tomsan

Very interesting. Thanks for that article.

1:03pm, November 5, 2008

pinkstob

The Carolina Kittens have a tougher remaining schedule than we do so I strongly believe we will win the division and the other bye week spot. The team just has to keep working hard like they have been all season. Go Bucs!!

2:56pm, November 5, 2008

gp

The only tougher game left for Carolina is NY... There is still a long way to go. The division will come down to the Carolina-Tampa game. Whoever wins that wins the division.

3:18pm, November 5, 2008

bucfan47

As much as it pains me to say this (being a Bucs fan), although our schedule is considerably easier than Carolina, and on top of that (we've already beat them once), I still think Carolina will win this division and our best shot is a WC.

The teams to keep a close eye on IMO are really Philly, Dallas, and Washington. I don't think anyone will argue NYG will win that division, but how do the other teams fair...If Carolina wins the division, which I think 12-4 or 11-5 is easily a possibility for them, then our best shot is a WC and that puts us in competition with those three NFC East teams, along with either Chicago or Green Bay (who we own the tie-breaker having beaten both).

The team that worries me greatly is the Dallas Cowboys. That loss may indeed come back to haunt us if we struggle down the stretch. What makes me want to STAMP IT and tell you to MARK IT DOWN, WE WILL STRUGGLE, is because this team has not shown the ability on offense to score points.

And what better example of a struggling offense can you get than last weeks game, when you can almost lose to one of the worst teams in the league. That means any team left on our schedule CAN beat us, but will they? Who knows. I just think our chance of making the playoffs lies at the WC spot, and all of us Bucs fans should be pulling against the NFC East teams, especially when they face the Giants, and hope teams can continue to pounce on the struggling Cowboys.

3:20pm, November 5, 2008

bucfannj

Jim I love reading all your articles, but this is insane... are we really talking playoff pictures already??? Have we even started wearing red at home yet??? (Seattle game doesnt count special occasion A-Train night)... No, that means its only the begining of November, there is an eternity left in the season, I love your enthusiasm, but there are millions of senerio's possible, and with the way this offense has played the past two weeks (especially in the red zone) I can honestly say I can't even mark the Lions or Raiders down as sure wins.

I'm not taking anything away from the comeback last week, it was gutsy and I'm thrilled, but if we weren't playing the second or third worst team in the NFL, we would've left that game buried, then would we be talking playoffs... no we'd be looking for Chucky's head, or bad mouthing EG for fumbling twice. This team is getting tougher and tougher to watch in the red zone. Having EG throw TD's inside the 5 isn't gonna work all the time, heck it might not work again. We really need to be talking about that, rather then who Philly or Green Bay are playing this week or next. We gotta start putting up 7 not 3 or 0 on a consistant basis inside the 20, then we can start playoff talk.


God help us if Barrett gets hurt!!!


Love ya JF

1:48am, November 6, 2008

scubog

Having been a Bucs fan since 1976 and surviving the late 80's and early 90's; how much more fun it is to be thinking about the play-offs than waiting for my next Mel Kiper newsletter and hoping to draft the savior, only to end up with the likes of Keith McCants.

6:02am, November 6, 2008

bucfan47

That's a great point bucfannj. I love this team, but I'm also a realist. I'd be lying to everyone if I told them I felt comfortable about our chances of getting in the playoffs right now.

But I don't. Sure, on paper it looks like we have a good shot, but I'm telling you, Philly has a very do-able schedule, you can't say Tampa looks good w/out include the Redskins (same record), and they could be the 3rd team in that division to earn a playoff spot, not to mention the Cowboys stand a good chance of getting to 10 wins, despite the lackluster play over the past couple weeks...

You can stamp this and remember I said it...If 3 teams end up getting in the playoffs from the NFC East, and we DO NOT win the division, we are out...And I think that's a more likely scenario to happen than us making it at this point...

How can I say that? The Bucs are fools gold! That's why...And to be fair, they are still not good enough at the key positions to hold their own with the likes of the New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys or probably any of the NFC East teams at this point..

The offense is simply not good enough at this point...Remember, I've said before I think Gruden and Allen are doing a fantastic job at re-building this team and they are doing it the right way...They may not be doing it the popular way (from a fans standpoint) but they are re-building the offense starting with the O-Line and working their way out from there...I love what they are doing, but unless we find a way to get the ball in the hands of our WR's deeper downfield, every defense will continue to load the box, and allow us to have those 3-5 yard passes and force us to go 3-and-out...On top of that, defenses realize that our offense cannot score inside the Red Zone, which is making it even harder to move the ball inside the 20 b/c they are ONLY giving Garcia the checkdown once the ball is snapped.

