Gameday Tampa Bay
December 30th, 2012
Week 17
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
TV: WTVT-TV Channel 13 locally, DirecTV Channel 713.
Radio: Buccaneers Radio Network (in Tampa WFUS-FM, 103.5 and WDAE-AM, 620); SiriusXM Channel 125.
Weather: Per AccuWeather.com, though the game will be played in a soulless dome, it will be cold for those wanting to tailgate. Morning temperatures of the low 30s under sunny skies will push to the lower 40s by kickoff. Should be in the mid-40s by game’s end and temperatures will drop rapidly afterwards.
Odds: Per Sportsbook.com, Bucs +3.
Outlook: And another end to a playoffless Bucs season comes to an end today. Yeah, Joe knows the Bucs should lose in order to help out their draft position for next April. This is a meaningless game… in fans’ eyes. But there are still a lot of questions to be answered. Who is a Buccaneer Man? Players giving lame effort today very well could find themselves unemployed in the coming days. Second, will Bad Josh Freeman show up or Good Josh Freeman? For Freeman’s sake, Joe hopes the good Josh Freeman shows up. If Freeman throws, say, three picks against the Dixie Chicks scrubs, he will be the talk of sports talk radio until the Rays begin play in April. If the Bad Josh Freeman plays, he will be pretty much the lone Bucs subject (sans the draft) heard on sports radio until training camp. That will make for a very, very, very long offseason for the Bucs quarterback. Outside of a perverse interest if the Bucs set a NFL-worst record for pass defense (the Dixie Chicks only need 252 yards in the air) in the 93-year history of the league, it’s hard getting worked up for this game after the team gagged their playoff chances the past month.
December 30th, 2012 at 11:34 am
Who cares about the draft – Go Bucs.
December 30th, 2012 at 11:39 am
can’t wait for the most exciting time as a Buc fan. Go Draft. The Rock Star will prove his value once again!
December 30th, 2012 at 11:53 am
It’s an important game.
If the Bucs win then Dominik wil be averaging ten losses per season for his brilliant tenure.
Lose and it’s up to 10.25 losses per season.
December 30th, 2012 at 11:59 am
like to get dirty with that bird ….
December 30th, 2012 at 12:11 pm
Be honest, non-partisan, wear a head coach’s hat and answer this question. How good is the “good” Josh Freeman and how reliable and consistent is the “good” Josh Freeman? I know my answers.
December 30th, 2012 at 12:26 pm
i really hope we get to see some of michael smith today.
December 30th, 2012 at 12:31 pm
This is the first blog in the 93 year history of the league to use the term “93 year history” in three different articles.
Last year the falcons had a chance to break our team record on most points allowed and did that in the first half of the game. Will they break this in the first half also? Will this be the first time in 93 years of NFL football history that a team gets to break two records for the same team on the last day of consecutive seasons?
December 30th, 2012 at 12:39 pm
Round about ten months till we’re out of the 2013 playoff chase….
December 30th, 2012 at 12:42 pm
Cool! 🙂
And guess what happens if the sordid record is set today?
December 30th, 2012 at 12:42 pm
This season for me was never about playoffs. It was about how good our team really was and could be. It was about showing improvement over a pathetic disgusting team we had last year. Have they accomplished this? I believe most have… Except Freeman. Biggers and of course Myron. Our future does look bright but I’m now convinced Free will never take us anywhere. Would love for Free to prove me wrong instead of drafting and having to develop another QB. PROVE ME WRONG FREE!
December 30th, 2012 at 12:45 pm
Gosh has flashes of brilliance. He can bring his team the length of a football field in 3 plays. He has done it since Day 1, the problem is that he hasn’t improved since Day 1 and he’s a head case.
Last week he emerged from his funk for one drive and when he failed on a 4th and 1 QB sneak, he checked back out of the game mentally.
GMC has the same issues, I believe. Some days he shows up, gets multiple sacks, some days he doesn’t even get a tackle. When you look at his stat sheets, there are a lot of zeros.
December 30th, 2012 at 1:27 pm
I hope the buccaneers take a look at Jairus Byrd, if he becomes a free agent.