Bucs 24, Texans 17: Impressions and Musings
by Craig T on Sep 3, 2010 8:30 AM EDT
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The Buccaneers wrapped up their preseason with a 24-17 victory over the Houston Texans on Thursday night at Reliant Stadium in Houston. Even though most of the starters enjoyed the action from the sidelines, there were still plenty to be decided on the field, as second and third-teamers battled not just the Texans on the field, but each other for the last few coveted roster spots on the 53-man, which will be determined on Saturday. With their football fates hanging in the balance, some guys shined, while others waned.......and some guys did little to make their way off the bubble. Some observations:
-Corey Lynch had a monster game. Welcome to the roster, big guy. You don't wrap up a pretty nice preseason by picking off 2 passes, scoring a TD, avoid getting embarassed and NOT make the squad.
-Rudy Carpenter was steady and solid throughout, going 15/22 for 223 yds and 2 TDs/0 INTs. He was sharp and on the money with his passes for most of the night. He's clearly the #3 QB on this roster...and a guy I might not be terrified to see in a game if something drastic were to happen. He's not giving me any Curtis-Painter-coming-in-after-Manning type of indication.
-Kareem Huggins put the candles on his tasty preseason cake with a 6.2 yards per clip average on 6 carries, including a nifty 25-yard scamper with the Bucs backed up deep in their own end.
-Brent Bowden is starting to worry me. 38-yard average with a long of 41. He hit a blech 34-yard punt late in the 4th qtr, which gave the Texans one last chance to tie or win the game. His overall distance is starting to concern me a little bit.
-The pressure from the defensive front continued to be sporadic and inconsistent, as the Buccaneers managed only one sack in the game from DE George Johnson. However, that sack came in a series where the Buccaneers pressured the Texan QB for the entire series. The lack of consistent pressure doesn't bode well, but the starters haven't played all that much this preseason, so rest your hat on that peg, I guess.
-Arrelious Benn showed what he's capable of, snaring 2 TD passes in the tightest of coverage last night. The 2nd was on an underthrown fade pattern, but he leaped over and grabbed the ball off of the CB for the score. An impactful night to be sure.
-Reggie Brown started off by dropping a ball in the first quarter, but finished making some nice catches along the sidelines from Carpenter to finish with 3 catches for 45 yards. That could have been the coup-de-grace for Clayton.
-Myron Lewis disappointed me a little bit. Following a pass break up near the end zone, he was flatfooted and burned badly on a lobbed ball for a TD the very next play in the 3rd quarter. He hasn't shown a whole lot this preseason, albeit he's had a nagging hammy injury this preseason.
-Elbert Mack had a couple of nice plays, including a pass break up in the 2nd half. The competition at the cornerback positions is fierce, with Roberson also making a nice play near the goalline in the 2nd half.
-The 2nd string offensive line did what it's been doing, create a decent hole for a solid run, then get overpowered for a couple of plays to set up passing situations. Not really a huge standout here.
-Clifton Smith had a few nice plays, highlighted by an angle route out of the backfield for 13 yards. He showed nice burst and speed, the kind you want to see from a 3rd down back.
So what were your impressions of the game? Weigh in below.
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Offense looked good, they moved the ball well, Rudy did a great job avoiding the pressure and got the ball to the receivers,
Defense on the other hand scares me. I know most of these guys won’t be here come next Sunday afternoon, but if that’s any indication of what’s to come, it’s gonna be a very long season.
If an optimist had his left arm chewed off by an alligator, he might say in a pleasant and hopeful voice, "Well this isn't to bad, I don't have a left arm anymore but at least nobody will ever ask me if I'm left-handed or right-handed" but most of us would say something more along the lines of "Aaaaaa! My arm! My arm!" DANIEL HANDLER (as Lemony Snicket)
I didnt come away with to many negatives
I think when you take into account we held them scoreless till the second half, had 2 turnovers by key guys that we were looking to make plays which were created by a pass rush that was admittedly “inconsistent”.
You add that to the fact that we were looking at 2nd and equally 3rd string guys. I feel better about our Defense than I did before the training camp and the preseason began.
