ESPN's John Clayton rips the Bucs.... ho hum

[CTGuyton]

Why does everyone assume we're a 1 and done team? I honestly can see us making the Super Bowl if we get in. I don't see us winning it, but getting there isn't too big of a long shot if we make it in.

Think about it. Most likely we'd be 6th seed against Chicago. It won't be easy, given our injuries, but we have a reasonable **CENSORED** at getting a win.

NO takes out which ever pile of trash the West sends.

We go to ATL. 3rd game of the season, and both of the 1st 2 were VERY close. Anyone really think this is a gimme win for ATL?

Then we'd play the NFC Championship against either NO, NYG, or Philly. If our O can step up like they have the skills for. No poorly placed passes, no drops, no turn overs. We can hang with any of these. We just need to get in.

[WelshBuc]

Clayton is the best football analyst in the business.  He tells it like it is.

[CTGuyton]

Clayton is the best football analyst in the business.  He tells it like it is.

You don't even try anymore do you? It seems you're at the point where you just like to say stupid stuff to get people riled up.

[Morgan]

Why does everyone assume we're a 1 and done team? I honestly can see us making the Super Bowl if we get in. I don't see us winning it, but getting there isn't too big of a long shot if we make it in.

Think about it. Most likely we'd be 6th seed against Chicago. It won't be easy, given our injuries, but we have a reasonable **CENSORED** at getting a win.

NO takes out which ever pile of trash the West sends.

We go to ATL. 3rd game of the season, and both of the 1st 2 were VERY close. Anyone really think this is a gimme win for ATL?

Then we'd play the NFC Championship against either NO, NYG, or Philly. If our O can step up like they have the skills for. No poorly placed passes, no drops, no turn overs. We can hang with any of these. We just need to get in.

Dude, put down the crack pipe.

Clayton is the best football analyst in the business.  He tells it like it is.

You don't even try anymore do you? It seems you're at the point where you just like to say stupid stuff to get people riled up.

Clayton is among the best reporters. Always has good insider information.  Just because you don't agree with his assessment of the Bucs doesn't mean he isn't.

[1sparkybuc]

It really doesn't matter what Clayton thinks, What's important is what the players think. Since the Saints game, it appears that they think they can compete with anybody. Going into the Washington game, the Bucs had promoted nine players off the PS. They played poorly in the first half, and looked like a different team in the second. That's great coaching. The youngest team in the league gets even younger week after week, and they're still competitive. That's great leadership. We now have nine backup players in starting roles, and the goal hasn't changed. I believed the Bucs could be a playoff team back in August, but certainly didn't envision anything like this. The thing that makes this team different is how they prepare everybody, not just the starters, to play in this league. Who else takes PS players along on road trips? Nobody that I have ever heard of.

We have a young team in transition that has at least earned the respect of it's last three opponents. The media will follow in time. This board no longer has "fans" calling for Raheem to be fired. This coach and this team won't be overlooked ever again. If he can accomplish this much this fast, imagine three or four years down the line when Raheem has a somewhat veteran roster to work with. The Bucs will be in the playoff hunt every year.

The haters will continue to struggle to find things to complain about. Raheem Morris is here to stay.

[Biggs3535]

Clayton is among the best reporters.

Bwahahahaha

[jerseybucsfan]

Thanks, FRG. Monday night the Vikes will probably start Joe Webb against the Bears. Anyone facing the Vikes right now gets ''a patsy'' to use Clayton's word.
After this week, the Eagles finish at home vs. the Vikings and Cowboys. Not counting on an upset in either. Dallas game could be close, if they bother.
Will Washington even bother when they face the Giants in Week 17, especially if Rex Grossman is starting?
It's who, where and most often WHEN.
Meanwhile, we face a Detroit team eager to finally get a road win, Seattle team in a fight for a division title and Saints team that could be looking to lock up the top seed.

[da gunny]

This is the thing.... everyone, including some posters here who predicted a losing record, based on last years results are the same people dismissing the success of the team because of their "weak" schedule.  Was their schedule not taken into account before the season started? Now that they are a "weak 8-5" (lol) its because of their schedule!  The same schedule that some predicted another 3-13 result! The logic displayed here sometimes is laughable! Just enjoy the success they are having, I can't believe all of the complaining during a winning season.

[jerseybucsfan]

Clayton shouldn't have written it. That's the point. If he says they're a four-win team then he can cover his tracks by saying they're a weak 8-5. Point is that he was wrong by a MILE. He's emphasizing what they're NOT when he didn't think they'd be this much or close. It's a weak effort.
IMHO we needed to add about 20 quality players to become a powerhouse. We've added about 13 in one year. That's one of the largest injections of talent in one year in recent NFL memory. IMHO we have a good shot to win 10 next year regardless of the schedule. That's the fun part.

