Gruden said it all right there. We did overcome alot and we did hang in there. Enough so that we made the Playoffs. That's pretty impressive for a team that finished the year with 14 guys on Injured Reserve:
That would be difficult for any team to over come and the Bucs were able to accomplish that. Going into the Season I thought Gruden at the very least had to make the Playoffs and possibly win a Playoff game. Had he had all his ammunition I might feel that way today, but he DID make the Playoffs, so I'm jumping off the HOT SEAT Talk for a while.
You gotta wonder what a HEALTHY Season under Jon Gruden would mean for this Franchise. The cool thing about this season is that we know this is not the end of the road. Sure Jeff Garcia is 37 years old and Joey Galloway is right behind him, but those are our BEST Two players on the team. Luckily for us, it seems like their gas tanks are far from being empty. Couple that with our young offensive line and getting younger by the minute defensive unit, we may finally have a yearly contender on our hands.
I feel our schedule provided the perfect transition year for the team. Next Years Schedule gets a lot tougher, but our team should be a lot stronger as a unit as well. Going into the off-season, I think we need to do the following three things immediately:
Sign Head Coach Jon Gruden to a 3-4 Year Extension (The Man can Coach PERIOD, give him a little more talent)
Sign Defensive Coordinator Monte Kiffin to a LIFETIME Contract
See to it that Defensive Backs Coach Raheem Morris does NOT leave to Coach the Raiders Defense