For the most part, it was ugly in the first half. 2nd stringers tend to do that, can you imagine what strike football would have been like with scab players worse than 3rd stringers? Speaking of 3rd stringers, The Bucs are clearly better than the Redskins. Down 17-0 the Bucs never quit and actually nearly won the game with backups.
Give credit where it’s due though, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sat down ALL of their first string players, and even sat some backups. QB Josh Johnson did not dress, leaving the Quarterback duties to 3rd string Rudy Carpenter and 4th string Jonathan Compton. The results were mixed, both QBs had their moments with the worst news coming from the Bucs running game, or lack there of.
Want to start a draft 2012 watch? put tailback as the Bucs greatest need going into next year, someone who can really burn one. Kregg Lumpkin is average at best, and USC tailback Allen Bradford cannot run for more than two yards.
The news is a lot better on defense, where the Bucs backups held the Redskin starters to 10 first half points. The other TD was a punt return.
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It was good to see exactly how deep the Bucs have become on defense again. The secondary has so many good players, that the guys who get cut will almost surely get picked up immediately by another team. A key interception by DJ Johnson ended a Redskin drive, and Elbert Mack showed several times he belongs on an NFL roster. Even Devin Holland got a pick to end a drive in the 3rd qtr, surely causing Raheem and Company to lose sleep deciding on who to cut and who to keep.
The defensive line has come along way since the drought first became apparent in 2006. Brian Price played the whole way, and seems to be in shape enough to play his normal role. The backups got real pressure on the Redskins starting offensive line in the first half, and should be ready for Detroit. The Bucs O-line on the other hand is a work in progress. James Lee has regressed and looks nothing like the tackle who took over for an injured Jeremy Trueblood and went with it all year. Pretty sure he’ll be kept just for the sake of experience, hopefully it will come back to him.
The battle for 3rd string QB is closer than originally thought, as 4th string QB Compton has greater arm strength than Carpenter, but sometimes that just leeds to overthrows for him. Hard to argue when both QBs lead the offense to over 400 yards. Even Placekicker has the Bucs deep, with K Rodgers nailing a 49 yarder in the 3rd.
That, and Ed Gant may have worked his way onto at least the practice squad with his 2nd half performance. If it would have been the regular season, it would have been the longest pass in the history of the Bucs franchise. Who knows, it may be in preseason too! Armando Allen Jr made up for his horrible special teams punt returning inabilities by scoring an almost game winning TD in the 4th, even though the ref didn’t see the Bucs right tackle false start on the play!
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