Conspiracy Theory On Bucs’ Success
September 22nd, 2010
Is the Bucs’ 2-0 record misleading? Joe will know for sure after Sunday’s game with the Steelers. But Peter King, co-hosting Sirius NFL Radio’s “The Opening Drive” this morning with Ross Tucker, suggests it may be.
King explained how Howard Katz, who is in charge of NFL scheduling, specifically tried to pair up teams with losing records from the previous season in early 2010 match-ups in order to drum up interest in dormant NFL communities.
“I know he wanted to give fans in Cleveland, in Kansas City, in Tampa Bay, something to get excited about where maybe there might not be any hope,” King said.
Consider that Cleveland played two teams right out of the gate with terrible 2009 records, the Bucs and Kansas City. The Bucs also played two teams in two weeks with subpar 2009 seasons, Cleveland and Carolina.
King’s theory (conspiracy?) seems correct. At least the premise does. Chiefs fans are all of a sudden worked up into an early froth. Bucs fans have their ears perked up when just two weeks prior, black clouds were prevalent.
September 22nd, 2010 at 9:49 am
LMAO!!!!
Talk about a false sense of hope.
Only problem with this strategy, the losing teams fanbase want to literally off themselves. LMAO.
September 22nd, 2010 at 9:54 am
From what Joe gathers, Eric Mangini virtually needs armed guards to get home each night after losing to the Bucs and Chiefs. That guy is dead man walking.
September 22nd, 2010 at 9:54 am
Suh already has two sacks and a bunch of solo tackles. Way ahead of McCoy so far. You know McCoy is reading his stats vs Suh. Come on Man.
September 22nd, 2010 at 9:55 am
I feel a Chucky sighting in Cleveland next year. Hell, maybe this year.
September 22nd, 2010 at 10:01 am
@Dew
You can’t measure the success of a D-Lineman JUST on sacks and tackles. There are so many other factors. Plus we run a completely different defensive system than Detroit. Look at the defenses as a whole and tell me which player is making a bigger impact. You can have all the sacks you want, but if your D gives up 35 points and you lose, what difference does it make?
September 22nd, 2010 at 10:02 am
Peter King also said we were going to win only 2 games this season. The problem with that theory is that all of NFC South is scheduled to play specific divisions, not just us. So, playing AFC North and NFC West is part of the division’s rotation, not a conspriracy. Any given Sunday guys. Hey, every one one of the Tampa Sports Writers in both Tampa Trib and St Pete Times called for us to lose both of our previous games, (with the exception of Cummings last Sunday). Ira, Gary, Holder, every one didnt give us a chance. Now that we won, well its a conspiracy. And if we win against the Steelers, well, we didnt play Big Ben ,so its another conspiracy. Take a look at the schedule. Which team are we guaranteed to lose? and dont say Ravens, they are now suspect.
Hey Bucs, just win games, dont worry about Peter King. See you in the playoffs.
September 22nd, 2010 at 10:02 am
If this is the case I have no problem with it. The NFL schedule has always been set up to give the teams with the worst records an easier schedule the next season.
It’s still up to the teams to take advantage of the schedule. So far some have and some haven’t. It also should set up more interesting games as the season goes on for the teams that do take advantage of it.
September 22nd, 2010 at 10:03 am
Oh and about this “conspircay theory,” did it ever occur to anybody that MAYBE the Bucs are just getting better and that’s why they’re winning games? Why does their have to be some conspiracy? Carolina wasn’t awful last year, and anytime you win on the road in the NFL by double digits, I think that says you have at least a decent ball club.
September 22nd, 2010 at 10:11 am
Nicely stated KJ….
September 22nd, 2010 at 10:12 am
I still say Chucky will be in Dallas next year, if not sooner.
NFL Playbook at 6PM tonight is talking about 2-0 teams. This means the Bucs will definitely get some coverage. My guess is that it will be a featured 27 Seconds at the last 2 minutes of the show. Pissburgh is 2-0 as well so they actually might talk this game up a bit, with the focus solely on the Steelers.
September 22nd, 2010 at 10:17 am
Bigmac…I hope so, I like the “us against the world” vibe the Bucs have going. Puts a chip on their shoulder.
September 22nd, 2010 at 10:17 am
Yeah, it’s a conspiracy… but not the way he thinks. The NFL LOVES to start the season off pitting last years TOP teams against each other. They kicked off the season with the Saints/Vikings rematch of the NFC Championship game. They look at the teams schedules, and try to find the biggest marquis matchups for the opening weeks to drum up as much interest NATIONALLY as they possibly can. Guess what that leaves? That’s right… the bottom of the barrel from last year duking it out in the early weeks as well.
September 22nd, 2010 at 10:18 am
Another thing…. this conspiracy doesn’t hold up because in week 1.
St Louis ,Washington, and Kansas City three of the worst teams last season all played playoff teams from a year ago.
Tampa Bay / Cleveland was really the only one that you could say were both Bottom tier teams. Hardly enough to prove a conspiracy.
