offense, the Bucs come in ranked 9th overall (350.3y/g), 16th in points (22.2/g), 9th passing (234.4y/g), and 11th rushing (115.9y/g). The Vikings' defense comes in ranked 6th in yards allowed (289.3y/g), 20th in points allowed (23.9/g), 19th against the pass (219.2y/g), and 3rd against the run (70.1y/g). The Vikings appear to have a top notch run defense, and the two Williams inside have a lot to do with that. The Vikings have been mixing players at the MLB spot, so if the Bucs can get the blocks on the Tackles, then they should be able to exploit the linebackers of the Vikings. Where the Bucs will need to concentrate, though, is in the passing game against a suspect secondary. The Vikings have some decent players, but teams have been able to beat them through the air. If the Bucs go that route, they must be able to keep Garcia off the ground, as the Vikings have piled up 25 sacks so far. Thankfully, their best rushers, K. Williams, and Allen, come at the left side of our line, the side that is strongest in pass pro, and is part of the reason why the Bucs have only allowed 10 sacks all season. What will be interesting to see is if Graham goes or not. If he doesn't look for Caddy to be activated and possible get a couple of carries. If Graham goes, Caddy will be deactivated, and the Bucs will stick with Smith as the third option. Dunn may be the Bucs' best weapon out of the backfield, as he has the speed to exploit the Vikings' back 7 if he get's passed the line or catches the ball past the line in open space. I see the Bucs pushing hard to establish the run while also trying to open up the passing game early and pull the safeties out of the box and keep the corners backed up. If Garcia can hit a few deep passes (with the past 2 weeks he better!) the Bucs will be able to force the Vikings to stop the run with the front 7, and the Bucs have the horses up front to win that battle. Look for the offense to move the ball well at times, and hit a few big plays, leading to a healthy amount of scoring. On Defense, the Bucs come in ranked 7th overall (289.4y/g), 4th in points allowed (16.3/g), 5th against the pass (190.1y/g), and 11th against the run (99.3y/g). The Vikings come in ranked 14th overall (344.3y/g), 14th in points (23.3/g), 21st passing (200.3y/g), and 5th rushing (144y/g). The Bucs will be geared up to stop Peterson and force Frerotte to beat them with the Vikes' crappy assortment of receivers. The Vikings aren't especially potent through the air, and are less so if you slow down that running game. If the Bucs can hold their own with the front 7, or with just one safety up close, the Bucs should be able to slow the Vikings' offense down. Until last week, the Bucs hadn't given up 100 yards to a single rusher. I'm sure they are pissed about that, and they are at home where Peterson won't enjoy the artificial turf, and where the Bucs' defense plays best. The Vikings have given up 23 sacks so far, and the Bucs have cooled off in the sack department. It's time for them to get the rush going again, and that could happen as the Vikings employ a pair of mammoth, though slower footed, tackles on the offensive line. If Adams and White can keep the big guys from getting that initial leverage on them, they should be able to beat them with their speed. If that happens, Frerotte could be eating a lot of Bermuda. I have a feeling the defense is going to really get after it in passing situations. I'm leary about stopping Peterson, but the Bucs have proven they can stop the running game and I think Peterson will have a good day, but not good enough. On Special Teams, the Bucs are averaging 7.5 per punt return and 25.1 per kick return, while allowing 9.3 per punt and 20.7 per kick. Keep in mind that Smith is averaging 15.6 per punt and 32.7 per kick with a kick return for a TD against the Chiefs. The Vikings come in averaging 5.3 per punt return and 22.5 per kick, while allowing 18.1 per punt and 22.5 per kick return. Needless to say, the punt return team of the Bucs should have a very decisive edge against the punt units of the Vikes. We could see Smith return a punt for a TD, or at lest break some big returns. The Bucs should be able to get a consistent advantage in field position in this game. When it comes to kicking, Longwell has problems with kicks between the 30 and 50 yard mark. Beyond 50 and under 30 he's money. Bryant, of course, is better at the ranges under 50, but has yet to make a 50+ kick (only 2 tries). So it's more likely the Bucs will get the FG's than the Vikes for the typical range kicks. Both punters are excellent, but the Vikes have a slight edge with Kluwe. I believe our special teams will be the better unit, and I can see a return for a TD in this game, along with a lot of big returns. The Vikings are a challenge, but the Bucs should be up for it at home after a BYE. I think they will slow Peterson down enough to force the Vikings to pass more than they would like, and the defense will take advantage with some picks, while the offense will get it done, for the most part. Bucs 24 Vikings 17</description><link>http://buccaneerharbour.blogspot.com/2008/11/talking-plank-week-10.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Richard P)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29445252.post-5424373406528564137</guid><pubDate>Sat, 15 Nov 2008 12:50:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-11-15T07:59:35.275-05:00</atom:updated><title>John Lynch to Retire a Buc on Monday</title><description>The Bucs will have a press conference on Monday to retire John Lynch as a Buc and to add his jersey to the Ring of Honor that will be unveiled next year. I don't know if the Bucs have any plans to trot him out during one of the games or not, but I would not be shocked. It's nice to know that he's coming back to retire here, as one wonders how he truly feels about this organization after he left. I think he may have realized this year that any team will dump you when you appear to be beyond playing at the level you expect. Many forget that Lynch's play really dropped off during the second half of 2003, and the Bucs were weary of his neck injury, but still wanted him back as long as he took a paycheck and agreed that he would have to battle Phillips for his job. He wasn't willing to play here if he wasn't guaranteed the starting spot, and the Bucs then let him go. While some teams passed on him, due to his neck, the Broncos took a shot on him, and he played again for 4 more years, though it was clear that his coverage skills had dropped. He mostly made the Pro-Bowl on reputation and the vicious hits he continued to exert on people. He's a fan favorite and it will be great to see one of the best safeties to ever play come back here to retire.