Monday Football Afterword: Buccaneers vs Dolphins

Ryan Tannehill had a solid statistical performance, but he definitely felt
the loss of two starting offensive linemen as he was under pressure late in the game.

Cory Puffett

The Dolphins have dealt with a lot of adversity the past 10 days or so. But all their apparent off-field issues may not have been issues at all. In fact, since head coach Joe Philbin gave his players the go-ahead to speak their mind to the press, the team as a group has said that it has felt no ill effect.

Unfortunately, what their off-field issues have left them with is two starting offensive linemen missing from the team, one by his own choice and the other due to suspension.

This was most apparent on Miami’s last drive, when Ryan Tannehill took two consecutive sacks, resulting in a 3^rd & 28 and ultimately a turnover that lost the game.

The Dolphins fell below .500 and significantly hurt their playoff hopes in the loss. Tampa Bay, after spending a day as the only winless team in the NFL, joined the Jaguars in scoring their first victory here in Week 10.

The Buccaneers committed a lot of penalties. Lucky for them, so did the Dolphins. They completely shut down Miami’s run offense, holding them to just two yards, which I believe ESPN play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico said was the worst single-game rushing performance in Miami Dolphins history.

As much as I make this sound like the Dolphins lost this game, I don’t want to discredit the Buccaneers. Mike Glennon had a solid performance. It wasn’t great, but he did what he needed to while the team relied heavily on the run. Mike James gained 41 yards on five carries before being carted off the field with an injury. Then they got two additional backs over 40 yards.

For the second straight week, Tampa Bay built up a comfortable lead. Last week they led 21-0 in Seattle, then on Monday they led 15-0. In Seattle, they gave up that lead and, of course, ended up losing, which is why they were still winless entering Monday.

The Dolphins also erased that lead and wound up with a 19-15, but they were unable to respond to a fourth quarter Tampa Bay touchdown that finally put the Bucs in the win column.

The Dolphins have important meetings with the Chargers and Jets in the next three weeks, both of whom they are competing with for the sixth spot in the AFC playoffs. Their loss on Monday hurt, but it’s a tight enough competition that it’s still anybody’s spot.

The Buccaneers have been reduced to the role of spoiler, but they’ll have chances to do just that with Detroit, Carolina, San Francisco and St. Louis still on their schedule.

Final Score:

Miami Dolphins – 19

Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 22

Thursday Football Afterword: Buccaneers vs Panthers

Cam Newton completed over 70% of his passes for more than 200 yards and
two touchdowns while rushing 11 times for 50 yards and a score.

Cory Puffett

Carolina took over this game from the outset. Their first possession ate nearly nine minutes of game time on a 70-yard touchdown drive. Their next drive lasted less than four minutes but started at their own 20-yard line and ended with a 12-yard touchdown run by DeAngelo Williams.

The Buccaneers lone touchdown came in garbage time, much to Eric’s annoyance (he has Carolina’s defense for fantasy football this week).

I will talk a little more about the Buccaneers tonight on Football Freaks, which will be broadcast live on WMUC Sports from 7-8 p.m., so tune in to hear my take on what the Bucs’ outlook is for the rest of 2013.

The Panthers seem to be on track. Every year since 2011, Carolina goes 1-3 in their first four games. In 2011 and 2012 they followed that up with a 1-3 record in their next four games, as well. They went 4-4 during the second half of the 2011 season and 5-3 last year.

This year, they seem to be picking up the slack a little earlier. Since their 1-3 start, they’ve gone 3-0. A much harder part of the schedule is coming up though. They face the Falcons, 49ers and Patriots in their next three games and then play the Saints twice in their last four. But the rhythm Cam Newton and the rest of his team has found should serve them well down the stretch if they hope to pull out a wild-card spot in the playoffs.

Final Score:

Carolina Panthers – 31

Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 13

Sunday Football Afterword: Falcons vs Buccaneers

Harry Douglas helped Atlanta end their 3-game losing streak. He had 7 receptions
for 149 yards and a score with Julio Jones and Roddy White both inactive.

