Cowboys O-Line Will Test Buccaneer Defense

Try these guys on for size: Flozell Adams (6-7, 338), Kyle Kosier (6-5, 305), Andre Gurode (6-4, 318), Leonard Davis (6-6, 353), Mac Columbo (6-8, 318). Those are the Dallas Cowboys offensive linemen. Big, aren't they? If you wondering what the Dallas offensive game plan might be, wonder no longer. They're going to pound the football on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That's a NFC East-size offensive line. It's the size line the Bucs will also see when they play the Giants, Eagles and Redskins. Look for Tony Romo to give the ball to Marion Barber. When Barber needs a break, it will be Felix Jones. It's a mighty challenge at least. The Buccaneers sought to beef up their defense when they drafted burly Roy Miller and Chris Hovan put on another 20 pounds. They'll need all the muscle they can muster. This Dallas line is big and strong. Good news for the Bucs is that it is also an "older" line. Most of these guys are well into their 30s and perhaps the afternoon temperature and humidity in Tampa might slow them down a bit. But don't count on it.

Pressure's On Dallas Cowboys, Not Bucs

Come Sunday at 1 p.m., the pressure's on the Dallas Cowboys. No pressure on the Buccaneers. High expectations for Cowboys, low expectations for the Buccaneers. Looming over Dallas is that 600-pound gorilla of an owner -- Jerry Jones. He expects more out of quarterback Tony Romo, he expects more out of head coach Wade Phillips, he expects a Super Bowl. Not too much pressure. As for Tampa Bay, most would like for the Buccaneers to compete, make it close, find a chance to win. Now Raheem Morris will tell you different, but how many in the Buccaneer Nation are drinking the Morris kool-aid? Fact is, the Bucs best weapon come Monday will be the fact that no one has seen the offense with all its parts in tact. We're talking wide receiver Antonio Bryant, who has looked well on the practice fields after his knee surgery kept him out of the preseason. We're talking hamstrung Michael Clayton, who was a preseason ghost as was the greatness that is the league's highest paid tight end -- Kellen Winslow Jr. No one has seen these guys together except for new offensive coordinator Greg Olson, who has about a week on the job. Now add the starting running back, Cadillac Williams, into the fray and no one's seen him for a long time. The Bucs Sunday game plan: run the football then throw at will after that mighty run is established. Sounds good enough. Surely Dallas' defense has seen that play before. It's exactly what the New York Giants do and do quite well. Which shifts the pressure back to Dallas. Romo has the big contract without big results yet. And the cast around him is well aware of that. You think they can feel Jerry Jones breathing down their collective necks? No pressure.

Buccaneers Will Find Out What They've Got

Raheem Morris finally has his squad in place and it looks nothing like the 2008 Buccaneers of Jon Gruden. Byron Leftwich will lead this team into battle against Dallas next Sunday and his immediate backup will be the Wonder Boy -- Josh Freeman. And that means that this team is one really good lick away from Morris and Mark Dominik's self-fulfilling prophecy. It's not far fetched that Leftwich can get knocked out of a game, anytime. He's a perfect target in the pocket and you know that Dallas can produce a pass rush. But if all goes to Morris' plan, these Buccaneer will run the ball over and around Dallas and keep the 'Boys guessing when big ole Byron will wind up the windmill and hit an open receiver. It all sounds so simple. Doesn't it? The question Buccaneer fans must ask themselves this week is what discoveries have been made in the four preseason games? First, it was a "loser leaves town" match between Leftwich and Luke McCown, who was traded to Jacksonville on Saturday. The Bucs were fortunate to find a taker as they unloaded about $4 million in salary over the next two years and paved the way for Freeman to take his place as backup to Leftwich, followed by the third qb -- Josh Johnson. Freeman needs to be in the second spot. It's the only way he'll get enough reps in practice to make the progress needed to groom him for the starting job, which could come sooner or later for the lad who should be in his senior year at Kansas State. Second, no one knows what the starting receivers can do for this team. Antonio Bryant and Michael Clayton were unseen in the preseason as was tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. If those three are not a big part of the offense, this team could be in trouble. Third, the firing of offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski leaves Greg Olson precious little time to settle into the position with Dallas looming largely. Fourth, will a strong running game really materialize for an entire game against a highly-regarded team like the Cowboys? The optimists of the world will tell you that the Bucs will average 30 points a game or more. Sounds more like wishful thinking than a thesis with solid proof. The optimists will also tell us this Buc defense will dominate. If so, it will have to do it without a key component, safety Tanard Jackson, suspended for the first four games. In all, there is a lot to think about this week as the Bucs prepare for their 2009 home opener. They work on Monday, players are off on Tuesday around the league, Wednesday and Thursday are the biggest work days in the NFL. Then it's a short trip to Sunday and a date with Tony Romo and the 'Boys. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

Buccaneers Face Fallout And Texans

The Buccaneers' final preseason game against Houston has become a major after-thought. Why, with those goings-on at One Buccaneer Place, no one is paying much attention to this final practice game when the focus is on the activities behind closed doors at One Buccaneer Place. The vision comes to mind of Vince Lombardi from the old NFL Films, looking out at his team and screaming: "What the hell's going on out there?" You might think the same with your Buccaneers. In the wake of the firing of offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski, coach Raheem Morris and General Manager Mark Dominik find themselves in the national spotlight for all the wrong reasons. Most telling of all observations came from former NFL GM, Mike Lombardi, in his latest entry on the National Football Post. Lombardi wrote this observation on the latest decision by Morris/Dominik: "What would worry me most if I were a Bucs fan is that word going around was that while players and coaches were not happy with Jagodzinski, Morris, in fact, got along with him -- but felt he needed to make the change to make peace with everyone -- that doesn't sound like the work of a leader but rather work of a committee." Ouch! If that were indeed true, well, it will be a most interesting season for Tampa Bay. Certainly no one is talking about the Texans and the fact that Josh Freeman will start and fourth quarterback Josh Johnson will play a lot, the talk is still about what's going on behind the scenes with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Morris' next major decision will be to select 53 players for his final roster by 6 p.m. Saturday. With all the storms swirling around him, that should be a fairly easy task. Stay tuned.

