Tampa Bay Buccaneers Thread

jester1980

No Tampa Bay thread so said i'd start one for the very limited amount of us in Ireland

Bad news with Da'Quan Bowers getting injured and will probably miss the most of the season if not all. Really thought he'd have a big year so sad to see.

I see we waivered Jordan Johnson too after some good reports from camp of him. I know he's facing legal issues for bar fight so that might be something to do with it.

DDC1990

Hmm, Im not sure about Bowers' injury.

Apparently the surgery went well so he might not miss much game time at all.

Good to see another Bucs fan around!

Predictions for the coming season.

I'd be happy if we stay competative this year, and get 7-8 wins.
I can't see us going to the playoffs unfortunatly, though if Freeman, Jackson, Williams, Blount and Martin combine on Offence then we could beat anyone in the league.

jester1980

I'm exactly like you, i think 8 wins and i'd be happy. Had high expectations last year so learned form that.

We've improved the team so much, Nicks and jackson are fantastic pick ups, i'll hold judgement on Wright.

Dominick did a fantastic job in the draft, although dissapointed at first we missed out on Claibourne it ended up better than i could have hoped with players drafted who should fit straight into starting team.

What is important is having players having to fight for that starting spot so they don't get too comfortable.

Heard Freeman is in great shape and down 18 pounds or something.

DDC1990

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d8293bb10/article/kellen-winslow-i-wont-be-back-with-buccaneers?module=HP11_headline_stack

Kellen Winslow is on the way out.

While he still could be traded, the likelyhood is that teams will wait for him to be cut and pounce then. He was Ranked 7th in the NFL in TE receptions last year, and 13 in TE Yards, but 32nd in Touchdowns. He wasn't productive where it mattered, and had a shít work ethic from what I hear. Schiano is cleaning up shop. However this leaves us very very short at TE, one of the more pivital positions in todays NFL.

Dallas Clarke worked out in Tampa last week, so Schiano must be pretty sure of getting him, if he's willing to drop KW2.

kmart6

Clarke signed earlier!

DDC1990

Hmm, Im liking Tampa's options on Offence now. Could do with another TE, but still with Martin and Blount carrying from HB, Clarke catching at TE, Jackson, Williams, Benn, Parker, Briscoe at WR. We might actually score next year!

Also Freeman is looking seriously slimmed down, and has lost 20lbs. He says it doesn't make him feel any faster, but it will help him move, and help him with his stamina anyway.

Building an offence through FA, and a Defence through the draft seems like a nice way to go. Still worried about our CB's. If Talib isn't around we're screwed!

Ronde and Barron will be fine at Saftey. But Im not so sure about Wright, and our other bunch of CB's who were burned last year.

jester1980

DDC1990 wrote: »

Ronde and Barron will be fine at Saftey. But Im not so sure about Wright, and our other bunch of CB's who were burned last year.

Do you think Ronde will play safety ahead of Cody Grim, This lad is a great player in the making in my opinion, horrible luck with injury though.

I say Ronde is just cover for that position and won't start there.

Lionbacker

DDC1990 wrote: »

Ronde and Barron will be fine at Saftey. But Im not so sure about Wright, and our other bunch of CB's who were burned last year.

Just thought I'd let you know about Wright who was with the Lions last season. He played very well at the start of the year but injuries started taking their toll (along with the whole secondary) & he had to play hampered towards the end of the season where the Lions defence was torched in Green Bay & New Orleans.
If he can stay healthy for ye, he should be a decent corner & may win the spot opposite Talib.

Hmm, Im not sure about Bowers' injury.

Apparently the surgery went well so he might not miss much game time at all.

On Bowers, didn't he suffer an achilles injury. If he did there is no way he'll see the field this year. They take 9 to 12 months to heal

jester1980

Yeah the jury is out on Wright, hopefully he adds something to the team though.

Agree about Bowers, won't see him until Novemeber at least i reckon.

jester1980

Well all charges dropped against Talib, have to wait and see if Godell takes any action but good news for us.

