Bucs Collapse
(December 29, 2008)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Barrett Rudd said after yesterday's loss, "If you would have told me we were going to finish 9-7 after that start, I would have taken that bet any day."

Four weeks ago the Bucs were 9-3, playing at Carolina on Monday night, with a shot at a division title and a first round bye in the playoffs. Four losses later, the Bucs are the first team in fifteen years to start 9-3 and loss their last four games.

Running back Warrick Dunn said of the last month, "It's a catastrophe. That should never happen. We're too talented of a team." Head coach Jon Gruden commented, "I'm sick for our players and fans more than anything." Derrick Brooks added, "I don't have words to explain it."

After thirteen seasons, defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin is moving on. He could not pass up the opportunity to coach with his son Lane at the University of Tennessee. Was his leaving a distraction? The first twelve games saw the defense give up an average of 16.7 points per game, the last four it allowed 30.8 points. The most total points a Kiffin defense had allowed in back-to- back games was 72 points, which happened to close out the season.

The postmortem will continue until next season. How come the team could not close the deal and is 10-20 in December/January games since winning the Super Bowl? Will Jeff Garcia be back? How about Joey Galloway? What about Michael Clayton? Will stars like Derrick Brooks and Ronde Barber decide to retire? Will the team spend money to upgrade the pass rush, or on receivers and the offensive backfield?

As for now, the Bucs will watch the playoffs on television and not have a shot at playing the Super Bowl in their own stadium.