Let The Offense Fly
November 14th, 2010
Josh Freeman.
Mike Williams.
Kellen Winslow.
Arrelious Benn.
Sammie Stroughter.
LeGarrette Blount.
Michael Spurlock.
What do those names mean? To Joe, those names mean weapons. Weapons like a Bucs offense may have never seen before.
Folks, this team has a chance to be explosive, and they have been. They exploded against Arizona. They exploded against Atlanta and they exploded against today. Josh Freeman is like an ADD-afflicted kid turned loose in a candy store after chugging two Mountain Dews, with the options he has to chose from.
This offense could drive opposing defenses batty. That’s just what the Bucs will need if they are to reach the magical “Race to 10.”
The defense is, well, suspect. They can’t stop a strong breeze on the ground. They get limited to zero pressure on the quarterback. Guess what? We are now entering the 11th week of the season. Jack Lambert and Reggie White are not walking through the front doors of One Buc Palace. No one off the street is going to be much better if any better.
The Bucs are going to have to win with what they have. That means offense. Let the offense breathe Greg Olson. Let ‘er rip. The only way the Bucs can make the playoffs is to play pinball football: burn up the scoreboard.
It can be done with the aforementioned weapons.
November 14th, 2010 at 6:42 pm
What are we gonna be like in 2 years? If we get a D you can chalk up a Super Bowl victory for our Bucs mark it down!
November 14th, 2010 at 6:51 pm
“Bust in Waiting”…..
November 14th, 2010 at 6:55 pm
Was at the game and it was great to see the Bucs use Blount early. I’d like to see the last two minutes of the game again. Seemed the zebra’s were doing all they could to let Caroline score. We really need to find an answer on defense to stop the run. Lots of holes there for sure. Great win though.
November 14th, 2010 at 7:14 pm
I think there’s even been improvement on defense. It’s been hard to see, because they were so horrible early. But with McCoy getting more pressure inside, it’s letting Stylez and Bennett the opportunity to get in there. Clausen was flushed out multiple times today. We got 2 sacks, but had another tackle on Clausen where he actually gained a yard, so it wasn’t considered a sack. Barrett Ruud busted in clean once on a blitz. Talib, Barber and Biggers are playing well, and Grimm and Jones are doing alright. LB is still the weakness, as well as DE, but there has been improvement. Just because they had a rookie QB, doesn’t mean their O-line quit.
Everything on offense looks exciting at this point. Blount, Caddy, Williams, Benn, Spurlock, K2, even Gillmore. And we still have Briscoe on the practice squad and Preston Parker to coach up. If we can get more O-line help to go with the obvious defensive help next off season, things could get real scary for our opponents next year.
November 14th, 2010 at 7:20 pm
Defense is gonna have ta wait til next year. Coach Morris said that during preseason. This year, it’s going be like old San Diego Charger Football, Don Coryell style. As Dan Fouts once said”defense is that boring part of the game between us scoring touchdowns!” not my first choice. But I’ll take it!! Still offensive players I wanna see! Briscoe, Lumpkin, Carter, Hardman! The offense this year has been- dare I say it- FUN! Never thought any other offense any Tampa Bay team had was fun- EVER- and I’ve watched them all!
November 14th, 2010 at 7:30 pm
Man, they gotta get those contract extensions out to Raheem and Olsen quick! If I owned another NFL team, I’d be making contact with these two!!
November 14th, 2010 at 9:19 pm
Gotta admit Olson called a nice game today. Already six wins and the hater’s are already starting to scramble. Desperately trying to figure out excuses for why the bucs won’t win in there upcoming games. Deal it with it, this young squad is for real.
November 14th, 2010 at 9:43 pm
I agree Joe. Josh Freeman protects the ball well, by making the right decisions with the ball. Now with Benn going, let’em rip is the way to go. Keep the ground game going though.
I agree with you on the predicted wins, but I think we can pull an upset or maybe two with some pick 6’s and special teams. This should be fun.