HigginsJ

Not a good one for Buc's fans here. Brian Price beat the bejesus out of Mark Barron in a meeting room. Price's personal problems sighted as the reason for the altercation.



http://www.walterfootball.com/nfldraftrumormill.php

jester1980

Brian price traded yesterday and Briscoe released.

There really is no messing about with Schiano

DDC1990

Yeah, disappointed with those two moves as both have great potential, especially Briscoe.

But it shows that of you don't follow the Buccaneer way, then Schiano is happy to leave you go, no matter who you are.

Apparently Price could only do 4 of 16 110 Yard sprints in a conditioning session.

jester1980

Very happy with that last night, Blount and Martin working well together. Great catch by Underwood too for the big play doing his chances of a roster spot no harm.

On an even better note got my tickets to Bucs and Chargers for November. Football is back baby.. Whooooooooooooooooo

jester1980

Good Times

Good performances all round. Who would have thought our defence would stop the run like that after last years two maulings by the Panthers.

Freeman moved the ball well and was very impressed with Doug Martin.

Hats off to the Defence too, job well done.

DDC1990

Freeman was great for the first half, but couldn't get anything going in the second.

Carolina stepped up their game big time, and shut us down offensively.

Luckily our Defence stood up (apart from their TD play) and Special teams had a great game.

Martin looks promising, but could have done with Blount being out there to help him out, but the injury scuppered that. Hope its not too bad.

OLine had a great first half, but you could see what a loss Joseph is. Where normally you could rotate, and keep guys fresh, they got tired in the second half and committed errors and penalties.

All in all, a great start, not only a Win, but a divisional win!

jester1980

Still a bit shocked we threw away a 14 point lead.

500 passing yds for ELI, thats terrible defence there, too many blitzes.

Still a great game, roll on next week.

Leslie91

Was devastated for you guys. Thought u had them. Like many have said pass D, wow.

How do you feel about Vincent Jackson?

jester1980

Thought Jackson had a great game, some of the catches h emade were excellent.

Nice for Freeman to have a weapaon like him,

DDC1990

Gutted obviously.

We let them off the hook.

Vital calls went against us, but much of that was out own doing.

Keep watching the Williams "drop" at the end when he was hit.

We really had a chance if that was let go.

Coaches must take the blame. we were trying to kill the clock from the start of the third, when Freeman was shredding the secondary. Should have kept up the passing game, because they had our number on the ground. Easy to say i hindsight I suppose

Blount not being used is really confusing. Use him or trade him. I don't see why we'd have a guy who has the potential to got 700+ yards sitting on the bench. When using Martin on the ground wasn't working, why not used Blount!

Talib had a shocker. Wright getting unjured cost us as well, as McDonald was beat too many times. Really don't know what to think about Barron. seems to go missing in coverage quite a bit. Ronde got caught deep for the 80 yarder. Secondary had a shocker in General.

Love our OLine. Had a great game. DLine was pushed around a bit, and could never get to Eli. Really like our Linebackers this year. David is a beast. Hayward is stepping up, and Mason Foster looks a lot better then last year.

matthew8

Have to say the team looks improved but the Buccs look like on of the dirtiest teams in the league, and it wasn't just the Eli play. I was not impressed with Mark Barron's helmet to helmet on Steve Smith in week one.

DDC1990

Didn't see the Eli late hit, but sounds really stupid, from a DLine, who played well only to see the DB's get beat up. Which player was it?

As for the Helmet to Helmet hit, take another look, he lowers the shoulder.

EDIT: After seeing another clip of it, the Helmets do make contact, but its after the shoulder. Its definitly not intentional.

I think the Bucs have been really disciplined and far from Dirty.

Watch the Rams and the Redskins from yesterday, and either of those are dirtier.

Lions, Titus Young headbutted a player.

Miami, Incognito tried to twist a players ankle and the Texan kicked him back.

I think the Bucs are far from the leagues dirtiest team, but thats just my opinion.