Saswat Misra

In yet another mistake filled game by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Atlanta Falcons outlasted Tampa Bay 31-23.

Matt Ryan and company were able to get it done against a tough Tampa bay defense that is still very much undisciplined. With both Julio Jones and Roddy White out, Jacquizz Rodgers and Harry Douglas stepped up big time as the Falcons took an early 24-7 lead.

The Bucs did make it a game in the third quarter but the Atlanta offense was too much.

This was an encouraging win for Atlanta as they were able to find other playmakers on offense. This bodes well for them, as Jones is out for the season and White may not be back for a while. Matt Ryan was very good and there didn’t seem to be a whole lot of problems on defense.

At 2-4, the Falcons still have a lot of work to do, butt this was a good “get back on track” win for them.

For Tampa Bay, penalties are still a major issue and will continue to hurt them if they can’t fix this problem.

Despite the loss, I liked what I saw from Mike Glennon. He kept his composure for the entire game and made some good throws when his offensive line gave him time to throw the football. Vincent Jackson was superb the entire game as he carried the offense. Doug Martin left the game in the third quarter with an apparent arm injury and his status is unknown.

Final Score:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 23

Atlanta Falcons – 31

2013 Offseason Update, Week 11

Pat Summerall (left) suffered a cardiac arrest and died last Tuesday. Summerall and
John Madden (right) called football games together for 22 years; 1979-1994 for CBS
and 1994-2002 for FOX. Photo credit to Yahoo! Sports.

I’m going to jump right into this week’s news.

Pat Summerall

John Madden’s former partner passed away last Tuesday at the age of 82. He suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. John Madden’s words were much more eloquent than mine would be, so here is what he said last week:

“Pat was my broadcasting partner for a long time, but more than that, he was my friend for all of these years. We never had one argument, and that was because of Pat. He was a great broadcaster and a great man. He always had a joke. Pat never complained and we never had an unhappy moment. He was something very special. Pat Summerall is the voice of football and always will be.”

NFL Schedule Release

The 2013 regular season schedule was released on Thursday night. I broke my usual mid-week silence on Friday to post my thoughts on the schedule. Check out that blog post here.

Rex Ryan Talks Baseball

Well, not exactly. What really happened was that he blasted the Orioles for not doing enough to allow the Ravens to play the NFL Kickoff Game at home, as every Super Bowl champion has done since 2004. The Orioles offered to play their game earlier in the day, but that was not enough because the two Baltimore sports teams share a parking lot and there was no way to ensure that it would be empty hours before the Ravens game.

Crab cakes and football; that’s the essence of the state of Maryland. Most people want the Ravens to be able to host the NFL Kickoff game. But I think the majority of people are over it now and know that opening the season on the road in Denver might actually be advantageous to them as the season wears on.

In any case, this was not Rex Ryan’s battle in the first place, even if he did coach with the team from 1999-2008.

Darrelle Revis Traded

This one just came through yesterday. Revis was traded to the Buccaneers for a couple of draft picks, including Tampa Bay’s #13 overall pick.

I feel bad for what Jets fans have to go through. As a Redskins fan myself, I appreciate the task of cheering for a team whose executives make boneheaded decisions. Thankfully, those days appear to be behind us in the D.C. area. Jets fans may have a while to wait for brighter days. New York would have received the other pick just by letting Revis go and sign with another team. So they essentially traded Revis for a first round pick. In other drafts, maybe that would be fair. But this draft isn’t very top heavy and you don’t use a first round pick for depth.

If I’m missing anything important, or if you just want to hear my thoughts on any other offseason news from the past week, feel free to contact me via my Twitter account, @cpuffnfl.

2013 Offseason Needs: NFC South

I began going through the NFL division-by-division last week, writing about what each team needs to address this offseason. I have covered the bases in all four AFC divisions and half of the NFC, so today I move on to the NFC South.

I won’t pretend to know every detail of what each team needs, but am open to comments from those who may know better what their teams need.