[spartan]

I think he gave a fair assessment on the Bucs abilities IMO, but, I don't see how he can dismiss the Bucs as a result of ONLY their schedule then go on to rave about the Saints and Falcons, who have a very similar schedule. If the Bucs are not a playoff team because of their schedule, then the Saints and Falcons shouldn't be #2+4 in the power rankings for the same reason, and the Falcons in particular should not be discussed as the probable #1 seed in the NFC for the same reason.

[jerseybucsfan]

The Saints-Ravens game will be revealing. Anyone notice that the Saints haven't played a winning team since Halloween? Five consecutive games vs. teams with losing records. That's a nice stretch to have while Bush and Thomas were out. Now they'll face three straight teams with winning records. If they lose this one, it could lead to good things for us.

[traew01]

I wonder why you never read anything abou the undefeated 1972 Dolphins not beating a team with a winning record until the playoffs, or other Super Champions like the 85 Bears playing a super soft schedule.

It is because winning is the ONLY thing that should matter.

If the Bucs make the playoffs, and somewho got on a crazy roll and went all the way, no one could take that away from us... or discount it. We would be the champs.

You can only play the schedule they give you, and the Bucs have won 8 - had the ball with a chance to win in 3 losses - played a much closer game than the score indicates against the Steelers - and got blown out in one game. That sounds pretty damn good to me.

[JDouble]

I predicted 7 to 9 wins before the season, but I think we can win 10 now. We can beat the lions and Seahawks. I just think we've lost too many guys in the last few weeks to compete with playoff teams. The first two Falcons games were close and we coulda/shoulda won both...but if we were to go to Atlanta and play them in the playoffs now....with no Talib, no Grimm, No Black, No Faine, No Joseph, No McCoy....well I think we'd get beat pretty good.

[nubcake]

The problem with the article is that it's completely one-sided. It's as if he was in a debate class and was chosen to develop an argument against us.

There's nothing wrong with him pointing out the 0-5 vs teams with winning records. That's factual, and something the average fan may not know. Where the article fails is:

1. He didn't mention that the Bucs are among only 4 teams who haven't lost to a team with a losing record. Consistently winning games you're supposed to win reflects good coaching and a well-disciplined team(well, at least ON the field we are).

2. The combined record of the teams we lost to(counting Atlanta twice) is 51-14. It's not as though they've played Jacksonville, KC, or Miami and failed to beat them. These are all Super Bowl contending teams that you would expect most other teams to lose to as well.

3. The worst part of the article is this: he claims that the Eagles, Giants, Packers, or Bears would be more deserving. You can make a decent argument for the Eagles, but they still have losses to the Redskins and Titans. You can only complain so much when you had a chance to beat two mediocre teams and failed to do so. The Giants beat the Bears and Jags. Two teams essentially on the same level as us and themselves, certainly not elite teams like who we've faced. Oh, and they lost to the Cowboys. Argument over. The Packers have lost to the Redskins and Lions. Enough said. The Bears also lost to the Seahawks and Redskins(why do all these teams lose to the Redskins?) and only beat Miami and Green Bay. Out of all four teams, the only one with a truly eye-catching win is Philly over Atlanta. The other 3 have just beaten other teams in their skill level, teams we haven't been fortunate enough to play(and won't unless we make the playoffs).

Furthermore, this entire argument is silly because whoever wins the NFC West will be 100 times more unworthy than the Bucs or any of those 4 teams. You can say that it isn't worth discussing because the rule has always been that the division winners get in, but at the same time the rule has always been that the teams with the best records(or tiebreakers) get the wild card. Either way you'd be arguing something that won't change, so it's a moot point.

[dalbuc]

There's no doubt the NFCWest is unworthy to even be playing in the SEC this year, ok stretch but can the homers stop with crying about the fact that people notice we don't beat good teams.  We're actually lucky we didn't play more "mediocre" teams, especially early in the year, because they'da clocked us. We're a better team now than the team that got totally rolled by the Steelers and Saints but this team wouldn't be favored to beat GB, PHL, NYG or CHI right now even if the injured guys weren't missing from the roster.  You can try and play the "we lose to REALLY good teams" card but we beat REALLY bad teams. I mean our signature win is STL who can't beat your grandmother on the road. We've been close to good teams but we've been close to a lot of really bad teams.

The schedule has helped us a lot but if Freeman wasn't playing a ton better we'd be no better than the chumps we've beaten so I think Freeman is a much bigger factor than the schedule at this point.