Tampa Bay Buccaneers Preseason Game 3 Postgame Report

DON’’T PANIC
By Leo Haggerty
Editor – It’s Sports Magazine

I’m hoping that I don’t see any Bucs fans on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge perched on the edge ready to jump. It’s way too early to panic after the lackluster 13-9 loss to Cleveland on Saturday night at Raymond James Stadium and here’s why.

First, the Pewter Pirates decided, for whatever reason, to not even dress a sizable portion of the starters on both sides of the ball. On offense, WRs Mike Evans and DeSean Jackson were in street clothes along with other starters. On the defensive side of the ball, DT Gerald McCoy and MLB Kwon Alexander did not see the field as well as a few other first team players. So, plain and simple, the team you saw in the exhibition season home opener paled in comparison to the team Tampa Bay hopes to put on the gridiron in two weeks when the regular season starts in Miami.

Second, the weather was miserable. The RayJay was inundated with monsoon-like rain about an hour before kickoff but that cleared before kickoff. The remnants of the storm were oppressive humidity throughout the first half until the heavens opened again right before halftime. The rain continued intermittently throughout the rest of contest leading to some sloppy play by both teams. Yes, I know you can’t use weather conditions as an excuse but, believe me, it was a factor.

Finally, you could see that, because of the field conditions, the Bucs were extremely tentative in their play. I seemed to me that the starters were just biding time until they could call it a day. That, ladies and gentlemen, is not a lack of effort but being overly cautious to avoid any type of injury.

In my opinion, you can see that the Buccaneers are ready for the season to start. Training camp is always a grind and this one was no different. Players are physically spent and emotionally “on their last nerve” as they deal with the heat and humidity and precipitation that comes with rigors of preseason practice in Tampa Bay.

The final exhibition game will be Thursday against the visiting Washington Redskins. Look for the Bucs to use that game as a barometer to decide what players ‘on the bubble” and what players will be let go.