Atlanta Falcons

Tony Gonzalez has been wavering in his resolution to retire this offseason. We know that if he returns, it won’t be any city other than Atlanta. The Falcons are being very patient with Gonzalez, but they can only do so much this offseason without knowing if they can count on him to return in 2013.

William Moore is another free agent the Falcons need back. Their secondary needs some work, but if they can hold on to Moore, that’s one less piece they have to add from outside the organization. There are also rumors that Atlanta is one of the teams looking at Darrelle Revis. If they can get him for the right price, and if he is healthy, Revis would be a huge addition to their secondary.

John Braham is gone, which means the secondary is not the only area of concern for Atlanta. The Falcons played much better against the run during the postseason than during the regular season in 2012, but Abraham was a big part of that improvement. Without him, they need a new pass rusher, someone strong enough to stop running backs, including the bruisers who seem to be making a comeback, and versatile enough to contain the increased number of mobile quarterbacks, including Cam Newton.

On offense, the only real concern to address is in the run game.

Carolina Panthers

A lot of analysts keep talking about how much less confident they are in the Panthers heading into 2013 than they were heading into this past season. Cam Newton went through some sophomore growing pains, but played pretty well down the stretch. If he puts in good work this offseason, I can see the Panthers really making an improvement on offense. They question will be whether they can compete with three other good teams in their division.

Carolina found itself a fantastic young middle linebacker to build their defense around in Luke Kuechly. The defensive line and secondary need some work though and it may be a multi-offseason job to get this team into playoff contention in such a competitive division.

Depth at receiver is also an area that needs major attention. Steve Smith has enjoyed a couple of breakout seasons with Newton in town, but he isn’t getting any younger. Even while Smith is still around, the Panthers don’t have a decent second option for Newton to look to.

New Orleans Saints

Sean Payton is back, and that’s the most important thing New Orleans needed for this offseason. Even if they were to do nothing else this offseason, that would be enough for a major improvement on purely a mental level.

Rob Ryan is in town, so the defense will hopefully see an improvement. It would be hard for it to get any worse, but I’ll try not to jinx it.

The defense needs an almost compete overhaul, especially if Will Smith and Jonathan Vilma don’t take the pay cuts they’ve been asked to take. On offense, New Orleans may want to add some depth to their line and have to make decisions about what to do with their running backs.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

After seeing him pull what I consider to be cheap shots against the Giants and Cowboys this season, to say I am not a fan of Greg Schiano would be the understatement of the year. Still, he is a hell of a coach and showed this year that he can handle the task of leading a professional team. The Buccaneers finished the season 1-5, but that is still better than the 0-10 finish they had in 2011. They also won three more games, and I see more improvement to come in 2013.

Josh Freeman returned to form and is likely going to be considered Tampa Bay’s franchise quarterback from here on. They also found themselves an incredibly talented running back in Doug Martin. Offensively, I can’t think of a time when Tampa Bay has looked better, even going back to the Tony Dungy/Jon Gruden era.

Defensively, Tampa Bay was the best in the NFL against the run in 2012, but their pass defense was atrocious and the Bucs will have to put a lot of work into their secondary to avoid a duplicate performance in 2013.

Tomorrow I will cover the NFC West’s offseason needs, team-by-team. Keep up with new posts as I publish them by ‘liking’ my Facebook page and by following me on Twitter, @cpuffnfl.

Sunday Football Afterword: Week 14 Early Games

Kirk Cousins got the call in the 4th quarter and kept the
Redskins in the first bubble spot in the NFC Playoff race.
Photo credit to The Washington Post.

A late start and an unexpectedly busy afternoon kept me from writing my usual Monday posts, so today I am writing (and publishing) this post and then splicing my regular second Monday post with my usual Tuesday post. On a side note, this is my 200^th post on this blog, so thank you to all you who keep coming back and reading my work!

