Falcons 28, Bucs 24
December 5th, 2010h1 style=”text-align: center;”>
Nooooooo!
The Bucs choked.
Sorry. They’ve accomplished so much this season, even without knocking off a winning team. But they choked, leading by 10 at home in the fourth quarter in a game that would have changed the course of the season and possibly the franchise.
Joe’s sick to his stomach. If Maurice Stovall doesn’t miss a sideline tackle on Eric Weems, then he doesn’t take it to the house and the Falcons are clawing to come back from 10 down in the fourth quarter instead of a Weems’ 102-yard return that changed the game.
The crowd was raucous. “Matty Indoors,” aka “Matty Ice” the Falcons’ quarterback, was almost put on ice, often looking bewildered by the Bucs secondary and completing just half his passes and getting picked twice.
But almost ain’t cutting it. The Bucs have high expectations for themselves, and Joe surely had them leading by 10 late.
Painful. Joe’s sick. The Bucs can and should win their next three games. Going to be tough, though, if Jeff Faine doesn’t return.
Check back often for plenty of coverage through the night on JoeBucsFan.com.
December 5th, 2010 at 9:09 pm
Great post. I’m pretty grossed out right now after watching that.
If that kick isn’t returned, the Bucs win. No question in my mind.
But we have to keep our heads up. This team is better than last year. They’re even better than they were at the beginning of the season. Can you imagine Week 1’s team playing the Falcons tough in 2 games?
The future is bright, Bucs fans. This young team couldn’t really handle the playoffs this year anyways.
Let’s win out and have a good off-season. One where #5 can grow even more with all of his weapons.
Go Bucs!
December 5th, 2010 at 9:09 pm
Mo stovall is done in tampa, faine is injury prone and will be out, quincy black is like D play with 10 guys…… SO DAMN MAD
December 5th, 2010 at 9:11 pm
raheem sucks how conservitive can you be punt on two 4th and 1 and play zone on 3rd and 20 we are 0-5 vs teams with a winning record enough said i would not re sign him after this year
December 5th, 2010 at 9:14 pm
This team gave a hard fought effort tonight.
Cheer up ladies.
They are what they should be, a promising young team. They have a lot of potential. Hang in there.
December 5th, 2010 at 9:15 pm
I’m sick…so sick…sometimes you just can’t beat a team. We got 3 winnable games upcoming and be 10-5 by week 17. The up coming match-ups in our favor:
Packers/Giants
Packers/Bears
Giants/Eagles
and believe it or not…we got a chance if Falcons win vs. Saints.
Someone’s gonna lose and the Bucs should look good going into New Orleans for a possible wild-card play-in game.
We’re not out of it, but now there’s no room for error…
Still believe in u Free/young Bucs keep playin’ hard
GO BUCS! The race to 10 continues!
December 5th, 2010 at 9:17 pm
Hey Justin; I’m pissed to but to say Raheem sucks is crazy. I was one of his harshest critics but look at what he is winning with. How many rookies are starting these days 7,8? By all rights this should be a mediocre rebuilding year. Also not losing to bad teams aint’ that easy. Fact is they have more talent on the Falcons, for now. One more good draft and they will be a real force but for now Radio is doing a hell of a lot with players most coaches would lose with.
December 5th, 2010 at 9:18 pm
I disagree, the zebras determined the outcome of this game. Hardly any flags till ATLs last drive???? Than all those flags come out to help them?? Oh and the ball hits the ground on that last interception where even Mike Farrera calls it an incomplete pass and the call stands. lol @ the final outcome of this game. LOL @ all the people bitchin about our team, its players, and most of all Rah. Find yourself another damn team and #$%^ off.
Sincerely Rican
December 5th, 2010 at 9:19 pm
Agreed, Buc You.
Beyond those late mistakes (the kick return and penalties), there were two mistakes early in the game that could have taken this out of the Falcons hands before the half.
Talib had a INT in his hands and let it go. No, the Falcons didn’t score, but the field position turn and putting more points up early could have put the Falcons way down early.
Then, Barber had a pick 6 in his hands. Don’t get me wrong, still great plays by both, but making the big play in those situations could have turned the game away from the Falcons so early in the game they wouldn’t have been able to come back even with the KR.
December 5th, 2010 at 9:20 pm
I liked the no-call block in the back on Stroughter on Atlanta’s KO return for a TD. Classic.
