A quick rant on the last 36 hours of Bucs football. This is my take in the heat of the moment, not necessarily what anyone else here thinks. Feel free to sound off below.
I'd like to think that over the last 2.5 years I've been relatively supportive of Raheem and the organization. We all suffered through the 3-13 season, we continued to support the team, I kept my season tickets even though the team (in 2009 and 2011) is about as fun as watching paint dry, but there comes a point when you just have to walk away from certain aspects of an organization and realize change is needed. We've talked for weeks about what we think in regards to keeping Raheem or bringing in coordinators. We've debated Mark Dominik's status and talked about which players should stay or go. After the 31-15 loss to the Cowboys where we looked lost for 45+ minutes, I see the end for Morris.
How do I know it's the end? We've changed the level of acceptability. Morris no longer is discouraged with this play, but rather offered up this telling quote. He's pleased at the second half of football, specifically saying,
Fortunately, for us, the team didn’t die on us like last week
Uh, that's a problem. First, you acknowledge that the team quit on you last week (duh), but now, you are trying to make this a positive, the fact that the team showed some second half life. Whoop-de-doo.
Then, he offers up this beauty.
They fought back, they came back in the second half, they didn’t surrender, but they’ve got to come out faster.
Hey Raheem, that's YOUR job to get them out of the gate faster. For almost 30 games now we've been a slow starter. It is your job and your job alone to figure this out. The players play and execute but you have to put them in the right position. You've failed to do that.
We've lowered the bar in Tampa. No longer are we talking about competing for the playoffs, winning 10 games, causing some damage to other teams. Instead we almost laud the team for not quitting. Well congratulations guys, you didn't quit! Here's your participation trophy.
Those quotes right there tell me either Morris doesn't get it or is just trying to find words to get him through the next 2.5 weeks. Either way, the fans, including myself won't accept games like last night. We won't accept the team simply trying as being a success. We want to compete for titles and if Morris, the players, and others in the organization see not quitting as a sign of progress, please find the nearest exit and don't return. That's unacceptable.