My Take Mini Rant: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Someone should tell the Buccaneers that the season has started.  They seem to still be in first gear.  There is no reason for the Bucs to be this bad, this early in the season.  At this point they should still have fresh legs and optimism about the season, it's just week 3!  But tonight, they seemed to be sleep walking through much of this game against the Atlanta Flacons. A division rival none the less.  There is not a team in the NFL that should be down 35-0 in the first half.  No team should be that much Better than any team.  All teams have elite athletes.  So for the Buccaneers to get dominated in that way is alarming.  A lot of people expected this to be a playoff team.  It is not!  At least not now it isn't and it is a long way from being a playoff team.  We all thought Lovie Smith would settle the ship and get the team on smoother and more consistent waters.  That hasn't been even close to being the case.  The offense looks DOA and the defense (though decimated by injuries!) has been uninspiring and lifeless.  They give up big plays but don't make any big plays.  The special teams has even been dismal.  The constant threat of being released usually keeps the special teams competing hard and limiting mistakes.  I guess these guys all have 100% guaranteed contracts because they don't seem to be playing with their hair on fire.  Coach Lovie has to find a way to strike the right cord with this team or  get ready to draft Marcus Mariotta.  Not a bad consolation if you are gonna suck anyway. 

Time For Change For The New York Giants

The New York Giants looked horrible on offense the entire preseason.  In some cases, teams look bad in the preseason and some how manage to turn it on when the real bullets start to fly in September. That has not been the case for the G-MEN.  Eli Manning looks like playing football hurts him to his soul.  He is obviously not having fun playing football and when you've made a $100 million dollars and your family is mega rich, you kinda need to love playing football to play at a high level.  His body language tells me that he either is tired playing football (which is entirely possible) or he hates playing football for the New York Giants.  Maybe a change of scenery would be good for Eli.  He is a southern boy at heart.  Maybe a trip down south Would do him some good.  From the looks of things Tony Romo's body is falling apart, maybe Big D could use a Manning behind center.  Either way, the Eli Manning era seems to be nearing its end in New York.  

The second part of this equation is the Head Coach.  Tom Coughlin had a reputation around the league as being one of those old school hard nose coaches that ruled with an iron fist.  Players didn't  necessarily want to play for him but hey, you go where the check takes you.  There were rumors of mutiny in the locker room but winning cures all ills with players and coaches in the NFL.   For Coach Coughlin, winning 2 Super Bowls has bought him grace with the origination and the fan base through some ruff patches in past few seasons.  That grace may be running out.  It's not just the fact that they've lost games but it's the fact that turnovers and mistakes have been the cause of their downfall.  When your team can't execute and be disciplined during games that buck stops directly with the head coach.  Maybe his voice isn't being heard anymore.  Maybe it's time for change.