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Worst To First
Posted By Darin Shaw at Dec 02, 2007 at 10:45 PM
Updated Dec 02, 2007 at 10:59 PM

Don’t celebrate just yet Buccaneers fans, but we are within a breath of winning our division and completing the ‘worst to first’ transformation we hoped for as the season began. A three game lead and holding tiebreakers over our division rivals puts us in the driver’s seat. How about those Buccaneers? I’ll admit it - when I saw that Jeff Garcia was a scratch, my heart skipped a beat. But, I’ll also give Luke McCown his kudos. He stepped up. So, a little good, bad and ugly:

The good ~ Earnest Graham and another 100 yard performance. All this guy has done is come in and give us his all, every game. Luke McCown played admirably in Jeff Garcia’s place. I know this, he cemented that number two QB spot the rest of the way. 466 total yards against the Saints defense sure looked good, as did the time of possession when we were running off those yards. And, our defense played a pretty good game, top to bottom. An honorable mention: Matt Lehr coming in on the last drive at Center… bravo!

The bad ~ I’m still bothered by the three drives where we stalled out and had to attempt field goals in the first half of this game. You just have a feeling like those long drives need to come away with seven points or it will come back to haunt you.

The ugly ~ Luke’s three bad plays. Two of them were clearly Luke’s inexperience - running out of bounds to take a five yard sack rather than winging the ball out of bounds in the first half; the miserable decision not to throw the ball in the cheap seats on the safety; and the interception. Now, in Luke’s defense, I watched today’s game with an old retired QB who told me it was likely Joey Galloway who missed the call on the pass route and that on the safety Luke probably saw green in front of him and thought he could scoot out for the first down, not realizing how fast the defender was closing. Still, I thought these three plays were enough to cause Jon Gruden to have a stroke on the sideline.

A little more good ~ As good as Luke played, Jeff Garcia should be back next week when we face the Houston Texans.

So, Bucs fans, what did you see?

Send Us Your Comments

Posted by dan suarez, tampa, fl on 12/05 at 02:49 PM

just want to give a shout-out to k. felix in taji, iraq. you and yours are doing a great job, stay safe, our prayers are with you all.

Posted by Mark Stephens, Land O Lakes, FL on 12/04 at 11:13 AM

Even if we go 1 and 3 and we will win the division. That said, sit Garcia out one more week. Get him fully healed and rested for the playoffs.

Posted by Darin Shaw, Pigskin Preacher Blog on 12/04 at 10:23 AM

It’s always amazing to me how we heat up for players and cool on them so quickly. When Cadillac is healthy, he’s a great back. The problem is, we haven’t seen him healthy week in and week out. At that point, a healthy third stringer is better than a limping superstar - Earnest Graham proves my point. Let’s let next year worry about next year. My thinking is that we are on our way to the playoffs and I’m hoping we’re going to sneak up on the likes of Green Bay and Dallas… not to mention my neighborhood’s New England Patriots.

Thanks for the comments guys. Don’t forget we all bleed pewter.

Posted by Matt H, Brandon, Florida on 12/03 at 10:37 PM

sgolan,

Hey what would you know about pro football your major market couldn’t support a team. LA had two teams at one time and then overnight boom no teams. To top it off Houston and Cleveland got teams before LA did or even will.

Carnell is not the back of Tampa’s future or even the back of today. He will eventually just go down as a footnote in Bucs history. Nothing more than a could have been. I think he will be a back up next year if not used as trade bait.

So in summation get a team in your city before you try to tell me who the best RB is in my city.

That Being Said GO BUCS…

For the record I hope I am wrong and I hope Carnell goes on to break every rushing record.

I just dont think he will.

Posted by sgolan, Los Angeles, CA on 12/03 at 05:07 PM

Matt H., do you think before you speak, or is it just word-vomit? For one, Caddy was not a “back-up” to anyone in college. He actually set the all time record at Auburn for “carries” - you don’t do that as the #2 guy. Even when Caddy and Ronnie were “sharing” the backfield...Caddy got the majority of the carries while Ronnie caught more passes. Clearly, people liked Ronnie more coming into the draft, but what has he done so far? Not too much. Caddy, on the other hand, won rookie of the year and helped this team win a division title in 2005. He would have continued to progress if not for injuries.

Think before you speak!!!

Posted by Matt H, Brandon, Florida on 12/03 at 06:44 AM

I think this game solidified the fact that Bruce Gradkowski will not be back next year. Just think Garcia McCown and Simms. It will be a fight for second string. It could be really fun watching some actual competition around here. Now go draft a RB. Caddy wont be able to get it done. With the first pick I would love for the Bucs to take Darrent McFadden from Arkansas. That is a good RB. Caddillac was a back up to Ronnie Brown in College now we know why. They are both on the IR this year but I can tell you Ronnie Brown will be 10 times the back that Carnell (Pinto) Williams could ever think of being.

Posted by karlo felix, TAJI - Iraq on 12/03 at 05:13 AM

Precise throws. Aside from the safety and the interception, McCown played like a veteran. Awesome front 7! And yes, Ernest...Whatta a stiff-arm!
Chucky...very good coaching! Trick plays and all! I like that. Last but not least...Joey and Stephens! Kuddos!
I say let Jeff Garcia rest for another game or two, see how McCown plays in the next game and SECURE him a roster spot for next season, if all works out well.

Posted by Roy Rusch, Heidelberg, Germany on 12/03 at 02:38 AM

Hey Preach

Seems like you are being hard on McCown, all he did was what Bruce couldn’t do and that was move the offense. Give Luke more credit for what he did. If this is how he plays the game maybe our quarterback situation doesn’t look so bad down the line.