</description><link>http://buccaneerharbour.blogspot.com/2008/11/john-lynch-to-retire-buc-on-monday.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Richard P)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29445252.post-5047690335141224629</guid><pubDate>Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:35:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-11-12T18:38:59.266-05:00</atom:updated><title>Caddy Activated; Bennett Cut</title><description>The Bucs activated Williams to the 53 man roster and cut Michael Bennett to make room for him. Bennett continued to struggle in blitz pick up situations which made it tough for him to stay on the field. As such, the Bucs cut him to make room for their franchise back, whom they hope will make a big comeback and round out his game, something he was working on before he blew out his knee. With Graham not practicing, and Dunn still ailing from a pinched nerve in his back, Williams will likely be active on Sunday and may get some carries. Right now it's all about what kind of shape he is in. If he's in good shape, he may get more carries than some would expect, but I think they will take it easy and get him 5-10 carries at most. Should be interesting to see how well he does.</description><link>http://buccaneerharbour.blogspot.com/2008/11/caddy-activated-bennett-cut.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Richard P)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29445252.post-2271702954965403503</guid><pubDate>Tue, 11 Nov 2008 21:35:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-11-11T16:40:33.164-05:00</atom:updated><title>Will Caddy Be Activated?</title><description>One has to wonder, with Graham and Dunn nursing injuries, whether or not the Bucs plan to activate Williams and use him on some plays Sunday. So far it appears that he will definitely be elevated to the 53 man roster, and appears to be working out hard to get into football shape. Having taken some hits this week, and believing that the knee is stronger now than before the injury, it shouldn't take too long before he can get in shape and have at least some impact. What may be more critical to the Bucs' running game, however, is the status of Askew. His blocking and receiving have been sorely missed, and forced Graham into a "do it all" role. Cook is OK, and allows Graham to run more, but Cook's blocking isn't in the same league as Askew's. If Caddy does get some reps, it will be better if Askew is out there to open some holes. In any case, the Bucs will need to find a way to get their running game going again, though they may have to start completing more plays over 30 yards in length (through the air, that is) so they can get defenses stretched again. Teams are daring us to beat them deep, and Garcia's been missing or failing to throw the passes. If Caddy comes back, he may not have room to run if the Bucs can't get that safety out of the box on more occasions.</description><link>http://buccaneerharbour.blogspot.com/2008/11/will-caddy-be-activated.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Richard P)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29445252.post-8909776151547216401</guid><pubDate>Thu, 06 Nov 2008 22:52:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-11-06T17:55:17.092-05:00</atom:updated><title>Clifton Smith Named NFC Special Teams Player</title><description>Smith earned the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week award after his excellent game against the Chiefs. As I mentioned in my review, he tore it up in both punt and kick returns, and ripped off a crucial 97 yard kickoff return for a TD when the Bucs were down and almost out. That return helped them get back up and fight to tie, and eventually win, that game. It would appear that Smith has already started to cement himself as the starting returner for the rest of the season. If he keeps giving the Bucs this kind of field position, the Bucs will likely continue to win.</description><link>http://buccaneerharbour.blogspot.com/2008/11/clifton-smith-named-nfc-special-teams.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Richard P)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29445252.post-4158744846295929124</guid><pubDate>Thu, 06 Nov 2008 00:59:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-11-05T20:38:23.693-05:00</atom:updated><title>Bucs Beat Chiefs In OT: 30-27</title><description>Now that I have time, the Bucs sure managed to pull that game out of their *BEEP!!*! Needless to say, it wasn't pretty. The Bucs basically stunk outright for most of the first half, then played well and like crap during the second half. But, in the end, they won. Offense: First offensive play for the Bucs and Graham fumbles after gaining 4 yards. Not good. The Bucs got down so quick on the scoreboard that they were unable to really concentrate on the running game and take advantage of KC's inability to stop the run. KC also consistently commited a safety to stop the run, which made it even more difficult. Garcia continues to have issues getting the ball down the field. On one shot, he missed Galloway, who had his man beat going into the endzone, by throwing behind him to the point that the defender almost picked it off. Garcia also failed to either see or throw the ball to receivers that were open on a number of plays, prefering to check down. Thankfully, he still managed to get it done and threw a TD pass to Antonio Bryant and then hit Smith for the 2 point conversion which sent it to overtime. Clayton made some big plays catching 4 passes for 57 yards and making several big blocks. He also had a short catch, in OT, where he broke the tackle and went down the sidelines for 29 yards. Hilliard hauled in 6 passes for 55 yards, and Bryant led the receivers with 8 passes for 115 yards and a TD. Smith also hauled in a TD pass from Graham who faked a blast play and threw the halfback pass to a wide open Smith. In the end, the Bucs' offense finished with 423 yards of offense and managed to make up for Graham's two fumbles, a fumble by Clifton Smith, and a pick by Garcia. They drove the ball right down the field in OT to setup Matt Bryant's field goal to win it. They did