P.S: The dirtiest play that I saw yesterday, was a Helmet to Helmet launch on Vincent Jackson from the Giants, which wasn't called. Giants ended up getting an INT from the next play and went on to win the game from there. Huge call that influenced the games outcome.

matthew8

The helmet definitely hits the helmet. To be honest I think the Rams play dirty too, especially with Cortland Finnegan in there. Right now there's no respect for the replacement officials and everyone's going dirty, but I think the Buccs are one of the worst offenders.

DDC1990

matthew8 wrote: »

The helmet definitely hits the helmet. To be honest I think the Rams play dirty too, especially with Cortland Finnegan in there. Right now there's no respect for the replacement officials and everyone's going dirty, but I think the Buccs are one of the worst offenders.

I watched a clip of the rush on the kneel down. It seems to have been blown a bit out of proportion, but I agree it was out of line. Schiano wants them to play every down. If Eli fumbles that and the Bucs recover, then there is a chance to win the game. Why give up? Thats his attitude.

I think its ungentlemanly personally, and I would just leave the kneel down go, and take the loss. But Schiano is thinking differently.

As for the helmet to Helmet hit. You don't need me to tell you, its not an issue if the Helmets touch. the issue is with a tackle being made, where the Defender launches with his helmet into the helmet of the other reciever.

What was bad, was Mason Foster's hit on Hixon in the first half. He launched at Hixon on his way down and ended up putting him out of the game. That was dirty. But I don't believe Barron's play was. It was just a big hit, where the helmets hit off each other.

matthew8

I actually support Schiano on the kneel situation, I don't know why there's some god given right to let the other team win. If they were losing by 2 scores it would've been different, but something strikes me about the way the Buccaneers tackle. Interesting to see what it'll be like when the real officials are back though. Absolutely filthy week of NFL.

DDC1990

Fair enough.

I'll take dirty though.

If you saw the way the Bucs "tackled" all last year, you would too.

taidghbaby

I think the rush on th qb kneel was a bit of a cheap shot! Could have been some serious damage done if the centre falls backward on to eli's ankle!

Having said that I think o-line men across the league won't be taking any chances in the foreseeable future!

jester1980

I'm puzzled as to why Blount is not getting more carries, is he doing that bad in training or whats going on??

DDC1990

I'm more perplexed as to why the OC keeps calling run plays every single first and second down. Its so obvious what we are going to do and its hurting us. Bad refereeing led us to lose out on an Eric Wright TD from the fumble. We didn't deserve to win, win an offence as flaccid as that. Freeman is always left with
3rd and long situations, which the defence can read easily. Martin is good, but when a team knows you are running on the first 2 downs, there is only so much damage you can do.

Its no shame to be 1-2 with the schedule that they have, but we could be 3-0 with a bit more luck and a bit more composure, which is annoying. Still Saints and Panthers are struggling a bit as well, so the NFC South is still up for grabs. Atlanta need to be stopped though, and look really good ATM.

villacud

I'm heading to Florida on a holiday next month and have brought 4 tickets for the Bucs v Chargers game.
Never been to an NFL game before
The game has a 1pm kick off, I was wondering how early should we arrive, what parking is like and atmosphere (in family area no alcohol or profanity)
I enjoy all sport but GAA & rugby are my thing.
I understand the basic rules of NFL but have no great depth of knowledge.
Any tips welcome

Should have mentioned we're staying at nearby St Petersburg

jester1980

No way, i'm going to this game too.

I'd say plan to enter the stadium for 12, you can take a look around inside at the ship etc.

I stay just across the road when i go so i head over for about 11.30 for a few beverages..

villacud

Thanks for quick reply Jester
We're looking forward to game. I've been to a baseball game (minor league, Charlotte Stonecrabs) did enjoy it but am looking forward to the more 'rough & tumble' of NFL

jj1

Was at the Ray Jay last year. We got a taxi there from Ybor City. Traffic was very heavy, about 30 mins to travel 6 or 7 miles. Obviously don't know about how long to get parking but I think all the grounds have plenty.

