Let's remember how good we feel about the team now...

[1sparkybuc]

    I for one do not think this season will be looked back on as a delusion as some previous seasons now are. We are right now playing solid football. Our 'weak' pass D can be largely attributed to a combination of unavailability of key D'linemen (Price, Bowers, Clayborn, Okoye), and DB's (Talib and Wright), and the inordinate number of games vs the NFL's best QBs, who are gonna get their yards 99% of the time. I look at the number of players, either new acquisitions or 'average' guys from last year, who are greatly improved, and STILL improvong game by game, and being productive. THAT is the mark of a good coaching staff, which is the key to future success. ALL our games to date have been competitive, despite major injuries.

This^^^^^^^^^^^^^ and at the beginning of the season I just wanted to see progress. The Bucs won the first game. That was progress. They lost the next three, but they were always in it and had a real chance to win. That's more progress. They never quit. They never gave up. That was the big thing. Key players were lost. It didn't matter. We started winning. We lost to the Saints and bounced right back. You can see the confidence building. Sunday they proved they can win when the odds are really against them. This team is special. They still have some issues but the culture is in place. These guys don't fear anybody because they are prepared and ready. When things go wrong, they just shake it off and move on to the next play. I'm confident they will do the same when they have a bad game. Schiano knows what he is doing. Any free agent who wants to be part of a winning program will have his agent talking to the Bucs. 2013 is going to be at the opposite end of the spectrum from 2011.

[Morgan]

Prepared to take two Ls in a row.....hope not tho :I

hope not, too
-after the Skins game, I've taken the approach of having low expectations and have been very happy afterwards.

[ufojoe]

Prepared to take two Ls in a row.....hope not tho :I

How can you possibly enjoy watching your team play on Sunday if you have that attitude going in? I just don't get it.

Agreed. The people who think like that are afraid of being disappointed/depressed after a loss so they go in expecting a loss and
if the Bucs win, they're pleasantly surprised. I understand that but it's not how I like to watch games. I think that goes for most of us.

When I was young, I used to get really depressed when my sports teams lost. But as I got older, instead of being depressed for the entire week, I would get over it in a few hours. But even if I knew I would be depressed if my team lost, I went into those games fully expecting to win and enjoying the moment. There's no other way to watch a game, IMO.

[ufojoe]

I reserve the right to change my mind. I'm not sure where or why it happened but people act as though your thoughts on Greg Schiano and Freeman can't change.

I had no opinion on Schiano. He was the head coach for ZERO games to start this season so why would I criticize or praise him?
Premature opinions/conclusion infect these boards. Some left the boards before the season started because they were so sure
that Schiano would fail miserably.

I'd say that so far this season if your thoughts on our team hasn't changed your clueless. As far as my expectations of this team, they have changed little. There are more than a few uninformed posters around here but anyone can look at our schedule and see that the offenses we face are strongest in our defensive point of weakness.

So what? Our offense has become one of the best in the league and our CBs are improving. With a few breaks and improved pass D, we can run the table!!!

[Morgan]

I went into those games fully expecting to win and enjoying the moment. There's no other way to watch a game, IMO.

says the guy who was nowhere to be seen or heard from during the 2011 season

[ufojoe]

I went into those games fully expecting to win and enjoying the moment. There's no other way to watch a game, IMO.

says the guy who was nowhere to be seen or heard from during the 2011 season

Posted on here throughout the 2011 season so I don't know what you're talking about.

Also went to the SF loss/debacle.

[KCBuc]

...Before the schedule gets much, much harder.

It seems folks on this board change he way they feel about this team/players/coaches at the drop of a dime, and I hope we remember how we feel about the team now if things turn to crap once the schedule get much more difficult.

People wanted Schiano and Freeman's heads on a plate only a few weeks ago (even though we had shown huge improvement over last year and were only losing by one score each week against some very good teams) and now they want to give them keys to the city. More than likely, they'll have their pitchforks ready again if we should lose 2 or 3 in a row again.

This team shows incredible promise for the future. They're decimated with injuries and have still found a way to win. I hope they get a bit of a pass if things should end on a sour note this season (which is more than likely going to happen). It doesn't mean the team collapsed again - just like last year or 2009. This is a different team on the way up. I just hope everyone remembers that.

Seems like you're in for a surprise...... when we handle the 'tough part of the schedule'. Have faith!!

Ah, I wouldn't be surprised at all and nothing about my post was meant to be pessimistic (although I could see how it could be interpreted that way). I think this team will continue to be incredibly competitive as they have been all season. Realistically though, it,s a young team, with a young coaching staff, that's absolutely devastated with injuries.

I don't expect this team to lose any game. I just hope the morons who hop on here with every loss wanting a change in QB or for the Head Coach to be fired remember how much better the team looks now (honestly, I have more pride in this team than any we've fielded in years) and understand that Rome wasn't built in a day.

