Bucs exposed as team with glaring weaknesses
TAMPA, Fla. – Don’t be fooled by the winning record fashioned against a soft schedule. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are much closer to being the same team that missed the playoffs the past two years than a club headed back to the postseason. The starting quarterback is out for the season, the rookie running back who keyed a 4-0 start is hobbling, and opponents are beginning to expose the Bucs for what they are – a young team with a lot of shortcomings.
A 5-3 record halfway through the season should be a reason for optimism. But Tampa Bay is sinking fast after losing three of its past four games to opponents who are a combined 4-12, not to mention winless since beating the Bucs.
Sunday’s 34-14 loss to NFC South rival Carolina was even more discouraging because the Panthers are the only team with a winning record that Tampa Bay has faced since the second week of the season.
The Bucs haven’t beaten anyone currently above .500, yet only trail the Panthers, Atlanta Falcons and New York Giants by one game for the best record in the NFC.
“It could be a whole lot worse then where we are,” linebacker Derrick Brooks said.
That’s true. But with eight games remaining, Tampa Bay hardly looks like a team equipped to stay in the race.
Quarterback Brian Griese is out for the season, and third-year pro Chris Simms is struggling as his replacement.
Injuries have derailed a promising rookie season for running back Carnell “Cadillac” Williams, who has been held to 62 yards on 35 carries since becoming the first player to begin his NFL career with three consecutive 100-yard games.
There are concerns about the Brooks-led defense, too, even though the unit ranks No. 1 in fewest yards allowed and Tampa Bay had not yielded more than 16 points in any game until Carolina blew into town.
The defense keeps the team in most games, but isn’t as dominate as it has been for much of the past decade.
In losses to San Francisco and Carolina the past two weeks, Tampa Bay forced zero turnovers and had one sack.
Coach Jon Gruden is trying to find answers before the season slips away.
“We’ve got a young football team, particularly on offense. I worry a little bit about some of these guys getting a little bit freaked out with the length of the season, the mental grind, the physical grind that they go through,” Gruden said.
“But in some ways, this is a real positive for our football team, for us to be tested in this way. We physically got beaten by a quality football team (Carolina). You can dwell on the negatives or you can do something about it and roll your fist up and play a hell of a lot better.”
Gruden said he has no plans to bench Simms, who has thrown four interceptions, lost two fumbles and been sacked 10 times in two starts since Griese was lost to season-ending knee surgery.
And, there’s not much evidence to suggest the Bucs would be better off with second-year pro Luke McCown or recently acquired Tim Rattay running the offense.
Gruden felt Simms made progress against Carolina, despite some costly mistakes, and wants to help his young quarterback by getting the running game back on track this week against Washington.
The Bucs averaged nearly 139 yards per game on the ground in getting off to a 5-1 start. They gained 87 total against San Francisco and Carolina, with Williams looking nothing like the runner that was taking the league by storm before a foot sprain forced him to sit out two games.
There’s a good chance the rookie won’t be at full speed again until next season.
“I am not going to use his injury as an excuse for us having 50 yards rushing in a game. We’ve got to block better, we’ve got to finish better. And if we need to explode on somebody, run over somebody, make somebody miss to make yards, that’s what we’ve got to do,” Gruden said.
Remaining in playoff contention will be a challenge.
The Bucs play six of eight games down the stretch against opponents with winning records, including Washington, Chicago and Atlanta at home and Atlanta, Carolina and New England on the road.
Brooks sees hope.
“Atlanta and Carolina are tied for first and we’re one game behind them … and by no means out of it,” the All-Pro linebacker said. “We just have to pick ourselves up and come back.”
With Simms learning on the fly, and Cadillac running on a bad wheel, that figures to be a lot easier said than done.