Tuesday Afternoon Linebacker

Horror of horris, Garcia goes down early and young Gradkowski has to enter the game. It was “cover your eyes” bad for a while there. But that still couldn’t bring me down from the human highlight reel that is Tim Tebow and his performance against the Infidels.

Back To Back
I think we all saw on Sunday what we all feared would happen if Garcia went down in an injury. Grads hasn’t gotten any better since last year’s dismal campaign. If not for the resurgent Bucs’ defense the PiPP would be hanging onto a scant lead in the NFC South. Instead Ronde, Brooks, Ruud, and the rest of the guys helped keep a two game lead intact.

Back to Gradkowski. He still hasn’t figured out how to land the long ball. Which means when he’s in, the opponent can blitz and bring pressure with reckless abandon. They can also stuff the line on running plays, thus forcing the Bucs to throw. It is quite disappointing to see Grads’ lack of progress.

On the plus side, the Bucs can nearly wrap up the South next week against New Orleans. With a win the Bucs would be three games ahead of the Saints (if you count the season sweep in there, it’s almost like a 4 game lead) with just four games remaining. That would also give us four wins in the division, which couldn’t be matched by either the Saints or the Panthers (both would have 3 division losses already). Basically, a win against the Saints should give the Bucs the advantage in the tie-breakers for either a two-team or three-team situation. In fact, with 7 losses already, a Bucs win against New Orleans all but eliminates the Panthers from the division race. From a schedule stand-point the Kitties have a tough road to hoe. They face the 49ers this week, then at JAX, SEA, DAL, and the season finale at Ray Jay against the PiPP. Conversely, the Bucs have a comparatively easier final slate of @NO, @HOU, ATL, @SF, and CAR. Presuming Garcia’s healthy, I don’t see why the Bucs can’t run the table and finish 12-4. So Bucs fans, while this weekend’s game in the Big Easy might not be a “Must Win” (I think we’re going to the playoffs either way) it is a “Would Really Like To Win” type game.

Which then brings us to the Seahawks. The NFC’s 1 and 2 spots are pretty much locked up by the Cowboys and Packers (aside from their head-to-head collision this weekend, their schedules are favorable). Right now we are tied with Seattle at 7-4 for the 3rd spot. And of course they defeated us in the season opener. The ‘Hawks will face the following down the stretch; @PHI, ARI, @CAR, BAL, @ATL. There are some challenges in there (Philly and Arizona for sure, Baltimore maybe), but the Seahawks, if they want to win their division, will need to play hard in all of those games. One more reason why it would be very nice for the Bucs to beat the Saints, playoff seeding. The odds of being able to be the home team for the conference championship increase significantly when you’re the 3rd seed as opposed to the 4th.

Bobby Bowden: Clueless
If you watched all of Saturday’s demolition of the Seminoles in Gainesville you saw why TALB thinks that Bobby Bowden is very little more than a figurehead at FSU. His halftime interview was priceless, (paraphrasing) “We have to score more than them. And keep them from scoring.” That’s the kind of insight that only comes from more than 50 years of coaching experience.

Paging Geno Hayes. Geno Hayes, how’s Tebow’s ass taste now beyotch? He sure went down didn’t he. Down to the end zone for a touchDOWN.

Saturday was very satisfying for this Gator fan. That all-around beat-down was salve for the Georgia game. And how about that defense? Much maligned all year (including by yours truly) they came up with a great game. Granted it was against one of the worst offenses to ever take the field in college football. But it was a straight-up smack-down in nearly every phase. Only The World’s Fattest Place Kicker could manage to put points on the board for the ‘Noles. The defense has one more game to show they are actually improving. Should they show their stuff in the bowl game, I will have a lot of confidence going into 2008.

Heisman
Should Tebow win the Heisman? Honestly, I don’t know. Statistically he’s a monster. But historically there’s been a reluctance to give it to a Sophomore. But you have to think that SoS and Danny are going to vote for him, that’s two. But given the overall wackiness of this college football season it would be fitting for a Soph to get the troph. He15man indeed.

Matt Lienart won the trophy in 2004 with 28 passing touchdowns, Tebow has 26. In 2005 Reggie Bush took home the hardware while running the rock into the end zone 15 times, Tebow has 22 of those. Which ties an all-time record for rushing touchdowns by a QB by the way. And don’t you think he’ll put at least one more in against Illinois?

Three losses and a sophomore; that’s all you can count against him. But even in those losses, he was very likely the best player on the field. His closest competitors are Darren McFadden of Arkansas and Chase Daniel from Mizzou. Our friends over at Orange and Blue Hue have linked to a Missouri football blog that compares Tebow to Daniel, and it’s not very flattering to the Missouri QB. As for McFadden, he’s had two very good performances, but if one is going to count Florida’s 3 losses against Tebow you have to also count the Razorbacks’ 4 defeats against D-Mac.

In my opinion, the only way Tebow doesn’t win it is if enough voters are uncomfortable with selecting a sophomore for the award.

Bulls: Very Short
I watched about 5 total minutes of the USF-Pitt encounter. Bully for the Bulls for reaching 9-3, the Sun Bowl, and a likely date with Oregon. Good luck with Dennis Dixon if he returns in time.

Record Setting
The Rusty Trombones tied their own single season record for points scored this past weekend with 120. By the time the 1 PM games had ended the ‘Bones had amassed 103 points. And Tom Brady had yet to play. The win ended a two-game slide and vaulted the team into 4th place in the BJFL with two games remaining in the League’s regular season.

Playoff Prognostication
*Clinched division, #Clinched playoff spot

AFC Locks: New England*, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Jacksonville
AFC Maybe: Cleveland, Tennessee, Denver, San Diego
AFC Not So Much: Buffalo, New York, Miami, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Houston, Kansas City, Oakland
Houston would be a “Maybe” if they didn’t still have Jax and Indy on their schedule. Someone will have to win the AFC West, it’s a rule or something (and fuel for the fire of those who champion a fully seeded NFL-wide playoff field). Which is why Denver and San Diego are “Maybes”, the one that doesn’t win won’t be in the playoffs. I’m thinking that it’s Cleveland and Jacksonville as the wild-cards.

NFC Locks: Dallas, Green Bay, Tampa Bay, Seattle
NFC Maybe: New York, Washington, Arizona, New Orleans, Detroit
NFC Not So Much: Philadelphia, Minnesota, Chicago, Carolina, Atlanta, St. Louis, San Francisco
The NFC West isn’t quite as dismal as their AFC brethren, but between Arizona and Seattle, the loser will be home in January. The NFC wild-cards will likely both come from the East (Washington and New York), but with a strong finish the Saints could sneak in.

Running Items
Plus One Bowl
Missouri vs West Virginia
2007 has been nuts, but I doubt WVU will lose to Pitt, so they’re in. Then Mizzou has to defeat the only team that beat it this year (Oklahoma) for the Big XII title. Should they lose The Ownedhio State University will likely slide into the 2 spot behind West Virginia. It is doubtful that anyone would put #3 Georgia (who didn’t even win their division) into the game.

Super Bowl XLII
Patriots vs Packers

Next Week: Garcia or McCown?