San Francisco defeats Tampa Bay 15-10

This is all I can say after today’s loss to the 49ers. Simms sucks. I know our offensive line did not do their job today, but Simms was throwing balls into the dirt, c’mon. Let the Rattay CHANTS START. I will be at the next game when we face Carolina. Lets see what Simms does against a good defense.

If your still sold on Simms read my Rattay article.

Who is responsible for Super Bowl XXXVII: Gruden or Dungy?

A friend of mine came to the house the other day and we ended up talking about Buccaneer Football (Go Figure). He was talking down about Coach Gruden and he said

“I hope this is his last year. Gruden sucks, and is
not the genius that everybody thinks he is.”

Then he said what a lot of Buccaneer fans think, that

"Gruden did not win us Super Bowl XXXVII, that Tony
Dungy did."

This is something I get tired of hearing over and over again. Please give Coach Gruden some RESPECT, he took us to the promise land and we WON.

I will be the first to admit that Coach Dungy was the greatest thing to ever happen to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He changed this franchise from the laughing stock of the NFL to a Playoff Contender and created a defense that should be talked about as ONE of the ALL TIME GREATS. (I also believe this is Coach Dungy’s year with the Colts. I am pulling for the Colts to get Dungy his first Super Bowl Ring. That is of course if the Bucs are not in it!) We must face the facts, Coach Dungy as the Bucs head coach could never take us to that next level. Coach Dungy’s offense was never really good, it was the defense that kept us in the playoff hunt every year. It was also the fans who gave up on Coach Dungy not just the Bucs ownership. Now those fans are worshipping Dungy and giving up on Gruden.

The Bucs ownership had a lot of egg on their face after firing Coach Dungy for a wishy-washy Bill Parcells, who I will never like (even though he is a legend).

The Buccaneers finally got their man, a man, who I believe is the only person who could have replaced Dungy, (Jon Gruden).

Now let me explain why Coach Gruden won us that Super Bowl and not Coach Dungy. First according to the media Gruden brought in 22 of his own players out of the 53 man roster for the Super Bowl season. Here are some of the names that stand out for that year:

• Kerry Jenkins
• Rob Johnson
• Marco Battaglia
• Greg Spires (Still a big factor today)
• Michael Pittman ( Super Bowl Key: 124 yards rushing, still a factor today)
• Joe Jurevicius (Key player during the Super Bowl run, should still be on the team)
• Ken Dilger
• Tom Tupa
• Roman Oben
• Keenan McCardell (Star Receiver during Super Bowl Run)
• Jermaine Phillips (drafted that year, starter today)
• Ryan Nece (drafted that year, starter today)
• Ricky Dudley

Gruden also stood in as Rich Gannon during the Buccaneers Defensive practices. I know the Bucs Defense was number one that year, but even John Lynch said, that he knew every play that Gannon ran before he called it, Why? Because, Gruden coached Rich Gannon while he was at Oakland. His knowledge of the Raiders is what made our defense so great during that game.

I must also point out that our offense was also a key factor for us wining the Super Bowl. Michael Pittman had 124 yards on the ground. Alstott had a touchdown run, and McCardell had two receiving touchdowns. There was also two field goals by Gramatica, still showing that Gruden’s offense moved the ball well.

I am not trying to take anything away from Tony Dungy, I am just tired of the fickle fans, who dog Gruden out all the time. Mostly because he does not use Mike Alstott. Alstott is and has been my favorite Bucs player, but Gruden is the coach and he has a system that is working. The last two years we were hit with the injury bug, and costly distractions. This year we are 5-1, we had a great draft with Cadillac Williams and Barrett Rudd. How can you go wrong with last year rookie, Michael Clayton and with a rejuvenated Joey Galloway, now add Cadillac Williams and the number one defense to this years team. WHAT ELSE DOES GRUDEN HAVE TO DO TO PLEASE YOU FANS.

In my opinion Gruden needs a contract extension, because there is another Super Bowl in him. We also need to thank Monte Kiffin, the NFL’s best defensive coordinator. He has kept the Bucs defense in the top ten every year, even without Coach Dungy at his side (Who is the real mastermind of the Bucs Defense.....mmmmmmm?). This is just my take on the Bucs Coach/Super Bowl situation, but I could be wrong.

Buccaneers sign Tim Rattay

Simms or Rattay?


