Big Dog on a rant today.

[jtwright]

Yes and no?

[jtwright]

The defense was clearly gassed, gets an interception, and the offense give the ball back 3 plays later.  Then the defense bails the O out again.

[FartMan]

He was talking about Gruden critizing the defense, in his press conference, for the lack of pressure in the second half. If that is true, I do agree with him on that. There is one reason the defense stunk in the second half -- the offense sucked more.

The inability of the offense to get a first down or move the ball in the second half led to the defense being on the field a ton. If he was critical of the defense at all, he needs to stop, because they saved his rump yesterday.

wow forced 6 turnovers .. 4 of which came in the opposing teams half of the field and your O can only score 19 points.. And lets not discuss the merits of going for it on the 11 yd line on a 4 and 1.

How come when Billichek criticizes his team, even after a rout, people roundly accept this as a brilliant way to motivate his team and keep them humble and so forth... but when Gruden does it he's just knocking the defense?

How come when Billichek criticizes his team, even after a rout, people roundly accept this as a brilliant way to motivate his team and keep them humble and so forth... but when Gruden does it he's just knocking the defense?

I may be wrong but it seems as though he's a lil more eager to call out the defense than the O.

[jtwright]

I don't have a problem with general criticizing the team, but it does seem as if the defense routinely out-performs the O and yet stills gets that little dig at every PC.  If I were him, which admittedly I am not (I am in software, not a football coach), I would have been purely praising the defense yesterday.  

I would like to make sure those guys on that side of the ball know that I am pleased they bailed out my pathetic offense.  

Just my style, not claiming he should be fired.  Just saying that on that 1 small point, I actually agree with Duemig's rant.

[FartMan]

How come when Billichek criticizes his team, even after a rout, people roundly accept this as a brilliant way to motivate his team and keep them humble and so forth... but when Gruden does it he's just knocking the defense?

I may be wrong but it seems as though he's a lil more eager to call out the defense than the O.

I think everyone is just a little too hyper-critical of what Gruden says in press conferences.  I'm sure in the meeting room the offense sees plenty of the scowl.

[Feel Real Good]

Sure there were other options out there at the time, I don't think there were many good ones... I haven't heard too much from the committee to sign David Carr these days... and short of giving the farm to Atlanta for Matt Schuab (which I'm sure they wouldn't trade him to us, anyway)... it was pretty shallow pool of QB's on the market in the offseason.

So, yeah, I think the criticism is a little unfair.

Agreed. There are only 12-14 good starting QBs in the league, let alone backups. We're lucky to have a good starter.

[cyberdude557]

Even if the Bucs win the Super Bowl...Duemig would STILL not like Gruden. He made that pretty clear last year when he was pissed off that the Glazers didn't fire him. And he has never passed up an oppertunity to bash this team at every possible oppertunity.

As for the depth at QB arguement....who was the Bucs supposed to get? The QB free agent market was extremely thin last year. Very thin. Garcia was the best available and we got him. And nobody seemed interested in drafting a QB. So who exactly were we supposed to persue? True there does not appear to be much progression from Gradkowski...maybe he just isnt cut out for the NFL. Oh well....he was a 6th rounder so we dont lose much in the end. But you give the guy a shot and sometimes they work out and sometimes they dont. Measuring QB talent in college is a tricky business because there is a HUGE difference between college and the NFL from a QB perspective....

[jtwright]

I agree that there aren't any really good options out there -- why do you think Vinny can still get a job at 44?  We do need to try and address it this offseason and end the Gradkowski experiment.  He clearly does not have NFL caliber talent.

[DanTurksGhost]

If the defense hadn't played as well as they had, the Bucs wouldn't have won the game without a healthy Garcia. With him, the game wouldn't have been close. Gradkowski virtually single-handedly sank the offense, and McCown wasn't eligible to play until the fourth quarter. Gruden was caught in a bad situation there, because bringing Garcia back in for too many snaps could have led to him being knocked out for even longer.

The offense (IMO due primarily to Grads being the QB) didn't capitalize with enough points off the turnovers. I can say with utmost assurance that Coach Gruden was disappointed in how Gradkowski fared in this game. Go back and watch his eyes and it looked like the guy had never taken a snap.

That said, the defense shouldn't be free of criticism. The opening drive for the Redskins after the half was a big failure, and the defensive line continues to come up short on getting pressure on the QB.

The defense deserves a little smidgen of criticism, the offense (and specifically Grads) deserves more criticism, and the special teams deserve virtually no criticism.

[ryan24]

He was talking about Gruden critizing the defense, in his press conference, for the lack of pressure in the second half. If that is true, I do agree with him on that. There is one reason the defense stunk in the second half -- the offense sucked more.

The inability of the offense to get a first down or move the ball in the second half led to the defense being on the field a ton. If he was critical of the defense at all, he needs to stop, because they saved his rump yesterday.

I think you can say that towards the end of the game but at the start of the 2nd half the defense couldn't get off the field and I think the Bucs were fortunate the Skins didn't kick the FG when the Bucs stopped Portis on 4th down which is what I would have done.  There was clearly a lack of pressure which allowed the Skins to control the ball.

What Deumig needs to do is to get off the "Gruden is blaming..." kick. Mentioning something in a PC which needs to be improved upon is not blaming.

[Uncle Stan]

In retrospect, if Gruden had gone for the 1 yard on the 4th down, he would have been hung in effigy. Washington could very well have kicked field goal to tie the game. With no offense and a gassed defense we would have had a very difficult time in OT and could very well have lost.

Give Gruden credit. He knew Grads limitations and took the sure points when he had the chance.

[ToddyBuc]

Duemig needs to go to a town that has no sports teams  like Tulsa, Oklahoma... The guy is an idiot.. I wouldn't listen to him if they paid me to listen to him..

[watson]

I just listened to the post game press conference again and he started off the PC with a statement about how great the kickers were and that he gave a lot of the credit for the win to the defense.  He said that they struggled offensively.  What the heck else do you expect him to say?  Be honest, part of the problem with them being gassed at the end was their own inability to get off the field and to over and over again let Washington march down the field.  They didn't score alot, but the kept possession of the ball.  The offense only had 2 possessions in the 3rd quarter.....whether those are 3 and outs or not, the defense has to create the same 3 and outs against the other teams defense.

[JasonOfthetower]

Believe me, if there were options, he'd be in a Carolina uniform right now. The problem is, it takes a while for any QB to learn Gruden's version of the West Coast Offense, hell, look at Michael Bennett - and all he has to do is know who to block, what route to run, and where to hit a hole. No QB who hasn't played for Gruden in the past would be worth a damn for most of the season.

Anyone have Rich Gannon's number?