With Season Gone, It's Time To Try Simms Joe Henderson, The Tampa Tribune, published 27 December 2004 Just 59 seconds remained in the final home game of the season for the Bucs, a contest long since lost. Most of the crowd at Ray-Jay had escaped into the chilly night, headed for someplace warm to grumble about another fruitless afternoon by the home team. That's when the public address guy announced Chris Simms had taken over at quarterback. There were cheers from the hundreds of fans who still remained. Alas ... ``Brian Griese remains at quarterback for the Bucs,'' the announcer said. There were boos from the hundreds of fans who still remained. We could ramble about the symbolism of that bit of weirdness, but since Simms more than likely will not start the final game of this wretched season, we'll just ask: WHY NOT? Just asking. Coach Jonny G. said after Carolina had taken a holiday-sized slice of Buccaneer hide back to Charlotte with a 37-20 win that he wants an ``appropriate opportunity'' to give Simms a chance - but then he said Arizona isn't it. Griese will start against the Cardinals. Jiminy Christmas, Jonny. If a meaningless game against Arizona doesn't qualify as an opportunity to check out the kid after this shipwreck of a season, then maybe, as Jonny G. himself said, ``... it is hard to see through the fog right now.'' Well, we all crowded around Simms' locker anyway afterward, because the quarterbacking is one of the few interesting things left to talk about with this team. Simms said all the right things. He didn't hear the errant P.A. announcement, and that while ``I'm always ready to play'' he won't make waves. But if Simms goes to training camp without a chance to win the starting job, that's different. He'd be disappointed. He'd be mad. ``Without question, yeah,'' Simms said. ``I feel like I've worked hard and have a good grasp of this offense. I would think they'd have the confidence in me to at least give me the opportunity. One game is not going to make or break me. I mean, I'd love to play next week, but Brian's been playing good.'' Everyone knows this team's problems go a lot deeper than quarterback. Griese has played well since taking over when Simms got knocked out in the first quarter Oct. 10 at New Orleans. Griese rallied the Bucs to their first win of the season that day and helped get them back in the playoff race - or whatever the mess in the NFC could be called. But if there ever was a quintessential Griese statistic, it's this one: He finished the day 30 of 41 for 321 yards and three touchdowns, but also had two picks. One was returned by defensive tackle (!) Kindal Moorehead for a TD, and the other set up Carolina's first score. It continued a disturbing habit of Griese's: undoing a lot of good work with one or two really bad moments. It's not all his fault. His offensive line darn near got him killed and the Bucs ran just 11 times, not counting Griese's two scrambles. That's not much ground cover. ``Everybody in the stadium knew we were going to pass,'' Griese said. Joe Namath in his prime (down, Jonny boy; he's 62 years old) would have trouble winning with this mess. But refusing to even look at the kid is the same mentality that led Gruden to waste a roster spot all season on Tim Brown. It's just more denial about what shape his franchise is really in, and not everyone in the NFL does it that way. incinnati finished 8-8 last season with journeyman Jon Kitna at quarterback, but Coach Marvin Lewis gave the reins this year to Carson Palmer. Palmer struggled, learned, got better, and now the Bengals will enter next season with few questions about their franchise QB. Lewis essentially made a long- term investment out of this season for the good of his franchise; Jonny G. won't even invest one game at the tail end of a 5-10 year. Maybe Simms can't play a lick at this level. Maybe he'll be an all-star. How would we know? When will we know? We do know he was good enough to be handed a start at New Orleans, but the only time Gruden looked his way Sunday came when the Bucs fell behind by 17 points. He told Simms to warm up, but then Griese hit a few passes, the Bucs scored, and Simms sat back down. Look, Brian Griese is always going to hit a few passes. He's always going to have good numbers. The only number that matters, though, is the one on the left side of the W- L column. What happens now? If Simms can't even start a game like the next one, what's that say about the competition - or lack thereof - in camp next year? Does that mean Griese is the quarterback here for next year and beyond? So many questions. Gruden said he is ``excited ... intrigued'' about Chris Simms, but for now things stay as they are. The kid sits. So many questions, so much intrigue. There's a chance to get some answers next week. For now though, intrigue will have to suffice.