Tag: Tampa Bay Bucs (Page 7 of 12)

      NFL Week 9 COY power rankings

      November 14, 2010 /

      This is another list that keeps evolving from week to week, because every week there is at least one upset, and usually more like three upsets.

      1. Raheem Morris, Tampa Bay Bucs—Let’s be honest, the Bucs were maybe the worst team in football a year ago. This season, Morris has them believing they could be Super Bowl bound.

      2. Todd Haley, Kansas City—Another fantastic turnaround job, especially on defense.

      3. Tom Cable, Oakland Raiders—The Raiders haven’t been this relevant since 2002. Remember when this dude was on the hot seat for about a year?

      4. Steve Spagnuolo, St. Louis Rams—More wins this year (4) than in the previous two seasons combined (3) and with a good chance to actually win the division.

      5. Tom Coughlin, New York Giants—The G-men began 1-2 and looked like bumbling idiots. Then the players and fans rallied around their coach and won five straight.

      6. Jeff Fisher, Tennessee Titans—In a small market, you lose players to free agency a lot, but this dude keeps getting the most out of his roster.

      7. Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles—Everyone knows the Eagles are better with Mike Vick at QB and Big Andy is a common sense dude.

      8. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh—It’s like he had you, me, Ryan Leaf and Tim Couch start the first four games; and came out 3-1 before getting Big Ben back.

      9. Mike McCarthy, Green Bay—The Packers were hemorrhaging players, but McCarthy never gave up on the season. Now they’re on top in the NFC North.

      10. Mike Smith, Atlanta Falcons—His team is rock solid on offense and defense, and just pulled out a huge win against a tough Baltimore team.

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      Bucs may not be the best in the NFC, but they continue to compete

      November 7, 2010 /

      I didn’t believe Raheem Morris when he said the Bucs were the best team in the NFC. I don’t even think he believes that the Bucs are the best team in the NFC.

      But if they play every week as hard as they did in Atlanta on Sunday, then they’re going to stay in the thick of things in the conference.

      The Falcons beat their division foes 27-21 to take sole possession of first place in the NFC South, but it wasn’t without a couple of close calls. After Atlanta took a 27-14 lead late in the third quarter on a Matt Bryant 41-yard field goal, Michael Spurlock returned the following kickoff for an 89-yard touchdown to cut the Falcons’ lead to 27-21. Tampa Bay’s defense then shut down Atlanta’s offense after a failed onsides kick and following a Josh Freeman interception in the fourth quarter.

      But in the end, the Falcons’ defense saved the day by stopping LeGarrette Blount on 4th-and-1 from the Atlanta 2-yard line. Blount thought he had picked up the first down, but it was clear that he was stopped short and with the Bucs out of timeouts, the Falcons were able to run out the rest of the clock (roughly two minutes) after picking up a first down.

      Sunday showed that the Bucs are moving in the right direction but they also still have a ways to go – especially Freeman. He made a couple of great throws in crucial moments during the game, but he threw an interception after locking onto receiver Mike Williams early in the fourth quarter and he also mismanaged the play clock (not totally his fault, as the Bucs were having issues getting the play into him) on Tampa’s final drive. Because of that, Morris had to call the team’s last time out and therefore wasn’t able to challenge Blount’s play on 4th-and-1. (The call probably could have stood anyway, but it would have been nice had the Bucs been able to challenge.) It’s games like these that remind fans that Freeman is a talented kid but he’s just that – a kid. He should continue to get better though.

      Tampa’s run defense needs to improve as well. Atlanta is going to get its yards on the ground with Michael Turner and Jason Snelling, but the Bucs need to improve in that area if they’re going to compete down the stretch. The Falcons rushed for 130 yards and because of that, they controlled the game throughout (even the Bucs gave them a couple of scares in the second half).

      That said, Morris has something brewing in Tampa. He has his team believing that they can win every week and even though they’re often dominated in terms of time of possession and total yards, they’re rarely dominated on the scoreboard (where it counts). They produce some big plays and have that gnat-like ability to hang around late in games.

      Maybe they’ll hang around all year, too.

      External Sports, NFL

      NFL Week 8 MVP, COY and ROY Power Rankings

      November 7, 2010 /


      It’s getting tougher and tougher, isn’t it? I’m glad the people who actually vote for these categories can do it at the end of the season, but they can’t possibly have this much fun trying to pick the winners from week to week. With that, here are our Week 8 power rankings…..

