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Halfway Through: So Far, So Good

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By ROY CUMMINGS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 2, 2008

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - They've played half their games with a backup quarterback and with a spare part at right guard, yet the Bucs are still an impressive 5-3 at the midway point of the season.

Keep that up and this Bucs team will become the first under Coach Jon Gruden to reach the playoffs two years in a row. Beyond that, who knows? More history may await them.

Before we get into that, though, let's take a look back at the first half and analyze some of the reasons behind the Bucs' emergence as playoff contenders and some of the reasons their record could be better.

Biggest Surprise

The Bucs raised a lot of eyebrows by signing oft-troubled wide receiver Antonio Bryant last spring. It just smacked of so much David Boston all over again. Bryant, however, is no Boston. He came to the Bucs a humbled, hungry and more mature man than he ever was when he struggled to keep his place in Dallas and San Francisco, and the Bucs have benefited greatly from his continuous contributions.

Biggest Disappointment

A lot of draft analysts thought the Bucs reached a little too far by spending a second-round draft pick on return man/wide receiver Dexter Jackson. It looks like the analysts may have been right. Jackson is the epitome of a work in progress, even as a return man, which is his specialty. He's looked tentative (some would say scared) in the return game and he may have a hard time winning his job back from undrafted fellow rookie Clifton Smith.

Top Rookie

The Bucs played their first four games of the season without starting right guard Davin Joseph and a good part of a fifth game without starting left guard Arron Sears. They won four of those five games. Jeremy Zuttah, a third-round pick out of Rutgers, is one of the reasons. He has already proved to be one of the best draft picks the franchise has ever made. That he will start regularly here at some point is not in question.

Best Offseason Move

The Bucs wouldn't be 5-3 and in the hunt for a second straight division title were it not for Monte Kiffin's defense. Kiffin has tweaked his famous Tampa 2 scheme yet again this year, adding more man coverages and blitzes; the result is the fifth-rated defense in the league. Re-signing Kiffin was a top offseason priority for this team and the Bucs got it done. Their only mistake was in not signing Kiffin to a lifetime contract.

Worst Offseason Move

Everyone seems to be pretty happy right now, but the treatment quarterback Jeff Garcia got from his head coach and general manager during the weeks and months leading up to the start of the season was horrendous. Allen and Gruden might not have jobs today were it not for Garcia. Sure, he's about to turn 39, but he's proving yet again to be as good a quarterback as the Bucs have ever had.

Offensive MVP

Have to go with Bryant. He has easily been the Bucs' best receiver and he's really eased the pain of losing Joey Galloway to a foot sprain. The Bucs are a pass-first team and without someone special for defenses to concentrate on, the offense doesn't work. Bryant has given the Bucs the complement to Galloway they needed and he's been a model citizen on and off the field.

Defensive MVP

It's time for Barrett Ruud to be recognized as one of the five best middle linebackers in football. He's the leading tackler on the fifth-best defense in the league and he has a sack and two picks to go along with it. He's proving that last year's fast start, in which he led the NFL in tackles, was no fluke. He may not have the star quality that Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher have but he's just as good - if not better - than both.

Biggest Victory

The Bucs were really reeling after that opening-day loss to the Saints. Their quarterback situation was in flux, their offensive line was down to its best lineman and the defense looked vulnerable. All that changed during their Week 2 victory against Atlanta. Brian Griese steadied the offense, the defense stiffened and the Bucs won a game they absolutely had to win to avoid falling into what could have been an unending state of turmoil.

Toughest Loss

It wasn't just that the Bucs lost to the Broncos in Week 5, it was how they lost. There were times in this game when Gruden seemed to lose all confidence in his offense and settled for field goals when the end zone was in reach. We saw a little more of that last week at Dallas, where the Bucs also lost. Both rank as tough losses because the Bucs just didn't seem to go for it when they had the chance.

Reporter Roy Cummings can be reached at (813) 259-7979.

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