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Henderson: Bucs In Trouble Without Garcia

Tribune photo by CLIFF McBRIDE

Jeff Garcia huddles on the sidelines during the game Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons.

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By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 15, 2008

TAMPA - Dear Jeff Garcia,

Get well. Soon.

Get well by Sunday, please. That's when San Diego comes to RayJay to face the Buccaneers, and Tampa Bay simply has to win. The Bucs are the sixth seed in the NFC playoff picture and continue to control their destiny. If they win their final two games, they're in as no worse than the second wild card.

That brings us back to Jeff Garcia.

If you saw the 13-10 overtime loss at Atlanta, you saw an offense that basically went nowhere. Quarterback Brian Griese put up respectable numbers, playing for an injured Garcia, but that had to be the quietest 26-for-37 for 269 yards you're likely to see.

Griese manages a game. Garcia, on the other hand, makes things happen.

That is, he makes things happen when he is healthy, and we don't know when – or if – that will be the case again this season.

Jon Gruden's bluff was finally called at kickoff against the Falcons. He had been hinting toward the end of the week that Garcia would play, but Griese got the call because he had engineered a win over Atlanta when the teams met in Tampa in September. But Earnest Graham ran for 116 yards that day, and Warrick Dunn had 49 more.

Graham isn't around any more, though, and any semblance of a ground game by the Bucs pretty much has gone out the door with him. The Bucs don't need a quarterback right now to "manage" a game. They need a change of pace, someone to force the issue and even make plays with his legs.
Garcia can do that. Luke McCown, who got the bulk of practice snaps last week, can do that, too.
Griese can't.

There is more cause for concern, too. The Bucs' run defense, which was shredded at Carolina a week ago, got thumped again. This time it was Atlanta's Michael Turner, who ran for 152 yards after gaining 42 the first time these teams played. And LaDainian Tomlinson is coming to town with the Chargers.

Two weeks ago, the Bucs were one of the hottest teams in the league. They had won four straight and six of seven. Now they don't know when, or if, their quarterback will return, and dreams of home-field advantage in the playoffs have given way to the fervent hope of just getting into the tournament.

That hope will get a big boost if Garcia can return.

If he can't, they're in a world of trouble.

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