Thermometer Rising On Raheem The Dream
October 12th, 2009
Fans in the past two weeks have been clamoring for Raheem The Dream’s head almost as much as they are for the Bucs to cut Michael Clayton.
Vacation Man of BSPN.com was the first Joe has read to suggest Raheem the Dream may be on thin ice.
Today, Gary Shelton of the St. Petersburg Times is the first local MSMer Joe has read to lob the first grenade, asking if Raheem the Dream is up to the task of being an NFL head coach.
For Morris, the man in charge of the answers, Sundays always seem to end like this. Five times he has coached an NFL game, and five times his team has lost. His defense is not getting better, and his offense is getting worse, and by now, double-digit beatings seem to be the norm. He is a winless coach, and for him and his team, Sundays are wasted afternoons.
All of this is on Morris, of course. Say what you will about the talent, and say what you want about his newness to the job, and say all you care to about how cheap the owners have become. It doesn’t matter. In the NFL, coaches are judged by the scoreboard, and when a team is 0-5 and has lost by an average of more than two touchdowns per game, a coach’s fingerprints are all over the disappointment.
Everything that Shelton writes is accurate but Joe has to be fair:
Was it Raheem the Dream’s decision to sign the walking turnstile Sean Mayhem to replace Jeff Faine? Was it Raheem the Dream’s decision to re-sign to a hideous contract a wide receiver who catches a cold more often than he catches a football? Was it Raheem the Dream’s decision to draft a defensive end who has had one decent half in nearly 2 1/2 years?
Granted, Raheem the Dream deserves his share of blame in this mess. He’s the one who decided to fire his offensive coordinator 10 days before the season — a guy he hired in the first place. It was his decision to hire Jim Bates to oversee a defense with players that do not fit his style of defense.
And maybe more importantly, it was Raheem the Dream who lobbied hard and heavy for the Bucs to trade up to draft the object of his lust, quarterback Josh Freeman.
Joe just doesn’t see the need to call for Raheem the Dream’s head (yet). It’s premature. Is he blameless? Of course not. Who exactly expected the Bucs to compete for the playoffs this year? In Joe’s eyes, if you are not going to compete for a Super Bowl then compete for the worst record in the NFL so you can get a good draft slot.
October 12th, 2009 at 11:16 am
Who expected the Bucs to compete for a playoff this year????
Then tell me this – why did the Glazers let/fire Gruden? Jon had us (the fans) convinced that he was only 1 or 2 players away from getting over that hurdle. Coach Rigger Morris was promoted to get the players motivated to win for Raheem. Rah Rah!
There have been too many mis-steps with the current Bucs coaches – from hiring/firing of Coach Jeff Jagodzinski to the inept 4th down calls to the player packages on the field.
If one were to see some improvement or a master plan that was being laid out I think the fans (as least I would) be more patient – however this whole season looks like a make it up as you go thing.
I mean look at the entire QB situation. First give Luke a sign on bonus and starters money. Then bring in leftwich – all the time keeping quiet about JJ. Then not only drafting Freeman but actually trading up to do it? How stupid is that?
While this may be the first bomb tossed if the Bucs go 10-0 look for a litany of bomb tossers to emerge.
October 12th, 2009 at 11:24 am
Joe, when will you start commenting on Dominik too? He is the root of the problem on the team with his horrible decisions, Raheem is just the tree. Can we get a thermometer on both of this teams problems? And maybe even a keep and discard list from the current roster.
October 12th, 2009 at 11:28 am
My worries about all that as a fan is not one decision Morris has made since he has been promoted has ever made me think, “Maybe he does have a clue!” So if he is still coach next season he will likely just mess up that 1st draft pick as well. Yes! We haven’t seen Freeman yet to see if he was worth it but I am looking at it as we really didn’t need a QB that despirately anyways or at least not as much as other possitions and their record is resulting in it. Resigned McCown, brought in Leftwich and all the while Johnson was already their. Anyways, how much so of an unjustice will it be if the Bucs get the 1st overall pick next year and this Morris do something boneheaded with it to squander that opportunity and season away.
What little faith, if any, in Morris is disappearing rapidly with every questionable decision and Lose that continues to occur.
October 12th, 2009 at 11:32 am
Well said Tye.
October 12th, 2009 at 11:37 am
Fred:
Indirectly, Joe was doing just that in this post.
Mark Dominik has made a number of very questionable, expensive moves and Joe has pointed those out before. The archives show this.
Joe gives Dominik major props for admitting before the season on Sirius NFL Radio he took a gamble in re-signing Michael Clayton.
Sure, Joe knows some will say, “Hey, Seattle was going to sign Clayton… ” But this reminds Joe of a story virtually every mother has told her children:
“Just because someone wants to jump off a bridge doesn’t mean you should.”
October 12th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
I feel bad for Raheem as he is clearly in over his head and destined to be fired.
But in my opinion, Dominik/ownership is the root of the problem. They have made horrible decisions starting with the firing of Allen, Gruden and Dominik and Morris promotions. Add in Nugent, Crowell, giving up needed draft picks for Winslow, Clayton, the QB fiasco, Jags, etc. and you have the 2009 Bucs.
The Josh Freeman pick could set this franchise back 3 years if he doesn’t pan out (and I think it’s dubious at best that he will). If you aren’t that good in the Big 12, you’re going to struggle in the NFL and I think that is bearing itself out right now. As GM, he should be objective in grading Freeman and not let Raheem reach for this kid just because they are buddies but instead it sounds like Dominik bought into him hook line and sinker. How they can continue to say they had him ranked above Sanchez and Stafford when they are playing well as starters and Freeman isn’t even close to ready is beyond me.
October 12th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
seems to me like the GM and Head Coach are pretty much joined at the hip regarding decisions made
October 12th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
It’s pretty clear to me that we’re getting a top 5 pick next year. How about trading down? What this team really needs is one more cornerback and a good defensive end. We can get both with a late first and an early second rounder. Trade down with the high pick. Someone is going to want to trade up to get either McCoy, Bradford, or Tebow. Quarterbacks are the only way to trade down in the top spots. So this is actually a good year for that. Will we get Eric Berry? If we have pick 1 or 2, it’d probably end up being a reach to get Berry anyway. Trading down gets us a cheaper pick 1 and another solid second rounder. That allows us to get a DE and maybe another Jeremy Zuttah to add some depth to the line.
Next week I predict our first win. Our defensive secondary plays well enough against poor decision making QBs (Delhomme, Cambell). Jeff Faine will be back, so the A gaps aren’t going to have hanging welcome signs. Josh Johnson looked good when he had more than 1.5 seconds to make a decision, and he should have that with Penn locking down Peppers. I can’t think of any WR3s we should be afraid of picking on Mack. So that leaves Rosario to abuse our linebackers who are all awful in coverage. That means our key to the game is simply stopping DeAngelo Williams. We do that and play as well as we have otherwise and we win.
October 12th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Wait until Freeman get his chance and stinks the place up. Thats when it will get really hot! I like josh J. With a little OJT i think he will be fine
October 12th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
creamsicle:
Joe believes six years is more accurate.
October 12th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Been waiting for the week Raheem hollers uncle— which will quickly be followed by Radio Raheem saying “well, you can’t polish a turd”.
Sadly coach it’s a soft and corn-studded turd that you hand selected and assembled to fit “your” style.
And I guess that week has arrived.
by
October 12th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
What I want to know is this – who the heck hired Jim Bates? Yeah I know the defense broke down during the stretch last year but come on it wasn’t THIS bad!
Whose infinite wisdom was used to get Bates a job here?