2039 Season
Benchmarks:
Roster Rating – 92 (tied 2nd)
Cohesion – 91-89-79-100
My predictions:
Swartz slips a bit but gives us another solid season, maybe 3,400 and 26/16
RBs JR Terry and Freddie Emerson bump us to 4.3 ypc teamwide
Defense again plays very well, stays top tier in PR% and PD%
We again earn a top tier playoff position at 12-4
Season narrative:
Despite my misgivings, we again march off looking every bit the power team. We get tripped up in week 3, but get to 5-1 fairly easily, led by WR Rex Franklin and his 750 yards, 8 TD – already right around where he finished last season in his 11 games played. Old man S Ben Terry, a seemingly afterthought re-signing for us, is leading the team again with 34 tackles and an 84.7 PD%.
We lose K Cris Joseph to a serious injury, but replace him with a rookie off the FA scrapheap, rather than spending serious AP to pick up a veteran there.
At 9-1, we are indeed on track for 4.3 yards per carry, with JR Terry leading the way with about 75 yards a game. We lose a tough road game at SF, who might prove to be a major obstacle in the playoffs too, as they inch a game ahead of us. At 12-2, we still need to play hard to fend off 11-3 Minnesota for the #2 seed behind San Fran. We get nipped at now-rival Tennessee in another tough road game, and finish up at 13-3 – good enough for the #2 seed, at least.
Code:
Front Office Football 2007
2039 Summary for Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Year 2039
Record 13-3
Winning Pct. .812
All-Time 294-250
Winning Pct. .540
Playoffs 14-12
Playoff Visits 14
Bowl Wins 1
Head Coach Shaun Grier
Record 98-26
Winning Pct. .790
Off. Coord. A. Raymond
Def. Coord. V. Irwin
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Team Rank
Rushes per Game 33.3 3
Rushing Yards 138.6 3
Yards Per Carry 4.16 17 (T)
Pass Attempts 27.9 30
Completions 18.5 27
Completion Pct. 66.4 5
Passing Yards 297.0 2
Yards Per Attempt 10.65 1
Yards Per Catch 16.05 1
Total Yardage Gained 426.9 1
3rd Down Conversions 51.0 1
Points Per Game 32.1 1
Pass Rush Pct. 26.0 1
Pass Defense Pct. 58.0 11
Turnovers 23 13 (T)
Turnover Margin +4 13 (T)
Opponents Team Rank
Rushes per Game 24.7 8
Rushing Yards 96.2 6
Yards Per Carry 3.90 8
Pass Attempts 32.6 9
Completions 18.1 2
Completion Pct. 55.7 3
Passing Yards 218.9 5
Yards Per Attempt 6.72 12
Yards Per Catch 12.08 28
Total Yardage Gained 297.9 2
3rd Down Conversions 31.8 1
Points Per Game 19.1 6
Pass Rush Pct. 16.7 5
Pass Defense Pct. 46.3 10
Turnovers 27 11 (T)
Week Team Versus Oppnt
1 45 at NOS 24
2 24 JAX 7
3 28 MIN 35
4 32 at WAS 28
5 28 DAL 17
6 34 ATL 13
7 40 PHI 17
9 27 at NYK 6
10 27 NOS 24
11 38 at CAR 21
12 30 at LRK 3
13 24 at SFO 28
14 24 IND 11
15 34 at ATL 27
16 37 at TEN 38
17 42 CAR 6
Passing Pos Att Comp Yards Y/Att TD Int Rate
4 J. Swartz QB 434 291 4676 10.77 42 14 121.6
**Team --- 446 296 4752 10.65 42 14 120.1
$$Opp --- 521 290 3503 6.72 24 15 79.8
Rushing Pos Att Yards Y/Att TD Fum
30 J. Terry RB 272 1172 4.31 7 7
43 F. Emerson RB 104 481 4.63 5 1
27 S. Cooper RB 84 311 3.70 2 2
4 J. Swartz QB 58 233 4.02 3 1
**Team --- 533 2217 4.16 18 22
$$Opp --- 395 1539 3.90 8 20
Receiving Pos Targ Catch Yards Y/Ctc Y/Tar Drop TD
81 R. Franklin WR 111 73 1477 20.23 13.31 4 14
80 T. Montgomery WR 91 52 1119 21.52 12.30 5 11
85 J. Woodling WR 64 37 559 15.11 8.73 2 3
87 P. Phillips WR 41 31 456 14.71 11.12 3 6
30 J. Terry RB 33 28 245 8.75 7.42 0 2
48 A. Chiaverini TE 34 22 307 13.95 9.03 1 2
Defense Pos Tack Asst Sack Hurr Ints Defn PDPct
49 B. Terry S 88 29 2.0 0 5 3 81.4
51 M. Wilkerson ILB 87 35 1.0 2 1 3 74.0
23 S. Upshaw S 68 16 0.0 0 1 13 81.0
54 R. Moore OLB 50 16 2.0 1 0 5 74.5
56 M. Goodwin OLB 44 12 10.5 28 1 2 81.0
91 T. Hardy ILB 43 11 1.0 1 0 0 72.1
32 S. Nakamura CB 36 12 0.0 0 2 7 77.9
20 C. Booker CB 35 10 1.0 0 1 10 79.5
72 D. Newman DE 34 13 11.5 20 0 1 82.7
70 L. Horst DT 33 7 1.0 2 0 0 81.1
21 B. Soto CB 30 9 1.0 0 4 5 82.9
75 J. Rolfe DT 28 12 0.0 6 0 1 83.0
78 D. Burns DE 21 8 4.5 12 0 0 81.9
93 C. Mathews OLB 20 7 1.0 3 0 2 77.5
The big breakout on the offensive side started, I think, with WR Franklin being healthy and productive all year, and Swartz hitting him all year long. The 1477 yard season ranks up there with the best in this franchise’s history – and the y/t numbers for both Franklin and Montgomery were just downright sick. Swartz has had one other really big year, but I think this is a new high for him – a 121.6 passer rating is pretty strong by any measure.
The defense was not quite as great as I had gotten used to – part of that likely due to an injury to CB Soto, leaving us really thin at the CB position for much of the season. Booker and Nakamura are fine, but I think Soto is a difference-maker waiting to get his real chance. Our overall pass defense slid to almost average, but our offense made up for that loss.
The pass rush ranked 1st again, helped by a late-season push. DE Newman and LB Goodwin are basically the engines for the whole thing, as DE Donny Burns is really just a replacement-level player who will need to be replaced next season.
Great offense covers up a lot of weaknesses elsewhere. I wonder what really was the trigger here. Better running opening up the passing game? Vice versa? Just good dice rolls?