Put Those Obituaries Away for the Moment Buccaneer Fans Whoa there people, after last Sundays old fashioned ass kicking of the vaunted Saints in front of the big Pirate ship, I think we can safely put away the burying of Jon Gruden and the Bucs for a few days yet. In a game that proved as comprehensive as it was surprising to the rest of the NFL, the Bucs sparkled on both sides of the ball and demonstrated clearly the old NFL adage that on any given day team X can beat team Y, no matter what there respective records or billing coming into the contest. Our keys to the victory were clear – we got off to the fast start and made big offensive plays, made some turnovers and generally played sound defense throughout the contest. The garbage time scores by the Saints did little to hide the margin between the teams, and it felt good after last season to return the favour to Drew Brees and the Saints who swept us in 2006. Head on the Block Time Last week 8-8 (season 17-15) Utter garbage, I’m as useless as the Mets bullpen, a Panthers Fan playing scrabble and the Bengals secondary all rolled into one so far. In a late bid to rectify here’s this weeks multiple guesses using the method of “pick the home team” if in doubt Chiefs Cheats Stillers Colts San Diego “Super Chargers” Bucs Iggles Ravens J E T S Jets Jets Jets Broncos Raydurs Seahawks Falcons (of course – I’d never tip the Twits, period) Skins Da Bears and finally the Saints to get off the schneid I hope the Clap can do the same in the FFL too. I’d like to add my voice to the crescendo of praise for Barrett Ruud who may have come of age last week, playing with the intensity of a man with scorpions in his underwear, he did it all making plays all over the place and left a marker down for a level of performance we can now look for over the coming season. Tellingly Cato June also stayed in on obvious passing downs, with Mr Brooks notably taking a seat, and his interception also gave us an additional jolt in the game when we needed it, demonstrating Cato’s versatility in pass coverage ghosting over to an area where Brees never imagined he would be and making a tough play look a lot easier than it actually was. A few things I think 1. Nice block by Mr Clayton. It’s a crying shame a former star receiver is now renowned for his blocking skills rather than any highlight catches, but that ass rattler he laid on Kevin Kaesviharn would have made messrs Irvin and Meshawn (two of the best blocking WR’s of all time) take notice. 2. Speaking of Clayon, what’s with the Mohawk? Not the best looking thing though it probably represents the 753rd attempt at doing something to turn his fortunes around these past 2 years. 3. Sorry to read about the troubles Dave Pear is experiencing and his battle for assistance from the NFL. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad thing if the Bucs, Colts and Raiders stepped in to help. 4. What the hell are the Mets trying to do to me? You expect a Red Sox collapse at this time of year, but turning a 7 games lead, into a 2 and a half game lead in the space of a week is a dubious achievement. Pitch Glavine every other day if needs be but get it done, before I reach for more stronger sedatives than Dame Stella Artois. 5. Taking an early doors look at the NFL I’d say Bengals look like the Dolphins of Dan Marino’s era, ie very entertaining to watch but couldn’t pass cover in a telephone box, whilst the Steelers look a potent threat again and the Falcons are making a bid for the Leeman Bennett team impersonation award – lets hope that continues as thankfully they are in our division, so if we can benefit from their turmoil, then all the better. 6. I think if Reggie Bush continues to hurdle himself in the air like he did last week, and open his body up like that as a target, he won’t last 5 years in this league. Too many big hits heading his way at present to not take their toll in the long run. 7. I feel a Bucs kick off return TD coming, I really do. Watch this space. And what can you say about Joey G? He is our passing game, our deep threat, our intermediate threat and our home run hitter all in one. The positive signs of the big plays he and Jeff Garcia have already made hint at a fruitful partnership though I cant help wonder what an even better passing offense we would be, if he had even a half decent partner in crime on the opposite side. Alex Smith also came up with a big catch, though sadly it remains that as Joey goes we will go in the passing game. Sad, obsessive fan that I am I trawled Youtube this past week looking for fan film of last Sunday and one of the clips on there of Cadillac’s first TD, from the end zone made the hairs on my neck stand on end with the crowd going nuts, and Caddy clearly elated at re-acquainting himself with an old friend – here’s the link if you’re as desperate me and want to check it out then click this link. This Sunday we have an ideal opportunity to continue last weeks good work with the visit of the Rams, and we have even turned the corner so much in the past 7 days that I see we are actually the favourites in certain quarters – lets hope we don’t make a town halls of it, and play something close to the level we maintained for three and half quarters against the Saints. The Rams come into town with an 0-2 record and a wounded Steven Jackson, itching to break out of his slump. If we can keep him quiet we will be on to a good thing, and once again establishing Cadillac as a running threat should open the game up for us. If Jeff Garcia can continue to keep playing smart football, and we can get some one on one looks for Joey G, this is a game we can take and so in a break from tradition I’ll plump for a Bucs win to the tune of 24-20. Ill be listening and hoping for Gene to instruct the cannons to fire on Sunday evening. Nod of Acknowledgement to - Jeff Garcia I’ve not seen a Buc QB manage a game that well and play mistake free football like that in far too long, probably since Brad Johnson was back there in fact. Well done sir. Get in the Real World Award - Bill Belicheat. Are we really supposed to swallow that misunderstanding of the “Interpretation of the Rules” horseshit we were fed last week? How come 31 other teams see it quite quickly then? It seems The Pats head coach has Vick disease in his grasp of honesty. Sports News Story I No Longer Give a Toss About – Barry Bonds Home Run balls and their values Who gives a stuff about a momento of a clearly chemically enhanced cheat? How about auctioning the things off and giving the money to a children’s charity – that would be the only clean and positive to emerge from his grubby statistical asterisk.