Raheem Morris has shown that his brand of the Tampa Two is different, as Ronde Barber has called it the Tampa 2.1, is not the same as your father’s Bucs defense. While Monte Kiffin would run mostly a base defense and tell his guys to play it at their best level, there were times other teams (see 2007 Week 5 Bucs at Colts) would take it to the Bucs, and the defense was unable to adjust to it. Raheem is more creative in his defensive schemes, and these young players are learning it but not without some consequences. Morris made it clear he called some wrong defenses which caused the Bucs to give up some seemingly easy scores. But the bottom line for the Bucs is a defense that doesnt allow the other team to score, because if they dont score, they cant win. This defense does not worry much about yardage or stats, as Raheem says, Stats are for losers. Some cases in point….how many times have we seen the Bucs mess around and not control the end of the half, only to allow the other team to score some points to go into half at more of a disadvantage, or having taken away some of the momentum the Bucs had built up. Not this week! Driving into scoring range, the Bucs came up with multiple plays to stifle Carolina before they had a chance to get back into the game.
Click Here to Watch the Video FULL normal size…. But the biggest and best example of this was near the end of the game. Putting a backup QB in the game can be so dangerous; defenses game plan around a certain QB and his tendencies and characterisics. New QBs bring in new stuff, fresh energy and most of all hope that fellow offensive players pick up on. At the end of the game, the Panthers were threatening to score a TD which would have put them down by only 6 points with still around 4 1/2 minutes left to play; plenty of time. The Bucs gave up plenty of yards to Carolina getting down the field. But once Carolina got down there with a 1st and Goal from the 4 yard line, the field got a lot smaller and Casey Clausen found he had very little room to maneuver. Check out the abridged 4 downs clipped together……
Click Here to Watch the Video FULL HD size…. With Tough games coming up against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and offensive powerhouses like Cincinnati and New Orleans, a bend but don’t break defense could really come in handy for the 1st Place Buccaneers if they want to stay on top.
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