enough to win the game in the end despite 4 turnovers. Overall grade: B Defense: The defense just outright blew during the first half of play. Quite frankly, it was utterly disgusting to watch for a good chunk of this game. Barber was toast on a couple of plays including getting fulled on a halfback pass to the QB, when Barber decided to look in the backfield and start to come back. When he realized it would be a pass, it was too late. The linebackers were caught out of their gaps a lot on run plays, and the result was KC's pathetic offense racking up big yards on the ground, rushing for 183 yards, and letting Charles be the first back this year to rush for 100 yards agains them. Jackson had several good plays, though, including a forced fumble and recovery right after the Smith fumble. The offense would score on the next play via the Graham to Smith pass. Piscatelli had a solid game, but got caught holding a receiver when Buchannon had picked off a pass to setup first and goal. What was also bad was the fact that the Bucs only got one sack against a team that had given up 22 sacks already. The pass rush has disappeared and needs to come back. The defense did manage to make some adjustments and started making KC punt. In the end, they just barely did enough to give the team a chance to win it late. Overall grade: C+ Special Teams: This was a good week for Special Teams. They only allowed 4.5 yards per punt return and 18 yards per kick return. Meanwhile, Clifton Smith had a great day returning punts and kicks. He returned punts at a 13.5 yard per return clip. But, more importantly, brough the team back to life with a 97 yard kick-off return for a touchdown, only the second time in team history. He averaged 27 yards on the other 5 kick returns, which is a far cry better than what the Bucs had been getting out of Jackson. Matt Bryant nailed all three of his kicks, including the OT game winner from 34 yards out. Bidwell was solid on punts. This was definitely one of the best efforts all year for this group, and the kick return for a TD got this team jump started. Overall grade: A Coaching: Gruden seemed to have a decent game plan, but it went down the tubes early with poor execution, a fumble on the first offensive possession, and with a QB failing to take advantage of targets further down the field. Nevertheless, the offense managed to make a comeback and get the Bucs in position to win the game. Monte had one of his worst games for much of the first half. Once he got settled, however, the defense started to come alive. Bisaccia's men finally appeared to be well coached. The effort of the special teams unit was one of the biggest keys in the Bucs' victory. Needless to say, the coaching job was both good and bad. A lot of the bad play, however, falls on the players who failed to execute far too often, perhaps looking forward to the BYE. But coming back and winning a game in which they were down 21 points, and setting a franchise record for the largest comeback, can't be overlooked. Overall grade: C+ This is the type of game that can really cement a team. They've now come back twice this season in games where they were down by two or more scores. That's tough to do in this league, and something Jon's teams have had problems with since he's been here. This game is proof positive that the Bucs have a very good team, as bad teams don't come back like that.</description><link>http://buccaneerharbour.blogspot.com/2008/11/bucs-beat-chiefs-in-ot-30-27.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Richard P)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29445252.post-4971991568065703926</guid><pubDate>Sun, 02 Nov 2008 04:14:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-11-02T00:21:42.315-05:00</atom:updated><title>The Talking Plank - Week 9</title><description>The Talking Plank - Week 9 <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1909/3126/1600/NewTalkingPlank.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1909/3126/320/NewTalkingPlank.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> Bucs At Chiefs: First off, sorry about having no updates this past week. Wife was out of town, and I had some work come home with me. Needless to say, I hope to get back going again. With the loss at Dallas, the Bucs really missed an opportunity to place them solidly in command of the NFC. Now they are 5-3 and need to go on the road, to a trap game, and make sure they come back with the win. So let's take a look at this game. On offense, the Bucs come in ranked 13th (341.2y/g), 21st in points (21.2/g), 14th passing (221y/g), and 9th rushing (120.2y/g). The Chiefs are ranked 31st in defense (404.7y/g), 28th in points allowed (27.6/g), 17th against the pass (207.9y/g), and 32nd agains the run (196.9y/g). Needless to say, with the Chiefs giving up a whopping 6.4 yards per rush, the Bucs will likely attempt to exploit that area of the Chiefs' defense. The Bucs will be without Dunn, Sears, and Askew, but should be able to run with Graham and Bennett. The Chiefs also seem to have a problem generating any kind of pass rush with just 4 sacks all year. That bodes well for the Bucs, as they should be able to exploit both the passing and rushing areas. The Bucs have had some struggles generating offense on the road, but should be able to get enough going to turn this game into an eventual route. With Galloway back, Bryant doing well, and Clayton resurfacing, the Bucs should have enough weapons to force the safeties to respect the passing game. If that happens, they should be able to exploit the ground game. Garcia needs to have a calm game and take whatever is there and not feel the phantom pressure. In the end, I think our offense will have a stellar game and rack up some points. On defense, the Bucs come in ranked 5th (277.6y/g), 2nd in points allowed (15/g), 7th against the pass (188.8y/g), and 8th against the run (88.9y/g). The Chiefs' offense is ranked 27th (267.7y/g), 31st in points scored (14.1/g), 29th passing (163.9y/g), and 20th rushing (103.9y/g). Larry Johnson is suspended...for week 10 (next week). But, still, the Chiefs have been average on the ground and horrid through the air. Thigpen is going against the Bucs, and you can expect some pick opportunities, as well as some sacks. The Chiefs have given up a whopping 22 sacks. Their most dangerous receiver is Tight End Tony Gonzalez. Beyond that, they have some average receivers, and not much else. The Bucs secondary should