Tampa Bay Buccaneer head coach Raheem Morris looked mighty relieved at his post game press conference yesterday. He approached the podium wearing his "Yungry" hat and promptly admitted that the first half of the game was horrid.
"We couldn't have played worse in this first half. Arguably the worst half of football we've played since I've been head coach."
This is exceptionally true. I had a friend joke via facebook that it was the first time he wished the away games were blacked out too. I agreed. Raheem then went on to call the comeback a team effort. It was a team effort, but personally I would have liked to hear a little more about why he thinks the team has had so much trouble in the first half of games this season.
Morris also said that Quincy Black suffered an ankle injury during the course of the game, and that was why he wasn't on the field. In response to the question "Where was Quincy Black?" Raheem said:
"Quincy had an injury. He went down with the ankle deal. He was limping. I got him out of the game. Uh, he wasn't productive for us that day. Hopefully we can get him back next week and see where he is. I didn't bench him."
Now, the reporter said something unintelligible after "Where was Quincy Black" and it may have been something about him being benched, but I can't really hear that. This leads me to believe that Raheem was considering benching Black before the injury, and he would have been right to do so. Black's play has been lackluster to say the least all season long. In this bloggers opinion, Geno Hayes deserved that extension much more than Black did. Just because you pay a player like he is in the upper tier doesn't mean he turns into a different player. Black is still the same disappointing player he has been throughout his career. Showing flashes of brilliance and superb athleticism but either can't get the mental aspect of the game, or won't put in the work necessary.
Morris went on to credit Blount's effort, and said it was the way he should run the football every single week. He also gave credit to Freeman, and especially to the surprisingly effective play of Preston Parker. Morris noted that the Bucs are tied for the division lead, which is their goal, so right now he says the team is in good standing. He freely admitted that the team isn't there yet, and have a lot of work to do. Basically he said all of the right things. Obviously this team has the potential to win any game, but have to get over the tendency to shoot themselves in the foot and starting behind the 8ball. If they can accomplish that, then I believe they can compete for the wild card in the NFC.
If you would like to view the press conference in it's entirety you can view it here.
How about it Bucs Nation? Did this win change your expectations for the season? Is your faith renewed or do you have more doubts than ever?