Tuesday Afternoon Linebacker

One for three. That’s how my football weekend turned out. I knew that the Auburn game would be tough, but it shouldn’t have been like that. And if the Bucs can keep this going maybe they can make something out of this season. They are so close to being 3-2 right now I can hardly stand it. And my fantasy team lost due to the debacle on Monday night.

And then I got sick Monday night into Tuesday so the post is late. My apologies to a five of you. And I’m probably missing some stuff too. If so, I’ll do a catch-up at the end of the week.

Upon Further Review
Was it a touchdown? Probably. But for all the bellowing from Ohio they should realize this one thing; why were you in that position? You were 3-1 and the Bucs were 0-4. You should have been better than us, so why were you only up by six and allowing the opposition to drive the length of the field. Sure, you can cry about the roughing call, but who cares? Happens all the time to every team. The NFL is protecting quarterbacks, live with it. Maybe your guy didn’t drive Grads’ head into the ground, but it sure looked like it on replay. As has been said in this space many times before, griping about officiating is a slippery slope. Though I don’t know if I’ve seen such a poor offensive effort from two teams so far this season.

How about Gradkowski? Cool customer right there. Expect to see more quarterbacks start throwing up before games. Sure, he didn’t light up the scoreboard, but he got the job done. And for a guy who was starting his second game of his career, that’s pretty good. Caddy came up big in order to help him out. And the line blocked pretty well for the most part. The good times probably won’t last though. We’re facing the Eagles next week, and they are on a roll.

Trade
One good thing about being late this week is that I can slip in the McFarland trade. I guess from a salary cap standpoint the Bucs made a good move. But from a D-Line depth perspective I’m not so sure. Booger’s performance hasn’t been as good since Sapp left. But is that more because he was the focus of O-Line blocking? Or because Sapp and Booger were complimentary to each other and so far the Bucs haven’t found a suitable replacement? Maybe this will turn out for the better, but I’m not confident.

Toilet Paper
That’s what crazy Auburn fans cover the trees with in and around Auburn, AL after a Tigers win; for some reason. That’s also about the only thing you can use to get rid of the stench that was the Gators’ offensive effort on Saturday. I could linger on about the incomplete pass/fumble (it was incomplete, any non-Alabaman can see that…), but I won’t. Instead I’ll talk about what the real problem was. You see, we never should have been in that spot to begin with. First and foremost; coaching. Who would have thought that Auburn might have addressed some of their problems against the run? They got run over by Arkansas for nearly 8,756 yards two weekends ago. Hardly reason to make some changes on defense. Then when the run did get going in the first half, WHERE WAS TEBOW? The guy had something like four touches all game. And then when things went south in the second half, he wasn’t put in for a change of pace or to keep the defense honest. The coaching decisions were not what we have come to expect around here. Not at all.

Then there’s Leak. He tries too hard sometimes. Just play your game man. During this first two campaigns Leak was unflappable. He made good decisions and made things happen. Now he’s just out there trying to do it all by himself it seems. At some point Meyer needs to talk with Leak and get him out of his funk. Or pull the trigger and start the Tebow era. At least get Leak out of the game for a little while after he starts to get flustered. Sit him down, have a talk on the sideline. Get his head straight.

The defense took care of business for the most part. Auburn’s offense put up one touchdown right? It was laid out before us. The run to Arizona in January. But a combination of bone-headed coaching and the continued downward spiral of the once great Chris Leak has now scuttled that particular goal. The boys just need to focus now on Georgia and getting through the rest of the SEC schedule. Then maybe we can get some redemption in Atlanta in December.

Fetal Retarded
It was a close game as Sunday’s action came to a close. The Finger Bangers had a scant four point lead. Bernard Berrian for the good guys and Neil Rackers on the opposing sideline had yet to play. Chicago versus Arizona, should be a blowout for the Bears right? The Bangers were concerned that the Bears’ defense would allow the Cards to score only field goals. But a touchdown by Berrian would likely mean that Rackers would have to kick three or four figgies to make a difference. But the Cardinals did so well on defense that the Bears offense never sniffed the end zone. And thus the Finger Bangers’ winning streak was halted at two games. But all is not lost. No one in the league is really out of the running yet, and only one team seems to be running away. Even at 2-4, I’m only one game out of the playoffs (if they were to start today…), with eight weeks to go.

Running Items
Grated Cheese
“You’ve to try to find positives in all these negatives. I wonder, sometimes, what I’m doing here.” - Brett Favre
So do the rest of us Bretty.

Plus One Bowl
Ohio State vs. West Virginia/Louisville

WVU or Louisville will probably default into the championship by remaining undefeated against a weak schedule. USC has been winning too close in games they should have run away with, which means some team that would normally play them close (UCLA, Cal, Notre Dame) will probably beat them.
Michigan is the only other contender right now. And unless they fall to Iowa this weekend they don’t face anyone challenging until OSU on 11/18. And the game is in Columbus.
What am I getting at? This is going to sound bad, but…
With Florida losing this past weekend we might as well install the BCS trophy in Columbus now. Of OSU’s remaining opponents only Michigan and their bowl foe would seem to pose a challenge. And since that foe is likely to be either the Big East champ or a weakened USC team things look good for the Buckeyes. That’s not to say that Florida would have beaten OSU, but out of WVU/UL, USC, or Florida who would you think would have the better chance?

Super Bowl XLI
Chicago vs. Anyone? Anyone want to separate from the pack in the AFC?

I could put the Colts here, except that they’ve come very close to losing games and we know they’ll fold up during the playoffs at some point. Maybe the Pats will do it again.

Team TALB
TALB is always looking for fresh insight and additional input. If you want to submit something to be included in TALB, please feel free to contact me and I’ll get it put in the next edition.

King Of Football
As always, feel free to submit your entry for TALB’s King Of Football 2007. It will appear during the off week between the NFL conference championships and the Super Bowl (January 30, I think).

Next Time: Say what?