Ruud still in the middle of it all

The Bucs were losing. Not just occasionally but consistently, sometimes even embarrassingly. They still are. Long before the record reached 1-10, fans went in search of someone to blame.

The owners, general manager and head coach were obvious targets. They were, after all, the ones who adopted, approved and in some cases abandoned the plans that have soured the season. But the hunt for culprits didn't end there.

Tampa Bay's once-proud defense had been among the NFL's worst all season and, right in the middle of it, fans found another convenient target. His name is Barrett Ruud.

Once the new face of the Bucs' defense, a rising star seemingly on the verge of becoming a Pro Bowl middle linebacker, Ruud was suddenly being questioned for his lack of playmaking.

In online forums and on talk-radio shows, critics charged that he no longer was blowing up running plays, that he had become a liability in pass coverage and that his tackles came yards downfield.

"That's absolutely unfair," cornerback Ronde Barber said of the criticism levied against Ruud. "I mean, it's not like he's played badly for us this year."

There are numbers to back Barber's claim. According to NFL.com, Ruud is the league's sixth-leading tackler with 97 total tackles.

Big plays are a different matter, however.

Ruud, 26, has just one tackle for a loss, one forced fumble and one interception this year, and it wasn't until last week's game at Atlanta that he recorded the tackle for a loss and the forced fumble.

"If you're a fan watching the game on TV, my name hasn't been popping up a lot, not like it has the past two years," said Ruud, who was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Month in September 2007, his first month as a full-time starter. "I haven't played anywhere near the way I'd like to this year."

Until recently he wasn't given much of a chance.

The middle linebacker in recently demoted coordinator Jim Bates' scheme usually has the freedom to run from sideline to sideline as something of a free-lance playmaker. After watching tape of the Dolphins' Zach Thomas perform years ago in Bates' defense, that's what Ruud thought he'd be doing.

When the Bucs struggled against the run early in the season, however, Ruud's role changed. Instead of being allowed to run freely, he often was assigned to a specific gap and told to plug it in an effort to stop the runner or divert him in another direction.

So, instead of looking for a hole in which to make a play, Ruud found himself running head on into fullbacks, guards and centers, many of whom were 40 and 50 pounds heavier.

"That's what people don't understand," Barber said. "Look at what he was being asked to do. That's why, of all the people on our defense, no one was probably happier about the switch we made than Barrett was."

The switch, of course, was a step back in time to a Cover 2-based defense Ruud excelled in at the University of Nebraska and during his first four seasons with the Bucs. But it wasn't just the comfort level he welcomed with the return. The possibilities it created excited Ruud, too.

"It's not that the previous defense was bad," Ruud said of Bates' scheme. "We just didn't mix things up with it very much. What I like about this defense is it gives me a lot more control."

Ruud now has the option of switching out of defenses that may not work, as he did a week ago after the Falcons had success getting the ball to tight end Tony Gonzalez.

Aware neither he nor any of the other Bucs' linebackers matched up well with Gonzalez, Ruud switched to a defense that put cornerback Aqib Talib on Gonzalez, and the switch helped the Bucs get off the field.

Equally important, though, were the two big plays turned in by Ruud. He had 11 tackles in the game, a forced fumble and a tackle of running back Michael Turner for a 4-yard loss.

"Obviously you saw a different player there," Coach Raheem Morris said of Ruud's effort against the Falcons. "He had a couple of those splash plays that we haven't been seeing from him."

Ruud believes fans and critics alike will see more of those splash plays in the five remaining games, including today at Carolina, as long as he doesn't make the mistake of trying to make up for lost time.

"That's the thing you have to watch out for, because when you try too hard to make plays, that's when you (mess) other people up and leave your buddies hanging," Ruud said. "I have to make sure to avoid that.

"I know this season hasn't gone the way I wanted it to. I know I haven't made a lot of plays and I hear what's being said out there. At the same time, I have to let the plays come to me."

One thing that's already come back to Ruud is the defensive scheme he's most comfortable with. As a result, he could be in position not only to make plays, but also to bring his critics back around, as well.

"Barrett's back home now," linebackers coach Joe Barry said. "He's back in the defense he's comfortable in. So if you really want to judge Barrett Ruud, then judge him on what he does over these last five games.

"This is where you'll see the real Barrett Ruud again."