[KCBuc]

...Before the schedule gets much, much harder.

It seems folks on this board change he way they feel about this team/players/coaches at the drop of a dime, and I hope we remember how we feel about the team now if things turn to crap once the schedule get much more difficult.

Folks? You're talking about a small group of people. Most of the people here are not like that. We support the team no matter what. That doesn't mean we're not critical but we don't turn on the team/players/coaches at the drop of a hat. I've been a fan since 1988 and don't need to be told how to feel about the team.

People wanted Schiano and Freeman's heads on a plate only a few weeks ago (even though we had shown huge improvement over last year and were only losing by one score each week against some very good teams) and now they want to give them keys to the city. More than likely, they'll have their pitchforks ready again if we should lose 2 or 3 in a row again.

Good for them. I really don't give a *** about those fans. They're going to do what they're going to do no matter what any of us say. Let them flip flop all they want.

This team shows incredible promise for the future. They're decimated with injuries and have still found a way to win. I hope they get a bit of a pass if things should end on a sour note this season (which is more than likely going to happen). It doesn't mean the team collapsed again - just like last year or 2009. This is a different team on the way up. I just hope everyone remembers that.

More than likely going to happen? Says who? I'll stay positive. It's a hell of a lot more fun that way. And if it doesn't happen
like I want, oh well. I'll look forward to next year like I always do.

Overreact much? No one is "telling you how to feel".

And as for the people who wanted the coach fired and Freeman shown the door being a "small group of people", that may be true but for a few weeks this season it seemed like every other thread was calling for change at QB or HC. These people are obviously not very educated football fans because it wasn't hard to see how much better this team had gotten quickly even though we were losing close games.

Sadly, I have no doubt those same people will be crawling out of the woodwork again if this team loses 2 or 3 in a row.

[mgchat76]

I think this thread deserves a bump.  It seems most of the posters on this board this week are also featured on "Doomsday Preppers".    I really think most of them hope the Bucs lose, Freeman has a bad game, Barron misses a tackle, and Schiano blows a coaching call just so they can puff up their chests and say they knew it all along.

I, for one, look forward to the next few years watching Freeman and the offense develop further.  I also can't wait to see who Coach Schiano brings in to improve the secondary and pass rush.  Let's not forget that he had a lot of holes to fill, and a lot of bad attitudes to weed out.  One draft and free agency period isn't enough to fix all the problems we had on both sides of the ball.

[Buck N Up]

I for one am ecstatic with this team. it has improved drastically from last year, but we said that in 2010 to. I hope we keep rolling next year, and not repeat 2010-2011 I feel confident about Schiano, this team is better then 2010 believe it or not, the defense does need work but we are staying in games. Josh Freeman IS the best QB we've had in quite some time, he makes some bad throws at times but nothing that cant be worked on during practice & reps. This team is staying in games can't ask for much more then being in games, I personally like it over getting smashed like last year. Next year we will be a team to make a strong push for the superbowl after we improve the secondary & get all the injured players back, so just be happy this season we got a strong offense & a 1,000+ yard QB, Rusher & Receiver. Just wait for next season when we improve our secondary!!!!

[KCBuc]

I think this thread deserves a bump.  It seems most of the posters on this board this week are also featured on "Doomsday Preppers".    I really think most of them hope the Bucs lose, Freeman has a bad game, Barron misses a tackle, and Schiano blows a coaching call just so they can puff up their chests and say they knew it all along.

I, for one, look forward to the next few years watching Freeman and the offense develop further.  I also can't wait to see who Coach Schiano brings in to improve the secondary and pass rush.  Let's not forget that he had a lot of holes to fill, and a lot of bad attitudes to weed out.  One draft and free agency period isn't enough to fix all the problems we had on both sides of the ball.

^^^^This. Sadly, what I had predicted happening is exactly what happened. As you said, there are people who can't wait for Freeman and Schiano to fail. Regardless of this 3-game losing streak, I don't know how anyone can look at this season as anything but an enormous step forward.

[JavaRay]

what I had predicted happening is exactly what happened.

Kudos.  You predicted the total collapse.

[NotDeadYet]

   
    Some posters on the Red  Board who consider themselves a "Bucs fan" ought to find a dictionary before using the term "fan" so loosely .
    Even Raheem said his 2010 team had a lot of problems that needed fixing. Obviously those problems were not fixed and were exploited by opponents more effectively in 2011.
    Definitely think we are headed in the right direction under Schiano. We've had extensive injuries on the D'line and both the seasons' starting CBs out which any football fan can see is gonna severely impact pass defense.
    I expect a great draft and some lineup changes next year, and a few of them may surprise us...