Meltdown on D When We Least Expected It Well that game was right up there with my grandfather’s funeral for sheer entertainment value, and the pain was only added to by the feeling of sheer exhaustion all day Tuesday after staying up all night to suffer through it. Granted it had its moments with Antonio Bryant performing miracles and making bad throws into good ones, and we were still in the game into the 4th quarter but our lack of steel on Defense was quite alarming and our undoing was a slow and painful one. Let’s get back to basics here, if you can’t tackle an RB then his legs will keep moving and big gains will follow and we never really got to grips with Stewart or Williams all night. The upshot was we made them look like Gayle Sayers and John Riggins as a one-two punch, and surrendered (quite an apt word for our showing) an alarming 299 yards on the ground. It used to be news if we gave up 299 total, but that many rushing yards is obscene for a pro defense to allow and makes it impossible to win any game. Rushing yards like that gain first downs in bunches, and dominate time of possession and to be bullied like that on a national stage made me foam at the mouth with rage. The two sports teams I hate the most in this life are naturally The Twits and MUFC and I’ve had to stomach losses to both in the past fortnight, thus adding convincing evidence to my belief that fate continues to shite on me from a great height. A few things I think 1. What a catch by Antonio Bryant, wow. Catches like that will get him a much fatter contract this off-season, hopefully from the Bucs too as I like what I’m seeing from number 89 who gets better week after week and is coming up trumps in the money time of the season. 2. At least I called the Cadillac TD right, and good to see him lay that ghost. If nothing else he can now have a good memory of that stadium. 3. How bad are the Lions – I really am starting to sweat on the immortal status of our 76 Bucs squad. Can you really see a Lions win on their schedule, no me neither. 4. I think the few home truths Mike Singletary told the 49ers is hitting home. Looks like a team that’s found a coach to me. 5. Speaking of other teams, is it me or do the Texans win 3 games in a row late in a season every year to save the head coaches job? 6. Kudos to Sky TV for putting us on again this Sunday. Three weeks in a row and it just shows how strong the NFC South is this year with 4 winning teams knocking the hell out of each other. 7. Thank god the Mets have JJ Putz and K-Rod on board for next year. I apologise for the digression into Baseball but as a Mets fan this news is too good to be true. 8. No matter how many TD’s he catches I still think Steve Smith is a knob, and has a fuse shorter than Boris the Blade in Snatch. 9. That sound you can hear from the nations capital is the wheels coming off the Redskins bandwagon. 10. I think the best thing the Bucs can do to put last week to bed is to keep Michael Turner under 100 yards and win the damn game on Sunday, and remarkably all will suddenly be well again in the world. 11. If you haven’t already cast your eyes on it, Peter King’s piece on Derrick Brooks in the Dec 1st edition of Sports Illustrated is a must-read, and great insight into how and why our number 55 is one of the all-time greats. Feeling sorry for ourselves and wallowing in self-pity will not do us any good, believe me I’ve tried it for the past 72 hours and it sucks. What the Bucs can do is still control their own destiny, as looking at The Twits remaining schedule there is no way that they win out from here, so the Division title and a first round bye is still very much possible if we right the ship and quickly. Last Monday was the granddaddy of all wake-up calls, and its wife, and thus we head to Atlanta on a short week, facing a hot team in a hostile environment in a division game, with every analyst and idiot like myself throwing insults at the vaunted Buccaneer Defense. It is therefore time for said defense to look at itself in the mirror, and play next Sunday like their pants are on fire and their lives depend in the game, and in theory the Bucs play-off lives in terms of a division title, are very much hanging on Sundays match-up. I’d bet Monte Kiffin has been even more grumpy than usual this past week, and would be willing to get out there and hit somebody himself after seeing the video of the Twits run all over us. Similarly Chucky wont have been a barrel of laughs for his wife and kids either, and the people to take it out on are the Falcons and particularly Michael Turner who will be aiming right at us on at least 30 carries, unless we establish a wall in front of him, and demonstrate and new found ability to put the ball carrier on the grass/turf/back of the stand. Offensively I like our chances to score some points against the Falcons and 20plus could be well within our reach, and so the aforementioned performance of our Defence against Matt Ryan and the Falcons running game will determine the outcome of this clash. The Bucs should be in angry mood, and be really up for this one – if they aren’t then I’d question their professional pride after being embarrassed in front of millions 6 days previous. Our front four need to get in the backfield, and they along with the linebackers and 8th man in the box if necessary, should have gap discipline smashed into their heads this week by an angry co-ordinator and a veteran set of team leaders who puked at our showing last time out. Bucs to come out angry, tetchy and fired up and win one for the Monte 24-17. The Things I Like About Football No.15 - That there’s usually another game next week to focus on. After last Monday I wanted us to play again as quickly as possible to get the defeat out of my head and thank god that wasn’t a play-off loss we had to stomach for 9 months. Nod of Acknowledgement to - Steelers' Linebacker James Harrison A guy who’s been cut multiple times early in his career, and now has ascended to be one of the elite at his position. He defines the term playing angry and attacks every down like it might be his last – my type of defensive player. Twunt of the Week Award (sponsored by Ashley Cole) - Joey Porter Who on the back of Plaxico Burress playing target practice on his own body parts, comes out shouting about athletes rights to carry guns. The timings worse than JFK going to Dallas in November 63, and coming from a man who was shot himself outside a nightclub in the past 5 years its hardly the sort of public service message Roger Goodell wants from an NFL player is it! Can’t imagine United Way getting Joey Porter to be a spokesman anytime soon. Get in the Real World Award - Tony Romo Is his guy the NFL’s flat-track bully a la Graeme Hick or what. Give him a home game with KC and its 300 yards and 4 td’s. Stick him in the play-offs or on the road in a hostile environment and invariably it’s a clunker. The jury is out Mr Romo – fantasy wise he’s a stud player, but in the real world many are not convinced, myself included. Sports Story that bores me senseless - The prospect of a Giants vs Jets Super Bowl Thank god the Jets have cooled off, actually crashed to earth with a thud, these past 2 weeks to take the wind out of this storyline. Head on the Block Time last week 11-5, season 132-76, (not) lock of the week has been suspended due to inactivity I’m finding some consistency with the 11-5 mark at the moment so will look for more of the same this week by again consulting a couple of family members to assist with the picks; this weeks guest selectors are eldest son and daughter who are thus 1st and 2nd in line to my debt. This weeks' receivers of fewer cracks on the head from Mallett’s Mallett are …. Aints, Fish, Bucs (of course), Capital City Goofball, San Diego Super Chargers, Cheese, Oilers, Starbucks, Peytons dodgy staph infected knee, J E T S Jets Jets Jets, Norsemen (upset special selected by son), Cheats, Stillers (selected by daughter who likes their colours), Twits, Cowgirls and Iggles.