Chip Carter's Newsroom

  There will be some who will debate the rusty or ready question.  Did Buc starters have too much rest going in?  The answer is no, that rusty or ready question does not fit this ball game, because simply put, Jon Gruden had to medically rest starters just to have enough bodies ready to take on the Giants.   Plus, players will tell you on both the Giants and Bucs that momentum is over rated in the NFL, as Jon Gruden said, once you hear the roar of the fans coming out of the tunnel, that gives you momentum, and it also feeds the momentum for the Giants--who hit this game 7-1 on the road, they love to hear the boos, feel the animosity.

  So what happened against the Giants,?  Simply put they were outplayed and outcoached.  After a first quarter that the Bucs dominated, the Giants made adjustments and the Bucs didn't.  Again, it is that simple.   The Bucs truly are a 9-7 football team.   There were only 5 teams on the Bucs schedule that had a winning record and the Bucs lost 3 out of the 5.  C'mon thats not a team that is ready to make a push deep into the playoffs.

   Honestly,  when you look at this team, when you look at this offense (even if everyone was healthy) are there one, two, or three players that cause defensive coordinators to stay up at night, scheming ways to slow them down?  Absolutely not.  Do you think Tony Spagnola, the Giants defensive coordinator looked at the players in Jon Gruden's offense and was really, truly worried that anyone of them could dominate a ball game?  Meanwhile the Giants came in with four players that could: Jacobs, Bradshaw, Toomer and Burress, all of them have impact capability and against the Bucs it was the Eli Manning to Toomer connection that gave the Bucs problems.  So really, this team (the Bucs) overachieved just by reaching the playoffs.   Does the Giants loss mean it wasn't a succesful season? Again, absolutely not.  I strongly feel that Jon Gruden did his best coaching job this season, with 14 players on injurred reserve, with an offense that had huge holes in the skill positions.  If you measure the season with that criteria than it was a succesful year.  The Bucs were in the playoffs, they (for a moment) had the thought that anything could happen once you hit the playoffs and then reality set in. 

  So what happens next?  The Bucs have 15 million in cap room and they need to start signing impact players.  They need another running back and Cadillac Williams is not going to fit the hole.  His comeback is up in the air anyway, after surgery...so the Bucs need a speedster, someone who can hit the hole in a hurry and create some impact plays, long runs from scrimmage.  A back like that in combination with Earnest Graham is a solid combination.  The Bucs also need 2 receivers who can dominate a ball game. Joey Galloway is quick, but not dominating, he can't take over a ball game, he doesn't catch balls well across the middle, doesn't fight for balls up against defensive backs, he is what he is: a speedster who can occasionally stretch a defense.  But there is where the Bucs need some help, for all of Jon Gruden's offensive wizardry, how often do you see him really stretch a defense?  How often do you see him really take a shot?  Now, this season he didn't have the bodies or the talent level to do that, so the Bucs need to get 2 not 1 but two solid receivers who can deliver impact plays.

  On the other side of the line, another pass rusher....against the Giants, Eli Manning did not feel a lot of pressure, didn't get a lot of heat.  Greg White is a nice surprise, Gaines Adams is growing and learning, Greg Spires can deliver when healthy, but none of them can dominate the game the way Warren Sapp could, or Simeon Rice could (when he was healthy) so the Bucs need another pass rusher, someone to apply heat. 

   Because next year, the schedule gets tougher, they get a division winning schedule, not the bottom of the barrel schedule they had this year, after a 4-12 season and a dead last spot in the division.  Next year, they get a division winning schedule and it won't be as easy.