Tampa Bay Bucs: Gimme 5

By John Romano, Times Sports Columnist
Sunday, September 18, 2011

Talk of the town

Five topics suitable for inane debate on talk radio.

Legends are made in the fourth quarter: One more comeback, and one more reason Josh Freeman is on his way to being the greatest offensive player in franchise history. The funny thing about that? He's still just 23.

And they're still under warranty: Preston Parker and Dezmon Briscoe combine for 10 receptions for 140 yards, leading Martha Stewart to schedule Bucs GM Mark Dominik for an afternoon special on coupon shopping.

Bueller? Bueller?: At this rate, Gerald McCoy is going to get his wish. No one will compare him to Ndamukong Suh.

Note of caution: The Bucs have allowed scoring drives of 80, 84 and 90 yards in two games. Last year, they gave up five scoring drives of 80 yards or more the entire season.

Fools R Us: What was Vikings coach Leslie Frazier thinking when he let the Bucs run the clock down on their final drive? Once it was obvious Tampa Bay was in field-goal range, Frazier needed to use his timeouts so the Vikings would have time on their final drive. Instead, the clock went from 2:33 to :31 by the time the Bucs scored, and the Vikings were doomed.

A list of five

Five halftime adjustments by the Bucs.

5. Started going after Donovan McNabb's cane.

4. Those neat iPad playbooks? Yeah, just block the porn on them.

3. Owners promised to spend wildly on practice squad players.

2. Lightened the mood by watching Sabby Piscitelli highlights.

1. LeGarrette Blount introduced himself to Raheem Morris.

Five differences from Week One

Offensive formations: The Bucs ran out of the shotgun about 75 percent of the time against Detroit. Even though they were trailing until the final minute, they used the shotgun only about 50 percent of the time on Sunday.

Blitzes: The defense gambled more on Sunday. All three linebackers, safety Sean Jones and cornerback Ronde Barber blitzed at various times. The only two sacks came on blitzes.

Airline food: Bizarre as it seems, the Bucs are 9-8 on the road and 5-12 at home in the Morris era.

Defensive formations: Maybe it was because Minnesota is more of a running team, maybe it was because Quincy Black was hurt, but the Bucs stayed in their base defense far more. Which meant Mason Foster stayed on the field more. And that's a good thing. He's already making more plays than Black.

A dumber opponent: With a 17-0 lead and a third-and-3, the Vikings committed three penalties in four plays. The Bucs ended up with the ball on the Minnesota 44 and scored their first touchdown two plays later.

Five super picks

Checking out the best bets for Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis.

1. Patriots: Suddenly he's Air Belichick?

2. Packers: Even if Cam Newton chewed 'em up.

3. Saints: Nah, the Bucs didn't need Darren Sproles.

4. Jets: Rex Ryan needs his own network.

12. Bucs: Back to wondering if they can beat a good team.

Final five words

I hear tickets are available.

Source: http://www.tampabay.com/sports/football/bucs/tampa-bay-bucs-gimme-5/1192302

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