That's right guys, I'm still alive! I just wanted to pop in and say that yes, I am ECSTATIC about where we are as a team right now. As a lot of you know, I've been a fan of this team actively for going on seven years now. During that time I've seen us go through many things… Many terrible, rage-inducing, MRSA related things. It's been a quite a few seasons now since I've felt this optimistic this late in the season, so I thought I'd be nice to go ahead and share my thoughts with you.
– Firstly, I would just like to give a shout out to our coach, Dirk Koetter. I know I've been one to gash over coaches easily and I won't apologize for that. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt and don't tend to jump on the doom and gloom wagon too early. That said, in the case of Dirk I feel my face has been rewarded (unlike another buccaneer player which I'll get to in a minute.) He seems to do a REALLY good job getting the team prepared every Sunday. Ever since the winning streak started I no longer feel afraid of being blown out when watching the game and can usually feel confident that we'll at least put together a few scoring drives to keep us within reach even if we do come up short in the end. That may not seem like much, but when you lived through seasons like 2011, just watching the team be competitive every single game is a solid improvement. I love that he seems to be able to know when to put them all in James's hand and let him call plays as he sees fit. He knows when to trust him and when to coach him and does a good job of putting players OTHER than him in situations where they can do the same. I grew excited thinking about what the offense could evolve into not only down the stretch, but in future seasons as well when we add more pieces to his offense.
– Speaking of the offense, perhaps the most important part of the offensive success other than Mr. Koetter is the play of our quarterback, Jameis Winston!I have to tell you: I was excited when we drafted him, but when we went on our losing path early in the season, I began to fear he would regress. It seemed just like the typical buccaneer pattern of things. We never get to have nice things on this team for very long, you notice that? Every time we find a good player that can bring value to the offense or the defense, they usually end up being hurt, traded or released before they can make a long-standing impact. That, or they just end up being busts altogether. It was getting to the point early on where I began to be reminded of Josh Freeman's regression. So full of promise one year, and so disappointing in the others. I worried he would just turn into when interception machine after the offensive line began to struggle in much the same way he did. Thank John McKay's ghost however that this was pleasantly not the case. On the contrary, Jameis has kept his poise despite the early adversity and willfully taken on the mantle of being the leader that we had all hoped he would grow to become. After hearing about the letter that he sent to the team during Seahawks week, I was relieved to learn that his leadership skills had finally began to bear fruit within the locker room. That's something we've not had on offense in many a season now (despite certain players always assuring us to the contrary) and to see him step into that role at such a critical point in the season could not have made me happier as a fan. No matter where we go from here as far as the remainder of the season is concerned, I think most here will agree we are very much blessed to add this young man on our team for the foreseeable future. I look very forward to seeing him continue to mature and evolve as a player in the years to come.
– On the flipside of that, I must confess that one buccaneer I'm regretfully very disappointed about is Roberto Aguayo. Unlike most year, I was willing to give him a chance when many people that order given up hope on him. However, the unfortunate reality is that his problems are continuing to be a thorn in our side as far as scoring points and helping us put games away. Being this late in the season and was so much on the line going forward, we CANNOT afford to keep missing field goals like this. ESPECIALLY not from under 45 yards. Such haphazard play can only serve to risk becoming our Achilles' heel going into our potential you-know-what run, and I don't know about you, but after waiting so long to see us finally ascend to this point, I don't want to see us squander it by pulling a Scott Norwood when it matters most! I won't get into whether he should be cut, but I WILL stress that he is a vital area of concern should we wish to do well over the next few weeks. This is the time where he either earns his high draft status, or jeopardizes the rest of his career by being labeled a potential bust. God only knows, I don't want that to happen for him--especially not while he's a part of our team. The point still stands though: his on-again-off-again play is an issue that simply MUST be addressed as soon as possible.
– Meanwhile, on defense there isn't really much to say except thank you to Mike Smith. It's so good to see the unit finally clicking, and Noah Spence is having a great year. It seems like we have a group of guys that are really enjoying each other from week to week, and I'm thoroughly enjoying watching them create turnovers when we need them to most.
It's going to be a rather tough schedule going forward in my opinion. As much as I would love to see us absolutely demolish the Saints twice in a row, history dictates we usually split with them and they never usually give us a quote un-quote, "easy" win. Further, as much as the Homer in me (and you know there is one) wants to see us shut the cowgirls' hype train down for all the world to see, I cannot help but fear deep down in my heart that that's going to be a game where not going to enjoy watching. I'd LOVE to be wrong, but I just don't see us walking out of Jerry world with the win. Depending on what we do versus the Saints down the stretch, the way forward wont be easy with that in mind. Right now, I'm just so thankful that were even this close. To even be in the conversation at this point reminds me of all the hype I experienced in 2010, when we just barely lost that game to the lions and missed out on our chance to go to the promised land. With any luck such a fate will befall us this year, but if it does I want you all to appreciate the good for a game stretch we are on right now. This team, no matter what happens, is trying with all their might to make something from nothing. That in itself is commendable, but they can't do it alone. Now is the time for each and every one of YOU to do YOUR duty as fans. Fill up Raymond James Stadium this Sunday. Let any and all Saints fans know they are NOT welcome here!
Here's to chasing the dream, boys! Let's all enjoy it together!
GOOOOOOOOOOOO BUCS!!!!
