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As I watched the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice during training camp last summer, I couldn't help but let my mind fast forward to late December, to a time when I saw this team out of playoff contention and a Glazer family foot pushing Jon Gruden out the door.
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| Jon Gruden's hot seat has cooled off very nicely. (AP) |
"Everybody's under pressure," Gruden said. "So what?"
He really didn't seem to care. He didn't seem at all bothered by reports it would be a win-or-else year for the man who led the Bucs to their crowning moment, a Super Bowl victory to end the 2002 season that made those laughable Creamsicle-colored Bucs seem as if they had existed a lifetime ago.
Many of his players brushed aside the talk as well. They insisted the 2006 season, which ended with a 4-12 record -- the worst for a Bucs team in 15 years -- was not what it appeared to be and that they were more like the 11-5 team that won the division in 2005.
I didn't believe them.
Maybe I should have.
"I told you," Bucs linebacker Derrick Brooks said last week. "I told you this team was close. I knew what we had. I knew that we lost a lot of close games last year and this team could be a good one. I told you."
Tampa Bay is 7-4 heading to New Orleans to play the Saints this weekend with a chance to all but clinch the NFC South title. It would be a last-to-first story, which we've come to accepts as the norm these days in the wacky NFL.
Back in July, who could have imagined that?
"We expected to be good," Brooks said. "I did anyway."
Not many others did. The Bucs had major issues. Some thought getting 37-year-old quarterback Jeff Garcia was just a Band-Aid move. Instead, Garcia been taking care of the football, which is what Gruden wants.
In 11 starts, Garcia has thrown for 2,135 yards, 11 touchdowns and just three interceptions. His ability to escape pressure and turn potentially bad plays into good ones is a big reason the Bucs are where they are.
Garcia might not play against the Saints after leaving last Sunday's victory over the Redskins with a back injury. If he can't go, it will be either Luke McCown or Bruce Gradkowski.
"It all depends on how I respond in these next couple of days," Garcia said Wednesday. "That will be a true test as to where I will be come Sunday, I really want to see my body take some strides and making progress toward feeling healthy, and not being stagnant or sitting in a position where I haven't seen any improvement."
This is a team that has responded to loss all year long. Running back Cadillac Williams was knocked out earlier this year with a torn ACL in his right knee. Then backup Michael Pittman was lost for the season, leaving unproven Earnest Graham in the role of starter.
Graham has responded by rushing for 631 yards and a 4.1 average. He has two 100-yard plus games in the past three.
"We always thought Earnest could get it done," receiver Joey Galloway said. "To be able to run the ball the way we have with our top guys going down has been key for this team."
It has helped that the offensive line, especially the young right side, has come together. In recent years, the line has been a trouble spot for Gruden and the offense. It's hard to call plays, no matter how good you are at it, when your line doesn't block.
Tampa Bay ranked 29th in total offense last season in large part because the line struggled. That led to questions about Gruden's reputation as an offensive wizard. Had the Boy Wonder lost his touch?
Now we know he hadn't. Tampa Bay still isn't putting up Patriots-like numbers, but the Bucs are ranked 19th in total offense and 13th in rushing.
That has helped them cut down on the turnovers: They have 13 after 32 last season.
"When we eliminate the mistakes, we can do a lot of things," Galloway said. "We're just scratching the surface. I believe that."
The defense is once again carrying the team. The Bucs are ranked second in the league in scoring defense, giving up 14.9 points per game (the Steelers are first at 13.2). The key is the rush defense, fifth-best in the NFL.
The unit has a nice mix of young and old. Veterans such as Brooks and corners Ronde Barber and Brian Kelly has meshed well with young players like linebacker Barrett Ruud, safeties Jermaine Phillips and Tanard Jackson and defensive linemen Jovan Haye and Greg White.
"We're still doing things the Bucs way," Brooks said. "We thought that this could be a group that mixed well together. We have some young players playing well and some of us older guys who can still get it done."
Brooks, who is on his way to the Hall of Fame when his career is done, was among those players some thought were finished. They said he had lost a step and couldn't get it done anymore.
He's proved the doubters wrong. Brooks can still make big plays. He made a huge tackle on a fourth-down run late in the Redskins game to thwart a Washington scoring threat.
"We still have a lot of football left in us," Brooks said. "It's not time to put us out to pasture."
Gruden has another year left on his deal after this one, and it would seem he has earned an extension. He has cooled the sizzle under his butt, that's for sure.
With a victory Sunday, the Bucs are all but in the playoffs. Even if they lose, the schedule down the stretch is favorable. They play at Houston, home against Atlanta, at San Francisco and home against Carolina. Those four are a combined 15-29.
The 2002 Bucs got hot at the right time. They went 12-4 during the regular season and then got hot in the playoffs. Is this team comparable?
"We have a lot of football left before any of that talk," Brooks said.
What we can say now is that this is one of the league's bigger surprises. From last to first, and now they're almost a lock to make the postseason after 11 weeks.
"I told you," Brooks said.
He sure did. I was just too dumb to believe him.