be able to deal with this group, though it will be interesting to see what impact missing Phillips has, and how well Piscatelli does starting. Personally, I think Sabby will be a better Safety than Flip, but we'll see. With the Bucs' defense starting to clamp down on everyone, I don't expect to see the Chiefs do much but punt the ball a lot. The defense should be able to rack up some sacks and get a pick or two. If they do, they'll shut the Chiefs down. On special teams, the Bucs come in averaging 7.0 on punt returns, and 21.5 yards per kick return. They are allowing 9.8 per punt and 21 per kick. The Chiefs are getting 5.1 yards per punt and 24.4 yards per kick, while allowing 10.5 per punt and 22.5 per kick. Since inserting Smith, the Bucs got 16.4 yards per punt return on 5 tries. He's definitely an improvement here, and that might make a difference in terms of starting position. The Bucs should win the field position battle more often than they lose it, but we'll see. Novack was the kicker, but sucked at FG's missing 4 of 10. So odds are that Barth will kick vs. the Bucs, and he's something of an unknown long term. From the punting position, Colquitt may be out again, which would leave Weatherford to punt, who is doing a so-so job. If so, the Bucs will have an advantage here that may lead to better field position. I like our Special Teams in this match-up. This is another trap game. If the Bucs come out to play and don't make a lot of mistakes, they will win, and win big. Bucs 27 Chiefs 9</description><link>http://buccaneerharbour.blogspot.com/2008/11/talking-plank-week-9.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Richard P)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29445252.post-4621065284330478751</guid><pubDate>Sun, 26 Oct 2008 05:37:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-10-26T01:14:51.145-05:00</atom:updated><title>The Talking Plank - Week 8</title><description>The Talking Plank - Week 8 <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1909/3126/1600/NewTalkingPlank.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1909/3126/320/NewTalkingPlank.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> Bucs At Cowboys: The Bucs travel to Dallas where they are 1-8 over their history. But the Cowboys don't look to be as intimidating now with several key players now out. The Bucs have a very good chance at going into Dallas and stealing a win from a banged up team. If they do, they'll be 6-2 and well on their way to earning a playoff bid. On Offense, the Bucs come in ranked 8th overall (352.6y/g), 16th in points (23/g), 14th passing (221.1y/g), and 9th rushing (130.4y/g). The Cowboys' defense is ranked 11th in yards allowed (303.9y/g), 24th in points allowed (25/g), 16th against the pass (201.7y/g), and 13th against the run (102.1y/g). The Cowboys run a 3-4 defense now with a lot of disguised blitzes. They've racked up 20 sacks, though they've played some poor lines. So they will come after Garcia a lot. Fortunately for the Bucs, the Cowboys aren't very big on the defensive line, which is not the norm for a 3-4 that typically needs a lot of beef at the nose. The Bucs should be able to get enough of a running game going to make it a threat. The big key, however, will be in keeping Garcia upright for most of the game. If they can, then he will be able to take advantage of the secondary that now lacks it's best corner (suspension), and it's top back-up/replacement (injury). The Cowboys have been vulnerable in the secondary with those guys in there. They also don't get many turnovers (2 picks so far). If Galloway goes, our receivers should be able to really go after them. The Tight Ends could be a huge factor in this game, as they won't be covered by fast, slightly under sized LB's. They will be covered by big guys who are slower. So look for the Tight Ends to get a lot of balls. St. Louis had it's way with this defense last week. The Bucs should be able to have success, but they will need to pick up the blitzes and take advantage of the vacated zones. I think the offense will score often in this game. On Defense, the Bucs come in ranked 9th overall (292.7y/g), 4th in points allowed (15.3/g), 15th against the pass (201.1y/g), and 10th against the run (91.6y/g). The Cowboys are ranked 3rd in total offense (393.1y/g), 7th in scoring (27/g), 3rd passing (265.9y/g), and 11th rushing (127.3y/g). Once again the Bucs will be facing one of the league's highest rated offenses (something they've done most of the year). The Cowboys will, however, be without Romo at QB, meaning Brad Johnson will start again. His last outing, against a poor Rams club, was very good, and you can expect the same this game as Gruden knows Johnson much the same as he knew Gannon. The Bucs' defense has been getting its hands on balls constantly, grabbing 12 picks to date, with about a dozen dropped. The Bucs will likely want to get in Johnson's face and exacerbate the problem for him. With Felix Jones out, as well as the starting Left Guard, the Bucs will mainly need to only concentrate on stopping Barber. If they can slow or stop him, they'll put a lot of pressure on the Cowboys to beat the Bucs stellar secondary through the air. They might get a big play or two, but the secondary will likely make a lot of plays on its own, and make life difficult for Brad. The Rams are horrid on defense, and still got to Brad 3 times. Unlike a lot of the passers the Bucs have faced recently, Brad is a statue in the pocket. I expect the Bucs to rack up a couple of sacks at the very least. If the Bucs can keep Owens or Williams from getting deep on them, the Bucs could put a lid on the Cowboys' offense, something I expect for them to mostly accomplish. On Special Teams, the Bucs come in with a sorry 4.9 yards per punt return and 21.6 per kick. They are allowing 10 yards per punt and 21.3 yards per kick. The Cowboys are getting 6.7 yards per punt and 23.9 yards per kick, while allowing 9.1 per punt and 22.6 per kick. Seems both teams have some suckage, so I guess we'll see who sucks the most. I do expec the Bucs to refocus a lot on the Special Teams play and try to turn it around. Bucs have a better punter, and the kickers are roughly the same. I expect the Bucs to play better this time around, but I don't know how much better they will be. Field position will be a big key for the Bucs, and we'll see how it turns out. I personally think neither team will see much of an edge from this group. In the end, because of some key injuries, and because of how good the Bucs are becoming (they are one of the most balanced teams in the NFL), I see the Bucs winning this game. Bucs 24 Cowboys 17</description><link>http://buccaneerharbour.blogspot.com/2008/10/talking-plank-week-8.