Panic for a lot of Buc nation has set in. Week 1 at home against the Detroit lions was well, an extremely underwhelming performance by the home team. I’m not here to sugarcoat things because it was an ugly performance but panic shouldn’t be happening yet. Key word, yet. Very few teams’ start 0-2 and go on to make the playoffs and no team in the last few years has started 0-2 and made the playoffs. I’ll allow a throw away game by this young team but as of now things must change, and change quickly. The offense as so many have echoed already must find a way to start faster. This team will never become dominant and put in the upper echelon of teams in the NFL until they find a way to somewhat start fast. Freeman’s record coming from behind is pretty impressive but that’s not how u win on a consistent basis in this league. I was a little reluctant at first to put too much blame on the coaches and Rah specifically but not getting Blount more involved is just ludicrous to me. One thing I don’t really get is that if the Bucs weren’t sure if Blount could handle third down duties or the hurry up offense how did this organization not bring in someone to help out then. And how is Blount ever going to get better in those situations if he doesn’t play in them. I think Raheem panicked and learned a valuable lesson last week about sticking to your game plan and not trying to be someone you’re not. I think most fans would agree with me when I say that in order for the Buccaneers to be a good team week in and week out we have to be able to run the football. We were so successful last year because the play action we created off the run was so dangerous, that’s why you didn’t see Mike Williams running wide open like you did last year. I don’t believe massive changes along the offensive line are necessary at all. The offensive line for the most part, pass protected well but did not get the job done in the run game. That is an area that must get better and I think it will.
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The defense isn’t absolved of any blame here either. While the unit I thought started well certainly did not finish that way. I wrote earlier during training camp about how the defensive line must step up and create havoc for us to continue to take steps forward and that just flat out didn’t happen Sunday. Bennett, Clayborn, Bowers and Price I thought did some good things but not nearly on an every down basis. Okam and Miller were almost nonexistent at times and repeatedly got out of there gaps. McCoy is quickly getting a rap in this town as being soft and it’s getting tough to defend him. This week in the NFL there were more sacks overall than any other week in NFL history and not a 1 were from a Tampa Bay Buccaneer. Looked like more of the same from last year to me. The Linebackers and secondary were mediocre in my opinion. The rookie Mason Foster did some good things and it was his first professional start so you can’t put much on his young shoulders. Quincy Black and Geno Hayes have to be the leaders of this young defense and play much more consistent than they did Sunday. Geno better turn it around quick or he will not earn a contract extension in this city. And what was Quincy Black thinking when he had a sure fumble recovery and decided to throw it back into play? Trying to do too much me thinks. Tackling for this defense must get better, much better. That will come with time as it usually does every year but it certainly can’t take too much time. I have 2 thoughts on the secondary really. 1 is that Aqib Talib is not an elite corner in the NFL. He has some good games where we see flashes but Megatron did pretty much what he wanted at will on Sunday. The first TD caught by Johnson, Talib just cannot allow to happen I don’t care if Jones was supposed to provide help or not. The second TD catch by Johnson while it was a perfect throw and catch, great corners find a way. I’m hoping Talib can become that pro bowl guy we need him to be but as of now he just isn’t in that class. My number 2 thought about the secondary is that Cody Grimm doesn’t look like the player he was last year after coming back from that broken leg. The speed and violence that he possesses hasn’t been seen all preseason or in the first game and that is a big worry in my eyes. I’m anxious to see what happens after game 2 when Tanard Smokey Jackson becomes available for us to use what will happen.
After reading all these thoughts you probably would think the sky is falling and that panic has definitely set in but week 2 is just around the corner and another shot at our first win of the year is at hand. Sitting in Ray Jay Sunday I didn’t think like a lot of Buc fans that we were screwed by the Glazers and Dominik because we didn’t bring in any talent (ok well maybe a change of pace back but that’s it). I simply thought we didn’t execute and accomplish things we usually accomplish. I think we have a great shot to beat the Vikings if we can get back to Buccaneer football. North South running, play action, and an opportunistic defense. The offense must help the defense and sustain drives and help keep them off the field. The defense must find a way to get after the qb create some sacks and find a way to stop the run. I would think this youngry defense would relish the challenge at trying to stop one of the best running backs in the league in Adrian Peterson. Time to man up. Time to find out if the panic that has been created after one bad loss is justified or if over reaction will be the theme of the weekend. I’m not panicking, yet…
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