Same Old Bucs 6-2
(October 28, 2002)

Let the record show the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 6-2 at the mid point of the season and tied for first place in the NFC South. Speaking of records, this equals the team's best start. Did all the off season changes at One Buc Place make a difference? Lets review the first half of the season and look ahead to the second half.

The calm Tony Dungy has been replaced with the enthusiastic Jon Gruden. Rob Johnson, Michael Pittman, Kerry Jenkins, Roman Oben, Ken Dilger, Joe Jurevicius and Keenan McCardell, were brought in to bolster the offense. Considering how dismal the Bucs offensive was under Dungy, and Gruden was considered an guru on offense, more production seemed a given. No, the 2002 Bucs are very much like the Bucs of Tony Dungy.

The defense had played great. They rank first in the league and have held opponents to less than ten points in five of eight games. The Bucs have scored 165 points, however, the defense has scored five touchdowns and special teams have scored one. So, the Bucs offense is averaging about 15 points a game.

The Bucs have posted pretty impressive victories over Baltimore (25-0), St. Louis (26-14), Cincinnati (35-7), Atlanta (20-6) and Cleveland (17-3). They also posted a very unimpressive victory over Carolina (12-9) in their last outing. The losses were in overtime opening day to New Orleans (26-20) and at Philadelphia (20-10). What is impressive, is the Bucs played five of the first eight games on the road and went 4-1 in those games. What is not impressive is that all six victories came against teams who had losing records at the time.

The good thing is that five of the last eight are at Raymond James Stadium. The bad thing is that four of the eight currently have winning records. The next three games are at home, Minnesota, Carolina and Green Bay, and the Packers are the only team with a winning record. The Bucs do not play on the road again until December and need to keep winning. December features road trips to New Orleans, Detroit and Chicago. Atlanta and Pittsburgh make December visits to Tampa Bay.

What can we expect for the rest of the season? The Buccaneers have been hit with the injury bug as of late, so that could play into the equation. If the offense doesn't improve, things will remain the same. A winning record, second place in the division to New Orleans, and a another loss on the road in the first round of the playoffs (probably at Philadelphia, again). If the offense begins to gel, and the injuries don't mount, who knows? After all, Baltimore and New England (both 3-4 this year) won the last two Super Bowls with average teams.

Fans can always hope, but the more things change, the more they remain the same.