What Preseson Can Tell You.
 

NOT MUCH !!! TAMPA STILL WENT ON TO WIN THE SUPER BOWL

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Redskins use defense to rout Bucs 40-10


TAMPA, Fla. (Aug. 24, 2002) -- For all the talk about Steve Spurrier's Fun 'N' Gun offense, it was the Washington defense that made his Florida homecoming special.

Shane Matthews threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Rod Gardner, and Greg Scott returned a fumble 66 yards for another score as the Redskins beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 40-10 in Spurrier's return to the state where he is revered as a coach.

Spurrier won six Southeastern Conference titles and one national championship in 12 seasons at the University of Florida before leaving in January to accept a five-year contract with the Redskins.


Rod Gardner beats Dwight Smith for a touchdown catch in the second quarter.
He's 4-0 in the preseason, but stressed he and his players need to keep their success in perspective.

"It's been pretty nice thus far, but we realize we've been fortunate in some of the games we've won," Spurrier said. "Carolina could have beat us. Pittsburgh could have beat us. We're not a super team by any means, but it's fun just coaching."

There was little reaction in the sold-out stadium when he made his way across the field, but some in the crowd of 65,598 booed the first time he was shown on the scoreboard video screen.

Spurrier's explosive offense has been the center of attention during Washington's unbeaten preseason, but the defense was equally impressive against Tampa Bay.

LaVar Arrington and Champ Bailey each intercepted a Brad Johnson pass on the Bucs' first two possessions, the latter setting up Matthews' TD pass to Gardner. Donte Curry intercepted Shaun King and ran 20 yards for Washington's last TD with 2:31 remaining in the game.

The Bucs (2-1) also lost four fumbles, including the one Scott scooped up after Delbert Cowsette sacked Rob Johnson with the Bucs threatening to score early in the third quarter.

"Our defense was the story of the game. It was pretty easy for us to play with all of the turnovers," Spurrier said.

"We got 26 [points] on offense, so we didn't do all that much. We played hard. We played with a lot of effort. It was a win, but it's not that big a deal. Preseason is just practice games, and hopefully we can continue to get better."

Washington (4-0) averaged 36 points and 391 yards passing in its first three exhibitions with much of it coming against second- and third-stringers.

Earlier in the preseason, Spurrier's aggressive style with reserves in the game drew criticism from some people who felt the Redskins were trying to run up the score. The Bucs couldn't make those claims.

Rookie Patrick Ramsey made his Redskins debut at quarterback in the second half and threw a 12-yard TD pass to ex-Buc Jacquez Green after Tampa Bay's Travis Stephens fumbled a kickoff at the Washington 27.

"You get what you deserve in this league," Bucs coach Jon Gruden said. "When you turn the ball over that many times ... you're going to get punished."

Matthews, who led an 88-yard scoring drive in the second quarter, produced 148 yards and 16 points in the first half. The Redskins finished with 260 yards total offense.

The game was hyped more than a usual preseason game because of Spurrier's ties to Florida, as well as an anticipated shootout with Gruden, who has overhauled what is expected to be a much-improved Tampa Bay offense.

But with seven turnovers and several costly penalties, the Bucs didn't give themselves a chance.

Brad Johnson, who was 9 for 14 for 90 yards, left in the second quarter after throwing a 7-yard TD pass to Keenan McCardell. John Howell's interception of Ramsey set up Martin Gramatica's 48-yard field goal early in the third quarter.

Matthews, starting in place of Danny Wuerffel who was out with the flu, was 8 of 15 for 97 yards and one interception. Ramsey, a first-round draft pick who missed two weeks of training camp in a contract holdout, was 10 of 20 for 117 yards and was sacked four times.




http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/recap/NFL_20020824_WAS@TB

What Preseson Can Tell You.
 

Bengals lost last week .

Think they are gonna start selling playoff ticket soon ???

What Preseson Can Tell You.
 

Yea and the Giants. Packers, Steelers, and Chiefs all got their assses handed to \'em,
I guess they should just pack it in huh?

And the Seahawks, Cards, Panthers, Lions all won big, I guess they should start reserving their superbowl airfares, huh?

Typical Saint LOSER negativity. I\'ve seen it for 30+ years. We suck, we always will, wahh, wahh, wahh, Fricking wahhh!!!!...
It ain\'t funny anymore, its old...

What Preseson Can Tell You.
 

