In the words of the late Steve Irwin – Crikey! 2-1, atop the NFC South, an ever improving o-line, a QB who has somewhere to run and pass, and a generally more team-orientated performance. The Bucs must have read my column… On a serious note, after running left against New Orleans, the Cadillac ran right against St Louis… right to the bench, joining Michael “Catch the damn ball” Clayton, making way for Earnest Graham, and my, was there something about Earnest! (Thanks JD!) Sure, the Rams were beat up, defeated, and ready for their long flight home, but he produced. The fact that people claim that had Caddy been in, he would have done the same takes it away from Earnest – people are comparing him to a 5th Overall pick, and our featured back. I can’t quite decide if it’s good that only the Rayduh’s are throwing the ball less than we are – whilst Garcia is getting the yardage through the air (and for that matter on the ground), we aren’t averaging enough rushing yardage for my liking – garbage time excluded. (Speaking of garbage, what was that McNabb was saying about black QBs getting a raw deal? Did I read criticism for ONLY throwing three TDs? No. Although he could have sent them to Jason Avant rather than Kevin Curtis..) Maybe we need a bruising back to come in and take some of the load off Caddy – perhaps a RBBC would work well for us in having a variety of options? Anything else new in the land of the Buccaneer? Not much to be honest – the right side of the O-Line is looking good, Sabby Piscitelli is out for the season, which to be honest is a great loss – he looked great on kick coverage, and I had hopes for him to make the trip to starter come January (I’m optimistic, possibly misplaced, but I have to be – my FFL Team are going down the pan quicker than you can say “P*** off you dirty Redskin”). That said, Jermaine Phillips is quite possibly shocking the bejesus out of those in Tampa and beyond – who knew he was this good? Perhaps it was Will Allen dragging him down… This week? The twits. (They don’t deserve capitalisation to be honest) 11 guys on Steve Smith and we win. Perhaps more realistically, two and we still win – never before has the phrase “one-man team” been more truthful. They have a banged up QB, a QB who looks like he’s trying to go all the way back to the 2002 draft to do a Bo Jackson, or at least have a slightly poor tail-end to the 2001 college season so he’s not drafted by Houston, two running backs who haven’t a clue what’s going on, and a DE who only looks good because of the time the D is on the field. Perhaps. Either way, the twits’ kitty roar will not sound regularly, and the Bucs will win this one at a canter, provided they cover Steve Smith (Seeing as MeShawn has done a bunk), 31-16. I NFL Watch What’s going on in New Orleans? The Saints most definitely have gone marching in. Miami are still crap. As are Oakland. And Atlanta. ESPECIALLY Atlanta. What is going on in San Diego? Is Norv really that bad? Or was Martyball that good? My fantasy team has gone down the toilet as I said – now two of my three RBs aren’t playing – it won’t make that much difference to be honest.. Who’d have thought the AFC South would be the only division with all four teams above .500? With Houston! Michael Vick? Marijuana? Whilst on parole? Nice work Sherlock – Michael Vick + The Twits OR The greatUnwashed Skins = Hell on earth. Does anyone else think Rams fans are a little pissed at Marc Bulger’s contract? Whilst he is a Buccaneer alumnus, is Lovie Smith, well, a little bit slow? Or perhaps the MOST forgiving man in the history of mankind? FINALLY Interceptasaurus Rex has been benched, and hopefully will never tarnish the game we all love again. Rex, try golf. I’m sure our editor will be more than happy to take you for a round… Richard Lowe, 30 September 2007