Who Wears The Slipper This Year...?

[BucsFTW]

Every year there seems to be one team.  The Cinderella team.

This year, probably just due to my undying love for my Bucs, I say...
                                                                                     

Us...!

Why not....?  There are a few things that fall into place, for every Cinderella team, every year.  And it happens darned near every year!

Just off the top of my head, I can think of a few advantages this team has coming in - and they will be the very things cited as the "probable suspects" that will be blamed for our predictable mediocrity.  And you can't blame them (the local media) for taking that tangent as the season approaches.  Let's face it...  The majority of us would be THRILLED to see some semblance of a professional-looking football team this year.  Very few of us expect (nor we should) a playoff run this year.

Predicting we be world beaters and make a deep playoff run...  That would be in-friggin'-sane.  So......  Call me crazy.  I just have a feeling.

It would be so much more logical / realistic / predictable to say we're gonna go somewhere between 6-10 to 8-8, but what fun would that be...?

This year is either going to be the start of something special...  VERY special...  or on the level of being Nick Saban-ish!

We have SO MANY of the variables required - potentially...  (that word should be ** CENSORED ** next year), that if it all comes together...   Awwww Yeah...!

Strong armed QB entering the beginning of his theoretical prime.
O-Line that may well be top-5 material.
Receiving corps that could go off.  I mean incredibly.
A running back tandem that could be scary-good...  And 2-3 guys (among whom we should be tickled IF it happens!) in the bull pen, from which we would love just ONE of them to become great as well.
A defense, that is obviously the teams biggest question mark - will be the jib that guides the ship this season...!  If they can get the right guys, in the right spots, doing their jobs well...  Ya never know.

Heck, this team may well be good enough to win shoot-outs too.  It's no secret our defense will give up points.  The kicker will be this...

Can our defense keep oppositions to 27 points.   Yeah...  you read that right.  27.  This team - IF forced to -  is equipped to put up 30+ points a game.

First round bye-week rest in the playoffs...  Book it.

[snicker24]

I thought I was the most optimistic about next season, but sir you have surpassed me.

[BucsFTW]

Right...!?  I'm an old dude too.  NEVER have felt like this about a Bucs team.  EVER.  Even the years in which I probably DID have the most reason to be optomistic, it wasn't like the hunch I feel this year...!

I'd obviously be lying if I didn't admit my personal belief that Freeman will be mentioned among the "greats" in the 50's...!

Only reason I say WE do is because I see Freeman having what will become known as "The Year".

[1sparkybuc]

Right...!?  I'm an old dude too.  NEVER have felt like this about a Bucs team.  EVER.  Even the years in which I probably DID have the most reason to be optomistic, it wasn't like the hunch I feel this year...!

I'd obviously be lying if I didn't admit my personal belief that Freeman will be mentioned among the "greats" in the 50's...!

Only reason I say WE do is because I see Freeman having what will become known as "The Year".

You are not alone. The pieces are falling in place. That 4-12 season is a blessing in disguise. It forced a change in the coaching staff and in free agency policy. Schiano won't be out clubbing with the players.

[blind melon]

I'm not even going to be that down on the defense...

and I too am an old guy who hasn't felt this good about a team in a long time.

If there is one achilles heel this season, it's our Dline and a lesser degree our LB play...    It could so easily go either way though...  I wouldn't mind a 49'ers type of season...

[NotDeadYet]

   Grew up watching Lombardi's Packers, then moved to S. Fla. in '69. The very next year, SHULA jumps from the Colts to MIAMI!!
Had hopes with Perkins (very quickly dashed!), Wyche (disappointment again), Dungy (WHY did he dump Steckel?), and Gruden (storybook start, not so great ending).
With Schiano, I'm feelin' a much stronger vibe something special is brewing in Tampa Bay that's gonna be here a while...

[NotDeadYet]

    If our offense lives up to their capabilities, we don't need our D to be great, but they need to be at least competent for us to compete consistantly.

[BucsFTW]

I'm not even going to be that down on the defense...

and I too am an old guy who hasn't felt this good about a team in a long time.

If there is one achilles heel this season, it's our Dline and a lesser degree our LB play...    It could so easily go either way though...  I wouldn't mind a 49'ers type of season...

Yeah...  Personally, I just can't be that hard on the defense when they didn't have a defensive coordinator, and the coordinator they did have - wasn't even qualified to have been a DC...  Much less a Head-Friggin'-Coach...!

I firmly believe that our coaching staff...  If only for the fact that they're "complete" now - if but nothing than sheer numbers, much less their skill levels - that this team will improve in EVERY facet of the game.

Raheem is sure as hell praying we fall flat on our face though.  You can bet your beads on that!  Imagine if Schiano, and our beloved Bucs, were standing on the podium at the end of it all...?

[BucsFTW]

    If our offense lives up to their capabilities, we don't need our D to be great, but they need to be at least competent for us to compete consistantly.

Yahtzee...!

You hit the nail on the head (I think) sir.  The ceiling for this offense, on paper, is sky-high.

It's the level to which the defense performs that I think will be the tale of the tape...  And like you say - they don't need to be "Kiffin Tough"...

