|
For Jon Gruden, the only difference between Tampa Bay and Oakland is that he doesn't hear long-time Raiders fans muttering "Just win, baby," that old-time Al Davis phrase.
All he's doing is winning.
Maybe it isn't pretty. The offense, athletically slow and with a battered line -- sputters until the fourth quarter, leaving opponents ample opportunity to get back into games. But the defense shuts them down. The Buccaneers defense has been doing that for years.
At 8-2, Gruden isn't doing anything differently in Tampa than he did in Oakland. He's just winning. He was 8-2 in Oakland a year ago. He's 8-2 now.
|  | | Gruden has the Bucs off to their best start ever after 10 games. |
While the Glazer family may have thought it handed a Super Bowl-caliber team to Gruden, the Bucs are getting everything from Gruden that they could have wanted when they sent a parcel of high draft choices to Oakland. He's just winning.
The schedule has helped. Outside of the surprisingly tough NFC South, the Bucs have played only one winning team (They lost in Philadelphia to the Eagles, 20-10.)
The price of the top two draft choices -- sent to Oakland for his services -- left Gruden in position to patch holes in the offense. What no one realized is the holes were more scattered through the offense than expected. Until Mike Alstott scored his fifth touchdown of the season, linebacker Derrick Brooks was the team's most consistent scoring machine with four touchdowns. Take away the six touchdowns from returns and the offense is putting out only 18.2 points a game. The Bucs averaged only 20.25 points a game as a team last year and it cost Tony Dungy his job.
The offensive line has fought injuries and talent deficiencies. Gruden thought Michael Pittman would be the answer to the team's need for a feature back, but he has only been a 3.4 yard a carry back, a little less than his career average. Gruden tried the power running of Alstott and came to the conclusion that he would have to get through the rest of the season juggling backs.
Keenan McCardell added stability to the receiving corps, but the offense lacks explosiveness. It lacks speed. Gruden is making the best of things, but the final six games will show Gruden's impact. His next three games are critical. His matchup Sunday against the Packers could affect the battle for homefield advantage. Next week's visit to the Superdome against the Saints will determine if the Bucs are division-winners or wild-card contender. After that, the Bucs play the Falcons, one of the league's most exciting teams and a division contender.
What hasn't changed has been the defense. Defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin earned Gruden's trust and a contract extension by leading the league's No. 1 defensive unit. The Bucs are giving up only 252.1 yards a game, a 25-yard improvement and they are giving up six less points a game than last year at 11.9.
Part of those positive numbers can be attributed to an easy schedule, but Gruden has corrected the team's tendency to get off to slow starts. A year ago, the Bucs were 5-5. The Raiders were 8-2. Just winning works.
Here's a look at the league's other new coaches.
Marty Schottenheimer, San Diego: At training camp, Schottenheimer had a good feel about this team. He loved the team's work ethic. He thought the defense had enough playmakers to win games. He loved LaDainian Tomlinson and thought that Drew Brees could be a winner at quarterback. His only fear was that the offensive line was so thin that one lost starter could bring any turnaround to an end. Well, Schottenheimer has outdone himself. The Chargers survived three major hits on the offensive line -- two tackles and one lost center for the season -- to get off to a 7-3 start, two games better than last season. Last week's overtime win over San Francisco eased worries that the Chargers would go through their end of the season losing streak. Schottenheimer is one of the leading candidates for Coach of the Year. That was predictable. The Chargers were good enough last season to lose seven games in the final 90 seconds. Schottenheimer wins the close games. He's 5-1 in games decided by eight points or less. His style of football is having a good defense and winning games with a ball-control offense. That strategy leaves the Chargers in trouble if they fall behind by more than 10 points in the first half, but that's only happened twice. The Chargers have been one of the league's surprise teams thanks to Schottenheimer.
