Tackle Play

[BucsBay]

I've been critical of Penn in the past, but I was very wrong. One of the most underrated parts for the Buccaneers over the last few weeks has been our pass protection, particularly from Penn and Demar Dotson. The time that Freeman has had at times has been unreal. Obviously the threat of Doug Martin helps, but Penn controlling his weight and Dotson being a huge upgrade over Trueblood has been nearly as important. Now all that said, the next 3 weeks are big tests. Carolina's DEs are 2 of the best in the league, Atlanta does a great job with their edge pressure and John Abraham has killed us in the past, and to top it all off we get Von Miller and Elvis Dumervill. The play of Penn and Dotson is as vital to our success going forward as any other position.

[3rd String Kicker]

A good run game and screens/draws keep the ends honest and help out those Tackles. I hope we can use these to our advantage.

[Biggs3535]

Dotson has played very, very well.  The Bucs haven't had play like this from a RT in a long time.

On the other hand, Penn has started his mid-season drop off.  He played well the first half of the season, but has started to slip - like he usually does around the middle of the season.

[RHBucsFan]

Ironic that we've been throwing all of our draft pick resources at the Defensive Line in recent years while ignoring the offensive line, and it's the O-Line that is looking much better to me.
I've always been a fan of Penn and am happy we resigned him a few years ago. This line is going to be nasty with Joseph and Nicks back next season with Dotson and Penn at the bookends.

[chace1986]

Dotson has played very, very well.  The Bucs haven't had play like this from a RT in a long time.

On the other hand, Penn has started his mid-season drop off.  He played well the first half of the season, but has started to slip - like he usually does around the middle of the season.

I totally agree. People need to scratch RT off of the wish list for the offseason. Seems we found one.  Dude has been exceptional in pass blocking, and has been solid in run blocking.

I though Penn did a decent job vs. the Chargers, but the two weeks before that he was average. This is just what Penn is. He peppers in really good performances amongst bad/mediocre performances. The next 4 weeks he will face some pretty wicked pass rush, so he needs to pick it up.

[BucsBay]

Penn played very well against Minnesota and Oakland. Don't understand that criticism.

[usmc-buc]

10 sacks through 9 games.. Nothing but outstanding numbers from this entire group and the Coaches. Penn has been an anchor and deserves some credit. He's also the emotional spark plug during warm ups and is always the first guy into the fray when a fight or scrum starts. I have seen him absolutely manhandle defenders for getting into Josh's or a running backs face. He has a little bit of Warren Sapp in him, woudn't hurt if a few our Defensive players played with the Chip that he plays with.

Grinder, Big Nasty. I'll take a team full of Penn's any day.

[Netwalker]

I agree with BucsBay.  Penn played well against Minnesota and Oakland.  Seems there was a Bucs running back who had pretty good games running to the left in those games.  And Freeman's 4th down conversion against San Diego was the result of Penn's block.  Penn blocks the defense's best rushers.  No easy task.  Give him some credit.

[BucDaFackUp]

Penn played very well against Minnesota and Oakland. Don't understand that criticism.

Agreed - not sure what the criticism is being based on but I've seen some good play from Penn particularly in the past couple games. Rather than dropping off, I actually think he's picked it up since Nicks went down...

[Dolorous Jason]

Penn played very well against Minnesota and Oakland. Don't understand that criticism.

Agreed - not sure what the criticism is being based on but I've seen some good play from Penn particularly in the past couple games. Rather than dropping off, I actually think he's picked it up since Nicks went down...

Biggs has always had it out for Penn for some strange reason. He's not exactly an unbiased observer.

[chace1986]

Penn played very well against Minnesota and Oakland. Don't understand that criticism.

Agreed - not sure what the criticism is being based on but I've seen some good play from Penn particularly in the past couple games. Rather than dropping off, I actually think he's picked it up since Nicks went down...

Biggs has always had it out for Penn for some strange reason. He's not exactly an unbiased observer.

I doubt Biggs has "it out" for Penn. Based upon Penn's history here, he has been incredibly inconsistent. This is his best season in a while, but it doesn't mean he plays elite every week. His run blocking has been solid all year, his pass blocking though has dipped a bit since the NO game. In the KC and NO games he completely shut out any defender her faced. 0 hurries, 0 hits, and 0 sacks. Since then he has allowed 2 sacks, 2 hits and 9 QB hurries. Now, the word I used to describe his play against the Vikings and Raiders was "average". Average to me means that he had some plays that were good and some plays that were bad. Average doesn't mean terrible.

[The Anti-Java]

Penn tends to balloon up about midseason.  It's always been a mystery how a guy GAINS weight over the course of a tough NFL season.

[Sim]

Didn't Penn almost have a shutout against Jared Allen?

On top of keeping Freeman relatively clean so far this year, Penn's swagger can't be replaced. We're lucky to have this guy.

[Dolorous Jason]

Didn't Penn almost have a shutout against Jared Allen?

On top of keeping Freeman relatively clean so far this year, Penn's swagger can't be replaced. We're lucky to have this guy.

We also have one of our best running games ever. That's not good enough for some apparently .


I disagree with Chace . Penn has been consistently GOOD throughout his career as a Buc , especailly when you look at the big-names he blockes on a weekly basis.  I think the guy is taken for granted .

[Biggs3535]

Penn started out well and had a good game vs. San Diego, but was whipped against the Vikes and Oakland.


Oakland:  1 sack, 1 hit, and 2 hurries - 4 Total Pressures
Minnesota:  1 sacks, 1 hit, and 4 hurries - 6 Total Pressures


That isn't good, folks.  No need to bury your head in the sand.