It’s a very happy Wednesday Bucs Nation! It’s T-Jack here and I’m writing on vacation. I apologize for my absence last week as getting everything together for vacation took a lot longer than I anticipated. But I’m back and it’s Tuesday which means another edition of 10 questions!
The day after a Buccaneers game I usually tend to harp on those things that I saw that went wrong in the game the day before. Though there was much to harp on (The secondary, Trueblood’s pass protection, Olsen’s play selection, penalties, etc…) I’m not going to focus on that stuff. Instead I’m simply going to say man it was good to see the Bucs on Monday Night Football again! Raymond James Stadium was rockin last night! The Buccaneers played an old school football game last night highlighted by big hits, aggressive play, and smash mouth football! To me 2 things really stood out last night.
First was the play of the defensive line. Clayborn, Bennett, McCoy, and Price played a heck of a game. They were constantly in the Colts backfield and sacked Curtis Painter 4 times. 4 sacks however can’t even come close to describing the level of dominance we exerted over the Colts. Now I don’t want to overstep here because, let’s face it, the Colts offensive line wasn’t all that great to begin with and they lost 2 tackles to injury last night. Running the ball isn’t exactly the Colts strength but anytime you hold a team to a total of 62 yards rushing you have to feel pretty good about your team. This line seems to be coming together in a big way. We’re getting push up front, we’re stuffing the run, and we’re looking more and more cohesive by the game.
The second big thing I noticed was the running game. If you’re a fan of old school football you should love the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2011. Blount is an absolute terror. His combination of size, speed, and strength are just something special. Last night he averaged 5.1 yards per carry and was consistently gaining between 4 and 7 yards on 1st down. The right side of our offensive line with Trueblood and Joseph are monsters when run blocking. By the time Blount blew through what was left of the Colts defensive line they had virtually no shot at stopping him. If the Buccaneers can continue to run the ball as they did last night they will be pretty tough to stop for the rest of the year.
I usually tend to slant towards the critical, and I know that there are quite a few concerns that we still have to work out, but through 4 games we’re 3-1. Despite poor starts, penalties, red zone turnovers, and general sloppiness we’re still 3-1. As we go further into the season I can only assume that a lot of those things are going to be worked out. If I was an opposing coach, I would not want to see the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on my schedule any time soon!
Here are the 10 questions I came away with after week 4:
1) Was I the only one who was hysterically laughing as Blount got on his hands and knees to look at the measurement for his 3rd down run late in the 4th quarter?
2) Do you think Josh Freeman needs glasses or is he really not seeing these defenders in the endzone before he throws the ball?
3) Do you think Legarrette Blount would be better on Dancing with the Stars or The Amazing Race?
4) How on a night where the officiating crew threw 20 flags, could they not throw one on that blatant block in the back by Dallas Clark on the 2nd Pierre Garcon touchdown?
5) Is it just me or does everyone else like the red jerseys and pewter pants way better than our all white uniforms?
6) Is Preston Parker tearing it up or what!?!?!?!?
7) How bad does everyone else feel for questioning the signing/money we gave to Michael Koenen?
8) When did we suddenly get one of the deepest most talented receiving corps in the NFL? Wasn’t it just 3 years ago we were starting Antonio Bryant and Michael Clayton?
9) How was Michael Bennett not drafted at all, then waived by the Seahawks?
10) Think Raheem Morris and Mark Dominik would welcome Tanard Jackson back right about now?