I think the Bucs will go heavy in the draft/FA on defense. I see DE, DL, MLB, SS as priorities as well as O-line help.
November 14th, 2010 at 9:49 pm
Back in July, I went through the Bucs schedule and predicted wins and losses. At this point in the season, I had the Bucs at 4-5. I was wrong on 2 games; Cincinnati & Arizona, both wins. I have us finishing 8-8, so I’m on pace for 2 more incorrect picks. That is 10 wins!
November 14th, 2010 at 9:55 pm
The more Is ee Williams and Blount… they are awesome. Especially Williams. The guy is a stud.
Glad to see Benn getting into the act too.
THey are going to be a great duo for a long time.
As far as today, K2 showed why he is a stud and still the go to guy.
On Caddy’s TD run… man that felt goo to see!
DEFENSE: Had some issues against the run again, but overall it was a very good day. They were put in some bad spots because of special teams and held it together pretty good. Held them to alot of FGs and had a goal line stand. They also got more pressure today than usual.
November 14th, 2010 at 10:02 pm
Dave, good point about the special teams today. The defense did well with that situation for the most part. At best, I see a bend, don’t break defense given favorable field position.
November 14th, 2010 at 10:45 pm
Man its funny how the schmoes (buc you,eric,rahdom,etc
)seem to be disappearing from this site!
November 14th, 2010 at 11:45 pm
Lets not jump the gun on the offense here. They’re beating the teams they’re supposed to beat. If the Bucs can some how go 2-0 on the road trip, that would be something to talk about. 3rd blackout game attended(Browns, Rams) most fans by far. Maybe even 45,000.
November 15th, 2010 at 12:22 am
When preseason projections were for between 2 and 4 wins on the season, I’m not sure exactly which teams we were “supposed to beat”. Of course, the way the Panthers have been playing this year, and the fact that we were actually favored pretty well this game, I’d say this probably counts as one team we were supposed to beat. Fact is, I’d say we’ve beaten teams that nobody thought we’d beat before the season. Otherwise there would have been many more predictions of 6 to 8 wins or more. We’ve now doubled our win total from last year, and still have 7 games to play. I’d call that progress.
November 15th, 2010 at 12:38 am
I LOVE this. Joe, it seemed like just a few months ago when you were calling this WR core, and the offense, mediocre at best and giving them no credit. Now you are praising them and calling them weapons the Bucs have never seen. Have faith buddy, then you wouldnt have to shove your foot in your mouth.
November 15th, 2010 at 1:07 am
Could not agree more with the premise that continued winning lies with the offense. That won’t work well against the better teams, especially as we aim toward the post season. So far this season, we are far better than I anticipated (6-7 wins) – and while we’re getting better (we are begining to beat the TAR out of hapless teams like Carolina , Arizona, St Louis, Cincinnati, Cleveland) – we’re still coming-up short with good teams like Pittsburgh, New Orleans, and Atlanta. Does that mean we aren’t good?
Well…we haven’t yet beaten those teams with WINNING records…
Don’t get me wrong I love the 6 wins and I think we’re getting better, every week, but we’re still about a yard short of good…
November 15th, 2010 at 1:43 am
lovethepewter:
Rarely does an offense with a pair of rookie wide receivers, a second-year wide receiver and a second-year quarterback amount to a hill of beans, hence why Joe and 90 percent of the civilized world didn’t expect much if anything out of the Bucs offense.
The Bucs play on the field — not hype — has won Joe over.
November 15th, 2010 at 3:13 am
I know you were addressing lovethepewter Joe, but I will readily admit – this team is really coming together – and THAT has definitely won me over.
I believe, this team believes it can win any game.
November 15th, 2010 at 9:55 am
Totally agree with you Joe. I thought we would see flashes from this offense this year but didnt think they would be able to produce on a week to week basis. I really think the emergence of Blount has allowed Olson to open up this offense.
November 15th, 2010 at 2:02 pm
If we can just plug a couple of holes on the OL and get a nice change of pace back…