Antonio Bryant Questions Playcalling

November 23, 2009 at 01:05pm by Scott   •  1 Comment »

Buried in this write-up by Joe Henderson about how this is the kind of game we should have expected from Josh Freeman is a quote from Antonio Bryant that says what we were all thinking when the game was going on. Why are they not picking on a depleted New Orleans secondary?

“To me, the whole feeling is just a different game plan. The two weeks I sat out, it was like bombs away and today it was very, very conservative. I don’t feel like we made the adjustments we could have made to go out there and make the plays down the field to beat them deep, especially with the situation given. They weren’t in first team completely. That was kind of weird to me, but it is what it is.”

Bryant is right. They had a safety in there playing cornerback for a while. That seemed like a perfect time to test their secondary out with some mid-range passes or even some bombs. It was aggravating watching the checkdowns and simple little passes that didn’t really move the chains. Bryant sheds a little light on that with his other quote.

“He’s developing. Right now, that’s what it seems like we’re out there doing. We’re developing Josh more than really trying to compete. That’s the situation that we’re in, but as a veteran I understand that.”

“We’re developing Josh more than really trying to compete.” And you know what? Good. It may suck for the veterans on the team who don’t give a shit about developing anyone and who want just try to win, but if this is truly the strategy, then Morris should be applauded. This is a lost season in terms of competing. Any strategy that gives Freeman more useful experience at the cost of a chance to win right now is fine. They should be thinking long-term.

It’s giving everyone too much credit to say that the Bucs could have won if they had just played to win. I don’t think they could have won under any circumstance yesterday. But if all this is being done for the greater good — and if we can SEE THE IMPROVEMENT as the season wears on — it will be worth it.