Raheem The Dream Speaks
November 15th, 2009
Raheem The Dream spoke to the Buccaneers Radio Network just after the loss. He blamed himself, not the gutless effort of the world renown Jim Bates defense in the final minute, coughing nearly 80 yards in the game-winning drive by Miami.
“My team fought,” Raheem The Dream said. “That’s what they are programmed to do. This team fights. Other than the Giants game, we’ve been in every one. The fight this team has is unbelievable. I need to coach them better. That is my fault. We played good enough to win.”
But even Raheem the Dream couldn’t ignore the obvious that even Bucs fans who walk around with white canes could see.
“The defense should have capped off the game,” Raheem the Dream said. “We are better than that.”
Well, the players might be. The defensive coordinator? Well…
Raheem the Dream also lauded how rookie quarterback Josh Freeman, making his second NFL start, was able to shake off whatever ailed him early to bring the Bucs back.
“Josh started off struggling and wasn’t able to get anything going,” Raheem the Dream said. “But in the second half, he showed up. They got it going in the second half.”
Raheem the Dream also explained why he went for a first down on fourth-and-six late, which the Bucs couldn’t convert but it didn’t hurt them.
“Josh was hot and the team was believing in him. I went for it. We were in a tough environment against a tough defense. That’s why I went for it.”
November 15th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
Didn’t get to the the game on a play-by-play basis (watching snippets on NFL Redzone channel here in Detroit) but the one beef I have with Raheem is scoring the final TD a little bit too fast. I had just seen MJD from the Jags do a Brian Westbrook and fall on the one yard line to ice the game and I hoped we would do a sweep outside to make the Fins use their final TO.
HOWEVER, there’s no excuse for the final drive. I had zero faith in Jim Bates’ ability to stop the Dolphins and I hope he learns that we have to be aggressive from the first to the last snap. If we blitz and get beat, so be it. At least we wouldve had more time to score at the end. Instead, we let them bleed the clock down and win the game. We may need to get a new DC.
November 15th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
Ditto on the previous poster’s opinion on Bates. The defense had done an adequate job containing the Fins for most of the game. Yeah, they did break some long runs a few times, but turnovers and penalties kept the Fins in the game.
The last drive was inexcusable
November 16th, 2009 at 11:03 am
I agree with the “Rah” (Rah) man on Freeman. I was thrilled the way he didn’t let the early failures and pressures dominate him and came back with some poise and determination later in the game… still shows some , HOPE (for the future).