Winners and Losers from the Buccaneers 16-10 Win

Winners and Losers from the Buccaneers 16-10 Win

Sep 11th, 2012 at 3:10 am by Josh Hill

The Buccaneers began the Greg Schiano era in great fashion on Sunday, but it wasn’t a totally perfect day. Yes, the Bucs won which was more than we al expected, but there is plenty of room for improvement.

That being said, in contrast with last season, the Bucs 16-10 thumping of the Panthers Week 1 looked like the best game the Bucs have played in a while. In fact it was the best game they’ve played since they beat the Saints in Tampa back in 2011. So before we move ahead and start prepping for the Super Bowl champs next week, lets wrap a pleasant first week up in a nice and neat little bow while we highlight the winners and losers from the Bucs Week 1 win.

Winner: Josh Freeman

Freeman had an abysmal 2011 campaign but he may not have to hear about it for much longer. He was clearly sick of having to deal with the harsh criticism that came from the media this offseason for that aformentioned season so he hit the books hard. Freeman studied tape, got into shape and honed his skills all offseason long. He’s obviously got a solid relationship already intact with head coach Greg Schiano which is great. Freeman not only looks better, he looks more mature. Looking back on teh Raheem Morris youngry relationship, Freeman was a frat boy in the moth Catholic sense. He wasn’t a partier but he had room to slack and it showed. This year Freeman looks more focused and more mature which is key in his development. When he won with Raheem, he was getting lucky. With Schiano he’s actually playing like a quarterback.

Loser: LeGarrette Blount

Blount came in for a few carries but cramped up early on. He appeared to be fine on the sidelines but eh never came back into the game and was of very little impact. Instead of using Blount after his cramp was healed, the Bucs opted for D.J. Ware over Blount which could cause some problems in the future. For now, let’s chalk this all up to the Bucs not wanting to over use Blount who has now been forced out of games twice since the beginning of the preseason. But even if there’s not controversy in the backfield, the fact alone that Blount has now been taken out of two games is serious. He’s a power back and the thunder to Doug Martin’s flash and without Blount things could get messy. The Bucs managed fine without him against Carolina but if Blount keeps going down, his days may be numbered in Tampa.

Winner: Greg Schiano

When he accepted the job in Tampa, Greg Schiano had to sell the world on the fact he was now an NFL head coach. After just an ok run with Rutgers, Schiano was heading up what was basically a college team so the marriage made sense. But he had no NFL chops and wasn’t lighting up coaching searches in college let alone in the NFL. But Schiano slowly won over the Tampa faithful and has moved a step closer to proving to the big wigs in football that he’s a legit coach. There were no crazy end-arounds, not third down plays with a different more athletic quarterback and no post game youngry‘s dropped. Instead Schiano pretty much picked up where he left off at Rutgers and employed an actual system in Tampa. Last year you the dart board offense was a mess and it got figured out pretty quickly that no one really knew what they were doing. Schiano’s first game was better than basically all of Raheem Morris’ games combined and that’s because Schiano knew what he was doing. That’s impressive considering he’s brand new at this, but Schiano-ball worked in week one and for now that’s all anybody asked. The season ahead is long and treacherous, but if you weren’t on board with Greg Schiano before, hop on now.

Loser: Raymond James Stadium

This one can really go either way, but the fact of the matter remains the stadium was five people away from being a ghost town. It got electric at times, but the intensity was nowhere near where it needed to be. You look around the NFL and fans packed those stadiums, ready to get back to football, but not in Tampa. Look, I get it the economic times are rough and there’s really no way around that. It sucks that people can’t afford tickets and for those who are pinching pennies as it is, I don’t blame them for not jumping at the chance to spend $200 at a football game. But seeing the Bucs win in front of a half empty stadium really sucked a lot of the fun out of the win — not all of it but it was a gut check. The Bucs are getting better and when fans see that the product on the field is actually worth paying to see live, the stadium will fill up. Maybe it’s been all the looking back at the 2002 Super Bowl I’ve been doing, but the Ray J used be banging, and now you can hear the banging from the concession stands. I don’t blame Bucs fans for not valuing the product on the field over necessities in life, but it’d still be nice to see the cheap seats fill up and get the noise level back at Raymond James Stadium.

Winners: Bucs fans

Going off the last point, the real winners of the win on Sunday are the fan. Despite never showing up to games and having them blacked out on TV, Bucs fans are a loyal monster not to be reckoned with and it looks like they finally have a real football team in town. Last year was painful, but you didn’t see anyone jumping off the burning bandwagon. Everyone who stuck around is in line to reap the benefits of what’s in store for the Bucs. The product on the field is getting better, the coaching staff is smart and so are the players as a result. And better yet, Sunday’s win was exciting and it’s been at least 12 regular season games since that could be said. Bucs fans may not pay for tickets, but they find ways to get their Bucs fix and it’s finally appearing as though the Bucs are thanking them for sticking around during the growing pains. There are still pains to be had ahead, but fans can rest assured that the Rah-Rah Raheem era is over and being proud that you’re a Bucs fan isn’t something to be ashamed of anymore.

http://thepewterplank.com/2012/09/11/winners-and-losers-from-the-buccaneers-16-10-win/

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