      MVP Power Rankings

      1. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts—Manning’s stats have been consistent all season, but the fact that his Colts are now 5-2 and firmly in place to win another AFC South crown and possibly much more, you just can’t ignore him.

      2. Tom Brady, New England Patriots—With or without Randy Moss, Brady gets it done, and he has less to work with now than he has in a while. Not to mention, he has to carry a less-than-stellar (by New England standards) defense this year.

      3. Clay Matthews, Green Bay Packers—Matthews now leads the NFL with 10 sacks through seven games, and he has 27 tackles, one stuff, one forced fumble and one pass deflected. More than that, he helped pitch a shutout of the Jets last week. The dude is just sick.

      3 (tie). Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons—Go outside. Throw a football up in the air as high as you can throw it. Before you watch the ball hit the ground, Roddy White will have appeared out of nowhere to catch it. That’s how good this dude is.

      Honorable mention: Ahmad Bradshaw, New York Giants; Antonio Gates, San Diego Chargers; LaDainian Tomlinson, New York Jets; Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers; Osi Umenyiora, New York Giants; Arian Foster, Houston Texans; James Harrison, Pittsburgh Steelers; Jerod May, New England Patriots, Brandon Lloyd, Denver Broncos; Ndamukong Suh, Detroit Lions

      Coach of the Year Power Rankings

      1. Raheem Morris, Tampa Bay Bucs—Last season, the Bucs were 3-13 and just flat-out awful. This season, they have almost doubled their win total through seven games (5-2) and Morris has them believing they are the best team in the NFC. It doesn’t matter if he’s right, it just matters that they believe, and thanks to Morris, it looks like they do.

      2. Todd Haley, Kansas City Chiefs—If the Chiefs win Sunday against the Raiders, they and their fans can start talking about an AFC West title. Just like Morris, this comes after an awful 2009 campaign (4-12).

      3. Tom Coughlin, New York Giants—I’m sorry to continue to back my guy, but even though the Giants had a bye last week, it’s still incredible that Coughlin brought his team from 1-2 and dead in the gutter to the class of the NFC (sorry, Raheem) with four straight convincing wins.

      Honorable mention: Tom Cable, Oakland Raiders; Jeff Fisher, Tennessee Titans, Pete Carroll, Seattle Seahawks;; Rex Ryan, New York Jets; Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles, Steve Spagnuolo, St. Louis Rams; Bill Belichick, New England Patriots; Mike Smith, Atlanta Falcons; Tom Cable, Oakland Raiders; Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers

      Rookie of the Year Power Rankings

      1. Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams—The kid is putting up average numbers (1674 yards, 11 TDs, 8 picks), but the Rams are a respectable 4-4 and challenging for a division title, and they are led by this dude. Who would have thought?

      2. Ndamukong Suh, Detroit Lions—This rather large man is just a beast—a man-beast if you will—in the middle. When was the last time the Lions had a guy like that? And he’s leading all linebackers in the NFL with 7 sacks.

      3. Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys—Yeah, the Cowboys aren’t very good this year. But this kid is one reason to watch them play.

      Honorable mention: Jahvid Best, Detroit Lions; Max Hall, Arizona Cardinals; Rolando McClain, Oakland Raiders; Jermaine Gresham, Cincinnati Bengals

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      NFL Week 6 MVP, COY and ROY Power Rankings

      October 24, 2010 /

      Every week we have different candidates here, because the 2010 NFL season has been wacky. And that’s okay, as it makes ranking MVP, Coach of the Year and Rookie of the Year candidates more fun. Anyway, here we go….

      MVP Power Rankings

      1. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts—Okay, so Philip Rivers and Kyle Orton have more yards per game, but they play for 2-4 teams. Manning’s Colts are 4-2, and check out these numbers through six games—1916 yards, 67.3 completion percentage, 319.3 yards per game, 13 touchdowns (leads NFL) and just 2 interceptions, for a QB rating of 103.4. As usual, Manning sort of defines what the term MVP is all about.

