Raheem’s Boast Still Rings Empty
November 27th, 2010
Joe knows this is an irritant to many Bucs fans. But like a nasty wart on the forearm, it’s not going to go away unless something is done about it.
The Bucs have yet to beat a team with a winning record. So it’s hard for anyone to objectively claim the Bucs are one of the best teams in the NFL when they can’t beat an opponent which has more wins than losses.
Tom Balog of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune notes that for the Bucs to lose this image, they have to have a signature win. Until then, Raheem Morris’ claim that the Bucs are the best team in the NFC is hollow.
You have to love the way Raheem Morris lives in denial. He’s so hunkered down into the NFL head coach, head-in-the-playbook survival mode, that he needs a shovel to dig his way up to reality sometimes.
Among Tampa Bay’s seven victories, I’m still looking for the one that shows that the Buccaneers convinced anybody that they are arguably “the best team in the NFC,” as Morris once proclaimed, before the loss in Atlanta.
”You make me laugh every week with your creative way to ask me, ‘Can I get a signature win?’ ” Morris said to me in his Wednesday press conference, downplaying the implications of Sunday’s upcoming game against the 7-3 Ravens in Baltimore.
It isn’t just Balog who is asking. It is the frauds on the take in Bristol. It’s the mousse-laden empty heads like Dull Patrick. It’s virtually every football fan outside of the Tampa Bay area.
With a win Sunday the Bucs can join the NFL elite. It’s really that simple.
Now go do it.
November 27th, 2010 at 2:07 pm
It’s the NFL. There are no ” northwest Alabama university of underwater basket weaving” on the schedule!! Grown professionals fighting for Money! 7 wins is seven wins. Tired of hearing this. This year has a bunch of 7-3, and a bunch of 3-7. Chicago fans are saying the same thing. Alot of fans are. Who have we beaten?? 7 NFL teams so far, and brother, that ain’t easy!
November 27th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
It seems like everybody just remembers the damn Saints and Steelers games where we got hammered. However, those are only TWO games. I really don’t think that’s a fair way to judge us. There’s other good teams in the league that have gotten hammered like that as well. Look how the Saints got hammered by the Browns!!
Week after week, we’ve simply gotten the job done! We’ve won all the games were supposed to win. It’s not the team’s fault for the easy schedule we have. For crying out loud, we’re 7-3!! We’re a good team!
People seem to forget that we were competitive against the Falcons and were 1 yard away from beating them. We proved right there we could compete against the good teams. Of course, all the damn critics don’t do their research.
November 27th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
I didn’t cry about who beat us last year, when we had an impossible schedule!And neither did the media morons!! So I won’t worry about who we this year! Just living the dream! I’ll let the talking heads try to diminish our wins. Me, I’ll jus keep counting ’em and enjoying them! Life is great if you are a Bucs Fan! Oh, I thought I saw some floaters in the bay this morning! Think it was Eric,Thomas, and Tampa 2! Again, great time to be a fan, sucks ta be a hater, really gotta grasp for straws !
November 27th, 2010 at 3:01 pm
!!! Does that article have a comments section? I think i’m gonna go bug him…
IF YOU HAVE A BRAIN, & *covered sports for a living*, the guy would know that Raheem said, essentially…”Are we, at this juncture, tied for the least losses in the NFC? Yes? Then we’re the best team in the NFC.” The *very next week*, when that was no longer the case, he flat out said “NO, we are no longer the best team”. It was all unbelievable motivation based on linear logic. Bolog is lazy & a waste…
November 27th, 2010 at 3:20 pm
We played Atlanta within one play of winning, in their house! What does Tampa have to do to get some respect ?
November 27th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
@christopher -I enjoy the fact that the media is grasping at Morris’ every word. He’s evolved to the point where he commands the room every time he’s in a press conference. If you dissect RM’s comments, it’s always like a backhanded slap to the media, and the “journalist” is stuck there looking stupid hoping for some kind of verbal slip-up to feed on. It’s like they love to hate on the guy, but can’t find any good excuse to validate the hate, so they bash the team’s record. It’s a great time to be a bucs fan!
November 27th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
Being the Bucs beat writer for the Sarasota-Herald Tribune is like being the world’s tallest midget. Way to shoot for the stars, Balog.
November 27th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
Balog is just another Buc hating prick.
He’s a lazy hack and he can’t come up with an original story thats why Raheem gets annoyed with him asking the same f..ing questions over and over.
November 27th, 2010 at 4:20 pm
@ Field—Exactly.
I actually think, in terms of the realm of football in 2010, Raheem is borderline brilliant.
He *does* have that great “us against the world” mentality, which for this particular team, is ace.
He’s likable enough in the(press conference)room that the writers generally seem to like him, yet again, Raheem knows he’s on the front for the fight for respect for his team. Parcells did this brilliantly, but eventually had SB wins to back it up & lend it even more credence.