September 22nd, 2010 at 10:25 am
When they talk about 2-0 teams Tampa will come up —as an afterthought as to how badly the Steelers are going to abuse Josh Freeman.
When things were going well in Tampa 2008 and the Bucs were 9-4 they got NO LOVE then. After a 3-13 season the Bucs do not deserve any love; you gotta EARN it.
Go ahead, diss the team national media I HOPE you ignore Tampa in fact I WANT you to write negative articles and especially diss on their coach, Raheem Morris. After the last post-game display I LIKE seeing Raheem with a chip on his shoulder. I LIKE seeing the Bucs play ANGRY, but most of all I like seeing the Bucs WIN!!!!!!
We don’t need no stinking media – just JBF.com! Woo Hoo
September 22nd, 2010 at 10:35 am
Derf, we won’t get national media attention even when we win. I still remember the season after winning the Super Bowl. Living in Colorado, I was hoping to get more nationally televised games (even though I have NFL Sunday Ticket, it’s fun to watch teams on Monday Night Football). We had one game that was nationally televised that whole season. That’s right… One. No Sunday night games, no Thursday games, not even a national game on Sunday afternoon. We had one Monday night game. Unless this team wins back to back championships, the national media will continue to dog us, only remembering the teams of the 70’s and 80’s.
September 22nd, 2010 at 10:42 am
Shocking, the Bucs are 2-0 and a conspiracy theory emerges to explain away the Bucs success. Ridiculous.
At the risk of stating the obvious, the Bucs only play the games. They don’t choose the timing of the opponents. Anyone that would try to use this conspiracy theory to explain away improvement is borderline delusional. It should be absolutely obvious to anyone that watches the Bucs play this season that they have improved over last year. Does that mean they will win 10 games? No, but enough with the “Bucs are not really improving they just played bad teams” stuff lest we start to call this site ThomasBucsFans.com, EricBucsfan.com, RahDomBucsFan.com, or maybe Tampa2BucsFan.com.
September 22nd, 2010 at 10:53 am
@ JimBuc. LMFAO!! I couldn’t agree more !!
September 22nd, 2010 at 11:00 am
Jimmy, if there were negative websites out there about the Bucs, you and team Ari would be there too trying to sway the message.
There are plenty of Buc websites that cater to the happy go lucky Buc supporters jimmy. If you can’t stand the heat…
September 22nd, 2010 at 11:11 am
Peter King is probably exactly like conspirist Jerry Fletcher and thinks The Vietnam War was fought over a bet that Howard Hughes lost to Aristotle Onassis.
September 22nd, 2010 at 11:12 am
Sorry, I should have added ZeroExpectationsBucFans.com. Has Zero now owned up to a proper name?
Seriously, what is it that makes someone want to spend time on, of all things, a fan site to do nothing more than trash the team? Talk about a loud cry for attention. Doesn’t even make sense to me, but so be it.
September 22nd, 2010 at 11:27 am
Ok MotherHenBucFan/jimbuc.net
September 22nd, 2010 at 11:47 am
Come on Joe you are buying in on that crap? KC. played San Diego the first game!Seattle was terrible too they played the niners. The theory sucks!
September 22nd, 2010 at 12:01 pm
Funny stuff JimBuc
September 22nd, 2010 at 12:29 pm
Hey Negative Expectations, you have proven after our 2 wins which side of the line you are on, a mindless hater. Atleast others like Eric show some signs of pride or happiness when we win, but you continue to cry like a little bitch!
Better that JimBuc is a mother hen than what you are – a tired old stray pussy constantly menstrating!
September 22nd, 2010 at 1:23 pm
Zero/Negative Expectations:
Here’s the problem: you are a bigger fan of yourself than the Bucs. You spent the entire offseason spewing negativity about the Bucs. Now they are 2-0, but rather than acknowledge anything positive, which would be the natural response for any real Buc fan (see Eric as an example), you are determined to continue to spew negativity. Why? To protect your own fragile ego. That is very, very sad and weak.
Zero — the Bucs could still lose every remaining game. No one is saying that they will win every game because they are 2-0. That would be stupid; about as stupid as refusing to acknowedge any improvement when a 3-13 team starts the next season 2-0.
September 22nd, 2010 at 1:35 pm
Yep…JimBuc is right on the money.
September 22nd, 2010 at 1:51 pm
Ummm, you guys didn’t acknowledge the best coach in Tampa’s history, wining more games than any other Bucs coach, more division titles than any Bucs coach and more Super Bowls than any other Bucs coach. You never acknowledged that.
You idiots chased away the winningest coach in Buccaneer history, despite them continuing to win.
Furthermore, you morons claimed all off-season how great Raheem was before he even played against these 2 lowly teams. You morons have made your case in how much in love you are with Raheem.
But it is pay back. Because it will take Raheem many, many years to acheive what Gruden has done. And since you idiots ran him out of town, you are going to have to get used to the harsh criticism you are going to get with Raheem.
An eye for an eye.
Now stop your b1tching! Take it like a man.
September 22nd, 2010 at 2:08 pm
Ahhh.. the truth is exposed. Negative/Zero is a jilted, angry Gruden lover. So, I amend my prior comments. Zero, you are a bigger fan of yourself and Gruden than the Bucs. Sad.
