Peter King Calls Out Bucs Fans
October 31st, 2011
Popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, beer-chugging Peter King ranks NFL teams in what he calls his “Fine Fifteen” in each edition of his must-read Monday Morning Quarterback on SI.com.
And it’s there where King ranks the Saints as the 13th best team in the NFL followed by Atlanta at No. 14. The Bucs didn’t make the cut.
Obviously knowing that ranking the Dixie Chicks ahead of the Bucs would be viewed as pure ignorance and vile stupidity by Bucs fans, King felt compelled to acknowledge them.
14. Atlanta (4-3). Before you Bucs fans write in with pitchforks at the ready, I do understand that Tampa Bay beat both the Saints and Falcons. What can I say? Other than I saw the San Francisco and Chicago games.
Joe likes King, the famed NBC analyst, Hall of Fame voter and NFL Radio talking head, but he might just be losing his fastball after some wacky stuff coming from him over the last couple of years. The guy even ranks the Eagles No. 8 with a losing record.
Joe wonders whether King thinks the Bucs blew it by not selecting Mark Ingram.
October 31st, 2011 at 10:17 am
King is just like all the rest of the national media. They can’t stand being wrong. Everyone predicted the Saints and Falcons would again be world beaters. And they’re clearly not. And everyone is having a hard time accepting it.
The Falcons have 1 win over a winning team.
The Saints have 2 wins over winning teams.
Where are all those people last year in the media that kept saying over and over and over that the Bucs hadn’t beaten anyone?
Yet, they beat the Saints and Falcons, and no one cares.
Classic. I actually love it. I love the national disrespect of the Bucs and hope it never changes because its just so laughable.
October 31st, 2011 at 10:20 am
Classic King. So the Bucs get beat by 2 good teams, yet the Saints lose badly (score was no indication) to a WINLESS team and they’re still #13?
Fat boy is funny.
October 31st, 2011 at 10:26 am
His comments did what they were designed to do. And, until our Bucs can consistently perform, they will not receive any national ‘love.’
I totally agree that right now, the Saints and Falcons are ‘cuttin our waffles,’ but that only lasts until we play them again. Then the team has to prove it all over again.
Easy way to shut someone up…prove them wrong.
October 31st, 2011 at 10:33 am
Hah! I sent him a nasty email this morning about this before I even read your piece Joe. Sometimes I love reading Peter King, but too frequently he’s just a clown – especially when it comes to the Bucs. Remember he predicted we’d get 2 wins last year.
October 31st, 2011 at 10:53 am
King is just like the network he hates, to him there is only 3 professional sports teams, The Red Sox, the Pats & the Yankees, and in that order.
October 31st, 2011 at 11:08 am
Why are you all attacking just another national media source that honestly could careless about our Bucs. Ask yourselves what levity marketing or organizational changes have been made to increase our exposure? When we do get exposure and segments San Fran game happens and Aqib in London foolery happens. Face it we are a small market with no icons or stars to like. The few names we do have play don’t warrant reverence from the media so chill out. If we were more consistent and not embarassingly penalized weekly then we have a gripe but hell if you ask me the Bucs are not a top 15 team.
October 31st, 2011 at 11:19 am
Let’s wait and see if the 3.5 quarter slow starts stop and let’s see how Olsen schemes because Lumpkin is going to have to pick up blitz and he’s insufficient from what I saw. Why don’t people condemn the front office for sticking us with this RB corps? You blasts the media but at least they are consistent haters. The Bucs front office sucks but you all turn the blind eye…
October 31st, 2011 at 11:27 am
@Architek — That’s all fine and dandy, except the Falcons have beaten one good team all season and the Bucs have beaten two. And one of those was the Falcons.
October 31st, 2011 at 1:00 pm
Face it Joe, Peter King has sold out. This morning on MSNBC he said that Philly is a Super Bowl Contender. Think about it. A team that has a losing record in the second half of the season and he says they will be going to the Championship. My man. Who cares what he thinks anymore, he is in the hip pocket of the establishment.
