Tampa Bay Buccaneers First Quarter Report: Indecision 2009

We're at the quarter pole of the 2009 NFL Season and for the fans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers it couldn't be more of a trying season.

As bandwagon fans have fallen off by the droves, those fans standing by the team are left with questions regarding the direction of the football team under the current regime.

There's been a changing of the guard, strange hirings and even weirder firings. There's been indecision, second guessing, bad contracts given, even worse talent evaluation and in the end some really terrible football.

You'd have to imagine the Bucs owners, the Glazers, aren't too happy with the work of General Manager Mark Dominik (paying millions of dollars to players not playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and Head Coach Raheem Morris (0-4 start with the team in complete disarray).

Let's take a look at the first quarter of the Bucs season and dole out some awards (if possible).

First Quarter Record: 0-4

Overall Record: 0-4

The Bucs were blown out in three of their first four games. While they were in most of their games in to the fourth quarter, the suspect defense and inconsistent offense eventually led to ugly finishes.

Most Valuable Player: Carnell "Cadillac" Williams, Running Back

You had to search high and low for a guy deserving of the first quarter MVP. Michael Clayton opened up with a great game but has since fizzled. Maurice Stovall had a solid game but got hurt. Byron Leftwich got benched. Jeff Faine and Derrick Ward got hurt. Earnest Graham was forgotten.

No one on the defense truly deserves the award.

Williams has put together an amazing comeback after two major knee injuries. Cadillac leads all Buc rushers with 191 yds rushing and one touchdown. He's averaging 5.0 yards a carry and has added another element to his game in the receiving game. Williams has hauled in 12 receptions for 81 yds and a score.

Offensive Player of the Quarter: Carnell "Cadillac" Williams, Running Back

For the same reasons as above, you've got to give it to Williams.

Defensive Player of the Quarter: Barrett Ruud, Linebacker

Picking a Defensive player of the quarter on this team is like picking the best pile of manure to soil your plant beds—it all stinks. Ruud has probably been the most consistent of the bunch for the defenseless Buccaneers.

He's on pace for 160 tackles. If he'd make a splash play here or there or just down right "jack up" someone, we might notice.

Special Teams Player of the Quarter: Dirk Johnson, Punter

I was going to pick Mike Nugent but he was released (just kidding). Dirk has punted well in the absence of Josh Bidwell, averaging 43.1 yards a punt and putting six balls inside the 20.

Most Improved Player of the Quarter: Josh Johnson, Quarterback

Johnson's rise to the starting quarterback job with the Buccaneers is a Cinderella story. Drafted in the fifth round by the Bucs in 2008 from little known University of San Diego, Johnson made the squad but was relegated to fourth string as he was termed as a "project".

Once he reached camp, Johnson looked completely inaccurate and out of sorts with the NFL game.

Working with then quarterbacks coach Greg Olsen, the young player made significant strides, improving on his accuracy and reading defenses. 

Still, he toiled, getting few snaps in practice other than running the scout team.

With the firing of Jon Gruden, the offense Johnson was bred to play was now gone and it appeared the Buccaneers would go in a completely different direction—a style of offense that emphasized running the football and throwing vertically. The vertical game wasn't Johnson's forte.

After the signing of Leftwich and the drafting of first round pick Josh Freeman, things looked pretty bleak for Johnson.

Again, he was relegated to 4th string snaps and it looked very likely he would not make the club.

Despite the limited reps, Johnson flourished in the pre-season and basically played his way on to the roster. He played so well that the team felt comfortable in dealing Luke McCown and instilling the second year player as the number two guy, ahead of Freeman.

After Leftwich struggled in Week Three, Johnson completed his unlikely ascension to the top quarterback spot.  

He certainly has a ways to go, but there's several folks who are even more excited about Johnson's skills than Freeman's.

Most Disappointing Player of the Quarter: Gaines Adams, Defensive End

Sorry, Gaines. One half of great play doesn't excuse the other 14 quarters where you were non-existent.

Adams has been called out by Raheem Morris on several occasions during the first quarter of the season and the "B-word" is no longer a whisper.

Adams has managed just 10 tackles and one sack through four games. The guy the Bucs were expecting to bring pressure consistently and help the defense has not improved under the tutelage of defensive coordinator Jim Bates, after failing to improve under defensive legend Monte Kiffin.

At this point, you have to wonder if flash in the pan plays may be all we see from Adams.

Best Game of the Quarter: Washington 16, Tampa Bay 13

The Bucs saved their best for last (as in the last game of the quarter) fighting to get Raheem Morris his first victory as Buccaneer head coach. Unfortunately, they just didn't have enough offensive production to pull off the win.

Two missed field goals by Mike Nugent hurt the Bucs ability to put the game away early while confounding play calling and the inexperience of Josh Johnson kept the offense in neutral.

Defensively, after three horrible performances the Bucs defense finally looked like the Bucs of old, intercepting Washington QB Jason Campbell three times, generating three sacks, forcing a fumble, and holding the Redskins to 277 yards of offense.

Worst Game of the Quarter: NY Giants 24, Tampa Bay 0

In a brutal performance, the Bucs were simply out-manned by the powerful G-men. The Giants pounded out 397 yards on offense (226 on the ground) while the Buccaneer offense managed only 86 yards total.

