Many times throughout the year, I expressed my concern about the accuracy issues that plagued our franchise QB, “5″.   I tend to be of the belief that accuracy is not a trait that is learned by NFL QB’s but something a QB either has or doesn’t have.

12 teams make the NFL playoffs.  This is the list of the QB completion percentage for all 12 playoffs QB’s.

Drew Brees – 1st
Brett Favre – 2nd
Phillip Rivers – 3rd
Aaron Rodgers - 4th
Peyton Manning – 6th
Tony Romo -7th
Tom Brady - 9th
Kurt Warner – 10th
Donovan McNabb – 12th
Joe Flacco – 13th
Carson Palmer – 16th
Mark Sanchez 28th

Mark Sanchez, Joe Flacco and Carson Palmer had the 1st, 3rd and 6th ranked defensives from a points per game perspective.  Donovan McNabb was the only QB not in the top 10 in QB accuracy, whose team wasn’t a top 6 ranked defense who made the playoffs.

For all that information, the number one QB in the league for completion percentage just won the Super Bowl and not surprisingly had an 82.05% completion percentage in their W.

The stats (although our head coach says stats “are for losers”) speak for themselves.

Many of you who read this, are going to be pissed off when you’re done, so if you don’t care about anyone else, than you might as well stop now.

Since I was 17 years old, I have been attending Buccaneers games practically full time.  I have sat in the club section on the east side of the stadium, random sections from scalping tickets and then section 119, where my tickets currently reside.  I have probably only missed 10 games or so in that span of 13 years.  One of the main reasons that I left FSU and Tallahassee was that I was tired of riding the Greyhound back and forth between Tallahassee and Tampa during football season, and ended up spending consecutive weeks back in Tampa when we had home games on back to back weekends (not exactly a proud moment in my Academic life!).   I have a Buccaneers ship tattooed not on my back or some place that nobody can see it, but on the side of my ankle for gods sake!  Anyone that knows me, or anyone that reads this blog with regularity will attest to the passion and the love that I have for the Buccaneers.

I have been an angry Bucs fan now for going on month number 6.  I’m not mad that we sucked (although I am mad about that), because we have been a bad team before and I wasn’t really mad then.  I am mad now because I don’t like the direction the management and the coaching staff has at this juncture.  Doesn’t mean I don’t love my team, just means I’m disenchanted by their rhetoric.  When this season ended, I essentially swore off my tickets in 2010, barring a monumental reduction in price.  That was all fine and well while I was still fuming over our 3-13 campaign, while I still hadn’t received my invoice and while I hadn’t really thought about football season without my friends in 119.

As I got my invoice the other day, it was honestly a strange moment for me.  I generally look at it with a “damn, I have to pay this big bill” face.  When I got the invoice this time, I didn’t have that face, because in my heart of hearts, I didn’t intend on paying it.  There was no need for a “damn, I have to pay this big bill face.”  It was a sad moment honestly, as I contemplated not going to football games for the first time in 13 seasons.

The longer I sat there and stared at the bill (which had no reduction in price by the way), I thought to myself, I have to have a plan for this.  So I formulated one.  If I’m happy with the offseason and the draft, I will leave open the possibility of re-upping my tickets.  If what Mark Dominik has hinted in the past few weeks, that the Bucs will not be players of any sort in Free Agency, then the same stance I have taken the past few months, if the Glazers are going to be cheap-asses then so will I, will end up winning.

I think for my own mental well-being, I’m praying for Radio and the Glazers to do something productive this offseason.    P

Yesterday, the Bucs hired former Bills offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt to be their QB coach.  If the Bucs don’t fire him during the season or before the season even starts, I actually like the hire.

Van Pelt has been a rising name in the coaching ranks for a few seasons now.  Before truly dismantling his last year with the Bills, take a look at the circumstances.  First, people complain about the talent on our offensive roster, take a look at the Bills.  Washed up TO, Trent Edwards, Ryan Fitzpatrick, ugh.  Just like Greg Olson, Van Pelt was thrown into the fire before the start of the season.

Maybe Greg Olson felt a bond with Van Pelt, as both guys got thrown to the wolves in 2009.

As I said in the title, before crushing the hire because of the offense the Bills put on the field last season, consider the quality of product he had to work with.  Teams like the Giants and the Steelers also reportedly were interested in Van Pelt and he chose the Bucs, so it’s not like we were the only team after him.

There are almost certain to be three Buccaneers players from the last 15 years voted into the NFL’s Hall of Fame once their required time has elapsed from retirement.  There have been some borderline great Bucs who may have Hall of Fame resumes, but to me, three distinct players stand out.  Those same three players stood out to the same people who vote for the NFL’s Hall of Fame Selection Committee.  Yesterday, before the Pro Bowl, the NFL named its All Decade Team.   Ronder Barber, Derrick Brooks and Warren Sapp all were distinguished with that honor.   Former Head Coach Tony Dungy was also one of the two coaches chosen.