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Richard P)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29445252.post-4869850213440984781</guid><pubDate>Thu, 23 Oct 2008 02:02:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-10-22T21:56:42.580-05:00</atom:updated><title>Bucs Win 20-10!</title><description>Well, the Bucs are starting to make it a habit of dominating teams. The Bucs are now 5-2 and in the driver's seat heading to Dallas. So let's take a look at how they did. Offense: Garcia led the Bucs with 310 yards passing and over 70% completion rate. He made some very nice passes and generally kept the ball moving. Bryant had his second 100+ yard game for the Bucs as the main target in most pass plays. He was backed up by solid play from Clayton, who hauled in 3 passes for 30 yards. One bad moment was when Hilliard caught a pass near the goal line but got momentarily knocked out (concussion), and turned the ball over because of it. Stevens, Smith, and Gilmore combined for 8 catches for 100 yards from the Tight End spot. The Bucs were able to convert 56% of their third downs, get 402 yards of offense, and rack up over 41 minutes of possession time. The running game wasn't great, getting 97 yards on 38 carries. There were some timely runs, however, that made it a threat. It was clear that the Seahawks' game plan was to take the run away, though that strategy has yet to beat the Bucs. The offensive line gave up just one sack on 36 pass attempts to a very sack happy defense. The run blocks were good, but the gaps were constantly covered as the Seahawks consistently had 8 men in the box. Overall, the offense was able to move the ball very effectively, hitting a 47 yard TD bomb on the first offensive drive, and they were able to keep Seattle's offense on the bench. Overall grade: A- Defense: The defense was able to really shut the Seahawks down all game long. It was such a dominating performance that most of the 176 yards of offense came in the second half late (44 yards in the first half). The Seahawks managed just 7 first downs, and went 2 of 10 on third downs. They did manage to run for 103 yards with 45 of it on one run by Morris. The defensive line managed to keep the Seahawks in check up front for the most part, and managed to put pressure on Wallace for much of the night, especially from Adams who got after Wallace quite a few times. Unfortunately, the Bucs failed to get a sack, though one of Adams pressures just made contact as Wallace threw the ball, which Ruud then deflected and Talib picked off. The Bucs shut down the Seattle receivers for much of the night and Wallace only managed 12 of 23 for 73 yards. The Bucs defense dominated the Seahawks all game, and might have shut them out if not for poor special teams that placed the Seahawks in field goal range and then later gave up a return to mid-field that ended in a TD drive late in the contest. Overall grade: A Special Teams: Good golly, Ms. Molly. The coverage teams started out ok, but they went down hill as the game progressed. They put the Seahawks in field goal range twice, but the Bucs got a turn over on one of those drives. Then they let Seattle return the ball to mid-field, which led to their only TD. They gave up 36.5 yards a kick return, and 18 yards per punt return. Suck city. The return game sucked just as bad, as Jackson had all kinds of issues on punt returns (3 yards on 2 returns) and then fumbled a ball, twice, on his only kick return (getting just 4 yards). Clayton went in to return the only other regular kick off, but had to kneel for a touchback. Jackson's returns sucked, but so did the blocking in front of him. It was crappy play all around on the return teams. Bryant had a decent game, hitting 2 field goals and both extra points. He missed a 47 yard FG attempt when the snap was high, and the ball lifted on him (it was straight but short). Bidwell had an off night as well, though he did nail one for 58 yards. Just not a very good night for this unit. They really need to refocus on their assignments on the coverage and return units, and Bidwell needs to return to form. It's really bad when your special teams single handedly gave the other team their first points of a game, which made an oustanding defensive effort look not as good on the scoreboard. Overall grade: F Coaching: Gruden had another solid offensive game plan, though the running game was only effective in spots. The call to strike deep early paid off big time and put huge pressure on Seattle's offense right off the bat. Monte had an excellent game as well, as his defense had one of its most dominating performances and could have possibly shut the Seahawks out with better special teams play. Bisaccia's group sucked. Big time. They really need to step back up to the plate and start hitting on their assignments again. Bisaccia's group drags the overall grade down one letter. Overall grade: B The Bucs dominated the Seahawks after dominating the Panthers the prior week. The defense has now completely dominated the last three teams we have faced and 4 of the last 5 teams. Now this exteremly well balanced team (8th on offense and 9th on defense -4th in points allowed) will go up to Big D and take on what appears to be a Romo-less Cowboys team. If the Bucs can pull a win off here, they will just about be in the driver's seat in the NFC.</description><link>http://buccaneerharbour.blogspot.com/2008/10/bucs-win-20-10.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Richard P)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29445252.post-2610268433809585604</guid><pubDate>Sun, 19 Oct 2008 04:52:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-10-19T00:29:10.922-05:00</atom:updated><title>The Talking Plank - Week 7</title><description>The Talking Plank - Week 7 <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1909/3126/1600/NewTalkingPlank.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1909/3126/320/NewTalkingPlank.