The good news: No Andre Johnson.

Tampa has no one who has proven they could have covered a WR like Johnson.

The bad news: Arian Foster and Ben Tate are still playing.

Tampa’s run defense has been horrible over the past few games. The Saints ran wild last week and none of their backs are as good as the Texans duo.

So what’s the Bucs answer?

Albert Haynesworth.

Look, I have no idea if big Al is going to work out for Tampa. But before the haters hate on the pickup, consider this. Last week, by the end of the Saints game, the Bucs had two healthy defensive tackles. While Brian Price has been great, Roy Miller has been… well… less than spectacular.

All that said, Haynesworth is at least worth a look. If he has anything left, or something to prove maybe he helps us out. If not, we cut him and we’re out a few 100k. No big loss. Let’s just hope for the best. (I tweeted earlier this week, that worst case he’d be a super stud but the team would be 7-9 or worse. Then we’d be faced with paying him for next year.)

The real truth is… it doesn’t matter what happens on defense. This team will only go as far as Josh Freeman takes them. He’s been bad, he’s been ok, he’s been good, but he hasn’t been great yet this season. I thought the Saints game last week was a good sign. Sure he missed a few throws, but more importantly, he didn’t force any bad passes. If he plays mistake free, this team will be in any game.

The one thing I (and every Buc fan) would like to see is LeGarette Blount more involved in the offense. Every time Tampa gets behind we take one of the team’s best playmakers off the field. That doesn’t make sense. I don’t care who Blount can and can’t block, keep him on the field and get him the damn ball (to quote Keyshawn).

Tampa should be able to win this game. Will they? Who knows. I no longer have any idea what to expect from this team week in and week out. I will say this though, if Tampa wants to make the playoffs, this is a must win.

Make no mistake, the Saints were/are the better team. They beat the Bucs in convincing fashion.

Still…

I come away from the game feeling pretty good about it. Why? Well for the first time all year, I felt like this was the Bucs team I watched last year.

Even in the wins this year the Bucs have been shaky at best. And while the team didn’t exactly light up the scoreboard in this game, it was probably the most balanced offensive attack of the year.

Could things have been improved?

Oh sure. Freeman is still a little off on some throws (two could have been TDs), and the play calling is certainly puzzling at best. Even then, the wide receivers came to play (welcome back Mike Williams) and LeGarrette Blount, was well… LeGarette Blount (love the return of the hurdle!).

On the defensive side… we also looked like last years team, but that’s not a good thing. The Saints ran all over the Bucs, and Drew Brees was methodical in picking apart the secondary. There’s a lot to like on the D, but there’s still so much that needs to be improved. Ronde Barber has been playing for like 20 years, and is still our best corner. That needs to be addressed at some point, he’s not going to play forever.

Also if Gerald McCoy is hurt again, the D-line will struggle. He has not been great, but he’s certainly better than Roy Miller or Frank Okam. I suppose this means we’ll see more Da’Quan Bowers at D-tackle.

I don’t think anyone thought Tampa would win the Super Bowl this year. This is still a rebuilding and growing young team. The Bucs aren’t out of the playoff hunt yet, but realistically they need to go 3-1 in the next four very tough games (Texans, @Green Bay, @Tennessee, Carolina).

At this point, Tampa might be a 9-7 team at best. I’ll take it… it’s something to build upon.

follow me on twitter: @buc_wild

I was on vacation last week so I didn’t get to write this, but going into the matchup against the Saints I felt strangely confident. Sure we got killed the week before in San Francisco. Yes, we were playing without LeGarrette Blount and Gerald McCoy. But I just had a feeling the Bucs would come up big against New Orleans.

Boy was I right!

While Freeman had his best game of the year, the credit goes to the improving Bucs defense. Four picks!!! FOUR PICKS of Drew Brees (welcome back Tanard Jackson! Let’s put the weed away for a while). The most impressive thing about the game was the Bucs pass rush. There was constant pressure on Brees. Adrian Clayborn was a beast with pressure, chasing Brees out of the pocket several times. Michael Bennett continues to play at a high level. And Brian Price… well… you are my hero.

All this adds up to bad news for the Bears.

The Bears have two huge weaknesses… the wide receivers and the offensive line. We’ve seen the Bucs play bad O-lines this season and dominate (see Colts, Falcons). Gerald McCoy is set to comeback this week only making the D-line stronger and we saw Da’Quan Bowers fill in nicely last week that I expect him to get some more time. Meantime, the secondary was up and down. They had four picks (and dropped a few more) but also gave up a lot of big plays. However, any of the Saints top three receivers would be the number one receiver for Chicago (who is the best receiver in Chicago?). This should be a good matchup for the Bucs secondary.