Jagodzinski Fired, One Buc Place Is A Mess

This all looks for very, very bad for Raheem Morris, your rookie head coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Here he was, on his birthday, getting up in front of the gathered media to explain the firing of his offensive coordinator, Jeff Jagodzinski, a mere 10 days before the 2009 season opener against Dallas. Say what you want, Morris was nervous and uneasy with the explanation. He kept saying that the offense needs "more precision, more direction." What he wasn't saying is that it is more than likely that he and Jagodzinski were simply not seeing things eye-to-eye. They weren't on the same page. Most likely, Jagodzinski was not thrilled with the prospect of starting Byron Leftwich, among other things. Morris denied that as a reason. You can bet it was one of several reasons that Jagodzinski, former head coach at Boston College, is out of work as of Thursday. Morris said of the decision: "This one is on me and Mark Dominik." Fair enough. The Buccaneers claim that Jagodzinski was asked to flip-flop jobs with quarterbacks coach Greg Olson. Is anyone buying that? There's nothing to promote staff unity like a demotion and a promotion and keeping both guys in the ranks. Who are they kidding here? If it was a ploy to get Jagodzinski to quit so the team doesn't have to pay him, then perhaps it worked. Still, when you hash through all of this, and this will be talked about and sorted out many times between now and the kickoff against Dallas in 10 days, something just doesn't seem right at One Buc Place. Does it?

Happy Birthday, Raheem Morris...

Happy birthday, Raheem Morris. Today, you have reached the ripe old age of 33. It's young by life's standards. You are an infant by NFL coaching standards. Yet here you are, ready to embark on the dangerous waters of the 2009 football season, armed with a re-tooled team that will try and compete using high-energy, fast-tempo and aggression. While you think about that, Raheem, here are some gifts for you from some well-known names in the world of football media: Peter King, the Yoda of Sports Illustrated has this prediction for the Buccaneers: He sees the team going 4-12, and places the Buccaneers ahead of lowly Detroit, a team he sees finishing 3-13. Scott Reynold of Tampa's Pewter Report has this for you: "I see them struggling to be a .500 team...." Clark Judge of CBSsports.com has this for you: "Freeman (Josh) will start at some point -- the only question is when....." Mike Florio, the grand master of ProFootballTalk.com/NBC Sports.com has this: "The wheels are coming off this franchise. I get the feeling the Bucs are slipping into the bad organizational category. And this: "I do preseason power rankings. I'm trying to come up with objective reasons not to put them 32. I don't know how in the world they're going to turn this around quickly." Florio's number for Tampa Bay: "5-11." Dan Sileo, a talk show host on WDAE radio and former NFL player: "The Bucs and Jaguars, they might combine for nine wins, five from one, four from the other..." Sileo's number for Tampa Bay: 4-12. Adam Schein and Rich Gannon (former Raider qb) from NFL Sirius radio had this gem for Raheem: "One of the five worst..." Then there's the gift of odds. SBG Global posts the Bucs' chances: Super Bowl: 50-1 Win NFC: 25-1 Win NFC South: 5-1 The reason: "This team has too many questions." And finally, a bit of hope from popular WDAE afternoon host Steve Duemig: "They're not going to be as bad as some people say they are." Happy birthday, Raheem Morris. Blow out the candles and get back to work. It won't be easy this season, but then again, it's hard for every team.

Raheem Morris Now Faces Bigger Decisions

Okay, Raheem finally got down to business and named his starting quarterback, the mighty Byron Leftwich. Fair enough. Now comes the hard work. At 6 p.m. on Saturday, September 5, Morris will have to choose the 53 players for his final roster. He'll have to tell us those players he will take into battle against Dallas and the rest of the NFC East, NFC South and AFC East. Now that he has Leftwich as his guy, Morris had hinted that he might, just might, pick up where Jon Gruden left off and keep four quarterbacks on his team. That's something he might want to think long and hard about. Fact is, the third quarterback on an NFL roster is fairly irrelevant. A four quarterback is an after-thought. It's a luxury this young team cannot afford. It will need all the man-power it can muster for special teams, defense and those other fairly-important facets of the game. One man who most likely will not make the team is kicker Matt Bryant. Bryant was the feel-good story of 2008 but a hamstring injury has hamstrung his hopes of making the roster. Morris told him this week that in order for a chance at the final roster, he needed to play in the preseason finale against the Houston Texans on Friday night. Bryant said he'd rather heal properly and live to kick another day, perhaps for another team. Which brings us to that fourth preseason game. You can bet a pair of club seats to Raymond James for the seven home football games that Morris has pretty much made up his mind on his final 53. Starters don't play in that fourth preseason game. It's a last call for those guys on the bubble and Morris has already honed in on his guys. Four quarterbacks? Let's hope not. A stout defense? Keep your fingers crossed. Derrick Ward, Cadillac Williams and Earnest Graham as your running back rotation? Hopefully, especially is you happen to be Leftwich. Talk about the Houston Texans as much as you wish. Morris and his staff are already game-planning for Dallas. And that's the smart thing to do.