Derrick Brooks - During the decade, he made Pro Bowls in every year except 2007 and 2009.  He was a first team All-Pro 4 times, in 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2005.  He led the NFL in non-offensive TD’s in 2002 with 4, the same year he won the Defensive Player of the Year and the Bucs won the Super Bowl.  That same year, he was 10th in the league in INT’s at 5, the only non-defensive back in the top 15.   A good judge of players in all sports is a similarity score that is used in baseball mainly to determine “like” players.  For DB his similar players are Mike Singletary, Lawrence Taylor, Jack Ham, Ray Lewis and Junior Seau.  A Hall of Fame lock.

Ronde Barber – The only defensive back in NFL history with over 25 sacks and 25 INT’s, Ronde Barber has been one of the leagues premier defensive backs for over 10 years.  He finished every season with at least two INT’s and 1 sack in the decade except for in 2006 and in 2009.  In 2001 he led the league with 10 INT’s.  He had over 50 tackles every year in the decade.  He was named to Pro Bowl teams in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008. He was a First Team All-Pro in 2001, 2004 and 2005.  He is first in the league in active NFL players in non-offensive TD’s with 13.  He is number in NFL history in non-offensive TD’s with 13.  He is 3rd in NFL history in Fumble Return TD’s with 4.  He is 8th in NFL history with 7 INT’s for TD.  His similarity scores compare him to Herb Adderley, Lem barney, Willie WOod, Night Train Lane, Aeneas Williams, Mel Blount, Champ Bailey and Deion Sanders.   All of those guys are Hall of Famers, or soon to be Hall of Famers.  A Hall of Fame lock.

“Obviously, this is quite an honor,” said Barber. “To be singled out among the thousands of players who have played during the 2000s is pretty special. What it means to me is that the hard work I’ve put in all these years has paid off, and I’ve been fortunate to have a pretty successful career. I think the fact that it started, really, at top of this decade with a big year and has continued since then shows my resiliency. I think I’ve had a pretty good career and it’s rewarding to be recognized for it.”

Warren Sapp – One of the most disruptive interior pass rushers in NFL History, in my opinion, the real cog in our great defenses and the reason that we won a SB.  He made Pro Bowls in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003.  He was a First Team All Pro in 2000, 2001 and 2002.  He’s 28th in NFL History in Career Sacks.  He is second in NFL history in sacks for interior lineman.   Not only was he a great pass rusher, he was equally great at stopping the run.  While he probably peaked near the start of the 2000’s he was still a dominant enough force to be named to the team.  His similarity scores compare him to players like Deacon Jones, Henry Jordan, Dan Hampton, Willie Davis, Jack Youngblood, Randy White and Joe Greene, all of whom are Hall of Famers.  In my mind, Sapp is a Hall of Fame lock.   The fact that he was a prick might leave him off the first ballot, but he will eventually get in.

There were a couple Buccaneers who at times this season, true the disdain of fans across Bucs nation.   One of the prime targets of that disdain for me was SS Sabby Piscatelli.  I have heard the guy is really nice, and in no way is this a cut at him personally, but his football skills are below average at best.  Another guy who constantly made me angry this season was RT Jeremy Trueblood.  This is another guy who I know firsthand is a very nice guy, but once again, this is not a cut at him personally.  He is penalty machine though, and at times this season, killed drives for the Bucs.

Footballoutsiders.com, produced a 2009 All-Keep Choppin Wood Team on Thursday, and two Bucs made the list.

Every week, your Scramble writers award players, coaches and owners for mind-bogglingly bad decisions or performances — those actions that go above and beyond mediocrity and directly lead to their team losing. Over the course of the season, a few starts fall down into the dregs, and subtly or overtly hang about their team’s neck like an albatross. These are the players of the All-Keep Choppin’ Wood Team. Tom and I went through position by position and picked out some of our favorite wood-choppers. Keep in mind that this is not only incredibly subjective, but rife with partial information; while it’s easy to get good information on the NFL’s premiere performers, it’s not quite so easy to get information on the chronic underachievers and purveyors of debilitating mediocrity.

Jeremy Trueblood

Mike: It’s a common refrain that penalty-prone linemen are a massive liability to their offense, and it’s quite true — very few drives can survive a holding penalty, and false starts often put teams in unmanageable positions. Jeremy Trueblood, however, is in a league of his own. He’s a holding and false start machine, tied for second in the league with 13 penalties, and he’s generally a turnstile. On top of this, he somehow caught a reputation as a dirty player. Not “Olin Kruetz cheats” dirty, but “getting fined over $26,000 by the league” dirty. How do you rack up that much unnecessary roughness? Especially as an offensive lineman!

Tom: Consider him an overachiever.

Mike: He’s got to be some kind of psychopath.

Sabby Piscatelli

Tom: So, Sabby Piscitelli. It’s kind of a fun name, in that juvenile, vaguely dirty way some Italian names are. His house was burglarized during the win against Green Bay this year, and burglary is wrong and illegal, so he has my sympathies. I hope he was covered by insurance. If you do an Internet search on him, he’s apparently somewhat of a favorite of the ladies. They had an easy time finding him this year; all they had to do was look at who was supposed to be there when Tampa Bay gave up a long touchdown pass.

There isn’t much more for me to say that I haven’t said at some point this year, or wasn’t summed up by Footballoutsiders in this funny article.