As for the offense… all I can say is… FINALLY! Finally, the Bucs started throwing the ball downfield. I don’t know if this is because Blount was on the bench, but this is what we saw last year, play action and throw deep. The Bucs tried it several times in this game, connecting on a long TD to Arrelious Benn (and missing one with Mike Williams). The Bucs wide receivers started making plays again. And not to surprisingly, when you can pass it really opens up the running game, even for Earnest Graham.

The Bears haven’t played stellar this season. The O-line is getting Jay Cutler killed. So it doesn’t take a Belichickian genius to know that means you have to stop two players, Matt Forte and Devin Hester. Forte is sort of a poor man’s Marshall Faulk. He’s that double-threat runner/receiver we’ve seen make big plays against this Bucs defense. As for Hester, Michael Koenen did a great job neutralizing Darren Sproles last week and should be able to do it again.

The wildcard here is the location. Both teams have to travel across the pond to play in England. The last time the Bucs traveled to England for a game, they got crushed by the Patriots leading to the start of the Josh Freeman era. Tampa elected to spend the entire week in London, where the Bears are traveling late in the week. I don’t know which is the better tactic, but it does give the Bucs a little more time to adjust to the time change and apparently slick field.

The Bears and the Bucs have a lot in common. Neither appear to be great right now, but both could get hot and cause trouble. I think the Bears have more issues (both on and off the field) and that hopefully gives Tampa the advantage in this game.

follow me on twitter: @buc_wild

I hate the 49ers.

I wrote about how I felt uneasy about this game, but still thought the Bucs were the better team. Well I was wrong. On Sunday, the 49ers looked like the best team in football or Tampa looked like the worst. I’m not sure which it is yet.

I can only hope this leads to a wake-up call for the Bucs. We were bad at all aspects… where to start…

QB:

Freeman throws two picks and again looks shaky. Here’s the thing, people are going to talk about the fact that he’s already thrown as many INTs this season as he did all of last season. I think last season was a fluke INT-wise. Go back and look at this games. There were a ton of dropped picks. His INT number probably should have been around 12-15. The difference this season is guys aren’t dropping as many potential picks. Even then, yesterday the 49ers dropped a few.

Here’s something else I was thinking about. On 3rd down Freeman always looks for Kellen Winslow. I think teams have figured that out. The 49ers were all over Winslow and were sitting on his routes. That led to the first pick, and to a couple of potential INTs.

WR:

This has to be the most disappointing unit on the field. Mike Williams played with a chip on this shoulder last season, and now he’s doing his best Michael Clayton impersonation. How many passes has he dropped? Arrellious Benn has been solid since his drops in Minnesota, but neither of these guys can get separation from corners. It’s brutal. Preston Parker continues to play well, but he’s not a number 1 WR. Maybe it’s time to give Dezmon Briscoe more time.

Defense:

Gerald McCoy going down to injury really hurts the D-line. Look McCoy isn’t exactly lightning up the sack column, but he’s disruptive and forces the O-line to watch him. Without him the Bucs are going to struggle to get pressure. Just look at the time Alex Smith had.

The secondary is just flat-out awful. How many INTs can you drop? Elbert Mack had a chance to help the Bucs get back in the game with what might have been a 100-yard INT for TD. Instead he just dropped it. Aqib Talib had a shot at a couple of picks and again just drop them. I don’t expect them to make every catch, but holding on to one once in a while would be nice.

Play Calling:

The Bucs have become too predictable. The 49ers seemed to know where every play was going. They read routes perfectly, stuffed the run and contained Freeman on every scramble. Something needs to change. I’m not sure Greg Olson is creative enough to be the coordinator. When I was watching the Packers last night, I marveled at how open the receivers were, compared to the Bucs receivers who were smothered by corners. Some of that is obviously because the receivers know how to get separation, but some of that is because they run a better offense. If these Bucs are going to be successful, things need to change.

Finally:

We all saw this coming at some point, right? I mean you can’t play awful to start every game and expect to always come back. Now the Bucs face the fork in the road. You either wake up and get better, or the season falls apart. The next six games are going to be tough… but are also a chance for this team to prove it has heart and really should be considered a top team.

Unfortunately, I have no idea which way it will go.

I grew up in Northern California and there wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t have to hear about Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott and eventually Steve Young. Everyday. Every damn day.

It made me hate the 49ers. I spent each Sunday rooting for the “whiners” to lose… unfortunately all they did was win.

I hated them so much, I decided to pick another team to root for. A team no one else that I knew rooted for. That’s how I ended up becoming a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan.

