Bucs Lose 20-24

The Saints got us. Why? Primarily two things: 1) long plays allowed (5 plays accounted for half of the Saints' offense) 2) rusty QB play. Really, when you think about it, despite giving up all that yardage (217 yards on those 5 plays), and despite Garcia throwing behind receivers all game long, the Bucs still were driving in Saints' territory for the win when Garcia threw the untimely pick.

This team is better than some are giving it credit for right now. I had figured that the practice time would have allowed Garcia to get back in sync with his receivers, but it didn't. He's injured (ankle) now, so it will be interesting to see if McCown or Griese get a shot to start. Quite honestly, I think it's likely the Bucs would have won that game with either of the two other QB's at the helm because they've had so much more time in practice. We'll see what happens. As for reviewing the core groups...

Offense: As mentioned, the offense sputtered a lot due to failed pass attempts. The one thing that really hurt was the fact that a few missed passes, combined with some penalties, often put the Bucs in pass only situations, taking away their best weapon - the running game. The RB's rolled over the Saints for 145 yards on 19 carries (7.6 ypc). Graham and Dunn gashed the Saints repeatedly, but saw the ball to few times. The offensive line opened some big holes in the running game, and it's a sign of things to come. This team will likely rush for well over 2000 yards this season. Unfortunately, the pass pro was a little suspect early on. That got Garcia into happy feet mode, and that made things worse as he kept rolling into defenders making a mess of our offense. He settled down a bit later in the game as did the offensive line. I wouldn't expect to see that too often this season. I think this line will still be the best this franchise has ever fielded.
Overall grade: B-

Defense: This is the story of two defenses here. One got beat on three big plays for TD's (thought Bush was clearly out of bounds on his TD play). The rest of the game, save two other big plays (one aided by the obvious hold on Adams), the defense was stellar, holding the Saints to 221 yards on the other 55 plays (4.0 y/play, 1.6 yards than the Bucs' 5.6 yards). And that's the story. The turf appeared to give a couple of defenders some problems, and I wonder if they had the right cleats or not. Barber slipped on the turf on that big pass play to Henderson. Talib just mistimed his jump (rookie mistake) and might have been much better off just running the route out with the receiver to knock the ball down. When Brooks went out, the Bucs decided to put McCoy in at Sam and slide June over to the weak side. The Saints attacked McCoy twice with Bush on that side of the field, and he failed to get in there and make the plays. The Bucs are already talking about starting Black at Sam if Brooks can't go. I think the Bucs caught the Saints at a bad time, and I think you will see this defense start to mold into a real monster in the next two weeks. The pass rush wasn't great, though it's been tough to put one on against Brees, especially when the Saints get away with several blatant holds, but they did hit him a few times and caused a flutter ball that got picked by Buchannon. They also appeared to have caused a fumble that was returned for a TD, but the play was called an incomplete pass and the Bucs didn't challenge it. In three weeks, teams will fear this defense.
Overall grade: B-

Special Teams: The return game was sluggish until Jackson, who was tentative all game, got jacked up on one return. After that, he apparently realized he could take a hit in this league and started getting some nice returns late in the game, including a 33 yard kick return and a 14 yard punt return. Hopefully that's a good sign. The coverage teams smothered the Saints, allowing 5 yards per punt, and a lowly 13.4 yards per kick return. Undoubtably, the coverage units are near or at the top of the league this week. Bryant was perfect on two field goal attempts and two extra points. Bidwell was booming punts, and put a nice one down near the goal line where Black kept it in play allowing another player to down it at the one.
Overall grade: A-

Coaching: Gruden had some solid plays called, only to watch Garcia miss the receiver or panic a little in the pocket. He could have maybe tried some more runs, but the down and distance was often forcing him to try and use the passing game more. It wasn't a bad game play calling wise, and some nice plays were called at times to get some big plays, including a very nicely called TD pass play. I do lay the decision, however, to start an obviously rusty Garcia on him. He probably should have made Garcia play a half of football in the final preseason game. Defensively, Monte had some nice calls, including some well timed blitzes, but he also called some man-to-man coverages that got burned with no deep safety help. I also question putting McCoy in the game instead of Black. Black is probably the fastest, most athletic linebacker on this team, and is now very well versed in this defense. This decision, which helped Bush get yards to the outside attacking the Sam, may have been a key contributor in the loss, but we'll never know because it's impossible to know for sure if Black would have done better. Special Teams coaching was pretty stellar for the most part. The return teams need better blocking up front, but they improved as the game went along. The coverage teams were awesome, and the kicking/punting was excellent. Not too much to be displeased with here, so long as the return teams continue to improve.
Overall grade B

We'll see if the Bucs can turn things around this Sunday when they host the Falcons. I have a feeling they will.