Who’s Our Favorite Player?
Mr. Derrick Brooks, that’s who. And he was left off the pro bowl team for the first time since the Ford administration (RIP, klutziest of Presidents). Shenanigans I tell you. Shenanigans. At least Simms is back under contract.
Pro Bowling Tour
Ronde Barber the only Buc invited to the Pro Bowl? As noted, it would seem that Derrick Brooks took exception to that slight and showed everyone what he could do. Granted, it came against one of the only other teams as pathetic as the Bucs this season. Nonetheless, we’re all professionals here.
With the Bucs’ defense struggling, and Brooks seen as the leader, it is no wonder he was passed over. The sentiment outside of RayJay’s blackout radius must be that if the Tampa 2 is falling off, so too must be Mr. Derrick Brooks. As for how Ronde made it, one can only speculate. Would it be so far fetched to think that maybe, just maybe, some voters put him on their ballots alongside brother Tiki? So as to allow Tiki to go out with his brother by his side? This is by no means a slight to Ronde. He played at his normal high level for the vast majority of the season. Just sayin’.
NFL Playoffs - Week 0
The week 17 playoff scenarios are nearly as complicated as the NCAA compliance manual. One thing that I found interesting is this; going into week 16, San Francisco had a chance to win the NFC West. Now that they have lost, they are eliminated from the playoffs. How does that happen? But more importantly, how did the 49ers even get into playoff contention in the first place?
Joyous are the teams that can simply win to get into or improve their playoff seedings:
Jets - win and they’re in
Chargers - win and they lock up home field
Broncos - win and they’re in
Eagles - win and they win the NFC East
Woe are the teams that have to navigate several scenarios in order to get a berth in the tournament:
Packers - 5 different scenarios, all with at least 3 conditions
Giants - 4 chances, one of which requires that FIVE things happen (NYG tie + GB loss or tie + STL loss or tie + ATL loss or tie + CAR loss or tie)
In the NFC, the top five spots are set (Bears, Saints, Eagles, Seahawks, Cowboys). The last spot comes down to the Giants and Packers. If one wins and the other loses, then the victorious club advances. If they both win, the “strength of victory” tiebreaker will come into effect. Way to go NFC. Make us proud. Hey, I have an idea. Let’s put a 7-9 team into the tournament!
TALB still stands by Chargers-Saints in XLI. That doesn’t take into account the uncanny ability of Marty Schotenheimer to take talented teams and crash them during the playoffs. If that happens, then I’ll hedge with Ravens-Saints.
Ron Dayne?
Meanwhile, the Colts are already in playoff form. Losing to a team they should have manhandled, while also being run over. If they end up drawing Denver in the first round, boy howdy. The Broncos are (through 15 games) 6th in the NFL in rushing yards per game, 6th in total rushing yards, and have 15 runs of over 20 yards (4th). Indy’s rushing defense is 32nd in all of those categories. If you check out the team defensive stats you can see for yourself the futility of the Indy run defense. In terms of yards per game, the teams in the league are fairly bunched up; with about 100 yd/g separating 1 (MIN) from 31 (STL). But then between 31 and 32, there are fully 25 yards of average. I don’t know if the Indy defense is historically bad, but this can’t be good.
What? Which? Who?
Which leads me nicely into the next segment. So many people like to talk about “Dungy’s Team” and all of that. How about answering this question: why is it that Dungy has managed to put one good defensive season together in Indy, while the old and busted Bucs’ D has out performed them every season? I’ll answer that one for you. Monte Kiffin. Not saying that Dungy’s a bad guy or anything. Just that it is Kiffin who made this defense, not Dungy.
But that is to be expected when you pay your starting quarterback $187 bazillion. Granted, he’s only one Super Bowl victory behind such luminary NFL signal callers as Trent Dilfer, Brad Johnson, and Kurt Warner.
UF 1 OSU 0
Last week we talked about the interesting mini-rivalry between UF and Ohio State. The first round went to Florida as the roundball Gators pounded the Buckeyes 86-60. We Gators fans can only hope that the Bucks don’t return the favor on the gridiron.
Got Spleen?
That’s what was printed on the t-shirt Chris Simms wore recently at the brand new One Buc Place. He was talking to reporters shortly after the announcement of his new contract. The play of Tim Rattay has muddled the waters a bit since last we touched on the Bucs’ future QB line-up. Obviously Simms is going to be in camp. The question will be what do the Bucs do from there? Gradkowski will probably be back, he’s only a rookie this year after all. Rattay will likely be snapped up by a team in need of some help (Detroit, Oakland, and Arizona come to mind). Luke McCown… who knows. If he doesn’t catch on elsewhere, he’ll probably end up in camp. Where in the hell is Jay Fiedler? Do we still have him? The current feeling around these parts is that the Bucs will either use their new-found salary cap wealth to pursue a free agent signal caller (Jeff Garcia maybe) or draft yet another young field general. TALB feels strongly that the team should go the free agent route and try to secure the services of an experienced professional rather than gamble with another rookie.
Why Wait Till April?
The Bucs’ 2007 slate of opponents is now set. We cannot improve from fourth in our division, and the “division match” teams are likewise locked in place. After the home-and-away games against the Dirty Souf we have:
At Home:
Arizona, St. Louis, Jacksonville, Tennessee, Washington
On The Road:
San Francisco, Seattle, Houston, Indianapolis, Detroit
As far as draft seeding goes, we’re sitting at fourth by my estimation (through week 16):
1. Oakland (2-13)
2. Detroit (2-13)
3. Cleveland (4-11)
4. Tampa Bay (4-11)
5. Houston (5-10)
6. Washington (5-10)
Our draft spot could end up anywhere from 3rd to 6th if my calculations are correct.
Next Week: The tournament begins! Bowl madness.