I’ve been to every Bucs game in San Francisco for the past 10 years only to see them lose (I missed last years game, and of course we won). I saw Terrell Owens take a 5 yard out pass 75 yards for a TD. I saw some guy named Cody Picket, beat Chris Simms thanks to Joe Nedney’s five field goals. I saw Jeff Garcia lose to a bad 49ers team. It’s been brutal. Combine my hatred for the 49ers and the history of Tampa in San Francisco and you can see why I don’t feel good about this upcoming weekend.

I wrote last week the Bucs always lose a game they should win. I don’t know if this is it, only because I’m not sure the Bucs should win this game (don’t get me wrong I think they can and will, but it’s not a gimme). The 49ers have played well this season, and without giving up a big play to a reality TV wide receiver they’d be 4-0. This team corralled Michael Vick and the Eagles to mount a great comeback and might have one of the best front 7 in football.

Still…

Their QB is still Alex Smith. I don’t trust him. He hasn’t been good… ever. He has a good game here and there, but there’s no consistency. Maybe it’s not all his fault (the WRs aren’t exactly amazing), but then again he’s had plenty of chances. He’s the weakness of this team and will ultimately cost them games.

And let’s not discount the 49ers have been a little lucky. It took two kick returns from Ted Ginn for them to beat Seattle. They won ugly against the Bengals. Melted down against the Cowboys and lost. And needed the Eagles to just completely come apart (and miss two game-clinching field goals) to win.

You could make many of the same arguments about the Bucs. But here’s my counter. We barely lost to a good Lions team, made a good comeback against the Vikings (they didn’t melt down, we just played a great second half), beat a decent Falcons team, and won ugly against the Colts.

Ultimately…

I think the Bucs are the better team here. While the 49ers have been good against the run, they haven’t faced a runner like LeGarrett Blount. The 49ers secondary isn’t great, so hopefully Josh Freeman and Mike Williams can get on track. And our defensive line should be able to keep Alex Smith on the run.

If we can do those things… I think the Bucs win. Then again, I think the 49ers are good enough, that if the Bucs start slow we could get behind and not be able to come back.

It wouldn’t matter if this 49ers team was the worst NFL team ever… I still wouldn’t feel good about playing them.

Man I hate the 49ers.

follow me on twitter: @buc_wild

Whew. That was too close.

Here’s the quick summary: missed opportunities, blown plays on defense, a ton of penalties, and as per normal 4th quarter heroics.

I said in my preview that every year the Bucs lose a game they shouldn’t and this was sure looked like it was going to be this one.

First let me give credit where it’s due. Curtis Painter played a pretty good game. He made big throws, got a few breaks, and generally looked a hell of a lot more like Peyton Manning than Kerry Collins.

That said…

He wasn’t great. He threw two passes that should have gone the other way (Aqib Talib and E.J. Biggers need to work with the jugs machine this week). Talib blew coverage on the first Pierre Garcon touchdown and at the least should have pushed him out of bounds.

As for Tampa another sloppy win. First of all, too may penalties. Every big play seemed to be followed by a flag. Arrelious Benn being out of bounds, Preston Parker with an illegal block (questionable call there), Jeremy Trueblood with a hold, Dezmon Briscoe not getting out of bounds… it goes on and on. The Bucs left 10 points on the board because of penalties.

The best news of the night Tampa’s defensive line came alive. Two sacks for Michael Bennett including a fumble/fumble recovery. Gerald McCoy got on the board with his first sack of the season. And Adrian Clayborn continued his impressive rookie year with a sack and a whole lot of pressure on Painter.

I haven’t been kind to Greg Olson’s play calling. However, the 4&3 Josh Johnson run play was one hell of a call.

I think it’s time to stop expecting Josh Freeman to be Tom Brady. I don’t think he’s going to look pretty in every game. His passes may be high or off target sometimes (he’s definitely more Ben than Brady). But at the end of the day he gets it done. The best example was the 3rd and 6, Freeman scrambles, stumbles and dives for a first down. Not many QBs are making that play.

Still this comeback wasn’t Freeman’s… it was LeGarrette Blount’s.

Blount was last night’s MVP. I was worried at one point he might be a second-year bust. The only thing Blount is busting… is heads. I love watching him run, especially when he’s carrying three or four defenders with him. And then when you think he’s just a pile-mover… the big man “BUSTS” off a huge chunk of yards. Blount is sneaky fast, amazingly quick and just a joy to watch. He put the Bucs on his back in the 4th quarter and carried them to a win.

Again, this game was way closer than it should have been. But a win’s a win. Next up the 49ers (the team I grew up HATING)… if the Bucs expect to win they need to BRING IT for the entire game.

follow me on twitter: @buc_wild

My whole routine is thrown off.

