How do we have 1st and goal on the 2yd line, and NOT get a TD?

Gruden doesnt get it.   The Bucs are doing something WRONG in the red zone that is giving up 4 points everytime we settle for a FG in the red zone.   1st and goal on the 2 yard line...   and Gruden PASSES for 0, runs for 1 yard, passes for 0.   

What's with the passes?  JUST RUN THE BALL 3-4 times if you have to, but get the damn 2 yards?   WHY is that too hard for this team to accomplish?  They dont even TRY, they go straight to these cute passes from the 2 yard line.  Its ridiculous.

because we run Cadillac up the middle, when Askew was money the entire game before that on 3rd and short. didnt make senese at all

[GameTime]

if gruden really calls in 3 plays, why didnt garcia pick the run?

[BucsGuru]

I agree with throwing on 1st down, but run the next two.

[finnbluebucs]

What happened to those great play actions plays we used towards the end of last year in the RZ?? Like the one where Graham jumps over the top only for the QB to throw it to Stevens. That worked like a gem a few times.

[GameTime]

The OL's "mindset" didn't appear to be too fazed by the failure of that particular sequence of play-calls when they scored from the 8 on two running plays later in the game. Or on all of those successful third and fourth and short situations during the game.

thats confusing, so then why did we attempt the two passes inside the 3 rather than run?

Just out of curiosity, what are the acceptable parameters for play formations and calls in order to achieve that "tough" mindset? Do you have to do it out of three TE, I-formation, off-tackle? When the Colts line up 4-wide, single back, and run a draw for a TD, does that make them somehow less tough? Or when Tebow does the jump pass on the goalline, can you hear the OC's whining vagina way up in the top row? Or does it only prove their shriveled manhood if the QB actually throws the ball? � � �

personally, i think the tough mindset is about pounding the ball.  to me, 4 wide draws isnt pounding the ball.  doesnt mean it doesnt work.  i personally dont agree with the WC scheme, doesnt mean it doesnt work.  i think we have the Offensive roster to get out there and just pound the ball.   the WC likes to throw to set up the run, yet until recently our QB hasnt been tossing it around.  the tebow jump pass works because the D has been getting pounded with his runs, not because he's been throwing 3 yard outs as an extension of the run game.

[redbeard10]

I don't see how anyone can say running the ball was the way to go on first down when the play worked just how it was drawn up to work with Smith getting open in the back of the endzone. If Garcia gets him the ball, we have a TD and everyone would find something else to whine about. I can't really blame the playcaller when the play called does EXACTLY what it is supposed to do and the QB doesn't complete the pass.

[RedAlert]

..... When the score is 3-0, you expect run, run, pass and then run again on 4th since the score was only 3-0 at the time.

So if everyone, including the D, is "expecting run" on 1st down, is play-action pass so egregious a strategy? The play was there to be made.

great point

They're still in a pass defense mindset...

yeah they looked like with the wide open TE in the back of the end zone ....

2 of them...

Yea, from where you guys sat I'm sure you both feel you could've completed the pass, but our undersized QB had a little different perspective. Running the ball was the best way to go on 1st down..

[acacius]

it astounds me how some peopel can start a dozen whiny threads within a couple of days ....

No Olaf, we woudln't. No one expect to run two play action passes twice on 1st and goal from the two. When the score is 3-0, you expect run, run, pass and then run again on 4th since the score was only 3-0 at the time. If we fail to get 1-2 yards in FOUR tries, then at least our derfense has Carolina on their own 1 yard line where all kinds of trouble can happen. Gruden screwed the pooch on that one, if it was him calling those plays. Maybe Garcia called the pass to get his miserable TD numbers up, who know.

Garcia and Smith screwed the pooch ... Smith wasn't just open ... he was WIDE OPEN

So if Smith was WIDE OPEN, exactly how did he screw the pooch? Was he supposed to pass the ball to himself?

If Brad Johnson could do it, I don't see why Smith shouldn't!

:p

[1sparkybuc]

It's a comedy double header. Our QB and our ground "attack" are both jokes......bad jokes.

[Rusty]

We need a bruiser unning back like lstott or Marshall. I hope we draft one next year.

it astounds me that we're a team with red zone issues...      1st and goal at the 2 yard line, and we run TWO play action passes?  When the first passing play was a disaster, why pass again on 3rd down when you only need 1 yard? 

[olafberserker]

it astounds me how some peopel can start a dozen whiny threads within a couple of days ....

[Feel Real Good]

if gruden really calls in 3 plays, why didnt garcia pick the run?

Gruden should bench Garcia if he isn't doing what he's supposed to.

[Buc31]

it astounds me that we're a team with red zone issues...      1st and goal at the 2 yard line, and we run TWO play action passes?  When the first passing play was a disaster, why pass again on 3rd down when you only need 1 yard? 

Its seemed to me like to the first two plays were the same!