What Would Monte Do?
May 14th, 2012
Joe had a warm and fuzzy feeling this afternoon listening to Movin’ the Chains, hosted Pat Kirwan and Tim Ryan on SiriusXM NFL Radio.
Kirwan, the former and Jets team executive and linebackers coach, now a busy analyst for CBS Sports and NFL.com and others, talked about how NFL teams will be going into their computer archives to pull up film of Monte Kiffin’s Bucs stifling Michael Vick in his prime with the Falcons.
Why? To prepare to play the Redskins and Robert Griffin, III.
What a great memory on a mid-May day.
Those were amazing Bucs-Falcons showdowns that showcased the greatness of Derrick Brooks like no other. (Interesting that the Bucs will take on both Vick and the Eagles and RGIII and the Skins at home in 2012).
And of course, any talk of a Bucs-Vick matchup would be incomplete without this Chucky video.
May 14th, 2012 at 3:57 pm
First he would throw up….
Then after every Bucs fan who compared his DC skills to Raheem Morris made a public apology with the words “I know absolutely nothing about professional football” he would produce his usual top five defense.
May 14th, 2012 at 4:02 pm
Monte is a legend.
I hope our Defense can take a step forward this year, and become one step close to “Dominant”.
May 14th, 2012 at 4:05 pm
Funny Eric. Those were great years, and what a defensive staff Monte had, including Raheem.
May 14th, 2012 at 4:06 pm
Vick, RG3, and Newton twice. Good thing we got Lavonte David.
May 14th, 2012 at 4:17 pm
I *heart* Monte
May 14th, 2012 at 4:24 pm
Once Monte announced his resignation in ’09 we packed it in, losing out and missing the playoffs. Bye byre Gruden.
One would think Layne Kiffin would have some more success in his endeavours based on his father.
May 14th, 2012 at 4:28 pm
SteveK:
One of the great fallacies of the 21 Century, right up there with “Gruden won with Dungy’s players.”
May 14th, 2012 at 4:58 pm
Joe,
Gruden def won Tampa the Superbowl. His mind for Oakland’s Offense showed in our Defensive game planning.
You can’t tell me that we didn’t “pack it in” in 2009 when Monte announced he wasn’t coming back.
In fact, we haven’t been able to stop the run since Monte announced he was leaving.
I still have nightmares of Michael Bush running through our ill-determined D.
May 14th, 2012 at 5:02 pm
Jon Gruden, the original Little General.
May 14th, 2012 at 5:16 pm
Gruden didnt win with Dungys Players, But he sure as Hell won with the Defense than Dungy/Kiffin assembled.
May 14th, 2012 at 5:18 pm
All Gruden had to do was get the Offense near Average to win a SuperBowl.
May 14th, 2012 at 5:19 pm
Steve K
I still have nightmares of Michael Bush running through our ill-determined D.
Why just him …. everyone got a turn ??
May 14th, 2012 at 5:19 pm
Whatever it was there was winning unlike since 08.
May 14th, 2012 at 5:24 pm
SteveK:
Here’s where your fairy tale falls apart: The team knew before the 2008 season that it was Monte’s last.
Bruce Almighty and Chucky both admitted that Kiffin told them before training camp it was his last year. Hell, the year prior, Al Davis had said that he and Monte were talking about him coming to Oakland to join his son.
Do we really believe guys like Ronde Barber and Derrick Brooks tanked the season because they were p!ssed at Monte leaving? Really?
The truth is a bitter pill to swallow that no one wants to admit: That defense was old and brittle and simply broke down and ran out of gas in the second half of the season.
People also seem to forget that great defense people want to remember got torched by the Lions in Detroit and the offense had to pull out a miracle to win it. If memory serves, same thing happened in Kansas City to the Tyler Thigpen-led Chiefs.
If, as you suggest, the defense “packed it in” because they were too immature to handle the loss of Kiffin, why didn’t they “pack it in” from Week 1?
May 14th, 2012 at 6:11 pm
Why is everyone looking for a reason? History is history. It takes time to amass a talented group and since we started to rebuild 2 years ago we are not in position yet. But it is coming. I estimate that the offense will account for 60 % talk and the D about 40%. I see them starting off slow and coming on strong as the season progresses.
May 14th, 2012 at 6:18 pm
I have to agree the defense did age. But still finished in top ten.
I feel extremely confident mr. Kiffin would have rebuilt the unit.
Kiffins defense never approached the futility of 2011.
May 14th, 2012 at 8:20 pm
Cam Newton is as overrated in our division as Vick was.
Question. In the last ten years how many Superbowl winning QBs were running QBs? The last 15 years?
All this talk about running QBs is hype and little else. You MIGHT see one win a supernowl every 10-15 years…might.
May 14th, 2012 at 8:34 pm
Joe,
Something happened and we were 9-4 and in the drivers seat.
I’m saying Monte’s news leaked to the players, and perhaps Derrick Brools knew he was gone too.
Our D packed it in. We had no fight. Something could have happened, or some information was possibly leaked?
On Offense, Jon Gruden was gaining a bad rep with players: Jeff Garcia, Keyshawn.
We played sour the last part of the season. It was the end of that era.
May 14th, 2012 at 8:50 pm
Our 2009 post 9-4 start was reminiscent of our 2011 4-2 start, followed by 10 straight losses.
Both streaks were the “end” of an era: one was a Super Bowl downswing, the other was a crash and burn from a 10-6 “accident”.
Hopefully our Rutgerneers can get it together, right Eric?
May 14th, 2012 at 9:08 pm
Keyshawn was long gone by 08, replaced by JG.
May 14th, 2012 at 9:35 pm
Thanks Eric.
May 14th, 2012 at 10:33 pm
If I remember right, we were off to a 9-3 start, 1st in our division and 2nd in the conference, our team had absolutely no reason to “pack it in”.
May 15th, 2012 at 2:06 am
I agree, that final month of the 2008 season was painful to watch but never did I feel that we should’ve fired Gruden. I felt like way too many people were on his arse the whole time. It wasn’t his fault.
You guys realize that it was Raheem’s DB’s that got torched by the Chargers and the JAMARCUS Russell Raiders?!
May 15th, 2012 at 6:29 am
my nips poked out about an inch watching that