Bucs Sinking Fast
Written by Nolan Thomas, Monday December 14 2009
The Buccaneers are sinking fast and were a team that looked dreadfully uncompetitive Sunday against the New York Jets in a game they lost 26-3. The team looked so bad in fact, that Raymond James Stadium was virtually empty throughout the fourth quarter of the Bucs 12th loss of the season out of 13 games.
On the bright side, The fifth straight loss keeps the Buccaneers tied with the St. Louis Rams, also at 1-12 on the year, for the worst record in the NFL and in the battle for the overall No. 1 draft pick next April.
The Bucs lost for the third straight game to a backup quarterback, with rookie quarterback Josh Freeman throwing three more interceptions and failing to get his team a touchdown for the second week in a row.
"I would never imagine having a two-game stretch like this," said Freeman, who had five interceptions against the Panthers during a 16-6 loss in last weeks game.
"It's all on me," Freeman said of their offensive struggles. "I'm the quarterback. I've got to find a way."
Believe it or not, the 124 total yards by the Bucs offense were not a season-low for the team. Against the other
The Buccaneers have been dominated by both
After the game, Morris, the NFL’s youngest head coach, pretty much stated the obvious when he was asked about the past two weeks with Freeman throwing eight interceptions and the offense only scoring three field goals.
"You're not good enough. You've got to do a better job coaching, got to do a better job on the field," Morris said. "That's the bottom line."
Freeman finished 14 of 33 for 93 yards and he was sacked three times. He was intercepted by David Harris on the first play of the game, and then he was picked off in the fourth quarter by Darrelle Revis and Kerry Rhodes.
The Bucs did not have any first downs until the Jets Bart Scott was penalized for unnecessary roughness after Freeman was sacked on third down. The drive continued for eight more plays when kicker Connor Barth kicked a 43-yard field goal for the Bucs only scoring drive of the day.
"It was a sluggish performance. There just wasn't any fire," said running back Carnell Williams. "A lot of minor stuff, which is pretty much how the season has been going all year. For us to have guys just running free and not doing what we're coached to do, that is truly surprising."
Ronde Barber was the most surprised considering that the Jets are a .500 team without much of chance at the playoffs and the fact that they were playing with their backup quarterback.
"You lose 26-3 to a team that's playing to get in the playoffs, I think we should have a better effort, a better showing, at least," he said. "We didn't today."
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The woes can be traced all the way back to the huge draft pick deal the Bucs made to get Gruden as head coach. They were rewarded with a lop-sided Super Bowl win NOT because Gruden was a good coach, but because he was playing against his former team, the Oakland Raiders. Had the Bucs played against anybody else, the score would have been different. That victory cost them so many draft picks that the collapse was easily predictable. If you can't draft new guys, you're going to have to wade into the free market system. What you're seeing now is the result of Gruden being forced to plug the holes in the team with older free agents instead of younger draft players that could be developed much the same way Dungy had developed Brooks, Alstott, Dunn, Lynch, Barber, and Sapp. Barber is the only one still playing, and he's no longer playing his best games. The Bucs haven't found any players - save Aqib Talib - that can compare to the talent that left the team. What Raheem needs to do is stand up and say "hey, I have a 5 year plan on what we need to do to build a champion, but meanwhile, just bear with us." I haven't seen him do that, and to be honest, I'm not so sure the Glazers are that patient.