I don't want to be too hard on Jon Gruden. I don't particularly blame him for the downward spiral the Bucs have taken since winning the Super Bowl just one and a half seasons ago.
Gruden is going through a bad patch right now. Even though it doesn't seem like it, he did make a few major decisions that will help the Bucs bounce back from two unfortunate seasons. Gruden ditched some players, who can still play, but are aging.
There comes a time when a team needs to get young again.
The biggest questions surrounding Gruden involved Warren Sapp, John Lynch, and Keenan McCardell. I seem to recall an incident where Gruden did not return Sapp's phone call when the Pro Bowl defensive tackle asked if the Bucs would match an offer he received from the Cincinnati Bengals. He also allowed Lynch to make tracks to Denver and made promises to McCardell regarding his contract that the Bucs did not honor.
So what?
The Bucs went 9-7 with all those players still sporting a Jolly Roger on their helmets, in 2003, the season after they won the Super Bowl. Gruden gave it another shot and it didn't work out. Time to ditch the fossils and shave off some salary cap.
What's wrong with that?
After ditching those relics, Gruden is trying to start his youth movement at the quarterback position. After Brad Johnson began to become a cancer this season, Gruden inserted Chris Simms at the helm. Unfortunately, he was injured and the duties now fall to Brian Griese. Suddenly, the Bucs have a passing attack, helped along with rookie sensation wide receiver Michael Clayton.
Gruden's team in 2002-2003 was an aging team to begin with, having failed to make the Super Bowl in the two previous years. Do you remember the 11-6 loss to the St. Louis Rams in the 2000 NFC championship game and the loss to the Eagles in the 2001 wildcard playoffs?
Well, on January 26, 2003, not only did Gruden get the Bucs to the Super Bowl, he won it all. Did I say he won it? I meant to say that he handed his former team, the Oakland Raiders, their butts in a sling by demolishing them, 48-21.
Gruden needs a little time to get some draft picks back, which have been hard pressed to obtain when you're a winner or offer those picks with a trade. He also needs to be a little craftier with his free agent signings.
Still, that little thing called parity is really what killed this team. Throw in free agency and a salary cap and Gruden's back was to the wall before the season even started.
So far, there's only one team that seems to be immune to the disease of salary caps and free agency and that's the New England Patriots.
I don't want to hear any Philadelphia Eagles arguments. Donovan McNabb and company are lucky Cleveland didn't knock them back to mediocrity last Sunday.
Gruden is still an excellent coach, but, like any other profession, he's only as good as the tools he has to work with. Right now, that ain't saying much.
There was a time when the Buccaneers would come out on the field and the opposing team would wince, already feeling the bumps and bruises that the Bucs' defense was going to inflict and the ball hasn't even been snapped yet.
What the Bucs have really lost is swagger.
It's what they had with Sapp dancing around on the field where the opposition is trying to warm up.
It's what they had when Lynch would knock fire out of the ass of any running back or wide out who dared cross his path.
It's what they had when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were having fun just being the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Now is the time for Gruden to get players who can return that swagger back to his defense or else they may as well go retro and return to those puke orange and white uniforms they used to wear.
God knows they've already gone retro with their season record.
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