Tampa Bay didn't register a first down until the third quarter. Most of their yardage came on their final drive when Josh Johnson relieved Byron Leftwich and drove the Bucs down to the Giants five yard line before failing to get it in.

Best Coaching Move: Starting Cadillac Williams

Most pundits scratched their head when the Bucs decided to start Cadillac Williams over Derrick Ward and Earnest Graham. Williams has been solid for the Bucs (as we've detailed already) while Ward and Graham haven't given much to Tampa Bay thus far.

Of course, it's hard to spread out carries when you're down by two touchdowns.

Worst Coaching Move: Hiring/Firing Jeff Jagodzinski, Naming Byron Leftwich Starter, Trading Luke McCown, Cutting the majority of the veterans on the team, Picking Mike Nugent over Matt Bryant, Changing the Defense from the Tampa Two, Play calling against Washington...need we go on?

I think the above is self explanatory.

Grades:

Quarterbacks: D

Byron Leftwich started out well against the Dallas Cowboys but quickly deteriorated as teams figured out how to attack him. Straight up the middle. Josh Johnson looked like a speedy Bruce Gradkowski in his first outing but does show more promise than Grads ever did. Josh Freeman is reportedly not studying hard enough and is getting fat sitting on the bench.

Running Backs: C

Cadillac Williams has been the real deal for the Buccaneers, coming back from two knee injuries to lead the team in rushing. Derrick Ward hasn't gotten on track yet while Earnest Graham has been the forgotten man.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends: D

Too many drops, not enough separation, and few big plays out of the passing game has stunted the team's growth. There's been flashes from the receiving core but unfortunately, nothing consistent from any of the high priced offensive weapons assembled.

Offensive Line: C

The offensive line was as dominant as the Buccaneers had hoped in Week One against the Dallas Cowboys. Unfortunately for Tampa Bay, center Jeff Faine—the glue of the Bucs O-line —went down in that game.

Since then, the Bucs have failed to get a consistent running game going while drive killing penalties and penetration down the center of the line has been common place.

Until Faine returns, the Bucs are going to struggle offensively.

Defensive Line: D

This was an F until the defense line's improved performance against the Redskins. In the previous three games, no pressure and shoddy gap control significantly hurt the Bucs defense.

Linebackers: C

The grade would be higher if not for all the missed tackles by Quincy Black, Geno Hayes, and Adam Hayward. Still, the young players are doing a decent job and were really coming into their own against Washington.

Secondary: F

There was a time when the Bucs secondary was considered the top unit on the team. That time has passed, no pun intended. The secondary has been repeatedly torched by big plays in Jim Bates' new aggressive scheme.

They've also struggled without Tanard Jackson, who was suspended for the first four games for violation of the league's substance abuse policy.

With Jackson's return, there's hope things will start looking up for the Bucs secondary. 

Special Teams: C

The coverage units are the only thing saving this group from a D or an F.

Clifton Smith hasn't been as effective this season in the return game, although he is still among league leaders in punt and kickoff returns.

Nugent was horrible and has been released.

Dirk Johnson has done a surprisingly solid job filling in for Josh Bidwell.

Coaching: F

From poor adjustments at half-time to terrible talent evaluation, poor play calling, not being able to adjust your game plan to your personnel, or the inability to stick with convictions or direction—the Buccaneers have been a mess in the coaching department.

A lot of it falls on the inexperienced shoulders of Raheem Morris. While the players love him, there's definite signs of frustration and confusion in the direction this team is going.

A player can like a coach but if the wins don't start coming soon, doubt begins to set in. It doesn't help that Morris' own inconsistency is keeping the team from completely swallowing the kool aid.

Olsen's play calling looks nearly identical to Jon Gruden's dink-and-dunk, while Bates' defense doesn't fit the personnel, turning the once proud Bucs defense into the Cincinnati Bengals.

The NFL doesn't allow for on-the-job training as it has  painfully been shown in the first four weeks of the season.

Reasons for Hope: One last game against the NFC East

The Bucs have been brutalized by the power division in the NFC, after Week 5's game in Philadelphia, the Buccaneers will be done with the NFC East and can focus on their divisional schedule and remaining games against the AFC East.

If the defense can continue to improve while the offense gets Jeff Faine back and begins to churn up the yardage and points again, the Bucs can win some games down the stretch.

Reasons for Suicide Watch: 0-4 is a precursor to a Top Five Pick

Only one team in NFL history, the 1992 San Diego Chargers, have started the season 0-4 and made the playoffs.

Sorry folks, even in a weaker division, it's not happening.

The offense is getting worse every week, they have essentially a rookie at starting quarterback. The defense has more holes than a Green Bay cheesehead. The coaching staff is indecisive and is making too many mistakes in game planning, halftime adjustments, and personnel.

The only hope is to see some gradual improvement from both the coaching staff and the team.

Record Prediction: 4-12

The Bucs are not going 0-16. I'll refuse to believe it until we reach the final game of 2009 and Raheem Morris is still searching for a win. Still, there seems to not be much positive going on with this football team right now.

At the beginning of the season, I wrote a now foolhardy overestimation of this team's abilities to be competitive this season. I was a believer in the dream of Raheem and had the Bucs at 8-8.

7-9 now would be reason for a parade down Dale Mabry Highway.