I DONT KNOW WHATS HAPPENED

[Itchalot]

Yes if you want to know what happened first if you think way back, it was Simms getting the balls batted back into his face. That was the beginning of a very long season.

[escobar]

Read the last couple of Fab 5's by SR. It will tell you what you need to know.

What I stated way back when, was that last year's 11-5 was a mirage. Go back, look at some of the games from 2005, and then conciously tell me that the Bucs were a legit 11-5 team.

Man, i love that all the Gruden lovers are now trying to dis the 11-5 season. Which is really odd because it means that he's been lousy for 4 years in a row? If anyone, especially a "hater" had claimed that last year's 11-5 was lucky and made up of a soft schedule in the off-season when there were plenty of folks claiming big things this year it would have been a friggin' rhetorical bloodbath. Now that this season is shot it has become impertaive for the Grudenista, for some odd reason, to try and minimize last year. Even worse is that an 11-5 year is ridden down and a 3-13? season is being pumped up as not as bad as we think. It'd be funny if it wasn't ...no, it pretty much is just funny.

Absolutely! I actually thought either A) Gruden did a great job of coaching last year and adapting with what he had to work with, or B) He got extremely 'lucky' in ver close games and didn't know what in the world he was doing. I choose A. But during the off season he made the fatal mistake in not trying to keep Griese around and selling the farm in Simms; I believe that move will cost him his job.

I think letting Griese go was all part of the plan. Maybe Gruden and Allen were very aware that our 11-5 season last year was a fluke. Maybe they knew we were going to stink this year. Allen has repeatedly said they had a plan to erase I believe 30 million off of the cap, maybe 40 million I can't remember exactly the number he said. Maybe the plan all along has been to cut as much space as possible to be ready to really get down to business THIS year, knowing (or maybe hoping) that the new CBA along with several key moves (Griese) we would have a ton of cash to work with this year as well as a full supply of draft picks. Maybe this offseason is THE offseason Gruden/Allen have been waiting for. I'm not suggesting that they intentionally tanked the season before it even began either. Our D finished #1 last year, Simms had a pretty decent second half, Carnell won rookie of the year, and our o-line had some continuity going. They basically decided to stick with what we had, cut the dead weight they knew they wouldn't want in the future, and then hope for the best for this season while targeting this upcoming offseason as the one to really get things going.

This is just my opinion, but I wouldn't be too surprised if that was the plan, or what loosely resembled the plan.

[naplesbuc]

They didn't have the money to sign both Simms and Griese.  They went with Simms because he was cheaper and he finished the season well.  Could you imagine the reaction of Gooberville if they let Simms go and sign Griese?  Griese also had a pretty serious knee injury too.

[Boid Fink]

Yes if you want to know what happened first if you think way back, it was Simms getting the balls batted back into his face. That was the beginning of a very long season.

And it still is a problem with the Buc QB's, Gradkowski included.

[naplesbuc]

And it still is a problem with the Buc QB's, Gradkowski included.

Not even close.  Yeah Gradkowski has some batted balls but that's not a function of his mechanics.  Rather it's just pass rush and proximity of the defender.

Simms has an inherent batted ball problem because of his molasses windup and delivery and his visible locking on receivers that allows defenders to know exactly what he is going to do.

[Boid Fink]

And it still is a problem with the Buc QB's, Gradkowski included.

Not even close. Yeah Gradkowski has some batted balls but that's not a function of his mechanics. Rather it's just pass rush and proximity of the defender.

Simms has an inherent batted ball problem because of his molasses windup and delivery and his visible locking on receivers that allows defenders to know exactly what he is going to do.

In my book, the definition of a batted pass is when the ball gets deflected.

Simms ratio has been 17 to 1.  Grads is now about 21 to1.  He had two smashed versus Dallas...

Now if you think about it, for every 34 attempts, Simms had 2 passes swatted.  And that should be a fair amount of passing in a game.  For Bruce, it is every 42 passes, he gets two passes belted backward, again, a large number of throws.  I doubt Simms hits 51 passes in a game, so both have about 2 batted per outing.

Not such a big deal anymore, IMO.  People keep ragging on this, and really it is a problem that both QBs have.  And the INT ratios will even out by the end of the year.  Yes, I know, he is a fiery rookie.  But QB is still an issue in Tampa...

[naplesbuc]

More important than batted balls is how many are picked off?  Simms had two picks against Washington in the WC last year from batted balls.  In the Baltimore game a NT got one and ran it back 60 yards.

Every QB has batted balls.  For Simms it's a huge problem that needs to be corrected if he's going to be a successful pro.

[Boid Fink]

More important than batted balls is how many are picked off? Simms had two picks against Washington in the WC last year from batted balls. In the Baltimore game a NT got one and ran it back 60 yards.

Every QB has batted balls. For Simms it's a huge problem that needs to be corrected if he's going to be a successful pro.

I watched Haloti Ngata "run" that ball backward.  But you give three examples.  It is a lucky thing to pick a ball off after a bat, no doubt.  A problem it is as well.  But a batted pass is a batted pass.  At that rate, do you think Bruce is not going to have one INT'd?  It will happen if he does it two times a game.

[bradentonian]

More important than batted balls is how many are picked off? Simms had two picks against Washington in the WC last year from batted balls. In the Baltimore game a NT got one and ran it back 60 yards.

Every QB has batted balls. For Simms it's a huge problem that needs to be corrected if he's going to be a successful pro.

If a batted ball is intercepted, you can blame luck and hustle as much as anything else.  Go back and watch that Ngata INT and look for all the Bucs standing around with there arms at their sides and you will see what I'm talking about.
Put Simms in a vertical system and he won't need to change his mechanics to be a successful pro.