Buccaneers Need To Find a Running Game

The first exhibition game of the season is in the books. Here's some food for thought for your digestion this Sunday morning, the day after:

Amidst all the praise and hoopla for the Tampa Bay Buccaneer defense after the 27-20 exhibition loss to Tennessee, there was one question no one was asking.

Will this Buccaneer football team be able to run the football effectively?

Buried beneath the excitement of a good quarter of work by the first-team defenders was a disturbing statistic, or make that statistics.

First and foremost, it was a disaster of a performance by Earnest Graham. Four carries for one yard. One yard? And don't mention the fumble after a caught pass.

Derrick Ward wasn't much better. Four carries, nine yards. Seven game on one carry so he basically had another three carries for two yards.

Graham plus Ward equals 10 and that math has to trouble coach Raheem Morris.

Yes, Kareem Huggins was the most effective runner with 43 yards, but those came against players who won't be in the games come regular season. Josh Johnson, the fourth quarterback, had 43 yards on one run. Thus 86 of those total rushing yards really and truly don't fit into the evaluation equation.

Says Graham:  "Everything is going well."

Oh really?

Here's a quick look at some other positions and production from Saturday night:

QUARTERBACKS  Many observers are jumping on the Bryon Leftwich bandwagon. Sure, he found Brian Clark with a 24-yard touchdown pass but other than that play, how was Byron? Take away that TD strike and he competed five passes for 37 yards, a tad more  than seven yards per completion.

Luke McCown completed four passes for 19 yards, less than five yards per completion.

Yuck!

Take Antonio Bryant out of the lineup and that's what it would look like. Take Michael Clayton out and we're not sure. Not sure Clayton can be the threat the Bucs are hoping for. 

Josh Freeman's debut saw him get hit square in the face with an NFL defensive pie when he had a pass picked off and returned for a touchdown. Welcome to the NFL, Josh.

Other than that, he showed his great arm, good mechanics and you can see that he may eventually be what Raheem is dreaming about.

Josh Johnson was nice in mop-up duty. The team may seek to keep him on the practice squad.

RECEIVERS  Clark stood out on offense and special teams. A couple more games like this and he'll find himself on the 53-man roster.  Same for Sammie Stroughter. He needs to get a little better but he's proving a capable receiver and special teams player and that's what he needs to be.

Maurice Stovall. You have to wonder if this new regime might replace him. He caught one pass for eight yards.

Tight ends are as advertised although we didn't see enough of Kellen Winslow Jr. to know if he's a true threat.

DEFENSE Morris admitted that Stylez G. White, the defender formerly known as Greg, is not a great practice player. He sure did show up at game time. He was a monster and made an amazing, athletic, acrobatic interception.

Sabby Piscatelli was a wild man. He was all over the place, key tackles, a key interception, he had a nose for the football and that's got to be comforting to this defense.

The defense flat-out shut down the running off Chris Johnson, not an easy task.

Don't know if you saw it, but the unit did not generate much pass rush.

Biggest breakdown of the night was when Titan backup qb Vince Young found Kenny Britt all alone and hit him for a 37-yard touchdown. Britt was so wide open, you'd think he'd snuck on the field off the bench after the play started. It was a breakdown in the coverage. Donte Nicholson was supposed to be there, but wasn't. He probably won't be on the 53-man roster either.

SPECIAL TEAMS Some players are emerging who will make the team with their efforts on the kick and coverage teams. Sammie Stroughter has a lot of hustle in him and his stock continues to rise.

Kicker Mike Nugent hit a 51-yard field goal and missed another from 50. His stock is rising and Matt Bryant needs to get back into action or he could lose his job.

Punter Dirk Johnson averaged less than 40 yards a kick. Not good and if Josh Bidwell is lost for the season, this is a weaker football team.

To sum it all up, Morris promised a fast, physical team. He got that from his defensive unit.

The quarterback race is still a race. If you think a 24-yard TD pass can put Leftwich that  far ahead of McCown, that's flawed thinking. Leftwich also took a 17-yard loss on a sack and he is VERY vulnerable to the pass rush. This race is still a race. It's not fit for evaluation until there are some decent receivers on the field and Antonio Bryant will not be there until opening day. Thus, you can forget about that "let's go deep" mantra that was bantered back and forth in training camp. Without Bryant, there is no deep threat. It's that simple.

Don't be surprised if the Bucs go to the waiver wire when final cuts are made and find someone who can help this team.

Next evaluation comes in seven short days.

Stay tuned.