How to cope with another tough loss in an unbearable season

by Paul Mueller on Nov 30, 2009 7:38 PM EST

It’s Monday night. What could turn out to be the game of the season is about to be played. Everyone’s talking about Tiger Woods and Charlie Weis. Dinner is starting to rest in my stomach, but my head is anything but settled.

I question the fake punt, but reason that it was not a bad call, just poorly executed. I replay cornerback Derrick Roberson holding the receiver away from the play late in the fourth quarter, and I realize he was on the practice squad three weeks ago. I think of Connor Barth being money from 50-plus, then I realize there wasn’t a large enough sample to truly determine that.

So, I conclude, it all boils down to one tired cliche: Good teams win those kind of games, and bad teams don’t. And the Falcons, with no Michael Turner, no Matt Ryan and two starting offensive lineman on the shelf, found a way to win.

And it’s because of Sunday afternoons like those and Monday states of mind like this that I feel I am a part of a select few who have found a way to cope with the season that all Bucs fans find themselves seemingly trapped in.

Little victories.

To be a Bucs fan in 2009, you have to take what you can get. Head coach Raheem Morris said it best earlier this year when he said there are no moral victories. However, the cornerstone of optimism is found not in the win-loss column, but in the little victories found peppered throughout an otherwise losing effort.

The Buccaneers out-gained the Falcons by 21 yards in the game on 19 fewer plays. The defense recorded six sacks against a team that had allowed just 14 all year. Antonio Bryant reminded us why we kept him around after last season with 91 receiving yards on just three catches, one of them a 42-yard touchdown. Morris found a way to put the best players on the defense in positions to make plays, occasionally sending Ronde Barber on the corner blitz and bringing pressure from the outside to collapse the pocket.

“(The defense) played hard,” Morris said after the game. “They played hard and they continued. It was a hard fought game as a team. We blocked the punt on special teams. On offense, we moved the ball fairly well. In the second half, we didn’t play as well as the first, but we played well as a team today. I am just proud of the guys in that locker room.”

Sure, there were times when some questionable decisions were made. The fake punt, the long field goal, the late timeouts. Hindsight being 20/20, it’s easy to be critical. However, if the fake punt worked, the Bucs likely win. If Barth splits the uprights, the outcome may have been different.

“You can’t second guess yourself,” Morris said. “This is a grown man’s sport. When you start second guessing yourself, then you become soft.”

It was a great 58.5 minutes of football from the Bucs in Atlanta on Sunday.

The best thing to do after a game like this is look at this football team like a girlfriend you’ve already decided to break-up with, but you’re waiting for the right time. We've all been there. You can’t do it right before Christmas, that’s not cool. Her birthday is right after that, and you’ve already made plans. So, for now, you’ve got to hang in there. Come February, the offseason will be in full swing and you can have your pick from the free agent pool.

When it's all over, the 2009 Bucs will be long gone. Maybe you'll wash your hands of them altogether because the memories are too painful. Perhaps you'll stumble upon an old picture of them one day and remember the good times. At 1-10, it's pretty easy to jump ship.

Just don’t come crawling back when the Bucs show up as a completely different girl in 2010.

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Additionally:

I left this part out for obvious reasons, but the biggest critics I’m hearing from are those who have said all year that the Bucs don’t take enough chances and play scared. Now, they’re coming back to me whining about taking a shot at a long field goal and pulling out the fake punt.

Make up your mind, you know who you are. I hate the losing as much as anyone, but I hate armchair coaches even more.

(FYI – I’m saying all this playfully, with a smile. Sarcasm is often lost via internet comment!)

"I'm throwing rocks tonight. Mark it, Dude" - Donny

by Paul Mueller on Nov 30, 2009 7:48 PM EST reply actions

Dis be true, dawg

Why do you kill threads????

by 4QB on Nov 30, 2009 8:35 PM EST up reply actions

I don't mind taking chances

But not when you have the battle of field position won and are ahead on the scoreboard. Just wasn’t the right time or place to be tricky.

by bucnut1 on Nov 30, 2009 9:17 PM EST up reply actions

OT: Who be watching da Monday Night Football?