By the way, even with your Gruden-colored glasses on, things are clearly not as you see them. Most reasonable people acknowledge that Gruden was a good coach BUT a poor drafter. The facts bear that out. Most reasonable people here would never describe Gruden the way you do (except maybe Eric). Your very description of Gruden CRUSHES any hope you might have for credibility.
Anyway, thanks for exposing the truth about Zero. Now we can all get on with ignoring you given that you are nothing more than an angry little . . .
September 22nd, 2010 at 2:32 pm
Are you serious? Your going to hate the team because they fired Gruden? Do yourself a favor and go find a Monday night football fan site and save yourself the embarrassment of being way off target.
I liked Gruden, and I liked Dungy as well for that matter. They did a lot for our team and our community. But they are gone and now doing other things besides coaching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Things change, you might want to get used to it. I can see the reason of why they let those two coaches go. And now I am seeing the reason why they hired Raheem. He was definitely not ready last year and had a huge learning curve. But he is undeniably making progress as a coach and this team is buying into his system. I am looking forward to seeing them progress over the next few years.
September 22nd, 2010 at 3:19 pm
Negative…I have stated many times that I am a huge fan of Gruden and Dungy…I will say that if Dungy had as many years in Tampa as Gruden, he would be the coach with the most wins…I believe he holds the % of wins as a Bucs coach over gruden.
I am not even comparing Gruden to Morris, they are two different people. Both have respect for each other. Like King said, things change. Maybe you should read “Who Moved My Cheese”, so you can move on past the Gruden years. It is not like he will be hired to come back to Tampa. Also, whenever you are confronted for your Morris bashing, why does everyone else become “morons”? Just saying, not very original.
September 22nd, 2010 at 3:35 pm
Many of your types, not all, but many hated Tampa Bay Buccaneers because Gruden was the coach, hell you chased him away.
Eye for an eye b1tches, get used to it.
September 22nd, 2010 at 3:43 pm
Thanks to Jimbuc for exposing a Gruden worshiper, I didn’t think he was as tightly nut huggin’ the guy in his posts, just being realistic on expectations for the entire season. Just another who will be back in full force when the team loses.
I can take all the people who don’t totally believe in Morris, but if you are just bitching about the team because Gruden is gone, then begone to your old team before he was here. Same thing happened after Dungy left.
Thanks always to Jon Gruden for his part in the trophy. Go bucs, and keep kicking ass Raheem.
“Who Moved My Cheese” indeed McBuc, lol.
September 22nd, 2010 at 3:47 pm
Funniest line ever:
“NegativeExpectations Says:
September 22nd, 2010 at 3:35 pm
Eye for an eye b1tches . . .”
September 22nd, 2010 at 5:44 pm
and “get used to it.”
September 22nd, 2010 at 6:05 pm
Embarrassing stuff
September 22nd, 2010 at 8:59 pm
King’s theory would hold water if Kansas City didn’t start their season against San Diego, who finished 13-3 last year. That’s far from a losing record.
September 22nd, 2010 at 10:20 pm
I’ll take JimBuc any day over those idiots, except eric. He’s a fan that likes to joke around. The other guys are clueless. My guess is Glue Sniffing.
September 23rd, 2010 at 7:53 am
Anyone who hadn’t seen improvement hasn’t watched a single game. The decision making of Freeman is faster and smarter, by leaps and bounds over last year. The WR position has upgraded, the D is playing much smarter and consistent. They are actually getting QB pressure and causing turnovers. Let’s not kid ourselves….if this was the same Bucs team Feeman would have thrown 5 picks last week and they would be 0-2 right now. King picked the Cowboys to be a serious contender this year, and they maybe, but now he’s feeding to the Bears as part of his conspiracy theory. Again, this theory holds no water and rakes away even more of the little credibility King had left.
September 23rd, 2010 at 7:54 am
*Freeman
September 24th, 2010 at 3:25 am
What an IDIOT, you would think a sports talk host would at least know what he’s talking about. AKA he needs to get fired.
Conspiracy is way off base. Schedules are put together by a rotation division format that only leaves room for two games to be played based on last years performance with not to much wiggle room. Anyway, heres how schedules are put together.
First of 6 games are from your division.
Then your division goes against another division in your conference (there is a rotation). This year it is the NFC West and thats 4 games and everyone in your division plays them and vice versa.
Then your division plays against a division not in your conference (once again there is a yearly rotation). This year it is the AFC North and thats 4 more games.
Then your team plays against one team from each of the remaining divisions in your conference. This year its one team from the NFC East and North. From this, where your team ended up in the division standings you will play the team who landed in the same division standings. For example the Bucs finished last in their division so they play the Lions and Redskins because they too finished last in their divisions(East and North) . All that equals to 16 games and no conspiracy theory.
And heres next years schedule:
NOx2
CARx2
ATLx2
CHI
GB
MIN
DET
HOU
TEN
JAC
IND
other two games to be determined, one from NFC EAST and WEST