Garcia, the WR core, and coach Gruden must find a way to be creative enough that they can get guys open downfield and Garcia must find ways to get them the ball...

I've said this all along...I just don't think the WR core is that good...Argue with me all you want, but they are all above average possession WR's with Zero to NO ability to break away speed to get open downfield with the exception of Galloway (who still looks less than 100%) and maybe, occassionally Bryant...

Make no mistake, Bryant is having one heck of a year. The problem I have is how the team is moving the ball..You gotta generate some big plays downfield...Bryant had one against Seattle that was over 30 yards and other than that, can remember one by a WR...The only deep passes I recall our from Alex Smith during the course of the season...They don't have to throw the ball deep all the time, but c'mon...If defenses know coming into the game YOU CAN'T DO IT, it's going to make life harder everywhere else...

That's the part I wish we could address...I have a feeling PR is going to have to address it as the season moves along if Galloway whinds up continuing to be a non-factor.

9:33am, November 6, 2008

bucfan47

Let me correct my statement from above..Before you guys make fun of me...Of course if 3 teams make it from the NFC East and we dont' win our division, we are out...Duh! Right?

That would be 3 teams from the East, 1 from the South, 1 North, 1 West, that's six...But what I meant to say was the real action to keep an eye on is the NFC East...We need the Giants to win both games against Philly and could possibly desperately need them to beat the Cowboys later in the year...If three teams get in, it will boil down to whether or not we can win the NFC South to get a shot...

9:39am, November 6, 2008

bucfan47

Carolina Panthers 6-2 (NFC South)
Remaining Schedule: @ Oakland, Detroit, @ Atlanta, @ Green Bay, Tampa Bay, Denver, @ New York Giants, @ New Orleans

And if you look at that schedule, I love the Panthers (even on the road) at Oakland as they are a total mess.

I like the Panthers vs. the Lions (8-2) @ Atlanta (9-2), I'll them a win/loss vs. us and the Packers (10-3), win vs. Denver at home (11-3), and I'll even give them two losses at the end of the season...Why not...So that's 11-5 if you believe me and IMO, that's going to be stiff for the Bucs to topple even standing at 6-3 right now...

Isn't that fair? I actually think the Panthers will end up at 12-4...I know Bucs fans (including me) don't want to hear that...But I think it's true...Fox has a job in jeopardy and usually when that happens, players show up for their coach and the Panthers have done that (by and large) this year already will huge wins vs. San Diego and Chicago. So we'll see...I just think it's going to be tough and 10-6 simply will not get it done IMO.

9:46am, November 6, 2008

bucfan47

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-3)
Remaining Schedule: Minnesota, @ Detroit, New Orleans, @ Carolina, @ Atlanta, San Diego, Oakland

Now look at our schedule. Based on the last 9 games, do you feel confident we can finish better than 11-5? For that to happen, we must win 5 of 7 games down the stretch, and if you believe some form of my combination above for the Panthers, boy doesn't that make the showdown in late November a dandy...It may just decide the winner...

But call me crazy, I maybe the only one that thinks Carolina could actually drop that game and still win the division and keep us home for the playoffs...No games for us our gimme's, and let's break it down...

Minn - Extra week to heal up, but I'm just not sold we win this game....I'll go with it here, but I'm skeptical 7-3

@ Detroit - Well, typically we don't play well, and although I've got a very bad feeling about this game (more-so than K.C.), I'll give us this one as well...8 - 3

New Orleans - L - I'm going 8 - 4 here, but we may win this one and the team have slipped up somewhere else..I'll stick with the L and drop us to 8-4.

@ Carolina - L - On Monday night, based on injuries and play, I'm going to assume the rosters stay basically intact like they are now, and there's no reason to think we go down there and win the game, so I'll push us to 8 - 5....

Now, if that happens, in any combination, the pressure cooker is turned up...In order to finish with 11 wins, they gotta win out..Let's look at the last 3...

@ Atlanta
San Diego
Oakland

I do love that we get both West Coast teams at home, but to say I'm not scared we drop one of the two games (Atlanta or San Diego) would be really dumb on anyone's part...

Let's give our team 2 wins out of 3, which may not happen either, mainly b/c San Diego could be playing for dignity by the time they arrive in Tampa, I'll still do it...

So that's 10-6. Obviously this may/may not play out and we MIGHT finish better, but I think PR has looked at this very similarly to how I've layed it out here, and they are coming up with the same record..And I really think that's probably best case scenario..We'll see. Either way, it's going to be a tough climb this year, but our team has heart and we gotta pull for em, but at the same token as fans, we're realistic..

3:05pm, November 6, 2008