Quick Note On The Week

One might be wondering about the lack of updates during this past week. It wasn't because the Bucs fell to 0-2 or anything like that. No, unfortunately for me, my back started pinching some nerves on Tuesday, and I've been fighting the pain since. My prescription has helped reduced the problem over the last couple of days, but the pain kept me from being comfortable sitting in front of my PC putting posts up.

So, during this week, I didn't really get a chance to discuss things like the Mortensen article on his blog about what other GM's and coaches have stated about Gruden. Many of the things I agree with. I think Gruden needs to slowly work Simms from the 5 and 7 step drops down to the 3, instead of going 3 step all the time, as he did during the early drives of the Atlanta game. Getting Simms confidence up is priority number one, then you can slowly work back to the offense Gruden wants to run. One of the big keys this week will be in the running game where Gruden must get Caddy going. If his back is just limiting him too much, then Gruden needs to put Pittman and Alstott out there in that role, but keep running. If the Bucs run less than 25 times today (it's Sunday now!), then the Bucs will likely lose. Get the running game going and attack Carolina's banged up secondary. The Bucs' offensive line looked solid in pass pro last week, and I think they can hold up, though not as long, against the Panthers. If they can do that, then they have an excellent chance to win and get Simms going again. Stay tuned for the Talking Plank, coming up shortly.