Approach from the sea - Tampa Bay Buccaneers - (M15)

[monsieurginger]

Looks interesting. Following.

[K0ZZ]

Buccaneers make moves in wake of injuries

Trades during the NFL season are a vary rare occurrence and it all continued as the Buccaneers last week just traded away a quarterback and this week, trade for a quarterback. A lot of this is fixated on the fact that Josh McCown was lost for the season and potentially ending his career after tearing his rotator cuff; shortly after a promising off season.

The Patriots have spent the offseason dangling both of their understudy quarterbacks in front of other teams faces in hopes of gaining some assistance on their roster and it seems the Buccaneers were finally tempted, leaving the Patriots with only Mallett understudying Brady now (not that it's a bad position for them).

The Patriots sought help in the secondary and picked up a stop gap player as the Buccaneers moved Major Wright (whom only played one game for the Buccaneers) to the Patriots along with a second and sixth round pick in the upcoming draft in a move that will only yield Jimmy Garoppolo for the Buccaneers who found themselves with only Chandler Harnish and Mike Kafka as their quarterbacking options.

"It's not an ideal situation, Garoppolo is an immense talent and it would've been ideal to allow him time to come off the bench and learn the pacing and nuances of the NFL game, but when it came down to it, we had to make a move and while Mallett was a more experienced option, their asking price was too steep; at least compared to what we had offered to make me feel comfortable going into the deal." Spoke COO Jon Gruden to the press that gathered for the announcement.

It was rumored the Patriots would've wanted the Buccaneers 1st and 3rd picks for Mallett, and the Buccaneers weren't willing to do that and instead of going for the pre-groomed option, they will take the younger player on a stacked group of quarterbacks. Wright was a bench player and won't be overly missed on the defensive end, but this move brought about a wave of movement.

The team announced they have terminated the contract of quarterback, Mike Kafka to allow for only two active quarterbacks on the roster, after trading for Harnish a week ago, it was very unlikely they were about to release him, and in doing so, they got two players from free agency that should be expected to make some contributions.

Tight end Jermichael Finley will move in to provide Garoppolo a target at the tight end slot, the team had wanted to sign him in the preseason but they were unable to complete the move prior to the start of the season, but brandishing some of their contracts allowed for a revamping of sorts as they now boast a rather impressive tight end group.

To replace Major Wright, Lovie Smith will get a familiar face in the oft-suspended Brandon Meriweather, Meriweather played with Lovie in Chicago and while the short tenure together wasn't overly effective, it gives the Buccaneers a player that can figure into snaps right away knowing the system and it gives Meriweather a chance to try and put his troubled past behind him, despite consistent reports to the contrary that the safety feels no remorse for his actions.

[TheBastard]

Following! This look good! Are you planning on starting Garoppolo?

[K0ZZ]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheBastard

Following! This look good! Are you planning on starting Garoppolo?

Yes, with me cutting Kafka and Harnish being more of a back up than starter, I'll be starting Garoppolo, I was hoping to ride McCown for a year or two, but with him being put on IR after Week 1, I doubt I'll use him again. Wouldn't of traded Glennon in the first place!

[K0ZZ]

Garoppolo impressed in his NFL Debut

Garoppolo leads Buccaneers in rout of Rams

An early three and out had Buccaneers faithful somewhat concerned after the team was unable to yield any benefit of an early Sam Bradford interception (by Quintin Groves) other than an early field goal had some worried that his presence wouldn't mitigate the disaster that was caused by the injury to Josh McCown last week. That would change on the following drive with a 4/6 performance by Garoppolo who would lead the Buccaneers deep into Rams territory but would cap the drive off with a field goal.

Vincent Jackson leaps past the defender on a big catch in the second quarter

The Rams and Buccaneers than spent the remainder of the first trading field goals, ending the first set of action in a 6-3 affair as neither team crossed into the end zone. It was Garoppolo that was leading the Buccaneers in the first half as he and Vincent Jackson started making early connections and the wide receiver would end up with 7 receptions and 95 yards, along with a touchdown on a fade in the second quarter to put the Buccaneers up 13-6.

The Rams couldn't muster much of an offense, Zac Stacy picked up 35 yards in the first quarter and would add only 12 in the second, rookie Tre Mason wasn't used much at all and the offense was largely just treading water while the Buccaneers continued to pile up momentum, another Sam Bradford interception would be brought back a good distance, leading to a drive capped off by a Garoppolo touchdown rush.

Garoppolo scored one in the air and once on the ground

The second half of the 20-6 game was largely a ground affair as the Buccaneers turned to Doug Martin and Bobby Rainey to take over the game and start to run down the clock, Doug Martin performed in a huge manner, rushing a total of 26 times for 140 yards, while picking up a touchdown on a pitch late in the third quarter, while Rainey would added 4 rushes for 7 yards including a touchdown scamper to open the third.

The defense turned up their performance in the second half and left Sam Bradford unable to do much other than complete checkdowns, he completed 73% of his passes but only had 173 yards and wouldn't score a touchdown as a defense that was shredded by the Panthers a week ago, improved tremendously and slammed the door shut on any hopes of a comeback.

TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
TAM 6 14 14 0 34
STL 3 3 0 0 6


Top Performers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jimmy Garoppolo 16/23 251 yards 1 TD
Doug Martin 26 Rushes 140 yards 1 TD 2 REC 30 Yards
Vincent Jackson 7 Rec 95 yards 1 TD
Quintin Groves 5 Tackles 1 For loss 1 INT

Saint Louis Rams
Sam Bradford 19/26 173 Yards 2 INT
Zac Stacy 18 Rushes 61 Yards 3 Rec 15 Yards
Brian Quick 4 Rec 50 Yards
LaMarcus Joyner 5 Tackles 1 For loss 1 Sack 2 Deflections


News from around the NFL
- Superbowl rematch as the Broncos take on the Seahawks this week
- Kam Chancellor will be back in the starting lineup
- Ray Rice returns from his suspension
- Jay Cutler returns for the Bears
- Dulan Robinson will make the conversion from Rugby to football as he is slated to start for the Badgers
- Alfred Morris will miss the remainder of the NFL season after tearing ACL
- Vikings stun Patriots 33-16 behind Petersons' 3 touchdowns
- Tony Romo throws 3 interceptions; Dallas falls 44-9 to the tittans
- Bortles has the Jaguars on top with a 3 touchdown performance over the Redskins
- Nick Foles tears pectoral to miss the rest of the season

[Equinox831]

There's no way the Patriots would deal Garoppolo, but this is your CFM so it is what it is. Nice win over the Rams, good luck going forward.

[K0ZZ]

I know, sadly when I went into the trade market looking for a QB because the only QB that would preform decently in free agency was Josh Freeman and given the bad breakup with him and the team I felt that would've been a bad direction to take. I punched in that I wanted to upgrade my QB position and NE offered me deals for Mallett and Garoppolo and the one for Mallett would've really gutted me, and I actually added in an extra pick for Garoppolo to make it more "fair", even though in reality, Mallett would be the one leaving and Garoppolo is their quarterback of the future.

sadly I couldn't keep within the constraints of plausibility with that move, but I tried to balance it better and make it more worthwhile for the Patriots to make it seem a little more realistic.

[K0ZZ]

Defense continues to play strong for Buccaneers in victory

(Atlanta, GA) - The Falcons are attempting to rebound from a poor 2013 campaign, but leaving week 3 with another loss in the column makes it difficult situation to rebound from, not to mention when their key acquisition of a year ago, Steven Jackson performing so poorly.

Matt Ryan was outdueled by Jimmy Garoppolo, but Ryan had a decent enough performance with 217 yards and a touchdown and interception, Matt Ryan completed 67% of his passes (23/34) but with 6.4 yards per attempt it made it difficult to be too much of an accomplishment to have done so. Garoppolo inversely had 10.3 yards per attempt, going 18/25 for a 72% completion rate, with a pair of touchdowns and an interception.He also had more yards with 258, for a QB rating that was 30 points higher than Ryan.

Neither running back performed better than average, with Doug Martin rushing 22 times for 66 yards (3 YPC) and Steven Jackson went 13 times for 43 yards (3.3), neither did much to excite but they did provide a change of pass, and for the Falcons which focused so heavily on passing, it was worthwhile.

It was another game in which the Buccaneers jumped out early, scoring all 24 of their points in the first half, opening the scoring with a late touchdown pass to Mike Evans, with another touchdown showing up later after Lavonte David intercepted a pass intended for Roddy White on a hook route, Vincent Jackson would be on the receiving end of the other touchdown pass.

With a 24-3 lead going into the half, the focus shifted to a rush dominated attack for the Buccaneers who took over control of the clock, despite the Falcons ultimately holding the lead in time of possession (23:26-24:34), as the Falcons would slowly battle back as Sidney Rice would pull in five consecutive receptions on a late drive to make it a 24-13 game, which would be the final score.

"It was a team effort man and it feels good, last season is behind us, it's time to move on and we are showing that we can do that. We have a good group now, I'm happy to be here." Spoke Lavonte David to a group of reporters following the game, needless to say when the team is winning, things are very good and while they sit at 2-1, they still have a lot of football to go, but beating a divisional rival is always a step in the right direction.

The Buccaneers will take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 4, the Steelers are 1-2, the Buccaneers finally clear their injury list, with only Josh McCown being the sole remainder on the injury report, while the Steelers will be without David DeCastro (RG) who broke his ankle and was placed on season ending IR, and outside linebacker, Jarvis Jones whom had a quad tear in the preseason.

TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
TAM 10 14 0 0 24
ATL 3 0 3 7 13


Top Performers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jimmy Garoppolo 18/25 258 Yards 2 TD 1 INT
Doug Martin 22 Rush 66 Yards (3.0) 2 REC 36 yards
Vincent Jackson 7 Rec 128 yards 1 TD
Jonathan Casillas 13 Tackles 2 FL 1 Sack

Atlanta Falcons
Matt Ryan 23/34 217 Yards 1 TD 1 INT
Steven Jackson 13 Rush 43 yards 7 Rec 63 yards
Sidney Rice 6 Rec 61 Yards 1 TD
William Moore 10 Tackles 2 For loss 1 Sack 1 INT

News from around the NFL
-Giovani Bernard and Carlos Dunlap returns for the Bengals this week
- DeSean Jackson returns for the Redskins
- Eddie Lacy piles up 153 rushing yards in 19-7 victory over Lions
- Andy Dalton tosses 3 touchdowns in 31-20 victory over Bengals
- Chiefs take over in overtime with 16-13 win over Miami
- Drew Brees electrifies the Saints offense with 3 touchdowns in win over Minnesota
- 7 team sacks boost Ravens over Browns
- Andrew Luck suffers a broken leg and will miss a good portion of the season.