Every Sunday for the past two and a half years I do the same thing. Wake up, have some coffee in my Bucs mug and at 10 PST I watch the Bucs play. Sometimes, on the rare occasion, I have to wait until 1 PST… in that case I have two cups of coffee. But this week, the Bucs aren’t playing on Sunday (and it’s not because they’re on a bye). This week, the Bucs play on MONDAY NIGHT!

The Bucs haven’t played a Monday night game since December of 2008. On that night Jeff Garcia and the Bucs lost to the Carolina Panthers. The highlight was Antonio Bryant’s amazing one-handed diving touchdown grab. The low lights, were DeAngelo Williams AND Jonathan Stewart rushing for more than 100 yards and 2 TDs EACH!

This time though the Bucs are having a Monday-Night rematch with the Indianapolis Colts. These two teams played on Monday night in 2003. The Bucs took a 21-point lead into the 4th quarter, only to watch Peyton Manning rally all the way back to beat us in overtime.

But that was the past…

This time Josh Freeman and the Bucs are taking on the Curtis Painter and the Colts. No Peyton Manning. And you know what? I’m kind of disappointed.

This was the chance for this group of Buccaneers to show, on a national scale, that they belong with the big boys. This was supposed to be Freeman’s coming out party. Instead, the Bucs have nothing to gain, and everything to lose.

If the Bucs win big, everyone will say that’s what we’re supposed to do. If for some reason the Bucs lose to Painter and the Colts, everyone will says it proves the Bucs aren’t for real.

And here’s what really worries me. Every year the Bucs inexplicably lose a game they shouldn’t. Last year it was against Detroit. Two years ago it was to JaMarcus Russell and the Raiders. Both of those losses ultimately cost us a trip to the playoffs. The Colts, with their shouldn’t-even-be-a-2nd-string QB, are prime to play spoiler.

The defense is still pretty good, Freeney and Mathis can bring it (just ask Ben Roethlisberger). I’m not so worried about the Colts offense, but I am worried about the Bucs offense. We have a hard time finding the endzone, and Freeman hasn’t exactly been careful with the ball so far this year.

Ultimately, the Colts could finish as the worst team in the league this year. If Tampa wants to prove it’s a good team, it has to take care of business. This should be a game

Finally. It seems like it was a lifetime ago that the Buccaneers beat the Falcons. Last year, we were this close to beating them… twice. Two years ago, Chris Redman somehow beat us (I watched that game in a Costco on my phone. I was yelling, people were looking.) So finally, finally, finally we come out on top.

I think Bucs fans are finally staring to see the defensive line of the future. These guys were up in Matt Ryan’s face all game long. Two forced fumbles, a couple of sacks and a whole lot of pressure. Adrian Clayborn played his best game, McCoy had all sorts of pressure and Brian Price… well… he’s just a beast.

And if Ryan had things bad. Michael Turner had them worse. Eleven carries, just 20 yards for “The Burner”. The Bucs shutdown the run game, which is something fans have not seen in years.

Let’s not forget to give a quick shout out to Ronde Barber who had a pick, and was this close to having another that he might have taken to the house. Nice game from the senior member of the team. Huge loss for the Bucs though with the injury of Cody Grimm, but his replacement Corey Lynch might have made the biggest play of the game 4th down. Not sure who will replace Grimm for the rest of the season (Tanard Jackson? Larry Asante? Is Ahmad Black ready to step in?)

On offense, the struggles continue. Josh Freeman just doesn’t look right. Two picks in this game, both on him. The first, he was just trying to do to much. The second was just a bad throw. He needs to get right for this team to be successful. His best play was drawing the Falcons offsides to seal the game.

LeGarrette Blount looked good and got involved in the passing game. More tough running from Blount making a case that he might be the hardest back in the league to take down. The team got Mike Williams involved early, but then he seemed to fade. I also noticed that we didn’t take any shots downfield (I wondered if weather conditions played a role, but the Falcons made a few nice deep passes).

The Bucs biggest problem was once again in the red zone. Too many field goals, not enough touchdowns. That’s going to need to be fixed to compete against teams like New Orleans or Houston.

In the end, it was nice to play with the lead for once. And it was really nice to beat the Falcons.

follow me on twitter: @buc_wild

In the 30 year plus history of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers there have been plenty of disappointing seasons… as of the first half of the Sunday’s game against the Vikings, this was shaping up to be the most disappointing. Never have I gone into a season with such high expectations. Never had the team gone into the season with the collection of offensive talent and defensive potential…

But at half-time Tampa was down 17-0 and it probably should have been more. The Bucs were once again inept on both sides of the ball. No pressure on Donovan McNabb, missed tackles on defense. No run game, no blocking on offense. It was as bad as it could be.

