Tampa Bay Buccaneers

This blog has moved

2010-04-15T07:41:00.001-05:00

This blog is now located at http://tampa-bay-buccaneers.betfile.com/.
You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here.

For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to
http://tampa-bay-buccaneers.betfile.com/feeds/posts/default.

Buccaneers Share Dungy's Grief

2005-12-23T05:50:00.000-05:00

James Dungy, 18, who was the oldest son of Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy was found dead in a Tampa area apartment on Thursday.

D-coordinator Monte Kiffin spoke with Dungy before the Colts coach left from the airport in Indianapolis after there had been an unconfirmed report from the hospital, which was later confirmed.

Rod Marinelli, now with the Buccaneers and who coached for six seasons with Dungy with Tampa Bay, was understandably shocked by the news.

"You immediately check your own gauge, I called one of my daughters and asked her, "do we have any issues we need to talk about?"

but Marinelli believes Dungy's strength of faith will pull him through the tragedy.

NFL Football coaching is well known for its long hours but Dungy always made time for his family. If he couldn't get home he would make sure his kids were around.

The reasons as to his son's apparent suicide are still being investigated.

Tampa Bay Skin Redskins

2005-11-14T11:38:00.000-05:00

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers gained a dramatic 36-35 win over the Redskins yesterday with Mike Allstott powering over for the winning score - a two-point conversion - with 58 seconds remaining in the game.

Figuring into Gruden's decision was a reprieve just seconds earlier, when the Redskins blocked the point-after attempt only to be flagged for jumping offside. So with the ball one yard out, Gruden said he wouldn't have wanted to guess at what would have happened.

Right after the call was made, neither Alstott nor Chris Simms were aware of it. Alstott was sitting on the bench. "My running back coach was going berserk," Alstott said with a grin.

There was little doubt as to who was going to get the ball. Alstott knew it, Washington knew it and the crowd certainly figured it out too. The rest was history -
Allstott, after initially it seemed like he might be stopped short, powered his way over the line.

"A dramatic win," Gruden said. "One I'll never forget."

Neither will Alstott, who also had two touchdowns. He acknowledged the moment might have been one of the most special of his career. "Other than the Super Bowl, yeah," he said, "No question about it."

Tampa Look For Resurgence

2005-11-11T09:30:00.000-05:00

The Buccaneers are not out of it yet. Midway through the season they are 5-3 and just behind the Falcons and the Panthers in the NFC South.

After a 4-0 start they have lost three of their last four games. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers appear to have lost their way and need to navigate treacherous NFL waters with inexperienced quarterback Chris Simms - who seems to be struggling.

So Tampa will possibly have to rely on defense on Sunday against the Redskins at Raymond James Stadium.

"I've got to give them a lot of non-verbal cues to turn it up," Brooks (linebacker) said. "Whether we started out 1-3 and went on a four-game winning streak to 5-3, it don't matter how we got here. We're here in the middle of things. We can't ask for anything else."

Rice Back In The Fold

2005-11-02T15:19:00.000-05:00

Simeon Rice's days with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers may be numbered, but his immediate future remains stable, despite being sent home for missing a team meeting on Saturday night in San Francisco - before Sunday's 15-10 loss at San Francisco.

Jon Gruden said the Buccaneers' defensive lineman will return to the lineup on Sunday to face the Carolina Panthers.

"It's done with. We need Simeon Rice back. I think he understands that. And we're looking forward to seeing him." said Gruden.

Ironically, Rice created a bit of upheaval last season when he stated that the Bucs were undisciplined under Gruden. On Sunday, he discovered otherwise. "We met regarding his comments last year," Gruden said. "The whole situation is done and over with.

It's hard to say how much Tampa missed Rice, who leads the team with five sacks. They held the 49ers to 208 yards of total offense. But the Buccs did not record a sack of 49ers quarterbacks Ken Dorsey or Cody Pickett - so you could argue they missed the pro bowler.

The real surprise was San Francisco's success on the ground. Kevan Barlow became the first running back this season to break a 100 yards rushing against Tampa Bay.

Cadillac Return, Simms Take Over

2005-10-27T22:28:00.000-05:00

Simms will make his third start in place of Brian Griese, who us now out for the season with a knee injury - suffered against the Dolphins. The Bucs have at least had a bye week to prepare Simms but he will still need to mature quickly if Tampa are to preserve their one-loss record this season. (5-1).

"I'm definitely not one to be intimidated by all of this," Simms said. "Football is what I'm used to. If anything's hard to get used to, it's sitting on the bench. I never had that experience until the last two years. I'm just excited that I get a chance to go out there and play and make some contributions to the team."

The heartening news is that Tampa Bay could welcome the return of rookie running back Cadillac Williams, who missed the last two games with a foot sprain. Williams set an NFL record with 434 yards in his first three games, has now had plenty of rest.

"The progress has been slow," said Williams. "I never thought it would be like this where I'd miss two big games, it's been a couple weeks now and it's still giving me trouble...(but) I should be ready to go."