I would say. lets not worry about who writes what, lets just win and leave it on the field.
October 31st, 2011 at 1:25 pm
Guys, the fine fifteen isn’t based on record. It’s based on who he thinks would win the game at a neutral site.
Yes, I think the Bucs should be in there.
But do I think the Bucs would beat a number of team on his fifteen list right now? No, because the Bucs have a lot of problems they need to work out, including their penchant for ridiculously slow starts and Freeman’s decision making.
Sorry, but if I’m picking the Bucs vs. Eagles right now, I tend to think the Eagles would win.
October 31st, 2011 at 3:11 pm
@Architek:
“Face it we are a small market with no icons or stars to like. The few names we do have play don’t warrant reverence from the media so chill out.”
I think the first part of your sentence is the reason for the second part of your sentence.
Even when we had guys like Brooks and Lynch and Dunn, etc. we were still a “small market”. No matter who plays here, they’re not going to get the attention that someone in New York or Philly does. That’s just the facts. Its not that Brooks wasn’t a star or wasn’t relevant, its just that he played in Tampa. Had he been a Giant or Eagle, he’d be a national superstar. That’s dictated by ratings. Period. And that’s fine.
And it doesn’t bother this fan. I personally like the disrespect. It amuses me.
October 31st, 2011 at 3:13 pm
“Let’s wait and see if the 3.5 quarter slow starts stop and let’s see how Olsen schemes because Lumpkin is going to have to pick up blitz and he’s insufficient from what I saw. Why don’t people condemn the front office for sticking us with this RB corps? You blasts the media but at least they are consistent haters. The Bucs front office sucks but you all turn the blind eye…”
LOVE IT. You forgot about Raheem though.
October 31st, 2011 at 3:24 pm
Teams from Tampa have to be better, and do so for a longer period of time, than their big market counterparts in order to get the same attention. Look at the Rays & Lightning…no attention when they’re on a losing streak and slowly building attention when they win. Same thing with the Bucs. It’s just a part of being a Tampa Bay fan.
October 31st, 2011 at 7:24 pm
The Bucs have a very good chance against a beaten and battered Saints’ O Line. Their center quit recently and their tackles are horrendous backups on a good day. The Rams totally exposed them and the Bucs’ D line should have a feast on Sunday. But Aqib needs to step up and do his job. He is been the main underachiever on the Defense all year. As much as I would like to bash King, I have to agree with downgrading of the Bucs. I don’t agree with him elevating the Falcons or Saints either. The NFC South has been a big disappointment thus far as a Division and the Bucs need to step it up. They put themselves in this spot by losing to the Bears. I now believe the 49’rs may be the class of the NFC with the Packers, so I’ll give them that, but GOOD GOD MAN, MKAE A PLAY ALREADY!!!
October 31st, 2011 at 8:49 pm
Don’t forget: this is the same guy who defended Brett Favre for playing dead and letting Michael Strahan “steal” the sack record.
November 1st, 2011 at 10:31 am
I get it and can care less about these rankings, they are nothing more than one man’s opinion.
That said, this year it is clear to me:
1: GB
2-22: All the teams with 3, 4, or 5 wins
23-32: the bottom dwellers
Every single with 3-5 wins has shown flashes of brilliance and flashes that make you think they should not win another game this year.
It has been a very strange begining to the season.
The Packers are CLEARLY the best team going, but I foresee them faltering a couple times becuase of the inconsistency on defense.
Because of all this, it helps me stay optimistic with the Bucs. Sure they have some glaring weaknesses and are making young & dumb mistakes, but so are alomst every single team out there. Other than the Packers, I do not see a team any more consistent (or inconsistent) than the Bucs.
If Freeman, Blount, Williams, K2, and Benn pick it up moving forward, they have as good a chance as any.