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> Seahawks At Bucs: After pummeling the kitties last week, the Bucs get to take on a team that has befuddled them since the 1999 season. Seattle comes in banged up at key positions on offense, and looks to be a wounded duck. This is a trap game that the Bucs need to be ready for. If they don't come out to play, they can still loose. On Offense, the Bucs come in ranked 11th overall (344.3y/g), 13th in points (23.5/g), 16th passing (208.3y/g), and 6th rushing (136y/g). The Seahawks' defense is ranked 27th overall (355.8y/g), 29th in points allowed (30.2/g), 22nd against the pass (229.6y/g), and 23rd against the run (126.2y/g). The Bucs could have Galloway back in this game, which, if healthy, will give the Bucs the big strike capability they need to further stretch defenses. If so, this should allow Graham and Dunn to have big games against a defense that has really struggled this year. The Bucs brought Jameel Cook back to play FB in front of Graham and Dunn, so Graham could play at tailback again, and the Bucs will probably be using Graham a lot. The Bucs may attempt to strike quickly by going deep against a secondary that, though talented, has been giving up a lot of big plays and quick scoring drives. Trufant and Jennings have failed to get a pick, with Grant getting Seattle's lone pick, and he has been banged up. The big key will be keeping Garcia upright, as the Seahawks come in with 13 sacks, and sacked the Bucs 5 times last year. Keeping Kearney at bay will be goal number one. I don't expect them to get the pressure they got last year due to the better play, and location of this game. What I do expect to see is Garcia coming out trying to hit some big plays early, then leaning heavily on the run. If they can do that, then they will be able to rack up points. On Defense, the Bucs come in ranked 13th overall (312.2y/g), 4th in points allowed (16.2/g), 19th against the pass (222.5y/g), and 9th against the run (89.7y/g). The Seahawks' offense is ranked 27th overall (274.8y/g), 22nd in points (20/g), 31st passing (137.6y/g), and 5th rushing (137.2y/g). The Seahawks will likely be starting Wallace at QB, though Frye could still go if Wallace can't play. With all of Seattle's core receivers banged up or on IR, all three QB's, including Hasslebeck (Out), have ratings in the 50's. Wallace hasn't thrown a pick, nor a TD. Frye has thrown 2 TD's and 3 picks. Both are averaging less than 4 yards a throw, though. Seattle has had to lean heavily on the running game, and it's been pretty solid with Julius Jones and TJ Duckett running the ball. But when teams are pretty one dimensional, the Bucs have a tendancy to completely shut them down. The Bucs shut down the potent Panther offense last week, holding their runners to 40 yards on 20 carries (2y/c). Expect more of the same. It doesn't help that Jones gave the Bucs bulletin board material by calling them old (even though that only applies to three defenders), and that he would use athleticism to get by our guys. Carter put that up in the locker room. You can bet that the Bucs are going to stuff the run and force the Seahawks to try to beat them in the air. I think Seattle will find it very difficult to score on this defense. I can also see some sacks and some turnovers. On Special Teams, the Bucs are averaging 5.5 yards per punt return, and 22.6 yards per kick return. They are allowing 9.3 per punt and 18.9 per kick. The Seahawks are averaging 10.9 yards per punt return and 22.6 yards per kick return, while giving up a whopping 14.3 yards per punt and 23.4 yards per kick. The Bucs should be able to get Jackson going on punts in this game. Field position will likely be in favor of the Bucs for most of this game, at least after punts. Ryan had one blocked, and has struggled at times. The Seahawks do have Mare to kick off and kick field goals, so they can score points from a distance. Bryant had his first miss last week, from 51 yards, but nailed a 49 yarder right after. Overall, I like our chances at having solid field position over the Seahawks and being able to get points off of drives. With this game being the Mike Alstott commerative game, and the supposed installation of the Bucs ring of honor, the team should be plenty fired up. If they come to play, which I expect they will, the Bucs shouldn't have too much of a problem against the Seahawks. But they need to show up and take care of business. Bucs 24 Seattle 10</description><link>http://buccaneerharbour.blogspot.com/2008/10/talking-plank-week-7.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Richard P)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29445252.post-201467391030993946</guid><pubDate>Wed, 15 Oct 2008 20:40:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-10-15T15:42:51.012-05:00</atom:updated><title>Bucs Re-sign Cook</title><description>Well, with Storer out for the season, and Askew still out, the Bucs went out and picked up Jameel Cook to come back in and play Fullback for the Bucs. Cook knows the offense, and is a solid FB. He's not a great blocker, but should be good enough to let the backs do what they do. This will allow Graham to run the ball again, something he wasn't able to do much of after Storer went down, and that likely cost us a couple of short yardage 3rd down conversions. A good solid pick-up that will allow us to continue to properly use our weapons and not throw the primary running load on Dunn.</description><link>http://buccaneerharbour.blogspot.com/2008/10/bucs-re-sign-cook.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Richard P)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29445252.post-4894055691006885206</guid><pubDate>Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:54:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-10-12T20:15:27.397-05:00</atom:updated><title>Bucs Win 27-3!! Spank Them Kittens!