I’m just generally impressed with the guy, & think he’s come as far as any coach possibly *ever*, in terms of learning, on two jobs, @ the highest level. Combine that with 1)he pretty much single-handedly picked Freeman, & 2)today’s player responds the best to him, & the future looks pretty good.
November 27th, 2010 at 4:25 pm
Funy how the combined records for teams that Atlanta has beaten = 50-51
the combined records for teams that New Orleans beat = 46-67
Combined record for teams the Bucs have beat = 39-62!
at the end of the day = Bucs are 7-3
Go Tampa
November 27th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
Good post, Mr.Lucky
November 27th, 2010 at 4:37 pm
I think it is true that you can’t call them the best team in the NFC without a signature win. NO has wins against Pitt and TB. Atlanta has wins against NO, Balt and TB. So they are both above TB in my mind. 7-3 is still impressive. It’s just hard to call them elite without a win against a good team.
People keep saying that they were 1 yard away from beating Atlanta. No, they were 1 yard away from taking a lead against Atlanta. Big difference. Atlanta would have had a lot of time to get in FG range against the mediocre D.
Hopefully the Bucs get a win against Balt, NO or Atlanta. Just 1 win would be nice.
I think Joe should be singing the praises of Bill Simmons now. The guy gushes over Josh Freeman and the Bucs every week on the BS report. It always cracks me up when Cousin Sal imitates Bill singing the praises of Josh Freeman. Always a highlight.
November 27th, 2010 at 5:15 pm
http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcsouth/post/_/id/15767/mike-williams-to-get-big-exposure
November 27th, 2010 at 5:36 pm
the list of qb’s the bucs have beaten:
Palmer (regressed vet)
Sam Bradford (Rookie)
Matt Moore (first year and terrible)
Jimmy Clausen (rookie)
Delhomme (terrible vet)
TRoy Smith (essentially rookie)
Max Hall (rookie)
Need anyone say more. Except for the Palmer win, they have won against 6 completely green and inexperienced kids that make their offenses one-dimensional.
They need to be an established pro qb – like Ryan, Brees, McNabb etc (all still on their schedule. I am not sure that I would even put Flacco in the established category. Freeman is close. It goes without saying that none of the teams with the aforementioned qb’s will be in the playoffs.
November 27th, 2010 at 5:41 pm
Dang Joe, you’ve been banging this drum all week. But while a lot of “good” teams have lost to teams that have a losing record, the Bucs haven’t. Agree with Capt. Timmy, 7 wins in the NFL is way different than 7 wins in NCAA. There is no BCS poll, so no need to apologize for schedule/record
November 27th, 2010 at 5:51 pm
Wow Thomas, your comment made the most sense of them all.
November 27th, 2010 at 6:07 pm
If you look at the parity in the NFL you will come to the realization all victories are well earned. Sure some teams are better than others, but on any given Sunday anyone can be beat.
Go Bucs!!!
November 27th, 2010 at 6:16 pm
Thomas- sadly, you are wrong again. As usual. They don’t” need to beat an established Qb”. Who says? YOU? All they need to do is win enough games on their schedule to advance to the playoffs. That is the rules, the system, the way things are done, and always have been!! There is no” haveta beat an established Qb” rule! There is no” haveta beat a team with a winning record” rule! That’s just more stupidity by the the dumbass haters, and clueless talking head crowd! Just more fools trying to diminish this teams accomplishments by trying to put even more foolish conditions on victory!!! Victory is sweet, cause it doesn’t have conditions! Ya win, and ya won! That’s it! Soooo, Thomas- SILENCE town Fool, your clownery and foolishness fail to amuse me today!! Back to your home amongst the swine, until you are summoned to perform your acts of self depreciation
November 27th, 2010 at 6:25 pm
Capt Tim, more hypocrisy out of you!
The last 2 HC’s won enoough to get to the playoffs consistently, but were fired when the teams were good enough to hang with the contenders consistently.
Now you want to change the rules, b/c your mushmouthed-boyfriend is the hc. the truth is lieutenant kim, the rules are established by neither one-of-us, if the team qualifies for the playoffs (which is unlikely if they finish third in the division) but cant compete year-after-year well then we havent improved.
The truth is: if rah stays near .500 and keeps excepting his pitifully low contract, the glazerhouses will probably keep him around for a while – so you can feel safe that your stuttering-crush will be around for some time.
November 27th, 2010 at 6:41 pm
Thomas not to fret you little head. Next year you can get your Chucky fix by watching the Dallas Cowboys instead of MNF!
November 27th, 2010 at 6:49 pm
and the bucs are trotting out a 2nd year qb with just over a years worth of game experience and somewhere around 6 rookies in starting positions on every sunday, so whats your f’ing point thomas? nobodies forcing you to watch this horrible team dude.
