First, if you're happy the Bucs won and don't care how - don't read this. Seriously, enjoy one of the rare (and hopefully soon more common) Buccaneers victories. I just can't. But if you do - awesome (seriously)!
Second, I really hope this sparks an improved Bucs team. You don't go from cellar dwellers to playoff team overnight. Winning ugly is okay, maybe even important for a bad team. The Bucs had a very beatable team and they beat them. And here's hoping that it's a stepping stone to more success. But man...
1) Aguayo is horrible. He finally made a 38 yarder - which really isn't worth celebrating. He tried to lose this game and is 50% on the season. I really hope he turns into a Pro Bowl kicker but it doesn't look good. If only the Bucs hadn't cut an effective kicker...
2) Koetter's playcalling has GOT to improve. He tried to coach the game away with all those runs at the end and was LUCKY to get a facemask. He coached scared, which is what bad coaches do. Without that penalty this game goes to overtime. Very unimpressed with how he called this game.
3) Winston is having an ugly season. He's young and hopefully improves. But his accuracy was terrible, he missed throws all night. He also had trouble getting into the right play calls and was frequently fooled by Carolina's defense. With 3 turnovers the Bucs mustered 1 TD. Winston's worst game of the season.
4) Was Koetter continually calling ineffective running plays because he didn't trust Winston? Serious question.
5) Vjax needs to be cut or benched. There's no point in throwing to him. He runs bad routes and doesn't help Winston at all. I would rather see a FA WR play there than Vjax - he's hurting the team. I can't believe how quickly he fell off the cliff - although he was bad last year as well.
6) On a positive note, the defence finally clicked. Mike Smith did say it would take 4 weeks. Grimes doesn't look good although it was great to see a redzone INT after the INT drop. Smith called a very effective game given all the injuries. And it was nice to finally beat a backup QB. It's still a bad defence, but it doesn't have a chance to be good until some DL get healthy.