They only need to plug the holes in the dam, when they need plugging the most, i.e. can they stop teams when they NEED TO in a shoot-out situation...?

I think the offense has the potential to be damned near unstoppable.  The kind of offense where it's just a matter of possesions.  The kind of offense where commentators say "We know how explosive they can be...  It's just a matter of 'Can the defense get the ball back in Freeman's hands?'..."

Thus, Crown Us...!

Why the hell not?  Somebody has to get hot, in the back-end of their respective schedules, to go all the way.

I'm just saying...  Not only do we perform well enough to "be there", but the bounces fall our ways as well...!

[chace1986]

My 3 options to come out and do the "cinderella" would be Buffalo, Tampa, or Tennessee. Out of those 3, I would trust Josh Freeman the most in comparison to the other 2 QBs.

So yes..very possible for the Bucs to go from scrubbing the floors of the NFC to dancing and mingling at the big dances and soirees in January...

I have optimism about this season... a very cautious optimism.

[JDouble]

We have a talented roster and we now have 100000000x better coaching. No reason we can't be great this year.

[1sparkybuc]

I'm not even going to be that down on the defense...

and I too am an old guy who hasn't felt this good about a team in a long time.

If there is one achilles heel this season, it's our Dline and a lesser degree our LB play...    It could so easily go either way though...  I wouldn't mind a 49'ers type of season...

Yeah...  Personally, I just can't be that hard on the defense when they didn't have a defensive coordinator, and the coordinator they did have - wasn't even qualified to have been a DC...  Much less a Head-Friggin'-Coach...!

I firmly believe that our coaching staff...  If only for the fact that they're "complete" now - if but nothing than sheer numbers, much less their skill levels - that this team will improve in EVERY facet of the game.

Raheem is sure as hell praying we fall flat on our face though.  You can bet your beads on that!  Imagine if Schiano, and our beloved Bucs, were standing on the podium at the end of it all...?

Raheem is responsible for Freeman and many others being on this team. Also, he accepted his firing like a man and a gentleman. There were no hard feelings, and he readily jumped at the chance to return as a position coach. That has to be a very humbling experience. Raheem sucked as a HC and as a DC, and partying with the players was just plain stupid, but he has a connection with the players both personal and professional. It's still a reflection on him if they succeed. He's a lot of things both good and bad, but I don't see him as spiteful. You don't spend nearly a decade with a team without developing some sense of loyalty. If anything, he's praying for success.

[BucsFTW]

Climb aboard now folks...  We've got plenty of Luxury Rooms available, seeing as how 'empty' pre-booking turned out.

But still plenty of time to get your spots...  Stay tuned, as we'll be pulling out in the afternoon on Sept. 9th, 2012.
______________________________________________________________________________________________

Yeah...  I know.  I'm either the complete homer or crazier than bat poop, right?  I'm neither I assure you.

I've just got a funny feeling...  that if we had ALL the players we currently have on this roster...  yet we somehow had acquired them in much different ways, this would ALL be viewed differently.

Had we drafted Nicks and Jackson, added Freeman a couple years later, and then added another 10 players we either had (Barber), or acquired through the draft (David/Barron), we'd all be of the mindset that "We're just a few players away from being able to contend for the playoffs...".

I think we're there right now.  I think the time is right, and our division is prime for the taking.

All Aboard...!

[Doc Sparticus]

I'm not even going to be that down on the defense...

and I too am an old guy who hasn't felt this good about a team in a long time.

If there is one achilles heel this season, it's our Dline and a lesser degree our LB play...    It could so easily go either way though...  I wouldn't mind a 49'ers type of season...

Yeah...  Personally, I just can't be that hard on the defense when they didn't have a defensive coordinator, and the coordinator they did have - wasn't even qualified to have been a DC...  Much less a Head-Friggin'-Coach...!

I firmly believe that our coaching staff...  If only for the fact that they're "complete" now - if but nothing than sheer numbers, much less their skill levels - that this team will improve in EVERY facet of the game.

Raheem is sure as hell praying we fall flat on our face though.  You can bet your beads on that!  Imagine if Schiano, and our beloved Bucs, were standing on the podium at the end of it all...?

Raheem is responsible for Freeman and many others being on this team. Also, he accepted his firing like a man and a gentleman. There were no hard feelings, and he readily jumped at the chance to return as a position coach. That has to be a very humbling experience. Raheem sucked as a HC and as a DC, and partying with the players was just plain stupid, but he has a connection with the players both personal and professional. It's still a reflection on him if they succeed. He's a lot of things both good and bad, but I don't see him as spiteful. You don't spend nearly a decade with a team without developing some sense of loyalty. If anything, he's praying for success.

++1

Everyone knows raheem failed, but like the guy said I never saw him behave in any way for me to think he would be so childish and spiteful. Bottom line you can love what schiano is doing without having to despise raheem, whom we have largely to thank for having a franchise QB

[1sparkybuc]

Everything is coming together for this team. No SB this season, but SOON. There will be fewer holes to fill over the next couple of years. In the meantime, our young team learns and gains experience. Last night was a great start. Some players stepped up and Schiano has a better idea of where we need quality depth.