The San Francisco 49ers had knocked off a significant opponent in their city by the bay, and the stadium erupted in celebration as Head Coach Bill Walsh was lifted on the shoulders of his players, and carted off the field like the hero he was!
Scene of an NFC Championship game right?
No- the 49ers had won their 2nd game of the season, and it was week 15. The 2-14 San Francisco team in 1979 beat the Bucs who were trying to make the playoffs for the first time with their 9-6 record. And it wasn’t a solitary event, the Bucs lost there 6-3 the year before. Thats 6 points to 3 points, not their record at the time. It was the beginning of a run of futility for our favorite franchise that wouldn’t dry up for three decades.
Even Tony Dungy couldn’t shake it, nor Gruden. Enter Raheem Morris, and Tampa Bay is shedding two negative images they have held for decades;
1) This team cannot win on the west coast
2) This team cannot win on the road
3) This Bucs team has an offense.
It may have taken 35 years, but the Bucs under Morris and GM Mark Dominik have gotten it right, finally.
To be fair, Tony Dungy was the first to show us his troops were ready to break some molds in 1996 when the Bucs beat the Chargers after falling behind 14-0, and it was a game marked by historians as a point where the Bucs showed they had turned the corner. Under Jon Gruden, the Bucs finally beat teams, back to back no less, 2002 @ Chicago, and @Philadelphia) in cold weather below 40 degrees.
Check out the video in your Browswer by clicking here.
But while there were times it appeared Tampa Bay was ready to shed the negative image of a team that could only base itself on the defensive side of the ball, that period never lasted for more than a few weeks at a time. Go ahead, try to name a great linebacker in Bucs history? Childs play, I can name ten off the top of my head, guys that could have started on any other team at the time they played.
Now try that with Wide Receiver, Or Offensive Guard? Or dare I say it….Quarterback? Little tougher huh?!?
But finally after three decades, the rest of the NFL is finally taking notice that Tampa Bay has put together an offense that is not only effective, but consistent. Look at the number of 4th quarter comebacks for this team, they kept growing each week. The Bucs have a legitimate Quarterback that is being talked about on NFL Today pregame show on a weekly basis. Wide receiver was a good position on the team when it was manned by Joey Galloway, but now with Mike Williams breaking Galloway AND Michael Clayton’s rookie records, he may be destined to be the best WR ever; and he has help.
Arrelious Benn came on strong as a deep threat catching two bombs, and late arrival Dezmon Briscoe looks good too. Sammie Stroughter and even Michael Spurlock could be a case of the QB making the WR, but that doesn’t matter for a franchise that has to go a decade between finding a Kevin House, to a Mark Carrier, to a Galloway!
While the Bucs have found their fair share of running backs over the years, Ricky Bell, James Wilder, Lars Tate, Reggie Cobb, Errict Rhett, Mike Alstott, Warrick Dunn, and Cadillac Williams. But more often than not, when the Bucs did get one, they abused him with over-carries to the point their careers didn’t last too long. Today’s Bucs have two backs, one to run, one to offset as a third down back.
Remember in 2002 when the Bucs could run the ball with Mike Alstott with an offsetting of Michael Pittman? Or 2005 when the Bucs also ran the ball well by riding Cadillac while staying behind Pittman’s pass protecting prowess! Well now Cadillac is the one that leads the protection scheme, while Blount runs the hard yards. The law of averages and numbers would tell you that nothing can last forever. It was only a matter of time before Tampa Bay would leave behind its negative image in any of these areas and start excelling instead. The Bucs had a top ten offense running the ball, went 6-2 on the road, won their first game at SanFrancisco since 1980, and is developing a reputation as an exciting team; enough so that it attracted a Monday Night Home game AND a Sunday Night home game on the NFL network.
So whats the next step? getting over the hump, beating the teams that have been beating you. We will discuss that next on Bucstop.com!
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
