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.