Sunday’s early games saw several unexpected results. They also lent insight into what we may see in the postseason. The Falcons and Bears both lost to lesser division opponents Carolina and Minnesota. Pittsburgh, who seemed to be right back in the playoff picture, suffered an upset and major setback against San Diego, helped only by Cincinnati’s late collapse against Dallas and a mind-blowing comeback by the Redskins at home against Baltimore.

Buffalo played a close game at home against the Rams, but the playoff push was apparently enough to send St. Louis home with a win, unlike some other playoff contenders mentioned above.

Kansas City’s motivation seemed to only last a week as Cleveland ran all over them in a 30-7 romp. Worse yet for the Chiefs is the likely loss of Dwayne Bowe for the rest of the season, although I guess if ever there was a time when losing one of your best players to IR is acceptable, it would be in their current situation.

Indianapolis pulled out another come-from-behind win against Tennessee and is nearing a playoff birth. The Jets, meanwhile, put off their playoff elimination another week with a 17-10 win in Jacksonville.

Tampa Bay, meanwhile, was seriously set back in a very close, very packed NFC wild-card race by losing 23-21 at home against Philadelphia in Nick Foles’ first win as a starter.

Washington kept pace with Dallas, who edged the Bengals in Cincinnati, by overcoming an 8-point deficit late in the fourth quarter with Kirk Cousins under center following a knee injury to RG3. Cousins overcame 2^nd & 20 following by an intentional grounding call against Griffin III with a 15-yard completion followed by an 11-yard touchdown strike to Pierre Garçon on a scramble. He then ran the ball in himself for the conversion. A huge defensive stand in overtime opened the door for a 60-yard punt return followed by a game-winning field goal by Kai Forbath. RG3 is not expected to miss much time as he was diagnosed with a knee sprain and is day-to-day, but I think the team and fan base would have been comfortable with Cousins leading the team if RG3 were to miss extended action.

The Falcons lost their second game of the season but still have a good chance to gain home-field advantage, as their closest competitor, San Francisco, is a game and a half back with three games left. The Bears loss to the Vikings was very costly as Green Bay’s later victory gave them control of the NFC North and puts a target on Chicago for the wild-card chase pack.

The Steelers loss did not lose them the sixth postseason spot in the AFC, but it puts the Jets just one game out with three games left, and the Jets have limped into the playoffs before only to upset better teams on the way to surprising AFC Championship appearances.

Check back later for my Sunday Football Afterword Deluxe for the four late games and the Monday Night matchup. Thanks for reading everyone!

Thursday Night Football Afterword: Vikings vs Buccaneers

The Buccaneers won 36-17 in Minnesota, handing
the Vikings their first home loss of the season.

So often these days, teams like to look back at a game and say, “we lost it,” rather than “the other team won it.” If the Vikings try to pull that one this week, we can call B.S. The Vikings didn’t beat themselves; the Bucs played a terrific game.

Did the Vikings turn the ball over a couple times? Yes. But the Buccaneers scored just ten points off those turnovers. They won by 19. I don’t think you can attribute the Tampa Bay victory to just the turnovers.

Plenty of us knew the Buccaneers had a special young player in their backfield, but I had no idea that there would be serious competition for runner-up in the race for NFC offensive rookie of the year – I don’t think Robert Griffin III will be caught, but I figured Alfred Morris would easily be the number two pick.

Doug Martin had a spectacular game. He scored twice and had over 200 total yards from scrimmage. I don’t know how many fantasy leagues he is owned in, but the team in my league that has him was lucky enough to have put him in at flex and now has over 30 points heading into the weekend.

Josh Freeman had the fewest passing yards of any game since Tampa Bay’s bye week, but threw three touchdown passes for the third consecutive week. Another quick fantasy look-in, the team in my league with Josh Freeman has him on the bench for Aaron Rodgers. Of course I won’t argue with that, considering Minnesota was solid defensively at home until last night and Green Bay is playing Jacksonville, but I know the league member will be upset if Rodgers doesn’t top 27 points on Sunday.

Jared Allen became a hero to the Minnesota crowd
over this two-play sequence.