      2. Clay Matthews, Green Bay Packers—I heard someone on NFL Network the other day call Matthews the “best defensive player in the NFL.” Not bad for a linebacker in his second year, who was selected after 25 other players in the 2009 draft. Anyway, Matthews has 9 sacks to lead the NFL, and 21 tackles through five games…and the Packers sorely missed him last Sunday in a loss to Miami when Matthews sat out with a hamstring injury.

      3. Antonio Gates, San Diego Chargers—We’re leaving Antonio on here this week because he left the game against the Rams last Sunday with an ankle injury, leaving Philip Rivers without his favorite target. And then the Chargers lost the game. To the Rams. Gates only had 2 catches for 12 yards in that one, but on the season he still has 31 receptions for 490 yards and 7 TDs (which leads all tight ends and receivers).

      Honorable mention: Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles (thanks to Kevin Kolb’s performance last Sunday, Vick got bumped off the list); LaDainian Tomlinson, New York Jets; Brandon Lloyd, Denver Broncos; Kyle Orton, Denver Broncos; Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers; Osi Umenyiora, New York Giants; Arian Foster, Houston Texans

      Coach of the Year Power Rankings

      1. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers—If you start the season without your star quarterback for four games, and have the likes of Charlie Batch, Dennis Dixon, and Byron Leftwich at the helm, coming out of that 2-2 would be a huge moral victory. Well, Tomlin came out of that stretch 3-1 and it could have been 4-0 if not for that last-gasp drive by Joe Flacco and the Ravens a few weeks ago. Of course, the D led by a healthy Troy Polamalu and hard-hitting-to-a-fault James Harrison, has helped, but let’s give Tomlin some huge and well-deserved props here.

      2. Steve Spagnuolo, St. Louis Rams—Has anyone noticed that the Rams are 3-3, having already equaled their win total from 2008 and 2009 combined. And they’re giving up less than 19 points per game after allowing 27 per game last year—something that has much to do with the Rams’ defensive whiz of a coach.

      3. Tom Coughlin, New York Giants—How do you go from the scorching hot hot seat to a coach of the year nomination? Ask Tom Coughlin, who the New York media had being replaced by Bill Cowher a few weeks ago when they lost badly to the Colts, and then beat themselves badly in a loss the Titans at home. The Giants rallied around Coughlin and squashed the previously unbeaten Bears, then crushed the upstart Texans in Houston 34-10, before not allowing the dreaded trap game against Detroit ruin his team’s winning streak. So from 1-2 to 4-2, and tied with the Eagles for the division lead. That’s why Tom Coughlin is on here.

      Honorable mention: Pete Carroll, Seattle Seahawks; Raheem Morris, Tampa Bay Bucs; Todd Haley, Kansas City Chiefs; Rex Ryan, New York Jets; Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles

      Rookie of the Year Power Rankings

      1. Ndamukong Suh, Detroit Lions—Suh leads all NFL defensive tackles with 5 sacks, and he also has 21 tackles through six games, plus an interception—a pretty rare feat for a DT. Is there any doubt that this young big man is the real deal?

      2. Jahvid Best, Detroit Lions—Injury may have slowed Best down, but how about the fact that to go along with 249 rushing yards, Best has 31 catches for a league-high 285 receiving yards among running backs. That’s 534 all-purpose yards through six games.

      3. Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams—He’s way down the list of quarterbacks stat-wise, but Bradford is averaging 226 yards per game and has 7 TD passes. We’ll let the 8 picks slide for now, because let’s face it—the kid is helping to lead the Rams to respectability.

      Honorable mention: Max Hall, Arizona Cardinals; Rolando McClain, Oakland Raiders; Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys; Jermaine Gresham, Cincinnati Bengals

      External Sports, NFL

      NFL Week 5 MVP, COY and ROY power rankings

      October 17, 2010 /

      You think it’s hard to predict the games and standings from week to week? Try picking MVP candidates. There are five or six different candidates emerging every week. We’ll do this as one post again today and start separating them out next week. And I’m sure by this time Tuesday everything will be turned upside down again. Enjoy the games today everyone!

      MVP Power Rankings

      1. Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles—He didn’t play last week and yet the Eagles still won, but barely, on the road in San Fran. Against a team that still hasn’t won a game yet. And hence my case is made again. And when Kolb and the Eagles lose at home to the Falcons today, fans in Philly will be chanting Vick’s name, which will have made my case again.

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