Buccaneer Breakdown: Offense

To say that the Buccaneers offense clicked yesterday would be the understatement of the season. After hinting at their potential all season, showing little glimmers and flashes, yesterday the Buccaneer offense absolutely smoked the Seattle Seahawks. Regardless of the outcome of this season, if the offense that destroyed the Seahawks last night is what Bucs fans have to look forward to for the foreseeable future then the Bucs are going to be a force for years to come.

Before the game resident St. Pete Times curmudgeon Gary Shelton wondered if the trio of Mike Williams, LeGarrette Blount and Josh Freeman could become a triple-threat in the vein of Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin and Troy Aikman (among other great historical NFL trios). Then the Bucs went out and got huge games out of all three. Behind the three and an excellent performance from Kellen Winslow, the Buccaneers reeled off 38 points and blew away the Seahawks. It’s funny how far the Buccaneers have come in just one season. Just ten weeks ago it was the Bucs on the other end of that same stick in their own stadium against Pittsburgh and New Orleans. Yesterday it was the young Bucs dismantling a veteran team.

On a day in which Mark Sanchez struggled and threw a key interception to end a big game and Matt Stafford missed his 18th career start because of an injury, Josh Freeman had the best game of his promising young career. The second-year signal caller connected on 21 of 26 attempts for 237 yards and a career high (and Buccaneer record) 5 touchdowns. He was accurate, connecting with ten different receivers and completing more than 80 percent of his attempts. There’s really not anything more you could have asked of Freeman yesterday. He was simply unreal.

The other two young guns on the Buccaneers offense also had impressive days. Mike Williams and Kellen Winslow combined for ten catches on the day. Williams snagged three for 44 yards and two touchdowns, giving him ten on his impressive rookie campaign and leaving him just 76 yards shy of 1,000. Winslow had seven catches for 98 yards and two scores, his best game as a Buc. Even Maurice Stovall had a touchdown after battling through injuries and back up the depth chart this season.

The only guy who didn’t score was LeGarrette Blount who did a lot of the legwork on the day for the Bucs. Blount carried the ball just 18 times but averaged 9.1 yards per carry and finished the day with 164 yards and several highlight reel plays including another hurdling effort on a long run. Blount is unreal, how the Titans cut him is beyond me. I imagine they wanted to stash him on their practice squad, but considering he’s 59 yards from 1,000 on the season despite starting just six games all year (and playing in only 12), that seems a bit ambitious. Blount is fast proving to be a feature back here in Tampa and as he gets more acquainted with the offense and the NFL he’s only going to get better.

It was a big day for the Buccaneers yesterday. The offense showed monstrous potential, the Bucs secured a winning season and I think it’s fair to say this team is going to be able to score for a long time. This off-season, whether it starts after next weekend after a playoff berth, Mark Dominik can focus on the D, because the cupboard looks pretty full right now on the offensive side of the football.