On the other side, Christian Ponder didn’t have a bad game. In fact, he had a pretty terrific game. A glance at the stat line won’t tell you that, but Ponder was under heavy pressure all day. Some of his best passes came while being drilled in the face, in the back, and while rolling out.

Adrian Peterson also had a pretty good day on the ground, but a costly fumble seemed to have an effect on him for the rest of the game. He didn’t run quite as hard as he did before the fumble.

Multiple times, the Vikings worked to get back in the game, but they couldn’t put back-to-back drives together and let the Bucs get away in Minnesota’s first home loss of the season.

The Vikings are not in trouble yet, and I view this more as a statement game for Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers have been playing in close games, and Josh Freeman is playing more like he did two years ago when he nearly led his team to a playoff birth, when he threw only five interceptions all year. He has already matched that number this season, but four of them came in the first four weeks.

Minnesota will get an extra few days to prepare for their next game, which is good because they have to face the Seahawks and the 12^th Man in Seattle next Sunday. Tampa Bay’s next game will be next week in Oakland.

Find me on Facebook to stay updated on new blog posts as I publish them and also show some love for my WMUC Sports talk show, The All-Sports Crew. You can also follow me on Twitter – I recently changed my tag to @cpuffnfl.

Thanks for reading everyone and enjoy the rest of Week 8. I’ll be back Monday with my Sunday Afterwords!

2011-12 Postseason Predictions, Part II: NFC

NFC Postseason

1. Philadelphia Eagles (12-4) – NFC East Champion, Home Field Advantage

Even before I went through and picked winners for all 256 regular season games, my two favorites to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl were Philadelphia and Atlanta, so I was not at all surprised to see them at the top of my postseason preview.

The biggest question for me going into 2011 is how players like Michael Vick and DeSean Jackson respond to the high level of success they had last season (with the bigger concern in my mind being Jackson). As they say, “pride goes before the fall.” Take Chad Ochocinco for example. He got a big head, started showing off, and what has happened? Is he still a very good receiver? Yes, absolutely. But I rarely rank him in my top 20-25 for NFL receivers anymore. Will DeSean Jackson suffer the same fate? I believe the answer to that question is the key to just how close to 12-4 and home field advantage the Eagles will get.

Now, regardless of their offense, the Eagles have a fantastic defense this season that will take them to the playoffs. With the addition of Nnamdi Asomugha to their secondary, complimenting an already solid defensive corps, it will be very difficult for their opponents to establish any kind of passing game, and the ground attack can only take a team so far.

2. Atlanta Falcons (11-5) – NFC South Champion, 1st Round Bye

A big part of this record, in my mind, is how the Falcons will do at home. I have them winning around seven of their home games, meaning they are right around .500 on the road. They had a lot of success at home last season and I think they will continue that this season. Their fans are even more expectant of success this year and will be that much louder, disrupting their visitors.

The key to getting a better record than what I predict (by winning away games) is the development of Matt Ryan. For the past few years I have said that Ryan could develop into a Peyton Manning type quarterback, and I still see that potential. But I did not see much improvement over the course of last season, so the question in my mind is what he has done and how much he has improved over the offseason without the help of coaches keeping track of his work and guiding his progress.

3. Green Bay Packers (10-6) – NFC North Champion

The Packers are the type of team that should be good for many years. If they made the playoffs each of the next ten seasons, I would not be shocked by any means. In the same breath, they are not a team that I see leading the conference during the regular season. To me, they scream, “peak during the postseason!” And in a lot of ways, that is the best way to do it, especially for an NFC team where 10 wins in a season, until last season, virtually guarantee a playoff birth.

Aaron Rodgers plays very well into this style. He plays well throughout the season, but his best games seem to be the last few of the regular season and then his postseason performances.

They will also, again, have one of the toughest defenses in the league, with a secondary that is very difficult to pick apart, a line that is nearly impenetrable with the run, and linebackers who can defend the run and the pass.

They key will be keeping players healthy. Last season they won the Super Bowl with 13 really good players on IR, but do not count on them having the same success if they lose a lot of players to injury again this year.

