One and Done Capece is kaput? So are the 2007 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was fun whilst it lasted, until around 1:45EST at the end of the first quarter of the Giants game. We were tearing them up on offense, and not giving them a yard on defense. It was a blowout waiting to happen. Until we disappeared. The running game? Arrivederci. Joey Gallowho? There was nothing we could do offensively, and whilst the Giants’ running game didn’t rip through us as Brandon Jacobs had predicted it was just about sufficient for Eli to have a chance to take us apart through the air, which he did. Just. Personally, the game summed up our 2007 season – starting off well (4-0 - Seahawks game aside), a dodgy second run, (0-4) then a flat finish (5-3) on all counts. There’s nothing really to recap, game-wise, as in being the play-offs, and that type of game, it’s just that ‘meh’ feeling afterwards. What was missing from our team this season? The X-Factor. No, not Simon Cowell and his talentless-lot, but a star – someone who can say (Sorry for quoting Gobsh!te Johnson here) give me the damn ball, and then take it and do something – a game changer, a game breaker, a game winner. Whilst Jeff Garcia can break for 1st downs with his feet, Joey Galloway can catch 60-yard bombs for TD’s, and Earnest Graham can pound out the yardage, breaking one at times for a 20+ yard pickup, we don’t have any skill players that others would give their arm and leg for. Look at the successful teams (those remaining): NFL Watch Jacksonville @ New England – In the prediction competition I went for The Pats. Here? Our Floridian Brothers, with MoJo taking a hat-trick. San Diego @ Indy – King Peyton all the way. Sorry LT2, it ends here. Seattle @ Green Bay – Seriously? Green Bay to win at a canter. NYG @ Dallas – The hardest to call. Part of me senses an upset, but part of me thinks Romo has some making up to do to the Cowgirls, aside from Jessica. And that’s it – 2 weeks left of the 2007 season – sit back, pop a few bottles of good quality beer, and relax – the Super Bowl is almost here! New England: Tom Brady, Randy Moss Indianapolis: Peyton Manning, Joseph Addai, Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark Jacksonville: Maurice Jones-Drew, Fred Taylor San Diego: LaDainian Tomlinson Green Bay: Brett Favre, Ryan Grant (Unless he’s a fluke) Dallas: Tony Romo, Terrell Owens, Marion Barber Seattle: Matt Hasselback, Shaun Alexander (When fit) New York: Plaxico Burress, Brandon Jacobs. We need a quarterback who can call audibles on the fly, who can throw downfield to one of two receivers that have the speed and separation needed to catch and hold the ball, a running back who can break ankles and not be afraid to take linebackers head-on once in a while. I know that all teams want these players, but, truth be told, we have none. We have no-one at the skill positions that we can honestly say will be our starters in 5-10 years time. We have average to good players, and Joey Galloway WOULD be an All-Pro if a) we had a QB who could deliver 20-30 passes a week, and b) another serious WR threat. The Buccaneers have never been an especially dominant team offensively, especially when compared to our defense. We have the defense set for the next few years again, sure the odd players here and there will need to be replaced along the way, but Cover-2 wise, we are the original and best – at least in the NFC! Offensively we can change – teams do, some moreso than others. For example, my college team, Auburn, recently hired a new Offensive-Coordinator to implement a completely new style. They’ve long been known as Running Back U, for the way they always run the ball, and have produced several high-ability running backs for the NFL (Cadillac Williams, Ronnie Brown, Rudi Johnson, Bo Jackson..) and now they’re moving to the spread offense which is primarily based around the pass. For a team that has had it’s offensive style embedded long in its history to change, so can we. So come on Cannon and Ball, draft us some offensive weapons this year! Make a few trades! I hear Randy Moss is a free agent… And Brady Quinn might be available… (Obligatory mention for Lee there!) We have the cap space, we have decent positions in the draft, so let’s go out there and make watching the Buccaneers FUN again. TJ laying out Dallas Clark this season was an example of our defense making strides back to 2002. Time for our 2008 offense and beyond to be something we can look back on fondly in a decade’s time, and say “I was there”. Richard Lowe, January 2008