What a start to 2014…It’s a sight you won’t forget; excited to see this new amazing Jeff Tedford
offense, and instead you see Josh McCown with Jacksonville defenders all over the Bucs. Those Jags were in the backfield, in McCown’s face, they pretty much owned the line of scrimmage.
We learned quickly the Bucs had major problems at Guard, and it didn’t get better in preseason week 2 after a few minor changes. But then came the big news, the Bucs got Logan Mankins, and this wasn’t a ‘past his prime’ Mankins, Tom Brady was quite upset at Pats front office for letting him go!
Well when your snakebit, you just are! Mankins was rolled up in week 1 against the Panthers but like we were told, this is no over the hill Logan. He has played injured before, and he did so again the past few weeks and against the Steelers, for the first time, there was a sign the Bucs may have got their O line issues under control.
Have they?
After running for only 9 yards in week one from the running back position, the Bucs opened up the Rushing attack with Bobby Rainey and diced a good Rams defense for 144 yards. Not only that, but the biggest issue was the passing attack, and St. Louis came in with two dangerous players in Greg Hardy and Robert Quinn. You’ll remember Quinn, he sacked Mike Glennon 4 times in that game last week when he made Glennon look like an immobile QB. (Ok, even more immobile than he is).
But the Running game has soured since that Rams game, and even though the O line is doing the job in the passing game most times, its not even consistent there.
The Bucs actually have a strength on their line, and it’s the left side. Left Tackle Anthony Collins was signed as a Free Agent from Cincinnati where he played rarely behind a very good Tackle. Looking for an opportunity to show he can be a solid LT, the Bucs were eager to give him that opportunity and so far 5 games in he has shown he MAY be the guy to replace Donald Penn. But Collins has penalties too, and thats something he needs to work on.
Next to Collins is the Pro Bowler Mankins. Next to him is Center Evan Dietrich-Smith who was another Free Agent signee from Green Bay. Smith quietly replaced former Colt Jeff Saturday up in Green Bay, and did such a good job, the league noticed. Green Bay had to draft a rookie to replace Dietrich-Smith, who like Collins is entering the prime years of his career. But Dietrich-Smith has really had some bad moments over the last few weeks. The Atlanta game needs to just be thrown out, but we can’t pretend we didn’t see the tape. How much is on him remains to be seen, but he is the only guy at Center, so he needs to improve…or else.
What was once weak is now moderate, and could be improving each week. Patrick Omameh won the right guard position and seemed to be making the most of it. But he has been a liability at times since Mankins solidified the left spot, and with a solid Center on one side, he too has a good Tackle to be sandwiched in between. Demar Dotson is the lone holdover from last years line, and the current longest tenured Bucs from 2009. Recently, Dotson won the battle from longtime Buc tackle Jeremy Trueblood who started next to Davin Joeseph for years. But Dotson too gets the penalty bug at times, and at some point were going to need to know whats causing the poor running game: Running Backs or O Linemen.
Bucs fans were not happy to see their O line from last year go the way they did, especially after the disaster we saw in preseason. Davin Joseph looked like he recovered from his injury suffered in preseason 2012, and Jeremy Zuttah seems to have blended in with the Ravens too. So if this new O line really represents the next generation of Buc blockers, it needs to pass the next round of tests dealing with good D-lines Baltimore and Minnesota. Up next are some winnable games: Baltimore on the road does not play good, Neither does Minnesota. A quick trip to Cleveland and the rematch with Atlanta in Raymond James then @ Washington is up next. If the Bucs can get a couple wins at home against these weaker teams, they may build enough confidence before playing the death row after that…
- @ Chicago
- Cincinnati
- @ Detroit
- @ Carolina
- Green Bay Packers
- New Orleans Saints
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