4. Arizona Cardinals (10-6) – NFC West Champion

The addition of Kevin Kolb makes all the difference to me. The Cardinals are a talented team, and have been for several years now. They had all the necessities for a playoff team, even last year, except for a quarterback who could lead them. With Kurt Warner, they did some things nobody expected from them. Last year, without Warner, they struggled to a 5-11 record, winning just one game against an NFC West opponent.

With a Kolb taking the snaps for them this year, I think we see Arizona back in the postseason and a playoff game in the desert.

5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (11-5) – 2nd Place NFC South, Wild Card

Tampa Bay could just as easily sneak off with the NFC South title and a 1st round bye in my mind, it is that close. Raheem Morris, in his second year as head coach (he lead Tampa to a 3-13 record in 2009), showed what his work ethic can accomplish, shocking the NFL by taking his team to a 10-6 record, barely missing the postseason (it is not common for 10-6 not to make the playoffs in the NFC). 2nd year quarterback Josh Freeman was great, throwing just 6 INTs to 25 touchdowns (only Tom Brady threw fewer among quarterbacks with at least 450 pass attempts last season).

With LeGarrette Blount and Mike Williams returning, Tampa Bay’s offense is set.

Defense may be Tampa Bay’s weakness, but Morris is a defensive head coach, so any huge issues should be taken care of by the time week 1 of the regular season rolls around.

6. Dallas Cowboys (9-7) – 2nd Place NFC East, Wild Card

Dallas, honestly, does not impress me that much. That said, I think they have the potential to hit 10 or even 11 wins. Why? Jason Garrett. After the team started 1-7 last season, Wade Phillips was fired and Garrett was named the interim head coach. He led the team to a 5-3 finish. With Tony Romo back, I honestly feel like Dallas may be at a disadvantage. If Kitna were the starter, I probably would have given Dallas another win right off the bat.

Romo has had a good deal of success, and he is earned all of it. But during his 5+ games last season, Dallas only delivered one win. Kitna came in and Dallas lost two more game under Phillips and then went 5-3 under Garrett (with those 3 losses being by a combined 7 points). That first loss with Kitna could just as easily be faulted to him needing time to develop a rapport with the offensive starters.

If Romo has bounced back well from his injury and can return to his pre-2010 success, the Cowboys should do fine under one of the best young head coaches in the NFL.

Could Sneak In

New York Giants

Honestly, I do not see the Giants getting into the postseason. I only have them on this list because I have them winning nine games, and one more against a team I did not expect them to win against (maybe the Cowboys) would put them in.

Minnesota Vikings

Leslie Frazier did not have quite the same success following Childress’ firing as Jason Garrett did after Phillips’, but the Vikings have some things going for them. They are rid of Brett Favre, and though he was a good quarterback last year, that is all he was. Gone was the 2009 Brett Favre who miraculously led Minnesota to the NFC Championship game.

Now, they have Donovan McNabb, who could actually do really well since ex-Redskins have generally trended upward after leaving the D.C. area. The Vikings have one of the best defensive lines in the NFC (I only rank Detroit’s above theirs) and their secondary, though not superb, is solid. With Peterson in the backfield and a good corps of receivers, McNabb, if nothing else, should see success closer to what he had in Philadelphia than what he did in Washington.

Detroit Lions

As I mentioned above, the Lions probably have the best defensive line in the NFC, and they make a case for best in the NFL. Ndamukong Suh is a one-man wrecking crew in the trenches, and with the addition of Nick Farley in the 2011 draft, the question will be how running backs can get out any running room and how long will quarterbacks have to go through their progressions and get the ball out of their hands before the pocket collapses on them. Only the best quarterbacks will find any success, and even the best running backs might not find any, against this Lions defense.

My problem is the question mark surrounding the offense. They have a very good wide receiver in Calvin Johnson. But who should be leading the offense? Matthew Stafford or Shaun Hill? And will Jahvid Best stay healthy? He played very well on his injured foot last season, but if he cannot keep that foot in good shape, he can only play on it so long before it starts taking years off his career.

