Bucs 2010 Recap

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Overall record: 10-6 (They were 3-13 last season.)
vs NFC South: 3-3
vs NFC: 8-4

Rankings: 2010

Points per game: 21.3 Which is 20th.           They were 30th last year, so a nice improvement.
Yards per game:  335.1 Which is 19th.        They were 28th last year, so another improvement.
Passing yards: 17th                                      This is seven spots better then last year.            
Rushing yards: 8th         This is such an improvement from last year when they were ranked 23rd in the NFL. Opponents passing yards: 7th                       Slightly better.
Opponents rushing yards: 28th                     Well we were dead last in 2010, so even this is in improvement.
The good that came out of this year? Almost everything. At the beginning of 2010 the entire football fanbase called Tampa out and considered them to be one of the cellar dwellers for years to come. Some even predicted us to go 0-16. We exceeded every expectation. I did predict the Bucs would go 10-6 and I wasn't pulling this out of a top hat either. The Bucs had as favorable schedule as the Falcons (Who had the best record in the NFC if you weren't paying attention.) and made good use of such a favorable schedule. By no means would I say they played hard teams for most of the year, but they collected wins against teams they should have beat all year long. Their one loss against a bad team was against the Lions, and the NFL has already rescinded that game by sending an aplogy to the team due to some choice calls affecting the outcome of that game.

Josh Freeman, Mike Williams, and LeGarrette Blount emerged from obscurity and made names for each of themselves in 2010. If not for some QB prodigy in St Louis, Tampa might have had to split Rookie of the Year between Williams and Blount. Josh Freeman has matured over just one year. He had an impressive 25 touchdowns and only 6 interceptions. Hopefully the offense continues to blossom and we improve even further. I am super excited about 2011's potential.

The bad that came out of this year? I am scared to think the team might have a false sense of accomplishing something that wasn't all that impressive to begin with. A 10-6 record is great, but as I have mentioned before it wasn't the hardest schedule out there. The Bucs also sport the youngest team in the NFL. Young teams are great because the talent is always on the incline, but it they are also harder to mentor because most young players are brash and cocky.

Another thing I was disappointed about was the fans. We picked one hell of a season to show no support to the team. I can understand not wanting to go watch a 3-13 team, but we were 10-6 this year! We beat the New Orleans saints for goodness sake! Yet, we did not record one sell out game all season long. We were the only NFL team not to accomplish that. Lets show our team some more support in 2011, okay?

What needs to change in order to improve? We need to fortify our front defensive line. Injuries really hurt this team's true potential, so I am not sure if Price and Mccoy would have helped our rushing defense had they been healthy and together all season, but we still need to get better. If we want to get back to be one of the most feared defenses in the NFL we need to fill some of those gaps.

Who will the Buccaneers draft in 2011? As I mentioned earlier the Bucs could really use some more inside presence. I think that Adrian Clayborn could fill that void. He is a top ten talent that has slipped in the recent mock drafts because of character issues. Mike Williams also had this supposed character issue deal and he seemed to work out just fine for Tampa. I think Clayborn would compliment Mccoy very nicely.

Who is the Bucs MVP? It has to be Josh Freeman. This is a second year QB we are talking about and his transition between season was phenominal. As long as he doesn't turn into David Garrard he should be fine. He had a bunch of comeback winning drives thisn year and has shown to be quite comfortable in dire situations. I think the term "clutch" works pretty well in his case.

Who is the Bucs LVP?  I think Tanard Jackson is going to have to take this unfortunate title. I mean come on man. Stop acting like a jack ass and play some football. Can you do that? this is the third time you have been caught for a banned substance. I don't care what it is, this is the freaking third strike! Once, sure. You learn from your mistakes. Twice? That's pushing it, they gave you a suspension and you said you learned your lesson. Three times? Good lord man. Will you ever grow up? At some time in your life you have to prioritize what is important to you. Getting high all the time, or playing a sport only a select group of individuals get paid to play. Wake up!