An In-Depth Look at

the Buccaneers.

Offense
Let's face facts: the Bucs have never, ever, not once in their 30 years, had a solid offense. Sure they've had good players (Vinny Testaverde and Steve Young spring immediately to mind) but haven't had the tools to complement the players who later go on to be integral parts of other teams' offenses (Vinny Testaverde and Steve Young spring immediately to mind). Mike Alstott, who scored something like 97.3% of all Tampa Bay offensive touchdowns last season, is an exception, but that's because all he needs is space in front of him where there aren't defenders and/or a pile of guys less than 10' high he can simply leap over into the end zone.

As I said in the first entry, talking about the O-line is insanely boring. I realize they're the most-shit-on players in the NFL, and that's a shame because they're the most important players, but honestly- they hug big men 20 to 30 times every Sunday afternoon and that's it. If the Buccaneers need help at the line of scrimmage, I wouldn't know about it. As long as they create some room for Cadillac to scamper through and give Simms enough time to pass the ball before getting clobbered by Ray Lewis, fuck it. Moving on.

Some other website devoted to the Bucaneers mentioned they have old recievers who maybe aren't icons like T.O. or Steve Smith, but who cares? Did you see Joey Galloway last season? Yeah he's been in the league for 12 years, but he did well enough to allow the Bucs to go 11-5 before an embarrassing loss to the Redskins. If you're talking about drafting a new receiver, you're barking up the wrong tree. The Bucs already have 12 on their roster and don't need any more. If they can't find any decent WRs out of a pool of 12, there's no hope.

Some people will probably mourn the loss of Griese at QB, but those people are Fifth Columners, devoted to the downfall of the Buccaneers. Griese is a worthless son of a bitch and if he hadn't gotten injured early last season the streets of Lutz would've been filled with fans screaming for his head, there would be talk about finding a solid QB, and the young Chris Simms would've gone another year sitting at the #2 spot in the depth chart behind some mummified former franchise QB like Steve McNair. You can take this one to the bank- Simms will continue to play solid football as long as he has receivers who can get separation and running backs named after luxury cars to hand the ball to.

Defense
Oh Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Looking at the Buccaneers' defensive roster gives me diarrhea. They've got spectacular players like Ronde Barber, Brian Kelly, Simeon Rice, Greg Spires, Anthony McFarland, Shelton Quarles, and Derrick Brooks but those 7 guys have been playing pro football for a combined total of 69 years. That's obscene. That's also the reason the Bucs won 4 of 11 games by 3 or less points. They totalled 7 games with a 3 or less differential. You don't need star offensive players when you've got maniacs like Ronde Barber on your defense preventing the other team from doing much beyond throwing interceptions and being sacked. However, when your defense starts to get tired and cranky about missing "60 Minutes" sometime in the early 3rd quarter, it might be time to start looking at getting some new blood on the defensive side of the ball.

When the Bucs made it to the play-offs last year, I was miserable. I would've loved to have seen another Superbowl win for them, of course, but of those 7, how many would've said "Jesus, I've been playing this game for 12 years now, maybe it's time to hang it up and admire my Superbowl rings" on the morning of Feb. 6?

Overview
The Bucs' defense is the only thing that saved them from another losing season last year and is the only thing John Gruden needs to be looking at in the draft and free agency. The offense isn't spectacular, but it never has been and doesn't need to be. You know what happens when you have an amazing offense but a shitty defense? You're the 2004 Indianapolis Colts, that's what.