I think our depth is managable and encouraging and the defensive line should atleast be solid enough to provide our talented secondary decent opportunities to make plays. Considering what we were forced to watch last year, Ill take that hands down.
Josh Freeman will be better than Matt Ryan, not so sure about Drew Brees!!
Post game
Raheems press conference was also encouraging as he mentioned that Josh Freeman threw about 70 balls to his wideouts and performed the entire route tree without to much discomfort.
Im pretty sure he was talking about Freeman, if im incorrect someone please correct me as I dont see why he would mention J. Johnson.
Josh Freeman will be better than Matt Ryan, not so sure about Drew Brees!!
I wished they'd given him more time
Those thumb injuries seem to be tricky. And I don’t feel like his “rustyness” will be an issue; our 1st OFF is full of talent..
They've been very careful with him
ANd the injury was very minor from all accounts, so I have faith they’re taking the right medical approach.
I'm surpised he even knew he broke something
I broke three of my metacarpals in my hand (the three outside bones, before knuckles that run parallel together) and I didn’t even notice til the next day when it was swollen. I didn’t get medical attention or anything, healed on its on.
But a thumb? I’m pretty inept at those injuries.
Seems I missed Snead throwing his one pass.
Seems the Bucs don’t see any kind of potential in Snead or he’s an extremely rough project. Even more so then Tebow was projected to be.
So did Clayton even take the field at all?
I seem to remember Morris saying he’d get one more chance to impress but i didn’t see his name on the stat sheet.
All these previous years Clayton’s done well in camp and preseason, so by virtue of that (presumably) he squeaks onto the roster. This year he did jack. If he doesn’t get cut then we’ll all know that he does have pictures of the Glazer brothers involved in carnal acts of a compromising nature.
If you will it, dude, it is no dream.
Ugh...
besides, I figured that’s how Raheem got his job in the first place.
by Cracker Ball on Sep 3, 2010 11:32 AM EDT up reply actions
Clayton played
When was the last time you were able to tell Clayton was on the field. I cant remember since his rookie season and the first game of every year since where you believe with all your heart that he has over come his Brick for Hands disease.
He played and gave us a doughnut on what seemed to be a night that was flush with offensive opportunities against “weaker” or less experienced players he still couldnt make an impact.
Josh Freeman will be better than Matt Ryan, not so sure about Drew Brees!!
He played
He didn’t get targeted, but he did have a nice downfield block on Huggy’s big run. The fact that he wasn’t even targeted tells me that he isn’t in the plans for this team, though. Every other wideout that played and has a shot to get on the roster got a few targets, even Preston Parker.
Seems about all he can do...
But on the flipside; besides Williams and Stovall, some other of our acquisitions at WR are abit undersized for “blocking”, so hopefully Rah gets him in that mentality fast.
Benn is a dominating blocker
Brown has been weaker from what I’ve seen and Sammie and Spurlock are just too small. I’d say we have plenty of wideouts who can block.
Well thats good
Lord knows, Caddy needs WRs that are gonna block for him. Yeah sammie and spurlock were the ones I had in my head, a little downside but their pretty good otherwise.
Clayton is DONE , THANK YOU !!!!
This guy has done nothing but take up a roster spot since his rookie season. It is interesting to see who makes the cut after Williams, benn, sammie, stovall, spurlock. I think that the ideal thing would be for clayton to be cut and Benn gets the 6th receiver spot and parker gets on practice squad but i am not sure that they can work this unless they uses the 54th spot for parker jus so that they don’t haveto send him thru the waiver wire.
2nd case is the bucs cut clayton and brown to make room for parker and hope that he can add some burst that neither of these guys really have. Brown makes this decision tough because he had a decent game with 3 catches for 45 yards and he would be the only veteran with the release of Clayton.
Decisions, decisions, decisions. This is a great problem for the bucs, prob something they never had before. Can’t wait to see what happens in less than 20 hours.
Lewis impressed with tackling and physicality
His coverage abilities not so much, but he’s just a rookie and cornerback is a tough position to learn.