On Tuesday, October 18, 2005 just before the NFL trade deadline of 4 p.m. Tuesday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sent a 6th round draft pick in 2006 to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for sixth-year veteran quarterback Tim Rattay. The Bucs needed another quarterback with the injury to starter Brian Griese, who was placed on IR for the remainder of the year with a knee injury. Is the writing on the wall for Chris Simms? The Buccaneers are 5-1, and there is a lot of talk that Simms might not have what it takes to be an NFL quarterback. The key is an NFL quarterback in Jon Gruden’s system. I feel that Coach Gruden has never really trusted Simms as the starter. When Brad Johnson fell victim to the system, Gruden tried to get several veterans such as Jeff Garcia, Rich Gannon, and we ended up with Brian Griese. I will say that Griese was the best option that we had at quarterback for this year (2005). I found myself growing tired of his 3 yard passes and numerous interceptions. I will say that he had developed a nice relationship with wide receiver Joey Galloway, but this is not enough. If not for our number 1 rated defense, he would have lost us several games this year with his poor reads and costly interceptions. I did not want him to get hurt, but a change at quarterback was needed. Maybe this is why Coach Gruden ran Cadillac Williams into the dirt the first 3 games. The jury is still out for Chris Simms, I hope he does do well. He does have a very strong arm and has great genes, but is that enough?

Here is what Coach Gruden said about Tim Rattay:

“We didn’t bring [Rattay] in here to hold a clipboard forever,” said Gruden “We try not to draft players or sign players who we don’t think can eventually play for us.”

“However, given what did occur, Rattay said he couldn’t have asked for a better turn of events than Tuesday’s
surprise trade. He felt even better about it when he was informed that the Bucs had previously tried to deal for him before the season.” (www.buccaneers.com)

I must admit that at first I was like Tim Rattay. I did not know much about him, but that he was on a sorry 49ers team. After I researched what he has done, and why he really lost his starting job: which was to an overpaid 1st round draft pick rookie, Alex Smith.

• Tim Rattay had record-setting numbers at Louisiana Tech.
• He started 33 games during his collegiate career at Louisiana Tech.
• He finished second in NCAA history with 12,746 passing yards.
• He was only the third player in NCAA history to throw more than 100 career touchdown passes.
• Rattay was a seventh-round draft pick in 2000: due to the fact that he stands “just” six feet tall.
• He has been given the starting job at some point in each of the past three seasons with the 49ers.
• Injuries cost him a good part of 2004, when he started nine times.
• Rattay has appeared in 32 NFL games with 16 starts.
• His career statistics include 356 completions in 586 attempts for 3,941 yards, 24 touchdowns and 18 interceptions.
• He has an excellent career completion percentage of 60.8% and a career passer rating of 81.6.

What does all this mean, I believe Rattay will be the starter for the Bucs sometime this year. It was reported that the Bucs were after Tim Rattay during this off-season, WHY? No faith in Griese, I don’t think so. I think they did not feel that if and when Griese went down that Simms was the man.

It has also been reported on sports radio that the Bucs were interested in trading Chris Simms and their 1st round draft pick of the 2006 draft to San Diego for Philip Rivers. This was before they received Tim Rattay. The Bucs can not afford Philip Rivers and this is why the deal did not go through. The Bucs still have salary cap issues (Another story for another post later). They also offered Simms to the New York Jets for a 1st round draft pick after Chad Pennington went down. Call me crazy, but I think number 13, Tim Rattay is Coach Gruden’s new toy (besides Cadillac of course). This is just my take on the Bucs quarterback situation, but I could be wrong.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

This is my first blog. I wanted to set up a blog about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I love the NFL, and I play fantasy football. I am a huge fan of the bucs from past, present, and future, you could say I am obsessed with the bucs. I became a bucs fan when I was little. I joined the army after highschool, and it was hard for me to keep up with the bucs. I had to read about the games in the Monday newspaper. I am out of the army now, and live in the bay area. I follow the bucs religiously. I love the old uniforms and new uniforms. I was on the season ticket waiting list for five years, and I am now a 2005 season ticket holder. What a way to start this football season with season tickets, and Carnell "Cadillac" Williams as the 5th overall draft pick. It is now October and the Bucs are 5-1. If your a bucs fan, you are loving this season.

I am creating this blog to talk with other bucs fans about every sort of thing: From this season (2005), past seasons, players, coaches, greatest bucs of all times, drafts, and any other related topics.