New Orleans Saints Review

Long gone are the days when a match-up against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers meant a date with a nasty, dominating defense.  As it tends to do, time has been unkind to the Bucs defense.  Guys like defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin and stars Derrick Brooks, Warren Sapp, etc. have left and rookie coach Raheem Morris is left to rebuild.

Tampa Bay is just 1-8 so far this year and have been been aenemic on both sides of the ball.  But, to be frank, they’ve always been a little offensively-challenged.  Even offensive guru Jon Gruden couldn’t fully turn that around.  The defense has been their bread and butter, and right now the bread is moldy and the butter has melted.

The Bucs are giving up 28.4 points per game, 31st in the NFL and 167.3 rushing yards, also good for 31st.  In fact, their defense has given up nearly 1,000 yards more than their offense has gained so far this season.

Rookie quarterback Josh Freeman was the #17 pick in this year’s draft and took over as the starter for Byron Leftwich and Josh Johnson in week 9, which turned out to be the Bucs’ lone win this season against Green Bay.  At 6′-6″, 248 lbs, he may remind you a little bit of a young Daunte Culpepper (at least in stature).  You don’t see a lot of QB’s his size.

Freeman has had some nice moments so far, including 3 TD passes in his first start.  He’s also run for 60 yards so far this season.  On the down side, he has fumbled 6 times, which you’d think would play right into the hands of Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.

Tampa features a nice running back combination of Cadillac Williams (418 yards, 3 TDs) and former Giants back Derrick Ward (217 yards, 1 TD).  Former Cleveland Browns tight end Kellen Winslow (42 catches, 454 yards, 5 TDs) was brought in to be a weapon in the passing game, and so far he has been the only one.  He leads the team in catches, while rookie receiver Sammie Stroughter is a distant second with only 21 receptions.

On defense, the stars are few.  But linebacker Barrett Ruud is still outstanding, and he leads the team with 76 tackles.  Cornerback Ronde Barber appears to be in the twilight of a very good career and has struggled in 2009.  Defensive end Jimmy Wilkerson has been a bright spot as he has earned a regular starting assignment for the first time in his 7 year career and has 5.5 sacks to show for it.

The Bucs have played better during their past two games, beating Green Bay 38-28 and losing a close game in Miami, 25-23.  They appear to be a bit more confident in their game, and the Saints will indeed face a challenge when they visit Tampa on Sunday.  Just don’t expect the Bucs from earlier part of this decade to show up.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 8:45 am and is filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.