I say it is one more year that Lions fans will have to wait, but they could sneak in this year and I can definitely see them in the postseason following the 2012 season.

Chicago Bears

I do not know about the Bears. They could have another really good season this year and get into the postseason, but I wonder if their run last year, only to fall at the hands of Green Bay, at home, in the NFC Championship game may doom them to a disappointing season this year. Jay Cutler is a good quarterback, and I think if he could have continued last year in that game last year, he would have. When you are sacked 52 times (12 more than the next most sacked QB) in a season, I have difficulty challenging your toughness.

But, until he proves otherwise, I put him in the same category as Rex Grossman. He did a pretty good job last year, but he rode his teammate’s success to a deep playoff run. He was not the reason for them making the postseason, at least not in my mind.

Lovie Smith has been doing a really good job with this team, and he will continue to, but I think it will be another case of a good year followed by a few poor seasons before the next playoff run in Chicago.

New Orleans Saints

Drew Brees has proven that the Saints can never be counted out. I think that with the rise of Tampa Bay as a team to beat in the NFC South, the Saints may be left out of the dance this year.

But you never really know for sure. They still have a very good defense, coached by Gregg Williams, one of the better defensive minds in the league. They also nabbed Mark Ingram Jr., the only Heisman winner in Alabama’s history, late in the 1st round of the 2011 draft. Reggie Bush had a spotty career in New Orleans before leaving for Miami this season, but maybe Ingram will find more success.

All I know is that the Saints will have to prove themselves to me before I consider them a playoff team in 2011.


You can see my complete standings predictions and my AFC Postseason Preview at the following URLs:

Standings: 2011-12 Postseason Predictions, Part I: Standings
AFC Postseason: 2011-12 Postseason Predictions, Part II: AFC

2011 Offseason: NFC South

Today’s posts are for the teams in the NFC South.

Atlanta Falcons

2011 Offseason: Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

2011 Offseason: Carolina Panthers

New Orleans Saints

2011 Offseason: New Orleans Saints

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

2011 Offseason: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Thanks for reading and check back tomorrow for posts on the NFC West teams.

2011 Offseason: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

I realized that Josh Freeman had an incredible year in his second season out of Kansas State. But when I saw that he had only thrown six interceptions all season, my eyes bugged out a little. When you play 16 games and you’re throwing INT numbers similar to those of Brady and Cassel, there at the top of the NFL, that’s saying something. When it’s just you’re second year, it’s a wonder his name wasn’t considered with Brady and Vick as possible MVP candidates.

Freeman will continue to improve, though it shouldn’t be surprising if he throws a handful more picks next year (6 is a hard number to back up). Carnell Williams will hopefully be back, which would help the Bucs big time in terms of stability in the backfield. The main concern on offense will be the front line. They aren’t in any dire need of talent on the offensive line, but if they can get a really good lineman in the draft it would help.

Here’s the thing with Tampa Bay. The team is very young. In some ways, it’s better for the players to be younger when you have a young coach like Raheem Morris. But at the same time, for a young coach to have to enforce the level of structure needed for a young team to be successful is very difficult and sometimes proves to be too much to ask. They Buccaneers had a lot of success this season, but their schedule wasn’t of a particularly high difficulty outside of the Saints and Falcons. Their wins will come much less easily next year so the players will have to help Morris out by being motivated without his constant attention.

Because of this, I think that their needs on defense should be addressed through free agency. It isn’t bad to have older, veteran players. It is only bad when that’s all you have and there is no youth available to supplement it. The draft will be key for the Buccaneers, no doubt. But Tampa Bay is in a fantastic position to start using the draft as a tool to add depth. They don’t need to be getting guys who can start as rookies at this point.

I like the Buccaneers in 2011. They just have to get a group of guys in who can compete as well with the playoff caliber teams as with the teams lower on the food chain. I’m not convinced that they will be a playoff team next season, but I have little doubt that they will be competitive in all of their games next year. It won’t be an easy task to keep them out of the postseason.