LeGarrette Blount, It's Time to Put the Team on Your Back

While the Buccaneers' hopes of making the playoffs quickly diminish, LeGarrette Blount has proven to be the lone bright spot on a team that continues to shoot itself in the foot.

Excuse me—rather, their throwing hand.

From flat out running Green Bay defenders over to hurdling and clearing a Titans defender about six feet in the air, Blount continues to pound the rock down opposing teams' throats. The past two weeks, Tampa's former Oregon Duck has bulldozed defenders for 210 yards on 38 totes.

The only time he doesn't, or can't, is when offensive coordinator Greg Olson keeps him on the sideline because Blount supposedly hasn't proven he can get the job done.

Just switch on SportsCenter's "Top Ten" Mr. Olson. The man is a monster.

Believe me when I say this: I love Greg Olson. I have strong faith in the coach as Tampa Bay's offensive play-caller, but with the way quarterback Josh Freeman has been playing this season, Blount needs to be an every-down back. It takes a bit of pressure off Freeman when the defense is unsure of a pass or run, whether it is a check-down throw or draw play.

The great Demetry James once illustrated determination as putting the team on one's back, exemplifying its core truth as "one's will to carry the team and not let any obstacle come between."

The Buccaneers, honestly, have no chance on making the playoffs this season. It is a sad fact, but one that has come crashing down on a lack of execution and the inability to maintain self-control. 

But the yungry players of this Tampa Bay team can still finish 9-7, and when it comes down to the bitter end, it is the players that hold all the cards.

It should rely on the arm of their 23-year-old QB. But it won't.

It should be up to the youngest defense in the National Football League to knock the opposing offense square in the jaw. But they won't.

It will fall on LeGarrette Blount, a man of simple determination. A player that is willing to put the team on his back.

"The sky can be the limit," head coach Raheem Morris proclaims. "Maybe we should just ask for more."

It's actually quite simpler than that, Raheem. Give Blount the football.