Gradkowski

With yet another loss, we sit here and wonder what happened. Another game we could have won slipped through our fingers once again. The defense was very solid, though it did give up a couple of long drives, one was stopped with a pick by Buchannon. The defense really only gave up 7 points, as the field goal came after a fumble by Williams deep in our own territory.

So the blame mainly goes to the offense. They did move the ball well at times, but the key plays, which were there to be had, were consistently missed. On a couple of occasions, Galloway dropped a pass, but the rest of the time the ball just wasn't going where it should. Once again, there were times when the receivers were open, yet, Gradkowski seemed to be unable to see them and throw the ball. He continues to check down way too often. In fact, his play looks eerily similar to Brad Johnson's play in 2004 before he was finally yanked. Back then Brad regularly passed up a better passing opportunity further down the field for the check down. It cost him his job, and I think it's costing Bruce his opportunity.

When Rattay came in, though Atlanta was playing a dime zone scheme, he consistently found the right guy to throw to, hitting 9 of 13 passes, with a couple of drops (I thought they were borderline pass interference). It was certainly much more effective decision making we saw displayed in that last drive which likely would have scored a TD if not for the bungled snap. Quite frankly, all things considered, I'm ready for the Gradkowski experiment to end. Time to see if Rattay has anything for the future here (even if only to be a back-up) and see if the system is really the problem (highly unlikely) or if the problem is truly with the QB play, as I believe it is.

It's also time for the Bucs to step up and make a stronger offer for Simms. They have the money to keep him and still go out and either draft a top flight QB or pick one up in FA or through a trade. Gruden's offense is always going to be at the mercy of the QB. He can scale it down and play Dungy ball, but that's not really anymore effective. He needs a solid QB playing here. Is job will be on the line next year, and it would behoove him to do whatever it takes to fix the QB and defensive positions.