November 27th, 2010 at 7:10 pm
The 2.1 in Thomas’ name is the exact measurement, in inches, of his manhood.
November 27th, 2010 at 7:22 pm
thomas, by those standards, there are 7 teams this year that have lost to the Bucs and a QB that barely has one year’s worth of games under his belt. Yep, 7 teams that were beaten by a lowly 2nd year QB. Only 3 teams… the Steelers, Saints and Falcons could beat our lowly 2nd year QB. Seriously, I don’t think the age or experience of the QB is the issue here. We’ve beaten 7 teams, and lost to 3. No matter who the QB was for them or us. It’s a team game, they have a defense and offense just like us. There are 21 other guys besides the QB that play.
November 27th, 2010 at 7:38 pm
Don’t worry fellas, even if Rah loses tomorrow, I will still vote for him for the Luckiest Coach of the Year.
His luck won’t go unnoticed, don’t you worry!
Also, Thomas is dead on, he is right. You gotta give it to him. The teams we beat have all had QB problems. No wonder our secondary appears to be decent, they haven’t had to face a veteran and won. Delhome is an interception machine, if that is what the defense has to hang their hat on then, well, nevermind.
Anyway, its all a moot point, because the Bucs have a chance to prove themselves tomorrow and even semi redeem themselves next week against Atlanta.
The Bucs have the rest of the season to EARN respect. No one is just going to hand it over to them, stop being ridiculous, the Bucs need to still EARN respect with this lucky team.
November 27th, 2010 at 7:38 pm
What the hell do you folks want ? MD could not sechdule Ohio U, Miami of Ohio, UCon or U.C., they have to play whom ever the NFL say they must play. Cincy was coming off a playoff year and we went to there place and beat them. Give this team its due…7&3 with a chance to go to the playoffs.
Beats the hell out of 3 & 13 not too long ago. Let’s go to Balt and win…then will you pucks believe in this group ?
November 27th, 2010 at 7:39 pm
Listen, I am not limiting my argument to inexperienced qb’s – i included palmer who is experienced but just sucks, same for delhome.
now max hall, jimmy clausen, matt moore – i put them in the inexperienced and sucks category.
Freeman is inexperienced but clearly doesnt suck – the kid is proving that he is as top 15 qb – i think that he is excellent.
mr lucky i have no desire to see chucky anywhere, i agreed with his firing and still do.
i have said repeatedly that i am thrilled about the record, and i agree that all a team can do is beat who they are scheduled. however, what you must do is analyze the wins and losses – inarguably they haven’t beat anyone worth a damn, they have played three good teams and got BLOWN OUT by two. You cant dismiss that.
A win this week would be impressive.
November 27th, 2010 at 8:39 pm
i’ll give the “we haven’t beaten any great teams” arguement to you thomas because we haven’t. this also isnt the same bucs team that got slaughtered early in the year. blount, lee, zuttah, larsen, crowder, woods, benn. all new starters or contributors.
November 27th, 2010 at 9:46 pm
Strange that so many are now focused on the quality of the win. Same people who last year gave the Bucs no credit for being “competitive” in games they lost. So what if the Bucs have lost against elite teams, the Bucs are coming from 3-13, one of the worst teams in the league, and they are playing with more rookies than anyone. Yet some want to criticize them for losses to Pittsburgh and New Orleans? Really? Somehow the Bucs will be a failure if they do not beat . . . . the Ray Lewis led, AFC North leading Baltimore Ravens . . . in Baltimore?
C’mon, get a grip.
November 27th, 2010 at 10:30 pm
Just reading this post I couldn’t help but think about the ’98 Bucs win of the 49ers at Ray Jay…..the game that ended Young’s career if I remember correctly.
Personally, I think the game next week is bigger (and I’m sure Joe would agree given it’s a conference game) although a win against Baltimore would be amazing for this young teams confidence and for building excitement in the community.
November 27th, 2010 at 10:45 pm
Unlike many, I am not delusional. I know exactly what this team is and what our odds are this week. I have said we are a promising young 8-8 team from the first preseason game and I still feel that way….however, I’m tired of being constant and stuck in reality. I wanna just get caught up in the moment and forget reality. Forget that my gut tells me we aren’t really ready to hang with the top 10 teams in this league. Ignore my instincts. So here goes…
I think the Bucs win this Sunday in an upset. I think our defense will play hard again like they did in San Fran, and we will win the turnover battle. I’m calling a 17-13 Buc win. The Falcons lose to the Packers and the NFC has a three way tie at 8-3. Go Bucs!!!
November 28th, 2010 at 1:05 am
Ok, so the schedule is out of our control, it’s rotational and we can’t pick and choose who we play each year.