December 5th, 2010 at 9:20 pm
refs choked
December 5th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
Blaming the officials, even if its true, is for whiners.
That loss feels worse by far than the Saints beatdown we took, because we had them. Joe is right. We choked.
December 5th, 2010 at 9:28 pm
Seriously Justin, you need to sit back and calm down before firing people. First of all, the 4th and short ended up being a good call. It reversed field position and eventually led to an INT and a TD for us (not to mention ate up a bunch of clock). As for the zone coverage, I would say that probably 9 out of 10 teams would play zone in that situation. You are much more likely to give up a big play in man to man. Besides, who exactly would you want to cover him man to man anyway? Ryan made an incredible throw, I just wish Talib would have been in to defend it. I doubt it would have had the same result.
Do you realize that we have only 1 starter remaining on our OL from the beginning of the year? If you just calm down and realize it’s amazing that we are able to even hang with Atanta due to all the injuries. There is nothing wrong with the coaching, we’re just very young and inexperienced. The foundation is here for long term success, and it would be ridiculous to shake that up.
December 5th, 2010 at 9:30 pm
The 4 qtr penalties are just flat out bad and cost the Bucs a trip to the playoffs. The future is bright but losses like this hurts deep when you have the division leader on the ropes, you knock them out.
This is not on Raheem but the players discipline as grown men. Josh Freeman to focus on the details because he stared down receivers alot today.
December 5th, 2010 at 9:34 pm
Woulda, coulda, shoulda
Didn’t.
0 dash 5 against teams with winning records.
Second week in a row that the franchise QB did not play like one.
December 5th, 2010 at 9:35 pm
The only things I hate more than John Fox and the Carolina Panthers are Mike Smith and the Atlanta Falcons. Yeah we did choke…. Watching it from here, the team (including the coach) seemed to run out of gas once Atl ran back the kickoff for a TD. It sucks…
December 5th, 2010 at 9:47 pm
hey safety, yeah blaming the officials is for whiners accept when the officials screw the pooch like they did in this one.
December 5th, 2010 at 9:51 pm
Hey all you haters please shut it and take a chill pill..i’m as mad as anyone here, but seriously stop saying the Bucs are out of the playoffs…we are 1 game back of a couple teams who have some VERY tough games ahead..so just relax
yea we blew this game, but we have 3 winnable games coming up
GO BUCS!
ps: anyone know the details of Talib’s injury??
December 5th, 2010 at 9:52 pm
@Eric,
Don’t know if you realize it, but you really give the sense that you enjoy these losses. It’s like you get great pleasure in bringing up anything you can to disregard all this team has accomplished this year. We all know we haven’t beaten a team with a winning record, why do you think it’s cool to constantly pour salt in the wound. I would expect that from a fan of another team, but why from one of our own? When you go to the game, do you even cheer for us?
December 5th, 2010 at 9:59 pm
@eric….dude, you only show up on here when we lose..go cheer for another team already..
I understand if you don’t like the Glazers but this team is exciting, has a lot of very good young talent…don’t really understand how you can’t be behind them if you are a bucs fan.
Anyway that loss sucked! I really thought they were going to win when Stroughter caught that ball.
December 5th, 2010 at 10:11 pm
Note to ALL
Eric IS NOT a Bucs fan.
We all know that.
December 5th, 2010 at 10:24 pm
don’t blame the refs
penalties and bad execution are to blame
losing aqib hurt but they still stepped up
5 didn’t play well again but damn…he’s 22!
these kids are fun to watch…even when they lose
go bucs
December 5th, 2010 at 10:54 pm
You know, I’ve never posted here before but I think we need to put some things in perspective. The Bucs are the youngest team in the NFL. We start a rookie RB, 2 rookie WRs, a 1.5 year QB, rookie OL, Rookie DT and a rookie S. We were 3-13 last year and have a second year coach. We’re 7-5….7-5! seriously. Look guys, news flash…we lost to the Steeler, Ravens, Falcons and Saints. We are not as good as they are. Could we have won today, yeah…and we should have. But young teams do dumb stuff and we did today. We have beat average and poor teams and we have been beaten by the best teams in the NFL.
My only concern is Freeman. I would have really liked for him to bounce back against a questionable secondary after his worst week. he had some dropped balls but still.
