GumboBC

Being that I can never know too much about our NFC South rivals, I decided to look at the Tampa Bay Bucaneers and see what went wrong with them last year and what Gruden has done to address those problems.

What I found out is the Bucs had problems on both sides of the ball. But, from what I can tell most of their problems were on offense. More specifically, their biggest problem was QB Brad Johnson.

Brad Johnson was one of the key reasons the Bucs were finally able to make it to the super bowl during Gruden's first year as head coach of the Bucs. The Bucs defense had been good enough for years to get the Bucs to the super bowl, but they never had a passing game that was efficient enough or made enough plays to get them over the hump. After Gruden named Brad Johnson the starter in 2002 (Johnson's 2nd year as the Bucs starter.) Johnson excelled in Gruden's offense.

In 2002 Brad Johnson attempted 451 passes for 22 TDs and 6 Ints. Which is much more efficient and productive than any passing game the Bucs ever had under Tony Dungy.

But, last year Brad Johnson was not the same as he attempted 570 passes for 26 TDs and a whopping 21 Ints.

Being that the Bucs game plan was to rely on that great defense and conservative play from the offense, Johnson's costly interceptions really hurt the Bucs last year.

This year will be Brad Johnson's 14th year in the NFL and Gruden has said Chris Simms might be named the starter at some point during the 2004 season. It's my guess that the QB job is Johnsons to lose, but if he struggles the Bucs have Chris Simms and Brian Gresie. Rumor is Gruden is very pleased with the progress of Chris Simms.

Another problem the Bucs offense had was at wide receiver.The Bucs biggest weapon at wide receiver was Keenan McCardell who caught 88 pases for 1174 yards. McCardell proved he was still capable of making some big plays as he caught 13 passes of 20 or more yards and 4 passes of 40 or more yards. However, McCardell is not a spedster who possesses great speed and this year will be his 14th year in the NFL. Mcardell is also involved in a nasty contract dispute this year and has threatened to hold out if his contract is not redone. The Bucs second leading receiver was Keyshawn Johnson who was traded by the Bucs this offseason.

Grudens number one priority was to get speed at the wide receiver position. The Bucs traded for WR Joey Galloway and the Bucs also drafted WR Michael Clayon out of LSU. The trio of McCardell, Galloway and Clayton is going to be much faster and look much different than what the Saints have had to face in recent years. Joey Galloway only caught 34 passes in the Cowboys anemic passing attack last year but out of those 34 passes -- 14 went for 20 or more yards and 3 went for 40 or more yards. Galloway also averaged 19.8 yards per catch and caught 2 TD passes.

The other problem the Bucs offense had was at runningback. This year looks to be much different for the Bucs as Gruden brought in RB Charlie Gardner. Last year wasn't Gardner's best year but in 2002 Gardner rushed the ball 182 times for 962 yards and averaged 5.3 yards per carry. In 2002 Gardner also caught 91 passes for 941 yards. Gardner is going to pose a double threat for the Saints defense.

I would have to say that the Bucs offense is going to be better in 2004.

But the defense is a different story. Gone are Warren Sapp who will be replaced by DT Darrell Russell. You can say what you want to about Sapp but his production really didn't slip last year from the Bucs super bowl year. Darrell Rusell has got some big shoes to fill. Especially when you consider Russell has not started more than 8 games in season for 3 years. Russell was not active in any games in 2002 and only played in 8 games in 2003 in which he had a grand total of 6 tackles and 0 sacks.

Also gone is John Lynch who is being replaced by LB Ian Gold . Gold tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in a 17-14 win over Pittsburgh and how effective he will be is anyone's guess.

I don't look for Tampa's defense to be nearly as dominating as it's been in the past.

The other factor in Tampa is coach John Gruden. Gruden has been able to more with less talent than he's currently got in Tampa. It's hard to predict how Tampa will do this year. Like the Saints, Tampa has a lot of question marks. I wouldn't bet against Tampa.

WhoDat

Safety John Lynch is being replaced by LB Ian Gold?

