1) I've got a simple solution for the 0-2 woes the Bucs have when they play in London.
STOP PLAYING IN LONDON.
2) It's not exactly news that the Buccaneers' offense does not play well in the First Half. But outside of the 2-minute drill that led to a FG, the offense was atrocious. While losing Graham to injury hurt the team early, the rest of the unit has no excuse.
2a) Above all, the major problem with the offense seems to be QB Josh Freeman's inability to trust any throw to a WR that goes 15 yards past the line of scrimmage. I caught him in the First Half doing his check-down of receivers and then dumping it off to the nearest guy for meager yardage. There's a few reasons the offense is having trouble making first downs, and that's the biggest one.
2b) The other has to be penalties. Sh-tloads of penalties. It wasn't this bad since the Chucky years. There was that one series in the Second Quarter with, what 6 STRAIGHT PENALTIES?! Granted, two of them were offsides by the Bears, but that many penalties in a row is amateur hour. They don't tolerate that at HIGH SCHOOL level.
3) If there were any moments to savor, they were few and far between:
3a) Tanard Jackson's INT and runback.
3b) Ronde Barber's Safety tackle of RB Forte.
3c) Insert Memory Here of Glory Days Gone By.
4) So the Bucs are 4-3 heading into the Bye Week and basically the Halfway mark of the season (Game 8 is the actual halfway point, but we're close to it). What can we ascertain from the first half of the season?
4a) Our offense has no clue in the First Half of games.
4b) Our defensive line is greatly improved but still a step or three away from reaching the pinnacle of the 99-02 years.
4c) Our defensive backfield has more holes that my five-year-old underwear. Not going after a FA cornerback during the off-season was a bad idea.
4d) Spending mucho dinero in free agency for a damn good punter was a good idea after all.
4e) How soon can we get Blount back?! (whimper)
5) Next week: I got nuthing. See you in November for NANOWRIMO! And Football.
Poll
Biggest Problem the Bucs Have Going Into the Bye Week?
The Offense's Inability to Drive the Ball In the First Half of Games (55 votes)
Josh Freeman's Troubles Throwing Downfield to WRs (44 votes)
Inconsistency With The D-Line Getting Sacks (0 votes)
Failure of The Secondary To Close Down Opposing WRs (3 votes)
Too Much Cowbell (13 votes)
115 total votes


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