Not every team we’ve played had a great QB, but then again most don’t have a great QB on their roster anyway. Delhomme was brought in to improve the QB situation in Cleveland, that didn’t happen but it was what their plan was. The Panthers knew they would be relying on a young QB, whether that was Moore or Clausen, but figured they’d have their run game to bail him out. Carson Palmer led the Bengals to the division title over the Ravens and Steelers last year, and was expected to do the same this year. San Fran thought Alex Smith was the answer, but Troy Smith actually was playing better (until he met the Bucs).
Off the QB train of thought… I was looking back at the preseason predictions on several sites. NFL.com had the 49ers picked unanimously by 7 different writers as the division winners this year. They also had Singletary and Marvin Lewis listed as 2 of the top 5 candidates for Coach of the Year this year. The Cardinals were 10-6 last year and weren’t expected to drop as much as they have with Matt Leinart or Derek Anderson at the helm. The Bengals were picked by one of 7 writers on NFL.com as division winners again this year, were also 10-6 last year and projected to be better this year with more experience and the addition of T.O. and Antonio Bryant. Most preseason predictions for the Bucs had us at somewhere between 2-14 and 5-11.
Obviously, we’re better than was predicted, and other teams are worse than predicted. But when creating and evaluating a schedule, you’d say we got an easy schedule. But what if those predictions were right? What if the 49ers were far and away better than the rest of the NFC West. What if the Bengals were fighting for the division title and COY for Lewis? Nobody would be saying we’re beating easy teams. But those predictions didn’t pan out, we’re not living in prediction world… we’re living in the real world, where you can’t predict which teams will play better, which will play worse. We’re winning with the schedule we’ve been given against teams that were supposed to be better than us.
November 28th, 2010 at 1:42 am
While I do think it’s obvious that we have had a somewhat easy schedule, I see it as a positive. It has allowed this young team to develope chemistry and confidence. We are now a much better team than we were in week one. If we had a tough schedule this year we’d probably have a horrible record and things would be much more negative around One Buc place.
Even if we get creamed tomorrow and end up going 9-7 and missing the playoffs, in the long run the success that we’ve been able to have this year will go a long way for the future of this young offense. They now have a winning mentality and the confidence to know they can play in the NFL and have success. From here we will only get better and with more talent on defense next year we will be ready to be a real threat for years to come.
If we do make it to the playoffs then that’s awesome, but lets not forget this was a rebuilding year and we’ve accomplishes alot more than anyone expected in a short amount of time. Anyway you cut it, this year has already been a great success.
November 28th, 2010 at 2:15 am
I figured the Bengals and Cardinals wouldn’t do as well this year as last. Playoff teams usually change 50% every year. Those 2 were the easiest to me as teams that were going to miss the playoffs. Carson Palmer hasn’t been good for several years and Bengals had all the breaks go their way last year. The Cardinals without Kurt Warner just aren’t the same. Any sane person could have seen that. The 49ers were the team that did surprise me by how poorly they have played. I personally thought the Bucs had a chance at 8 and possibly 9 wins with the cupcake schedule they had. They look like they will exceed even my wildest expectations. Right now the Bucs competition for the WC is the 2nd place finisher in the East and Central. Those are the teams they should focus on. They actually can afford to lose the Ravens game. It hurts them the least in the long run since Baltimore is out of conference.
November 28th, 2010 at 10:28 am
Thomas”blown out by two, you can’t dismiss that!” Wrong again, town fool! Lmao at mommy boy Tommy! Every team has at least one bad game a year, ussually two or three. So what! Its just a loss, if you loss by 1 point , or one hundred. It’s just a loss. The Steelers got their Ass whipped by New England, who scored 39 points on them. You think the steelers are worried about that lose? Of course not. They still know they are a great team, who have won 7 games this year! Even good teams Lose a few games. Occasional you have a bad game. Who cares! Unless you are a pathetic, sniveling little sissy boy loser, trying to undermine a very sucessful season, so that you can once again cry that firing your mancrush Lil sucky Chucky was a mistake, who cares! 7-3! That’s ALL THAT MATTERS! You are still in love with Gruden- who, by the way,sucked! This is just futher proof that the Glazers were correct for firing the pathetic Lil excuse for a coach! Dry your tears, move to Dallas, and Slobber over that fool while he dismantles the cowpokers, the same way he did here and to the Raiders! But don’t worry about the Bucs- we are 7-3 and living large with our great head coach, GM, and greatly IMPROVED offense. Lmao again and sad wittle Tommy and his man crush
November 28th, 2010 at 12:30 pm
@HGO- brilliant!!!
November 28th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
Who is this Rah4LCoY douche? Got to be a former loser poster evading their ban. Figure it out Capt. Tim. Which member of the slow squad in disguise is this new loser?
November 28th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
I did, it’s RahDomtheracist again, in persona 6. Lol