Then it all changed.

The second half of the game saw the Buccaneers team we were all hoping for. Suddenly, McNabb is under pressure. Adrian Peterson is getting hit and stopped. The defense came alive and forces a 3 and out.

Then the offense takes over! Freeman has time (Donald Penn shutdown Jared Allen in the 2nd half) and the offensive line is opening up holes. LeGarrette Blount (who had just 4 first half yards) breaks off a 27 yard TD. A successful on-side kick (even if the drive ended in a pick). Defense comes in and gets it right back!

Another drive, another score. Suddenly it’s 17-10 and Tampa’s in this thing. (By the way, Mike Williams might have the best hands/feet combo in the league. The TD catch that didn’t count was as good as you’ll see and even topped last week’s amazing grab.)

The most impressive part of the game is even when Minnesota drove down for a field goal, Tampa didn’t give up… they just go better!

Josh Freeman goes into Captain Comeback zone. Big pass to Dezmon Briscoe, plus 15-yard personal foul. Next huge TD to Arrelious Benn.

Defense forces Minnesota off the field again (helped that McNabb just got worse and worse as this game went on).

Freeman back on the field and at this point Bucs fans knew we were winning this game.

Freeman to Winslow. Freeman to Parker. Freeman to Graham. Freeman to Winslow again. Suddenly there’s 31 seconds left in the game and Tampa is on 4 yard line. TOUCHDOWN BLOUNT!!!!

Freeman has 14 wins to his name as a starter, 8 of them involve a 4th-quarter comeback. While that sounds great, it does mean Tampa finds itself losing in the 4th quarter quite often. This team was awful for the first half, and great in the second. The defense gave up just 3 points in the second half and didn’t let the Vikings convert a 3rd down.

This could have saved the season for Tampa… but the Bucs have no shot if they can’t play well in both halves. Next week the Falcons come to town, and this is the chance for Tampa to announce to the rest of the league they are here to play.

Pump the brakes Bucs fans. Not time to panic… yet. Yes, we lost to the Lions. Yes, the offense looked inept for 3 quarters. Yes, LeGarrette Blount had just 15 yards.

But you know what? If there was a game to help the Bucs get back on track it’s this one. Although, I’m certainly not saying it’s going to be easy.

The Vikings biggest strength might be the Bucs biggest weakness. Last week, we let Jahvid best gain over 100 total yards. Our tackling was terrible, and the D-line failed to make stops in the backfield. So, you think AP might be licking his chops? He’s a lot bigger and badder than Best.

But here’s the thing, I think we’ll be ready. After being officially welcomed to the NFL, I expect our young defensive line, and linebackers will make more of a splash. There was a lot to learn from last week about when to bull rush versus when to speed rush, when to go inside and when to go outside. And here’s a bit of good news, perhaps our best lineman last week, Brian Price, will start this week (he might be a beast!).

The other player to watch is LeGarrette Blount. He has to get more involved, and said this week he wants the ball more. That shouldn’t be hard since he only had 5 carries last week. I imagine he gets at least 20 touches and probably 3 or 4 catches.

My concern with Blount is he could be the next Chris Simms. Remember 2005? Simms comes in week 8 and lights it up (sound familiar?) and takes the Bucs to the playoffs. The next season he was awful until his spleen ruptured. Blount has 1-year-wonder written all over him. I’m not ready to make that call yet, but I don’t think I’d be shocked (he’s awesome in Madden though).

The best news for the Bucs is Donovan McNabb is still the starter in Minnesota. A couple things. One, he was horrendous last week but he can’t be that bad this week (last year with the Redskins he had 228 yards and 2 TDs against Tampa and was an failed PAT from tying the game). However, if there’s one guy McNabb hates to see on the other side of the field it’s Ronde Barber. A few years ago, Barber had two picks for TDs against McNabb (let’s hope it happens again) and seems to play well against him.

The Buccaneers need to right the ship this week. The most pressure is on the coaches and the play calling. The were a number of questionable play calls and decision, both recognized by the coaching staff. That has to change if the Bucs want to win. I wouldn’t be surprised if you see the coaches unleash Josh Freeman. It seems like we’ve become to conservative and really need to open it up.

With the Saints playing the Bears, the Falcons playing the Eagles, and the Panthers taking on the Packers, the Bucs have the best shot of winning this week… and could take the lead in the NFC South. That would be something worth going BUC WILD over.

follow me on twitter: @buc_wild