The Bucs offensive production definitely dropped last season especially when compared to late \'02 when they were scoring about 40 points a game through the playoffs.

However, the key to the Bucs, in my mind, is their defense, and that did slip last year. Not to pound on our chests too much, but I think the Saints showed teams how to beat the Bucs. Their defense was not even close to being as dominant last season as they were in \'02. I haven\'t looked at the statistics, and maybe they didn\'t give up a whole lot more yards or points (but I doubt it). One thing I am sure of - they did not score as much and I\'m guessing they created fewer turnovers.

They\'ve got one hell of a D Coordinator, but with an offensive minded head coach and only a few of their \"key\" players left on defense I see that team transforming into a team that more closely resembles the last few Saints teams over the next few seasons.

I wouldn\'t be surprised to see the Bucs around 8-8 again this season. Lee and Clayton are both going to be damn good receivers. I still think that they last a serious running threat (until they get that any QB will struggle in their system). Their defense will continue to slip to between 10th and 15th in the league this season. That\'s just not good enough for them.

\"Excuses, excuses, excuses. That’s all anyone ever makes for the New Orleans Saints’ organization.\" - Eric Narcisse


\"Being a Saints fan is almost like being addicted to crack,\" he said.[i]\"You know you should stop, but you just can\'t.\"

GumboBC

What was I thinking. I need to be fired. Oh, well......

You are correct, WhoDat. The Bucs defense did slip SOME. Not a lot, though. They were still pretty dominant. I think the Bucs biggest problem was they couldn\'t score enough to win. I mean, afterall, the Bucs defense only allowed 16.5 points per game. I think you are correct by saying the Saints showed the way to beat the Bucs and that\'s by sticking with the run.

2002 Tampa Defense Avg per rush 3.8 yds.
2003 Tampa Defense Avg per rush 3.9 yds.

2002 rushing per game: 97.1
2003 rushing per game: 109.8

2002 Pts allowed per game: 12.2
2003 Pts allowed per game: 16.5

2002 passing yds allowed per game: 155.6
2003 passing yds allowed per game: 169.4

2002 Sacks: 43
2003 Sacks: 36

WhoDat

Question: How many points did the DEFENSE score in 2002 versus 2003? Do we know?

To me that\'s a huge difference between the two years. In 2002, the Bucs D outscored the opposing offense by themselves some games. Last year, that dropped a lot. Like I said, their stats don\'t show much of a drop but they did. There\'s a big difference between your defense allowing 12 points a game and scoring 7 themselves versus allowing 16.5 and scoring 2. That\'s my opinion anyway. I think that they\'ll still have a good defense this year, but it will continue to slip. More and more teams will begin to pass the Bucs. Jacksonville, Carolina, Dallas, Baltimore, New England, the Saints (hehehe)...

\"Excuses, excuses, excuses. That’s all anyone ever makes for the New Orleans Saints’ organization.\" - Eric Narcisse


\"Being a Saints fan is almost like being addicted to crack,\" he said.[i]\"You know you should stop, but you just can\'t.\"

GumboBC

Don\'t know how many points the Bucs defense scored or how many point were scored by the Bucs offense off turnovers. But here are the tunovers created by the defense for both years.


2002 turnovers: 38
2003 turnovers: 33

Danno

They may have lost some players, but do you think their success is more due to their SCHEME or their PLAYERS?

GumboBC

You crack me up dude!!

That\'s a tough question, Danno. I think if they use run blitzes on 1st down, cover 3 on second down, cover 2 on third down; maybe bring the corners up in run support some; then switch up between the 4-3 and 3-4 defenses; use some safety blitzes; maybe come up with creative ways to use the MIKE and SAM linebackers they shouldn\'t notice Sapp and John Lynch gone. It\'s all about that scheme. :P

WhoDat

I think the scheme is more important - which is why I think they won\'t be a bad defense by any stretch of the imagination. However, they have less talented players to run that scheme, and thus they will drop off some.