</title><description>The Bucs really took it to the Panthers today. Oh how nice it is to finally leave Ray Jay after beating the Panthers. That last happened in 2002. Let's take a look at how this game went. Offense: Garcia looked much better in this game than he had in Game 1. The happy feet were gone, as the protection was very solid. The Bucs were able to move the ball quite well on the Panthers' number 4 defense, and managed to rack up 20 points on them as well. Graham didn't get to run the ball much due to Storer going out with an injury, forcing Graham to play fullback the rest of the game. He played it quite well, blowing people up in front of Dunn who became the first back to rush for over 100 yards on the Panthers' this season. The Tight Ends and the backs were the key targets in the passing game, given how the match-ups went (remember my mention of Stevens being a good mismatch - though Smith became a bigger target in this game). The receivers were only thrown to a few times, catching 4 passes. Clayton caught both passes sent his way, with one being a nice 22 yard slant. Bryant was interfered with on one deep ball, but the refs had problems with the rule book all game long. The offensive line dominated the Panthers up front, and kept Garcia clean with no sacks in the game (third no sack game of the season). In general, the offense rolled through one of the league's best defenses, and made it look easy at times. Overall grade: A- Defense: The Bucs' defense was ready to kick some kitty butt. The Bucs were flying to the ball and laid some wood on a few plays including knocking the ball out of a receivers hands on one play by knocking him into next week. The defensive line wasn't able to sack Delhomme, but consistently pushed the pocket up into his face and made him feel their prescence. They also stopped the Panthers' potent rushing attack by closing up the gaps and making the tackles or letting the linebackers come up freely to get it done. Ruud, Brooks, and June all had solid games, with Ruud and Brooks both getting there hands on passes that should have been picked. The secondary picked off three passes on their own. The Bucs really could have had 7 picks in this game, with Adams and Barber also dropping one each. In the end, the Bucs held the Panthers to a single field goal, and physically and mentally outplayed the kitty cats. Overall grade: A Special Teams: The punting was excellent, as Bidwell continued to nail some nice long punts and also nailed a couple inside the 20. One of these landed around the 1 yard line, though it was originally ruled that Sabby touched the ball while being in the endzone, but replays, and the challenge review, revealed that Sabby didn't touch it. Matt Bryant nailed 2 of 3 field goals, missing a 50 yarder, but later nailing a 49 yarder. He also had solid kick offs and hit every extra point. The punt coverage team was alright, but had one huge play on the first punt of the game when Geno Hayes broke free in the middle of the line and blocked the punt, then scooped it up and ran it back for a TD. That put the Bucs up 7-0, and turned out to be the winning points. The kick coverage team was much better than the punt coverage. Dexter Jackson had a rough start in this game when he setup to far up field on a punt, and ran back to get it, then tried running backward to out race the coverage, only to loose 11 yards from where he caught it. He made up for it, though, with some big punt returns after that, running straight up the field. He also was solid, though not spectacular, on kick returns, averaging just over 22 yards a kick. Nice effort by this group overall. Overall grade: B+ Coaching: Gruden had a much better game plan this week, and really made the Panthers work hard on defense to try and stop the Bucs' offense. Once the Bucs got up big, the Bucs just switched into run mode, and still ran it. Monte also had an excellent game plan, giving Delhomme numerous looks, and putting his defense in position to make a lot of plays. The defense had 10 passes defensed with 3 picks. In the end, they only gave up 3 points to a very potent offense. Bisaccia's special teams played well, though you have to wonder why Jackson keeps running backwards at times. A little more coaching him up and maybe we'll have a decent returner out of him. Overall grade: B+ This was a great game. For once we got to lay the wood to the stinkin' Panthers at Ray Jay and send them home sulking. We also grabbed 1st place in the division with a 2-1 division record. Next stop...Mike Alstott ceremonial game against the Seahawks on Sunday night.</description><link>http://buccaneerharbour.blogspot.com/2008/10/bucs-win-27-3-spank-them-kittens.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Richard P)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29445252.post-3306989942627768510</guid><pubDate>Sun, 12 Oct 2008 03:56:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-10-11T23:42:08.372-05:00</atom:updated><title>The Talking Plank - Week 6</title><description>The Talking Plank - Week 6 <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1909/3126/1600/NewTalkingPlank.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1909/3126/320/NewTalkingPlank.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> Panthers At Bucs: After a heartening loss to the Broncos, the Bucs find themselves in a position where they don't want to lose a critical NFC South game to the stinkin' Panthers. On Offense, the Bucs come in ranked 7th in offense (350.2y/g), 16th in points (22.8/g), 12th passing (215.4y/g), and 8th rushing (134.8y/g). The Panthers' defense is ranked 4th in yards allowed (254.4y/g), 4th in points allowed (14/g), 3rd against the pass (156y/g), and 13th against the run (98.4y/g). The Bucs will have Garcia likely starting in place of Griese. He will need to use his mobility to keep plays alive and run when the coverage locks down on the receivers. The Panthers have 10 sacks in 5 games, and will likely get pressure on Garcia. If the pressure isn't too bad, he may be able to exploit the safeties. The Bucs will likely have a great match-up with Stevens on the linebackers or safeties, and this should be one that Garcia looks to exploit. But what the Bucs must committ to doing in this game is run. They need to hit it the edges hard, and keep the rushers like Peppers from over committing in the passing game. More importantly, running the ball will keep the Panthers' offense off the field and shorten the game. I think the Bucs will try to run a lot and will pound it at the Panthers' defense and try to wear them out in the heat. It will be tough, but they need to establish the run if they want to be able to pass on this team. Look for a good afternoon from the offense, in terms of yards, but scoring may be hard to come by. On Defense, the Bucs come in ranked 16th in total yards allowed (318.2y/g), 8th in points allowed (18.8/g), 21st against the pass (218.6y/g), and 14th against the run (99.6y/g). The Panthers's offense comes in ranked 14th overall (330y/g), 15th in points scored (22.8/g), 15th passing (207y/g), and 11th rushing (123y/g). The Panthers seem to find success with Delhomme passing on our defense, but the Bucs have really been mixing up their coverages a lot. This looks to me to