Once again, I was comletely unimpressed with the QB play vs the Miami Dolphins. Byron Leftwich, while obviously possessing a great arm as far as velocity is concerned, still shows a tendency to sail balls over receivers heads. He was 9/17 for 100 yards, and his preseason completion % is still under 50%. Luke McCown was equally unimpressive going 5/11 for 38 yards. He doesn’t seem to have the ability to feel pressure, and was sacked multiple times. I will in McCowns defense, that the offensive line did not do an adequate enough job of giving him any time to succeed. Josh Freeman was a paltry 6/16 for 50 yards and also ran for 18 yards on 3 carries. It hurts me to say this, because I had such high hopes for the QB competition between McCown and Leftwich but, Josh Freeman should be the starter for this team. I still am not personally sold on him being an NFL caliber QB, but the play of Leftwich and McCown does not justify sitting our future on the bench. Freeman still forces to many passes, and has a real tendency to lock onto one guy and not go through is progressions, but when the supposed “veteran” QB play is this uninspiring, what are we truly waiting for. Has there been any point during this preseason where you as a fan have felt that McCown or Sluggo could lead us to the playoffs, for me there hasn’t and I don’t think there has been for any of you guys either.
On a positive note….
Cadillac Williams looked great. He showed no signs of being tentative cutting either way on either of his surgically repaired knees. I’m still a believer in Caddy, and feel he still gives us the best threat at the RB position. A backfield that has Caddy as the feature back, Derrick Ward as the 3rd down and receiving back, and Ernest Graham as the short yardage back seems to me to give us the best chance at victory.
Maurice Stovall finally showed me a few things on Thursday. I have been waiting for him to come up with some grabs with hands on him, and he had a few of them on Thursday. One particular play, Stovall ran a skinny post, made a nice cut, and had a nice grab with a linebacker underneath, a safety overtop and a rookie Sean Smith draped on his back . He ended with 6 catches for 73 yards.
The starting defense is going to be much better than people expected. We are fast, hit hard, and have the youth and depth to not wear down at the end of the season, as we did last year. If my calculations are correct, with the majority starting defense on the field, they have given up a measly 10 points in just about 4 quarters of play. Geno Hayes and Quincy Black specifically looked real studly vs the Dolphins. DT Chris Bradwell is making a real strong push to make this final roster, as he was stellar vs the Dolphins. He has 5 tackles, 2 sacks and an INT thusfar in the preseason.
Loading ...
FanSided
I really enjoyed the Buccaneers game on Thursday night. Despite the rain delay and the lost. They showed a lot of heart on Defense and gave us a lot to look forward to This 2009-2010 NFL Season. And as you stated Chris Bradwell showed up to play. Just look at His Preseason Stats. He’s definetely a keeper. He’ll Bring a lot of pressure to the quarterbacks in this league. NFL READY!!! Sapp Jr.
Did you enjoy anything that happened offensively though wizdom, especially from the QB’s? Caddy was enjoyable, everything else was like getting teeth pulled (offensively).
I think the Bucs had a strong group of running backs like Caddilac Williams and Derrick Ward, formerly of The New York Giants, who looked good offensively. I am anxious to see them a full 4 quarters in the regular season. As far as the Bucs QB’s go, It’s been hard to judge, from what I’ve seen so far offensively. Although given time and experience I believe Josh Freeman can be very effective. He showed a few sparks. Keep in mind this guy is just as big as Leftwich, but faster. So I think he’ll only grow hungrier and hungrier standing on the sideline watching and waiting for his turn to experience the excitement of being a QB in the NFL Regular Season. So I’m Looking forward to seeing him step into the role of QB in the future. Now Leftwich, WHO HAS BEEN OFFICIALLY NAMED THE TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS STARTING QB, will have to show and prove a little more effective offense~~LIKE SCORING SOME POINTS~~ this upcoming game versus the Houston Texans. Regular season is only a game away. —DEFENSE IS CONSISTENT, BUT THE OFFENSE NEEDS TIME …TO DEVELOP.
I like the idea of starting Josh Freeman when the “veterans” are playing this poorly. After seeing Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan play so well in their rookie seasons, you gotta believe its possible and worth taking a chance, again esp with these guys looking the way they do in the preseason.