Nope, and hopefully no one is saying we should as well, but we have to call a spade a spade. We plain sucked it up yesterday. As said in a previous post, winning in preseason means nothing. But to show up is important. Backups need to impress. Starters need a few reps to get their game face on. Am I optimistic that we are going to be ready for week 1.......for sure. We\'ll kick some ass when the game is for keeps, but to not do anything productive last night was embarrassing. I was ashamed for the players last night. To say a win means nothing is true. To not give an effort is not.

What Preseson Can Tell You.
 

To me, Venturi placed each individual player on an island and wanted to see how they performed. Well, he got his anwser and I don\'t neccesarily see this as a bad thing. I think you must consider that Venturi has never seen most of these players in a game situation before. He needed to find out what they could to on their on.

How can you install a defensive scheme without first knowing what a players strengths and weaknesses are? How can you know what a players strengths and weaknesses are without putting them in position to make mistakes?

As an example, Kenny Smith made some good plays on his own without any help and I think that\'s what the coaches wanted to know. Now if a defensive scheme was called that allowed a player to help Kenny Smith with the blocker and Kenny made the play then what would that tell Venturi? Not much, they would still be wondering if Kenny could have done it with no help.

OK, I\'m growing tired of this...

Eveyone can draw their own conclusions.



[Edited on 13/8/2003 by BillyCarpenter1]

What Preseson Can Tell You.
 

Other than the poor spelling, I agree wholeheartedly. ;)
Doom & Gloom after 1st practice game and 8 new starters?,
I need another hobby... and another beer...

What Preseson Can Tell You.
 

BTW: A perfect example of the overly simplistic gameplan I\'ve heard yet.
Philly wasn\'t \"evaluating\" any starters at all, they were working on their schemes. We\'re a few games away from that...

In the jargon of the PAKmiester...

\"Patience The Faithful Need\"



[Edited on 13/8/2003 by tweeky]

What Preseson Can Tell You.
 

Well Tweeky ,

Old and redundant , but here is the truth .

Saints Football
(504) 731-1700



Description:

In 1966 the NFL franchise was awarded to New Orleans on All Saints Day, hence the name the New Orleans Saints. In the 44 years between that first Saints game and the new millennium, they have had a winning season only six times (in 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991,1992 and 2001). Despite this undeniable tendency towards losing, the New Orleans Saints are pushing forward still, with an ever increasing and dedicated flock of loyal fans. After 4 years with Mike Ditka as head coach, and four losing seasons of football, the Saints are in the midst of a comeback in the next few years with the recent hiring Jim Hasslet as head coach and the continuing improvements of running back Ricky Williams. The Saints home is the Louisiana Superdome. The Superdome, opened in 1975, is a true architectural wonder. It compromises over 125,000,000 cubic feet of interior space, and seats over 75,000, making it the largest domed arena in the world. The Superdome itself is reason enough to head out and see a game.

6 times in 44 years have they had a winning season .

Seems you might be used to it by now ...........

What Preseson Can Tell You.
 

saintz80,

You have confused me with your post as you state that there were 44 years between 1966 and the new millennium. Conventional math says that there were 34 years during that period, however, some folks like you take the year 2001 into consideration, which by this method your count should have been 45 years and others might suggest 35 years.

Also, ssmitty must have beamed me up for a year under the Ditka period as I only witnessed 3 years of it. I hope that fourth losing season wasn\'t as agonizing as the first three. It was probably the one in which Billy Joe McAllister jumped off the Tallahassee bridge.

I don\'t know much about measuring cubic feet of interior space. However, I am pretty sure that the seating capacity for football in the dome is somewhere around 68,000+. If the fire marshall wouldn\'t object I would love to see 75,000 people packed in the dome. I saw a few ladies last night that I might even consider letting them sit on my lap during the game. Suprise presents for all. Home team support!

What Preseson Can Tell You.
 

Really bad news Saintnik ,

I think that is an old Saints press release , which explains the Saints football phone number .This math however might explain Ricky Williams contract though .

The point was , even the organizational is well aware of the losing tradition and has accepted it ........

What Preseson Can Tell You.
 

In further review it could be one of those great travel and tourism adds .

Great sales pitch : Come to New Orleans our teams usually suck but they play in an architectural wonder .

Ironically : As the team gets better , Benson wonders when he is going to get a new stadium .

Here is the link : http://neworleans.travelape.com/recr...ints-football/