December 5th, 2010 at 11:13 pm
This was a tough game. Overall, I’m optimistic about the bucs going forward, they have surpassed my expectations, already through 12 games. I really like Raheem, he and the staff, including Olson, show moments of greatness, but again, they are young an inexperienced, just like the players.
The frustrating part for me this season is the overall integrity of the game of NFL football, which sadly is causing me to question the entire entity. I’m 30, and have watched football for most of my life, and maybe I’m becoming more cynical as i get older, but there are penalties committed (not necessarily called) on EVERY PLAY, the outcome of football games more often than not, IS COMPLETELY SUBJECTIVE. Sometimes the calls go your way, some times they don’t, but too often, and more recently, i feel in this league that close games are determined by how they are called, not how they are played. Late hits, holding, roughing the passer, pass interference, spot of ball…..This is the year 2010, technologically, we can get these things right. I’d rather games take 4 hours and every call correct, then refs having carte blanche to determine the game. And this BS about “not enough to overturn”, the INCORRECT call on the field?
Again, I acknowledge that things go both ways, each team gets calls and doesn’t get calls. But I have been sickened watching games this season. I’m not saying the game is rigged, but maybe they should should rename the league the “For Profit National Football Business”.
December 5th, 2010 at 11:20 pm
And the list of excuses grows…………………..
If 7-5 is soooooooooooooooooooo incredible, why was back to back 9-7 and a Division Title such a disgrace?
Oh thats right it was a “feeling” we couldn’t make a Super Bowl run.
3-13 last year, 7-5 so far with two victories over the hapless Cats, Bungals, Noncardiac cards, Lousy 49ers etc. etc. It is only because of the utter ineptitude of 2009 that this somehow looks good to some.
Sorry, this long time buc fan aint impressed. We deserve better.
Hope they didn’t lose Cowhers number.
December 5th, 2010 at 11:32 pm
Youngest team in the league+tons of injuries should equal a bad season but were 7-5. The games we lost were to teams that are a combined 35-11 between 4 teams. Next year should be the year that we start to dominate, once we grow up a little.
December 5th, 2010 at 11:33 pm
Yay! Eric’s back!
December 5th, 2010 at 11:34 pm
@ eric
9-7 every year with no hope of even sniffing a championship at all is not the way to go. Youre like most casual Tampa fans- just want big names rather than being a contender. And dont even say that the 2 years we went 9-7 that we were contenders.
December 5th, 2010 at 11:48 pm
@Eric,
You apparently are so stupid you really can’t figure out the answer to your question. It wasn’t a feeling, it was a reality that we were past our prime and not getting any better. There was no progress. There was no foundation. Jeff Garcia is not foundation. Joey Galloway is not foundation. Derrick Brooks (still my favorite Buc of all time though), Cato June, Ike Hilliard, etc.- not foundation. Notice how they are all out of the league. Gruden and Allen were going to bring all of them back. We were not going to be good for a long time with no youth. That has all changed with Morris. We have Freeman, Williams, Blount, Benn, McCoy, Talib (one good pick from Gruden regime), etc. They are going to be great players, and very soon. We have the top rookie RB and WR. We have a franchise QB who is only going to get better. McCoy is going to be a stud. They are young, and Vince Lombardi couldn’t make them veterans and mistake free. Obviously we are not ready to win the trophy this year, but we will be soon. By that same token, we can play with ANY team in the league, as we have shown over the last couple weeks.
You are such a little whiny bit*h to continue to bring up the teams we’ve beaten. A win is a win in the NFL, but you’ve got your head so far up Gruden and Cowher’s arse that you can’t figure that out. I don’t give a f*^k if you’ve been a Bucs fan from day one or not, you are not one now. If whatever kind of pathetic person you are constitutes a fan, then I am not a fan. You don’t deserve better, you deserve a kick in the arse. I respected your opinion last year because we were a bad team and you definitely had some good points, but this year you are just a douche, no better than Tampa 2 or Thomas. You show up when we lose, and disappear like the tool you are when we lose. To continue to rub salt in the real fans wounds shows who you really are, and what a joke of a “fan” you are.