As for Bowden, I’m not concerned at all. And here’s why: net average. I took a look at all the punters in the Pro Bowl over the past 5 years and their total career net punting average, which is much more important than gross, as it takes into account hangtime – although it should be noted that the special teams capabilities have an effect there too. Now, that average comes down to: 35.6 net yards per punt over their careers.
Brent Bowden this offseason has averaged 36.6 net yards per punt. That’s significantly more than the career average of the other punters. His punts may not look as spectacular, but they seem to get the job done very well nonetheless.
Net average is all well and good.
But if we are punting from our end zone they are going to already be in field goal range if can’t kick it further than 37 yards.
"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example." ~ Mark Twain
by LeeCaz on Sep 3, 2010 11:59 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
That's not something that happens that often
And I don’t see why gross is more important than net in that situation either. If someone can boot it out of his endzone for 60 yards but it gets returned for 20, what’s the big improvement over someone just getting 40 net? In fact, since Bowden seems to force fair catches and rolls, there’s no risk of a big return – and I’d say that’s worth more than just booting it far.
By the way, his long this offseason (over just 16 punts) is 51, so it’s not like he can’t get it downfield.
By the way
Dirk Johnson had a gross of 42 and a net of 36 last year, Paulescu had a gross of 42 and a net of 36.
So he has the same numbers as they do?
Not following you here. I thought the reason we drafted a punter was because those two sucked. If he is not a significant improvement over them it was a wasted draft pick.
"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example." ~ Mark Twain
by LeeCaz on Sep 3, 2010 12:48 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
No, he has better numbers
Though not by much, but these are just his first games.
And he’s a lot more consistent because there are essentially no returns.
Don't worry. If Bowden sucks, I'll rail on him like I did Dirk and Paulescu.
As you can always expect come from behind victory is when you least expect it.
Bowden has done his job.
We really haven’t got a good look at his leg strength because the bucs have been moving the ball effectively and he has been placing alot of punts inside the 20. That is the punters job. Not kick it out the back of the end zone trying to show his leg strength.
On the flip, he has shanked a few punts also but he is a rookie so i expect some ups and downs. Lets just keep them to a min.
You are way too in love with punter that has only played
4 preseason games. Let’s evaluate this stuff after the first four games. I couldnt care less about his net average kicking to back up returners. 51 isn’t bad though. Would be nice to see him consistently hit that with some hang time
"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example." ~ Mark Twain
by LeeCaz on Sep 3, 2010 12:42 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I'm not in love with him
I’m looking at his numbers, and I don’t think they’re far off from what you can expect from a punter.
Anyway, he's far from perfect
But what he needs to improve on is his consistency, not the length of his punts, in my opinion.
To say: "its okay he doesnt kick it far because they get less return yards"
is silly in my opinion. That is true for anyone. Lots of guys can punt the ball 40 yards. His job is to kick the ball as high and far as possible. Its on the gunnees to get down eheee and make a tackle. Coffin corners are great, but if he doesnt have the whole package we should not have drafted him.
"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example." ~ Mark Twain
by LeeCaz on Sep 3, 2010 1:48 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
The net result of long punts and his punts is the same
It’s what the numbers show, so I really can’t put it any other way. I don’t care about how it looks, what I care about is what the end result on the field is. And with him I expect the end result to be 38 net yards per punt, which is what pro bowl punters get. Even Shane Lechler, who easily has the strongest leg in the league, gets 38.6 net yards per punt back. There are only 3 active punters with a net average over 39, and the vast majority are well under 38. And yes, to an extent that’s the result of special teams play, but punters have a lot to do with it by the positioning of the punt and the hang time they put on it.
Bowden’s punts in general are fine, they don’t get as much distance as other punters, but the net result really is the same and from what I’ve seen he’s certainly better than most punters at getting it inside the 20. The problem is that he’s had a few shanks and really short punts this preseason – if he can eliminate those inconsistencies he’ll be really good. If he can’t, he’ll get cut at some point.
