NFL Observations Through Two Weeks

One of the nicest perks of writing for Sports Central is getting to appear alongside, and occasionally collaborate with, great writers who are unsurpassed experts in their sport of choice like Brad Oremland. Occasionally, Brad will recruit me for some collective effort, like drafting all-time NFL teams. It's a privilege and a lot of fun, but I make sure to caution him that I don't really know what I'm talking about.

I am not an in-the-trenches student. My eyes follow the ball, not the intricacies. During that all-time draft, I had to refer to various publication's "best ever" teams for assistance on non-skill positions.

What else? Football geeks laud the possibility of football games using a long shot as their primary camera (as opposed to the sideline cam ... think of the view you have when playing games like Madden), like they occasionally do for kickoffs. I would hate that, because it's too hard to tell how many yards were gained on a play that way, and I'd rather keep that convenience and forsake the action in the defensive backfield.

Still, I like to think I know more about football than at least 75% of the general public. I at least know more than many of the guys that comment on Brad's power rankings. Last week, he was taken to task for relying too heavily on historical data (i.e. last year ... he apparently should have simply had the 15 teams at 1-0 as his top 15, but instead he was "unimaginative"). This week, he was taken to task for ... not using historical data enough ("The Cowboys haven't won a playoff game since '96.")

I wax about Brad (and not for the first time) because he already gave the Cliff Notes version of what I had already planned to make one of the main points of my article, the sorry state of my Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Right down to the "Where art thou, Monte Kiffin?"

Hard as it may seem to believe, the Buccaneers have only had three losing seasons out of the last 12. And in each of those losing seasons, there was at least some hope of decency that lasted to Week 9 or 10.

Now, I feel like someone should hand me a informational pamphlet entitled, "So your team is bad." The Bucs reek of the housecleaning they did over the offseason. They are bad.

The stinkiest part has been the defense, which is just sacrilege for a Buccaneers team. They are last in the NFL, as Brad pointed out, in most meaningful categories. But I have to also call Raheem Morris's play-calling into question, as well. It's been even more unimaginative than Brad's Week 1 power rankings.

Nothing makes me cringe more, on 4th-and-1, than to see the quarterback sloooowly hand off to the not-very-burly tailback, who gets stuffed trying to get the yard up the middle. I understand the thinking: give your fullback a chance to get in there and provide more fortification, and give the line chance to create a hole. The Bucs had a promising drive against the Bills killed that way.

It just seems like that extra time always benefits the defense a lot more than the o-line. They plug the hole, or even send a DB charging into the backfield, which you can afford to do when you have good intel that you are up against an unimaginative playcaller.

Here's an idea: how often do you see those tackle-eligible TD passes from the one-yard line? Or at least the second tight end? Anecdotally, I'd say it has a fairly high success rate. Why doesn't anyone try that on fourth and one?

More bad play-calling from Morris: 5:27 left in the game, the Bucs kicked off down 30-20. Do you go for a onside kick there or not? It's a toughie, and Morris apparently couldn't decide either because he opted for one of those semi-onside kicks (I hesitate to call it a squib kick, which is enough of a dreadful scourge when you're winning and there's more than 20 seconds left).

As you would figure (especially after what had happened the week prior), the Bills' kickoff team was alert and capable enough. An up-man took the ball a few yards to the 40. So sure, the Bucs didn't get the ball, but at least they gave the Bills good field position. Fish, or cut bait, Morris.

The awful defense and poor playcalling has undercut what has been a surprisingly strong offensive effort, particularly for a team that parted ways with offensive guru Jon Gruden and fired their offensive coordinator halfway through the preseason.

In Week 1, they came out of the gates particularly sharp, outplaying the Cowboys in the first half, but getting outmuscled in the second half. The offseason pickup of Byron Leftwich was shrewd. I wasn't happy with the prospect of Luke McCown leading the offense, and I felt like Leftwich was consigned to the veterans slag heap without due warrant. He looks more like the Leftwich who led Jacksonville to multiple playoff berths and less like a journeyman.

And boy, is it nice to see Cadillac Williams running again, and running well. His knee problems, particularly the gripping, right-out-of-North-Dallas-40 re-aggravation in the final week of last season, have me pulling hard for the guy.

But next week brings the Giants to Tampa and ... I'm cringing already.

But wait! This was supposed to be NFL observations through two weeks, not Tampa Bay observations through two weeks.

The most amazing thing about the Brandon Stokley touchdown in Week 1 was not the deflection, but that no Bengal DBs were playing deep, with just seconds left, and the Broncos pinned back behind their own 20. I feel like even the defensive strength and conditioning coach, gaffer, and the little kid who runs out and gets the tee should be fired for that.

Finally, should the Broncos finish with a better record than the Bears this year, I put the over/under on columns that say something like, "Haw! Who da thunk that Kyle Orton's team would best Jay Cutler's?" at one zillion.