Two weeks ago, James Lee went out of the game with an ankle sprain.  Jeremy Trueblood stepped back into the starting lineup at that time and played pretty well last week.  He didn’t even have one of those classic Trueblood drive killing penalties.  This week, Lee and Trueblood have been alternating reps with the first team, indicating that Lee may not still be back to 100%.  Ankle sprains can be tricky and they are definitely not all the same.  A sprain can be anything from a microtear or stretch within the ligament to a full ligament tear.  Either way, the pain comes [...] Read More

As I read through the various Internet sites and NFL blogs, when they talk about the postseason awards, they   invariably talk about Sam Bradford of the Rams and how he should be the offensive rookie of the year (ROY). While I concede that he has had a great year for a rookie quarterback, I don’t think he has the award wrapped up. I think Mike Williams of the Buccaneers  is having just as good of year, if not better, and should be considered just as highly for the award. Most writers consider a number of objective and subjective criteria for determining [...] Read More

If you haven’t had a chance to check it out, NFL.com has a very good video on the 2010 Buccaneers, specifically focusing on going behind the scenes with Raheem Morris. The six-minute video gives a glimpse into the Bucs (ill-fated) preparation for Detroit and gives access to some behind-the-scenes footage at One Buc Place. I like Morris, I think most fans do at this point, and it’s interesting to see how he conducts himself Monday through Saturday. He’s a ball of energy on Sundays but seeing the method behind the mayhem is interesting. It’s not too long, definitely worth a [...] Read More

Today when the Detroit Lions face off against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Raymond James Stadium the Bucs will come in the clear cut favorites. At 8-5 and still very much alive in the playoff hunt the Buccaneers need only win and they’re in. But this Lions team is much better than its 3-10 record and won’t go down easily. Here are the keys to the game: 1.) No Turnovers There’s always a place atop the keys to the game for not turning the ball over. The Bucs should be the better team, but in the NFL when you give away the [...] Read More

We’re going to find out fast whether or not the Bucs learned a lesson from last weekend or whether youth will once again prevail and make a game the Bucs ought to win close at the end. Last weekend the Bucs seemingly slept on the Redskins and had to rely on some costly mistakes in the Washington kicking game to bail them out in the 4th quarter. I would argue that this Lions team is better than the Redskins team the Bucs faced last week. The records may not indicate it but this Detroit team has more dynamic pieces and they’re [...] Read More

A lot was made several weeks ago about the match-up between Mark Sanchez and Matthew Stafford, this week not as much is being made about the game between Stafford and Bucs QB Josh Freeman, probably because Stafford is (as usual) too hurt to play. The three quarterbacks will forever be linked having come from the first round of the same QB class. As has already been stated by Lions blogger Zac Snyder yesterday, it doesn’t seem like a lot of the national media even includes Freeman in the conversation. Take a look at what Zac had to say about Stafford when [...] Read More

Honestly, did any of you think that the Bucs would get even one game flexed to a better time slot this year? Well for the third time this season the NFL has decided that the Buccaneers are playing in a big game and one that deserves to be nationally spotlighted. Today the NFL announced that Buccaneers week 16 match-up against the Seattle Seahawks will be moved to 4:15. Hopefully the Bucs will fare better than they have the past two times the NFL has flexed their game to 4:15. The Bucs lost 17-10 to Ravens earlier this season and then 28-24 [...] Read More

File another one under the bone-headed decision category, last night at the Blue Martini in Tampa’s International Plaza, Bucs LB Geno Hayes was arrested on two misdemeanor charges for being drunk and disorderly. He apparently became so disorderly he had to be tased. Around 2 AM Hayes was asked to leave the bar and became belligerent, he was booked at 3:30 by Tampa PD. The arresting officer said Hayes was: “loud, verbally abusive and made threats to myself and staff from the club.” This is the second time Hayes has been arrested for doing something stupid at a bar late at night, [...] Read More

That was a close one, but the Buccaneers managed to pull out a win in Washington. Now it’s time to give out some game-balls. You know how it works, I’ll hand out five game-balls and you all vote for the player of the week (after the page-jump). Last weekend you all named LeGarrette Blount the overwhelming POTW, this week it will be someone different. Let’s give out some game-balls. Arrelious Benn- Benn made two huge catches on deep passes, both of which were somewhat squandered but both were indicative of the type of speed and ability Benn brings to the table. [...] Read More

Say what you want about the injuries to Quincy Black and Gerald McCoy, the recent migration of talented Bucs players to the IR or any other misfortune to have hit the Bucs in recent weeks, they got it all back on one play in DC. After a rather confusing series in which Fox confused everyone in TV-land about a possible fifth down, the Redskins score to go within a point of tying things up. At that point, everything favored the ‘Skins. The momentum, the elements, the home-field advantage and the Bucs complete inability to stop Ryan Torain and the Washington ground-game [...] Read More