The shanks and short punts are what Ive been talking about this entire time
According to you they don’t matter because they supposedly have the same net average. I’m done talking about a punter. I nominate you to be our resident punting expert throughout the season. Sorry BW, you have been usurped
"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example." ~ Mark Twain
by LeeCaz on Sep 3, 2010 2:41 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I'm not clear what you're talking about when you say 'short punts' which is why I'm saying this
If by ‘short punts’ you mean the 38-yarders then no, I don’t agree with that: a 38-yarder by Bowden is basically the same as a 48-yarder by Lechler. That’s Bowden’s ‘normal’ punt: a 38-yarder gross that’s a 38-yarder net.
But if by ‘short punts’ you meant the couple 25-30 yarders had – yes, those need to change, and those are a problem.
But if you are on your opp 40 yd line...
Do you want to try a 57 yd FG or a 25-30 yd punt net that puts the opposition inside their own 20?
That depends on a lot of different thing
Generally speaking, I want to go for it there instead of either of those options. A 57-yard field goal does not have a high likelihood of succeeding though. It really depends on what the strength of your personnel is vs the strength of the opponent.
Basically, in the following order: if you have a potent offense you want to go for it. If you have a really good kicker who can make these kicks a decent amount of the time, you want to kick the field goal. If you have neither of those two, but you do have a punter who’s really good in pinning people inside their 20-yard line (preferably close to their goal-line), you want to punt the ball.
Advanced NFL Stats does a lot of research on general situations like these, and there’s a lot of information about strategy decision like that on their site.
That doesn't really change the dicussions
It makes going for it less appealing, but not dramatically so. The problem doesn’t change: you need to play to your personnel strengths.
I will never be replaced. My punter ranting (not rating) skills are world famous.
As you can always expect come from behind victory is when you least expect it.
I can't imagine Sabby being cut.
I’ve been wrong before, but unless he has just quit on the team (possible), I think the FO knows we’ll need him at some point.
As you can always expect come from behind victory is when you least expect it.
Yup
Sabby is here to stay for 2010 I think.
"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example." ~ Mark Twain
by LeeCaz on Sep 3, 2010 12:43 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Or we could keep all of them.
So you can keep knocking but won't knock me down
No love lost, no love found
by 4QB on Sep 3, 2010 6:32 PM EDT up reply actions
I think bucs keep 5 safeties
Grimm, sabby and lynch can all contribute on special teams so they have value to the team. Sabby is the 3rd safety but if he has his head between his legs during the season then expect to see grimm or lynch get reps but lynch and grimm have to potential to be big time special teams players. Lynch has a knack for blocking kicks and this is going to keep him around more than his 2 picks in the 4th preseason game.
It was great to see Rejus finally get some balls thrown his way.
"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example." ~ Mark Twain
by LeeCaz on Sep 3, 2010 12:45 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Totally agree
I also think he hasnt had many opportunities. I think that because it took him a while to pick up the offense (if he even still fully has) so they put him with the backups right off the bat which didnt put him in position to see time against quality competition.
When you look at the catches he made for the touchdowns and the way the defenders were inside his jersey. You could easily make the argument that he would have made those same catches against starting caliber players.
In the end its nice to see him produce and give some credence as to why he was taken in the 2nd round.
Josh Freeman will be better than Matt Ryan, not so sure about Drew Brees!!
Yea finally.
He reminds me of plaxico burress and his physicality.
"You have to play this game like somebody just hit your mother with a two-by-four."
-Dan Birdwell
Can't wait
To see Huggins in action he kinda reminds me of Leon Washington..
IF U AIN'T A BUC GET THE BUC OUT OF HERE
by WE GOING TO THE SHIP on Sep 3, 2010 4:06 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Huggins is special.
His power , vision and his 4.28 speed def give the bucs something that they have never had (closest prob is warrick dunn). I am excited to see him add the speed to caddy power.
LETS GO BUCS!!!
Congrads to Texans picking up Bucs leftovers in D Ward. They have the same dream the bucs had 2 years ago. HAHAHAHA gd luck with that.
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