I finna see if the saints can hang with the big boys

Why do you kill threads????

by 4QB on Nov 30, 2009 8:36 PM EST reply actions

Learning Curve

This season, to me, has been enjoyable since Game #4 forward. Yes, they have some really bad losses, but I expected them to be terrible. I also have focused on the building blocks. We had to know that Raheem would have a learning curve as a head coach. He has made some blunders, but why not get those out of the way this season. He can learn from these type of game decisions and improve. He said earlier that even coaches are being evaluated. Hopefully, that means that he is analyzing his fake punts, going for it on 4th downs, or defensive alignments in the context of the game situation and learning what works and what doesn’t. Use this year to try everything you ever thought was crazy, it is a throwaway. Bill Belichick didn’t become a great coach overnight. He deserves one more year to show some growth in game management and personnel management. At any rate, this season is a win for one big reason, Josh Freeman.

by bucsfandave on Nov 30, 2009 9:59 PM EST reply actions

"Learning curve"

Couldn’t have put it better myself.

"I'm throwing rocks tonight. Mark it, Dude" - Donny

by Paul Mueller on Nov 30, 2009 10:23 PM EST up reply actions

Overall

It was a better game, but the same issues still need to be fixed that are reoccurring. Mainly late in the game, getting to the other team and putting the fatality on them. Also, the offense still has problems and the play calling is very bland to me. I do like the FG in the 4Q, but the fake punt was dumb, especially since it put the punter in a bad situation and it cost the team badly. Didn’t like the final TO either, it reminds me of the CLE/DET TO that cost CLE the potential win. ATL is on the ropes, and they got 2 breaks in the final 7 plays, not good imo. I’d like to see more passing though, they need to stretch the field. And more punishing defense, it worked very well until the last drive when they kinda backed off(and left Gonzalez wide open way too often)

by Transplanted on Nov 30, 2009 10:16 PM EST reply actions

Bucs fan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love these Bucs! Good or bad. Sure I have had my share of strokes this year and a few heart attacks, but you know what a fan is always there and it will get better…………..and I hope soon my heart can not take much more………..GO BUCS!!!!!!!!!!!!

by DeathWalker on Nov 30, 2009 10:48 PM EST reply actions

Well said Paul

by McBuc on Dec 1, 2009 10:49 AM EST reply actions

Well Said Paul..

To me the biggest positive Im taking is the way the team is playing… They are playing their Butts off for Coach Morris.
THAT is Coaching. The words are very easy to say.. " That is coaching", you can apply it to anything you want to, not that it will make sense.
Too many penalties? that can be coaching.
Dropped passes? How can anyone in their right mind say that is coaching. That is reaching is what it is.

You can spot easy on this board who just has it in for Raheem for the sake of having it in for him. I can promise you not one of these people even knew who Raheem was a year ago, nor did they watch a single Bucs game before Chris Simms was the Quarterback. If you lack perspective, you dont have…. perspective, and things just dont look the way they do to the rest of us.

Sometimes you just have to sit back and relax. Things will be better.

Viva la Bucco Bruce 1976-1996 (reincarnated 2009)

by Niko Houllis on Dec 1, 2009 7:45 PM EST reply actions

A good coach works with a receiver to make sure he catches the ball, if he doesn't catch the ball then he's off the team.

I have it in for Morris cause he’s not the right guy for the job. I want him to do well and win, but he’s not capable cause he doesn’t know what he’s doing. You can blame Gruden, Dungy, Wyche, Williams, Perkins, Bennett, McKay, or even Culverhouse, but none of them can own this 1-10 record, but Morris does, it’s his mess.

by bucnut1 on Dec 2, 2009 10:42 AM EST up reply actions