Bill Callahan, Oakland: No one had a tougher job than Callahan. Unless he wins a Super Bowl, he will be considered a failure. The Raiders are more than $50 million over the salary cap next year, so this could be the Raiders last Super Bowl fling, but Callahan is doing some pretty good coaching. His no-huddle and spread offense caught teams such as the Broncos, Steelers and Patriots off guard. After struggling for offensive identity during a four-game losing streak, Callahan put the offense in the hands of Rich Gannon, who could break NFL single-season completion and passing yards records with his short-passing attack. A former offensive line coach, Callahan is bright and responds well to his players. The defense is settling down after having difficulties figuring if it was a 3-4 or a 4-3. The Raiders faded last year after an 8-2 start. At 5-4, the Raiders, the league's second oldest team, has no room for error, no room for a fade.
| |  | |
| Dungy |
Tony Dungy, Indianapolis: The Colts had so much cap money spent on offense that Dungy didn't have an opportunity to add impact players on defense. He had to make the best of a roster that surrendered 30.3 points a game and mix in young players from the draft. All general manager Bill Polian asked is for Dungy's "Cover 2" scheme to trim eight points a game off that average. Dungy's exceeded expectations at 18.3. The only disappointment is that the offense is off four points a game at 21.5. Three times, the team came out flat and fell behind by three touchdowns and couldn't rebound for wins. But at 6-4, the Colts are tied for the lead in the new AFC South. What the Colts learned during the first half of the season is that they need good games from Edgerrin James to get the passing offense going. James has been struggling coming off last season's knee reconstruction, but Peyton Manning is starting to get hot at the right time.
Steve Spurrier, Washington: The "ol' ball coach" underestimated how his scheme would work in the NFL. Schemes don't win games. Players win games and the Redskins don't have enough good players on offense. He's juggled starting quarterbacks four times. He exhausted his bench looking for a receiver to start on the other side of Rod Gardner and even benched Gardner once. Until signing veteran right guard Tré Johnson, Spurrier had to throw up his hands at the interior offensive offense. A year ago, Marty Schottenheimer rebound from an 0-5 start to finish 8-8 with the Redskins. This year, the Redskins are 4-6 -- a game worse than last year -- and going backwards. The "Fun 'n Gun" has produced 15 less yards a game out of rushing offense, making. Stephen Davis feel under-utilized.
John Fox, Carolina: It appeared that Fox made a foxy move by going with Rodney Peete to get the team off to a three-game winning streak, but the offense seems to be a unit that gained little this year. Chris Weinke didn't get a chance to develop. Second-round choice DeShaun Foster looked like a great running back, but he needed a micro-fracture knee operation that makes his long-term career in question. Still, Fox has done a good job. He's put together one of the most exciting front defensive sevens in football. Ends Julius Peppers and Mike Rucker are stars. Kris Jenkins is one of the better young defensive tackles in the league. The linebacking corps is good, and no one has even mentioned the lack of talent at cornerback. Fox's schemes have covered up for that. A year ago, the Panthers finished the season with a 15-game losing streak. Now, the Panthers are in a seven-game free fall. But, Fox has made a favorable impression with the way he has handled the team.
Mike Tice, Minnesota: It doesn't appear that a sale of the Vikings is imminent, so Tice should be back for a second year. He's earned it. No team had a bigger roster turnaround than the Vikings, who started the season with 27 new players. And no coach inherited a defense that was so deprived of talent. Tice didn't have a big budget and he made good moves. The defensive line is improved by adding Kenny Mixon at defensive end to go with Chris Hovan at defensive tackle. Greg Biekert has been a settling force at middle linebacker. A bright coach, Tice is developing things on offense. Michael Bennett is exploding long runs and getting 100-yard rushing days. Randy Moss hasn't been a distraction of late and wisely, Tice dumped the Randy Ratio, which made Daunte Culpepper force too many passes and get out of his comfort zone. At 3-7, the Vikings are only a game worse than last year at this time, but they have a chance to have a better finish.
Dom Capers, Houston: Expansion teams don't win during their first year, and Capers didn't change that inevitability. But, the Texans are destined for greatness under Capers. In 10 games, he's put together a veteran 3-4 defense that ranks 11th in the league, allowing 314 yards a game. The Texans have survived a bad stretch of offensive line injuries, but rookie quarterback David Carr is still standing after 10 games. Carr is one of the best, young quarterbacks to come into the league. With 14 draft choices slated for next year, the Texans can fill out the skill positions to get better on offense. Playing the Texans isn't an easy assignment. Fans still won't forget his opening victory over the Cowboys. That was enough to make the first season a success. Better times are ahead.
John Clayton is a senior writer for ESPN.com.
| |
|
