Turning Point For The Bucs
October 17th, 2011
Joe was as geeked as the next guy that the Bucs won. Look, the great thing about sports is the unexpected. And Joe will challenge anyone who, with a sober mind, fully expected the Bucs would have won yesterday after the chain-whipping they endured in San Francisco and playing without their best running back and best defensive lineman and their starting center leaving the game with an injured arm.
It very well could be a coming of age moment for the Bucs and a turning point in the season.
But Pat Yasinskas is of the mind this may be a turning point for the organization, that perhaps the Bucs will be the team to beat in the NFC South and not the Saints.
What the Bucs found back home in Tampa Bay (before shipping off to London on Monday morning to play the Chicago Bears next Sunday) was a bigger win than they’ve had in several years. In a 10-6 season last year, the Bucs won a lot of games against mediocre teams. Even the biggest victory earlier this season, against Atlanta, wasn’t all that impressive because the Falcons have been up and down.
But Sunday was different. There’s no debating whether the Saints are a good team. There’s no arguing the Bucs played their most complete game since Morris has been around. Graham took care of the ground game, Freeman had his best game of the season and the defense was the story of the day.
“When our defense plays like that, there’s no one in the NFL that can beat us,’’ Penn said. “No one.’’
Joe never thought of the win that way but Yasinskas has a point. If the Bucs become the team to beat in the division, it very much is a turning point for the franchise, not just a season.
October 17th, 2011 at 11:35 am
I must admit this win carries more significance than we all think. This is the first opponent with a winning record that the Bucs beat since the beginning of last season with a lot at stake for both teams.
October 17th, 2011 at 11:55 am
It was a huge win, no question about it but until the Bucs show that they can do this on a consistent basis it’s hard for me to write the Saints off as the team to beat. We have shown what we are capable of and I love what I’m seeing but is this team we saw on Sunday who we ARE or was THAT a fluke? When you see Green Bay’s consistency it’s kind of the standard for what makes a team great. They don’t have let down’s. They don’t seem to start slow and they take advantage of every situation. I know we are headed in that direction and I see us as a monster team once all of these young players mature but for now I’ll hold off on saying we’re better than New Orleans. We certainly were yesterday and if we continue to exhibit the same kind of play we showed yesterday in the coming weeks my opinion will change. I do love these guys though. They have heart and they have talent and they just don’t have any quit in them. I would like nothing better than for us to meet the ’49ers again in the playoffs. Now THAT will be sweet revenge….
October 17th, 2011 at 12:13 pm
i think we’re still pretty wet behind the ears but i also think we’re the most complete team top to bottom in the south.
October 17th, 2011 at 12:20 pm
I’m pretty sure I had a sober mind and still picked the Bucs. I’m 10-2 on my picks so far for the week and I’m absolutely blowing the yucksters from ESPN and PFT on picks for the season.
My rationale was this. I took the 48-3 loss with a grain of salt. Teams coming off Monday night games often lose the next week. Teams playing on the road after a Monday night game lose far more often than not (I saw 11% wins for teams on the road for the past few years). On top of that, the Bucs on the West Coast usually struggle. Add those factors together, plus a 49er team that was playing well, key injuries to the Bucs and their usual slow start, and we lost by 45. To add more to the it-doesn’t-really-matter file, the last time the Bucs lost by 45 was in Oakland in 1999. They lost 45-0 to the Raiders AND went to the NFC Championship game that year.
I figured the Bucs would want to shake that loss off and come out with far more fire this week to prove that game was an aberration. On top of that, with EG starting I figured the offense would be a tad more diverse so we wouldn’t see a huge drop-off there.
So yes, I fully expected us to win, just as I expected the Lions to win and the Bills to win (the two games I’ve gotten wrong this week).
October 17th, 2011 at 1:08 pm
Amazing how great this defense played , again, without baby-Gerald. 2 of the best defensive performances last year without baby gerald and best this year. Is it a coincidence? I say trend.
October 17th, 2011 at 1:13 pm
I’m a believer, but we have to follow that up against the Bears. Their OL is porous and we have to take advantage of that with our front four. Win this game and going into the bye we have 2 weeks to rest up and come out swinging.
October 17th, 2011 at 2:07 pm
Thomas, get over it, Gerald is the best D tackle in the division and by far the best d tackle on the team. He’s been rated the 4th best tackle in the league this year, and the legendary SUH cant play the run.
What happened against SF without Gerald? Gore ran for 120…Shut up Thomas, you don’t know what you’re talking about.
October 17th, 2011 at 2:21 pm
Really Thomas2.2 of all the things u could say positive about the performance of the team yesterday . You come out here raining that garbage BS about GMC’s not playing?
You are like a one trick pony and none of us even like it or think it’s funny anymore. I personally think u have some kind of man crush on GMC the way you constantly talk about him.
Oh and just for the record. Yes the D line kept pressure on Brees but 0 sacks and no one was truley breaking into the backfield like GMC so consitantly.
October 17th, 2011 at 2:27 pm
This had nothing to do with GMC not playing so the D played better. After getting whooped for 45 points the week earlier and all the hate added to them from the media. I expected nothing less.
The team as a WHOLE performed much better. the DB and LB played solid ball. As for the D line they played very well but this was NOT their BEST performance of the year. I think the ATL game was.
They had constant pressure, but NO one broke free and NO one hit Brees that often. GMC lives in the back field helping other D lineman to make the plays they need too.
October 17th, 2011 at 2:46 pm
Hey Thomas, your obsession is a little unhealthy, man.
October 17th, 2011 at 3:10 pm
What I think is most impressive about the Bucs wins this year is that their 4th quarter running game has been stellar. Freeman has played well in those 4th quarters, but Blount and Graham have been critical in sealing the wins. Three times now the Bucs have taken possession before the 2 minute warning, with opponents well-armed with timeouts. Three times the Bucs have gained the critical 1st downs by pounding the rock.
October 17th, 2011 at 4:39 pm
Caution not to get ahead of ourselves with so many games remaining.