Bucs need to work out early offensive cramps
Martin Fennelly, The Tampa Tribune, published 12 September 2011

If only Donald Penn had busted one on that final play, or Josh Freeman had broken a few tackles, or Kellen Winslow had taken that lateral from Earnest Graham to the house, or Preston Parker had …

The final play of the Bucs' dreary season-opening loss to Detroit spoke to the general dysfunction. Alas, in the NFL, often you can be awful on both sides of the ball, play zombie offense for three quarters and still only lose 27-20. It was so bad the final fire drill to try to keep the play alive might not even have been the signature discombobulating moment.

No, it might have been in the second quarter when the Bucs offense committed two penalties on the same play — illegal motion and pass interference — and both were declined because Freeman threw a pick in the end zone. Now that's humming along.

"I felt like we were out of rhythm the entire day," Bucs center Jeff Faine said. "It was just like the motor had a little clunk in it, just a little bit."

As bad as the defense was in the opener, the offense laid a big egg, too. Aqib Talib scored as many touchdowns as Freeman and the Bucs offense. Lions receiver Calvin Johnson scored twice as many. After one quarter, the Bucs offense had 4 yards on six plays. To start the second half, down only 20-13, the offense went three-and-out on consecutive offensive possessions.

Even as they made it close at the end, ending up with 313 yards of offense (185 in the fourth quarter) after going to the two-minute drill, even with Freeman's 257 passing yards and Mike Williams' nifty back-of-the-zone grab for the lone offensive TD, there was something missing.

All we know is that this young team seemed built around budding stars like Freeman, Williams and running back LeGarrette Blount, with huge pictures of them draping the outsides of Raymond James Stadium. This was no way to start what is supposed to be their time.

Freeman looked the same as he did in preseason: mediocre. Blount looked worse. I mean, the guy is the team's featured back, one reason the Bucs dumped Cadillac Williams, who, by the way, had a very good Sunday in his debut with St. Louis.

Blount ran just five times for 15 yards and when the Bucs went to third down or the hurry-up after halftime he hurried up and stood on the sideline, apparently because he isn't up to speed on all the protections and what not, a basic way of saying he doesn't always know what he's doing.

The offense started and stopped all afternoon. It didn't help that the defense gave up huge, insulting amounts of yards on prolonged Detroit scoring drives, but the offense didn't come close to clicking with any consistency, especially when you look at the sluggish start, which was an issue last season, too.

"That's the demon we're fighting right now," Bucs coach Raheem Morris said. "We've been talking about it all offseason, we've been talking about it in the preseason and it's something we've got to figure out fast."

Isn't that's why you have coaches? The Lions weren't even all that great on defense. Detroit's corners aren't anything special, but I didn't see the Bucs, starting with offensive coordinator Greg Olson's play calling, putting any real consistent pressure on them, especially deep. The Lions, on the other hand, made sure Johnson abused the Bucs.

This was no way to start a season coming off 10-6 and all those hopes and dreams. If there is one thing, Freeman led the Bucs back, his specialty. Wouldn't it be nice if he added the specialty of quick starts? He cramped up at one point Sunday, easy to understand.

But this offense's cramps, those are the real problems. "We thought for sure going in that it was a winnable game," Freeman said.

It would have been except a clunky motor.