December 6th, 2010 at 12:16 am
Eric,
If Gruden is so great…how come he’s not coaching? Gruden was incapable of developing talent. He relied on veterans because he couldnt teach….let alone draft. His sole super power was the ability to mistify his own players by running an overly complex offense with multiple shifts. He had hundreds of plays of which none could be properly executed. Maybe we dont have long term success with Raheem..who knows, but at the rate Gruden and Allen were drafting, we were dead in the water. I do miss watching Grudens offense of multiple formation changes, 2 men in motion and then an incomplete pass because an offensive lineman had completly lost track of who he was blocking. As has been said. We have a great core…we also have Price coming back next year and Cody as well. I think we have an offense capapble of developing into what our defense was….young, dominant and well diciplines/coached. We’ll see.
December 6th, 2010 at 12:40 am
I am just waitin on the dynasty. I feel a bit misled, I thought we had the best team in the NFC.
In truth, the bucs are a 4-8 team and some luck and unbelievably easy schedule has em 7-5.
Living the “dream”.
December 6th, 2010 at 1:24 am
@Eric,
Actually, in truth we are a 7-5 team. Last I checked, there is no asterisk by our record. You must be a fan of the BCS with your philosophy on schedule and luck. Fact is, nothing they can do will impress you. I recall you saying before the Bengals game that if we won you would be very impressed. We won, and you disappeared, because you are a tool. You enjoy us losing, just so you can be right. But the funny thing is, you aren’t right. This is a good team, full of promise. Coach Morris is a good coach, and he will be here for a while. When this team becomes dominant in the very near future, I hope you’ve already moved on to a new team (probably the one Gruden is coaching), because you don’t deserve to enjoy the success. You can give your smart arse responses all you want, but the fact is that you are nothing but a troll. Regardless of how long you’ve been going to the games, you are not a fan.
December 6th, 2010 at 1:31 am
Not happy about the way the Bucs played in the fourth quarter, but something needs to be done about these lame ass officials around the league. We were screwed last week in Baltimore and the officials today really were pathetic. I think no one wants the Bucs in the playoffs. So many missed calls on Atlanta and so BS calls on us!
And I f****** hate these “unnecessary roughness” penalties. THIS IS FOOTBALL! It’s supposed to be rough. It’s not the national pussy league.
December 6th, 2010 at 1:40 am
Whatever brother.
The impressive nature of the Bengals victory has kinda wore off since it has been proven they are horrific this year.
But hey I got a take and I state it. No better or worse than yours or anyone elses.
December 6th, 2010 at 2:17 am
Yeah, and you only state it when we lose. Point is, you disappeared instead of manning up. Besides, they weren’t horrific at that time, since they had just recently beaten Baltimore. By that same standard, if St. Louis goes 9-7 and wins the division, then I guess we beat a good team, huh? No, of course not. You love to twist things around to prove your point. For you to not realize how you showing up big time on losses would piss us off makes you either a moron or an arse hole (or both).
December 6th, 2010 at 9:56 am
Olsen stop passing on the Blount.
Freeman needs to run when the lanes is open. Special teams is not so special. It should be could mediocre teams at this point. Spurlock’s football IQ needs to improve. To many times he has tried to field a ball. That should have been let go. The offense has way too many starts inside the 15 yd line.
December 6th, 2010 at 1:03 pm
@ eric
you say ” If 7-5 is soooooooooooooooooooo incredible, why was back to back 9-7 and a Division Title such a disgrace?”
what if the team we have now ends up at 9-7 without a division title? Still a disgrace? look back at the first 9-7 “accomplishment” what was our schedule what was our record the year before that 9-7 record (2006 4-12) did we not play a bunch of Bad teams because of that,, where is your logic it was good enough for you then but not good enough for you now???
I for one respect everyones opinion… Not that i have to agree with them but I accept them. You Eric say one thing then comeback and twist on that statement to make your first statement true. Yeah we have played some NFL teams that where not very good this season and we have won those games. we have also lost to some of the better teams in the NFL this year. Just like the 9-7 seasons you are shouting about. As I see it in those seasons our division was not that good those two years so according to “your” logic we must not have been a good team because we played 6 games against bad teams. 9-7 (07 panthers and saints 7-9 falcons 4-12) (08 9-7 3rd in our division ahead of 8-8 saints but behind falcons 11-6 and panthers 12 – 4) how is that a disgrace??? hmm… and we lost 4 of our last 5 games…. we had an OLD team and few young play-makers… wow what a selective memory you have Eric….
I hope you get your wish and we lose you as a “fan” cant say I will not miss you but thats just the truth of it.