There is a security check at the grounds. I wasn't allowed bring in a backpack with bottles of water & other bits. GF explained situation to a female security guard & she told us to ball up the bag, carry it on her arm & approach again. She then let my GF in. I think we kept the water but I'm not sure.

We were up in the top tier in line with the 20 yard line. From the taxi dropping us at the stadium to getting to our seats was probably 20 mins but we had that stop at security & got a few beers. I'd go early like Jester said because you'll enjoy the buzz about the place beforehand.

N.B. We were there on November 13th vs the Texans, it was absolutely roasting. Beautiful weather but I'd say bring something to keep the sun off the heads especially with the chillers. There wasn't a puff of wind that day in the stadium & inside that stadium seemed hotter that any other point on the holiday.

I enjoyed the match despite the Buccs getting a hiding. I'm following NFL for about 6 or 7 years & was buzzing watching the game, Texans put on a bit of a show & scored with first offensive play & Buccs only ever half threatened a comeback. Cannon was class, we had a flyover before the match & I thought that I was watching the soon to be AFC champions until the 2 Matts got injured.

Anyway to summarize my rambling post, don't bring a backpack, bring a shopping bag or something & that there sun does be hot so it does!!!!!!!

villacud

Thanks jj1 for the advice. Interesting about the choice of bag. Looking forward to the sunshine after the year we've had here.

jester1980

Good win on Sunday, i know it wass against a poor team but they have averaged over 200 rushing per game this year and we kept them to 60 or so.

Freeman was given the go ahead to air the ball out there and did a great job which is one of his strengths. Solid enough game by Martin again on pass and Rush and Great to see Blount coming in and doing a fantastic job moving the chains quickly. Need to have him more involved. Switching runs up all the time.

And lastly hats off to Jackson and Williams for two more superb games, T Underwood did a decent job too, good to see him getting a chance having been cut earlier in the year.

GO BUCS

DDC1990

Im a big fan of Freeman, but he looked really shaky in the first 2 quarters, but was bailed out by some tremendous WR play by Mike Williams and a few Drops by KC.

Then, he really stepped up his game and shredded KC. Poise in the pocket, play action, rollouts. He did it all. Martin took a while to get going but broke off some vital runs. Delighted for Blount as well, as I'm a big fan.

Tiquan Underwoon becoming everything I had hoped, I said earlier in the season that I was disappointed that he was dropped given his preseason, but to see him come back into the squad with such an impact is great.

Still feel we could improve at TE perhaps, with Dallas Clark not the force he used to be. But overall we look a mean team, especially on D.

0 TD's given up by the D.

Our Draft looks like one of the best in a long time for the Bucs. Barron, Martin and David all featuring as top players in their positions.

jester1980

Good performance all round last night and job well done. Shattered today after staying up for this.

Doug Martin was fantastic on rush and pass, some lovely stiff arms. This kid has some future ahead of him.

jester1980

Great stuff by Doug Martin last night, really thought we were going to blow it near the end.

Heading over to Tampa on Saturday, very excited. 4-4 Oh yeahhhhhhhh.

251 – rushing yards on Sunday for Martin, a Bucs franchise record and the 10th most in NFL history

3 – number of rushes of longer than 45 yards, a Bucs franchise record

51 – fantasy points scored by Martin on Sunday

486 – Martin’s combined total yards (rushing, receiving) in the past two games

794 – rushing yards this season for Martin, third most in the NFL

5.2 – Martin’s per-carry average in 2012

8 – number of games Martin has played as pro

irishbucsfan

Our defense is a real problem. It's completely incapable of playing against a passing team and made Palmer look good.

On the bright side, Leonard Johnson has played extremely well for an undrafted FA (and the fact he's a Tampa native makes it even better). But he's possibly the only bright spark on our passing D (maybe Ahmad Black as well). The loss of Clayborn really ruined our pass rush (McCoy hasn't looked the same without him) and if we lose anyone else we're in trouble up front. Eric Wright has been OK but really hasn't justified his salary yet. The likes of Biggers and Lewis would not be getting meaningful play time on any other teams.