be a game where the defense will clamp down on the Panthers' potent rushing attack, and try to play a lot more man against the passing game, as Delhomme seems to find a lot of success against our Cover 2 looks. The Bucs will need to man up against the big line of the Panthers', who may not have their starting Right Tackle. Look for the defense to put some pressure on the QB and slow the run down. The Panthers will likely have to find their scores on some big plays. I expect the Bucs' defense to greatly slow down the Panthers' offense. On Special Teams, the Bucs come are averaging 4.9 yards per punt return, and 22.6 yards per kick return, while allowing 9.3 on punts and just 18.5 on kicks. The Panthers are averaging 9.6 per punt return, 22.6 per kick return, and they are allowing 5.4 per punt and 24.9 per kick. The Panthers clearly have an advantage in the punt return and coverage teams, and also have Mark Jones returning punts, so he should be familiar with our coverage teams. The Bucs do appear to have an advantage in covering and returning kicks. Both teams have solid punters and kickers. The Bucs should have decent field position off of kicks, but the punt coverage teams concern me. The Bucs need to clamp down on this area and keep Carolina pinned back so the defense can make it tough on them. Hard to see any major advantage for either team. When it comes down to it, though, I see a low scoring game, but the Panthers seem to have our number. Panthers 16 Bucs 10</description><link>http://buccaneerharbour.blogspot.com/2008/10/talking-plank-week-6.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Richard P)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29445252.post-7429394783108286078</guid><pubDate>Sat, 11 Oct 2008 03:04:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-10-10T22:28:13.378-05:00</atom:updated><title>Bucs Lose 13-16</title><description>Ok, I'm getting ridiculous with this, but there's just way too much stuff going on right now. In any case, let's look at the loss. Offense: The offense stunk. Shall I elaborate? Seriously, Griese took no chances against what was frequently a max zone coverage scheme. What sucked about it was the fact that Griese should have run more run plays at this defense and force them to either come up at of those zones, or get run on. Graham and Dunn had good averages, though Dunn got stopped short on some downs forcing a failed third down conversion on one run that I think Graham would have converted. Griese got sacked 3 times (really only 2, as I can't see how you count a run outside that didn't lose any yardage as a sack), but was also dragged down by the face mask, right in front of the ref, but didn't get the penalty. Had it been called, which it should have been, the Bucs would have had a first down around mid-field. His safe play also resulted in the Bucs failing to consistently move the ball, though, and kept the Bucs from getting enough drives going. Then he got hurt and Garcia came in. It took a little while before Garcia got going, but he managed a 90 yard drive to get to within 3, but it took way too long, and the defense failed to get the ball back to the offense. Garcia, incidently, got tackled on a run near the 1st down marker, and also got his face mask pulled without a penalty called. The offense had over 300 yards again, but failed to put up enough points. Overall grade: C- Defense: The Broncos had the number 1 offense coming into this game, but the defense held the Broncos to just 16 points, with one of those TD's coming off a bubble screen that should have been called back, as Stokely ran around a Bucs' defender that was grabbed from the front and behind and twirled and pulled down to the ground by the blocker. That one play cost the Bucs dearly, as they likely would have held the Broncos to a field goal, and that late TD could have been the game winner for the Bucs and Garcia. The Bucs slowed the running game down, and held the passing game in check for the most part, but Cutler found some holes on a couple of second half drives that allowed them to get 10 points down the stretch. The defensive line failed to get a sack, though they did close the pocket in on Cutler a lot, but Cutler just gets rid of the ball so fast. What really sucks is that Kevin Carter could have killed the TD drive if he held onto his pick around mid-field, and would have set the Bucs' offense up with great field position. Unfortunately, it was not too be. A very strong defensive effort let up a couple of times, and the offense wasn't able to put up enough points to win it. Overall grade: B+ Special Teams: This unit sucked on the return teams. The Bucs' offense was consistently in the hole, rarely starting beyond the 20. Dexter Jackson had another bad week with punt returns, letting a punt at the 30 roll back to the 10 yard line when, had he run up and caught it, he could have easily gotten to the 40. That was the punt return for the late TD drive, which might have ended a couple of minutes sooner with better field position. The coverage teams were OK, but not stellar. Bryant continued to nail everything, while Bidwell continued to punt well. But bad starting field position was a problem in this game. Overall grade: C+ Coaching: Gruden had this team prepared for the Broncos they saw on film. Unfortunately, the Broncos changed their defense up completely, and they never really trully adjusted for it. The Bucs should have run the ball 40 times in this game, and jammed it down their throats. Let's hope the lesson was learned. Monte's defense played quite well, but failed to get a sack against the toughest QB to sack. They held the number 1 offense to just 16 points, which was quite a feet, especially when you consider the illegal block that allowed the Broncos to score a TD. Special teams seemed to take a step back, and Bisaccia's group is still having too many problems on punt returns and punt coverage. They really need to work on this area and clean it up. Overall grade: C+ Well, the Bucs made it a close game on the road, and clearly look to be a team that can continue to contend down the stretch if they can work out some kinks. They'll need it this week against the Panthers.</description><link>http://buccaneerharbour.blogspot.com/2008/10/bucs-lose-13-16.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Richard P)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item></channel></rss>

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