Used to be our Defense carrying our offense. Now it's the other way around. Hopefully the coaches know what they're doing and we'll be able to add talent on that side of the ball.

I really worry for games against the likes of Brees and Manning this season (both of whom we still have to play). I don't see how we're going to stop them.

Leslie91

Love your rookie LB David, what a player he is.

DDC1990

Bucs have a tough schedule with:
Panthers
Falcons (x2)
Saints
Eagles
Broncos
Rams

Beat the Falcons twice and we have a chance of the Division.

Realistically though, we should look for a 5-2 finish (losses to the Broncos and Falcons in the first game), and hope that gets us to the playoffs.

I think we should beat the Panthers, Rams, Eagles (they are looking at next year). Then the Saints away and the Falcons game in Week 17 are possibles. Only 1 score down on the Saints last time, and some tight calls (which proved correct) on the Williams No-TD, cost us. As for the Falcons, they should have HFA wrapped up by then, so we could get their backups out, in which case, thats a very winable situation.

Broncos and Falcons(first game) will be very tough indeed. We seem to do well against dodgy QB's (Cam, Quinn, Ponder, Palmer, Rivers). The real QB's like Eli and Brees found us out. I think Manning (the elder) and Matt Ryan are real big time QB's and they could rip us a new one in the secondary.

I have us at 8-6 with 2 possibles. 10-6 we have a great shot at the playoffs. 8-8 is still a massive improvement on last year, and we have a year to improve the secondary, and go right back at it. Anything less then 8-8 will be disappointing at this stage, but still obviously a massive improvement. some exciting weeks ahead!

jester1980

Great time over at the game a few weeks back against San Diego, great game wo watch. Was lovely day and was buckled as well.

Big game this week after that narrow loss last week. Cant see our defence doing too well against Manning but ill hope anyway.

DDC1990

With the Saints losing, the Vikings playing the Pack and Seattle playing Chicago, this could be a huge week for us.

An unlikely win, could set us right up for a playoff place. A loss wouldn't be a disaster, but it would let the likes of the Cowboy/Redskins back in the playoff race again.

Manning, however will destroy the secondary I fear, and we could be looking at our first big loss of the year.

We've been within one drive of winning every game we have lost this year! Its a killer, and shows the tight margins between being an 11-0 team and a 6-5 team.

Still I'm happy with Schiano and the new players brought in this year. Slightly disappointed with Barron, but he's playing in quite a skilled position, and will learn it soon.

It'll be a disaster whenever Ronde retires. Still our main man on D.

jester1980

The longest running trade saga looks finally have come to an end, im over the moon. No one in the draft better than him so and we need a cb to go striaght into the team.

Im hearing our first pick this year and 3rd and 5th next, be interesting to see the exact details.

The worst pass defence has significantly been improved with Revis and Goldson.

Paully D

jester1980 wrote: »

The longest running trade saga looks finally have come to an end, im over the moon. No one in the draft better than him so and we need a cb to go striaght into the team.

Im hearing our first pick this year and 3rd and 5th next, be interesting to see the exact details.

The worst pass defence has significantly been improved with Revis and Goldson.

32nd to around top 10 next season now IMO.

phatkev

Revis agents just agreed terms with the bucs

jester1980

Great Job done by Dominick, he's robbed the jets.

The deal is our 1st this year and 4th next year moving to a 3rd if revis still with the team on day 3 of the season.

Also no money guaranteed on contract so if he gets injured we walk away.

Super business.

pepperfoot

honestly. the buks are not that great of a team. in the past few years they have been very bad. just saying it like it is. they need to make serious changes to be a good NFL team

jester1980

ha ha what a random posting.

DDC1990

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000167947/article/ronde-barber-to-retire-from-tampa-bay-buccaneers

Ronde retiring.

Surely a future HOF candidate.

Will miss him on the field.

jester1980

New 6 year contract for Williams, happy for the lad as he did well last season, very close to hitting the 1000 Yard mark..