Redskins at Bucs: Mr. Simms' Wild Ride

Washington Redskins (5-3)(-1) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-3)
4:15 p.m. Raymond James Stadium
After a big division win, the Redskins get the chance to further their playoff push by facing the Buccaneers. There are similarities between the two teams. Both are 5-3. Both play in a very tough and competitive division. Both teams are being led by quarterbacks who where not the opening day starters. And both teams, despite having a good offensive line and several offensive weapons, rely on their defenses to win ballgames.

The similarities end there. While both teams are 5-3, the teams seem to be headed in opposite directions. The Redskins appear to be on the way up. After starting 3-0, the Skins lost three of their next four, including an ugly loss to the Giants. But a huge win at home against the Eagles last week, in front of a national audience, has put some spring in the step of the players out at Redskins Park.

The Bucs, on the other hand, started the season 5-1. But they have lost two in a row. Two weeks ago they went to San Francisco and helped the 49ers get only their second win of the year. Last week, in a big division game at home, the Bucs were embarrassed by the Carolina Panthers.

What did last week’s games mean? I think last week’s results were more telling for Tampa. The Bucs defense, which is still the 1st ranked defense in the NFL, allowed 34 points to a team with one serious threat. Other than Steve Smith, who on the Panthers can put a scare into most teams? Stephen Davis isn’t going to bust out a long run. He is only effective in the red-zone. DeShaun Foster has been almost non-existent this season. Are you telling me that the Bucs were worried so much about Keary Colbert and Rod Gardner (yes Redskins fans, he is still in the NFL) that they failed to keep a close eye on Smith? Of course not.

In fact, Smith and the Panthers offense didn’t have a great day. They only had two real scoring drives. They had a 5-play/90-yard drive (set up by a big Jake Delhomme-Smith reception) that culminated in a touchdown. And a 6-play/77 yard drive that finished with a 35-yard touchdown pass to Smith. Delhomme finished with only 216 yards passing. Davis had 48 yards on the ground; Foster only 23. The reason the Bucs gave up 34 points was because of their offense.

The Bucs offense has been horrendous the past two weeks. Last week, despite having the ball for roughly 32 minutes, Tampa managed under 300 yards of total offense. By not moving the ball, and turning the ball over four times, the Tampa offense gave the Panthers great field position. The Panthers had scoring drives of only 32 and 16 yards (ending in a Davis touchdown and John Kasay field goal respectively). The Carolina defense even took advantage of Tampa’s offense, and scored a touchdown on a 61-yard interception return by Chris Gamble.

When the Bucs started 5-1, their offense wasn’t flashy, but it was effective. With Brian Griese on pace for a career year, and rookie Cadillac Williams running the ball successfully, the Bucs moved the ball well, scored their fair share of points, and didn’t commit many turnovers. Injuries then started to pop-up for Tampa. The Caddy suffered injuries after three weeks of continuous beatings. His backup, Michael Pittman, also suffered numerous bumps and bruises. And in Tampa’s win over Miami on October 16th, Griese tore his ACL and is finished for the season.

Which leads me to Chris Simms. Despite bashing him in this blog, I personally have nothing against Simms. He is just another case of someone getting to where he is because his father was famous. This happens all the time, and not just in sports. In fact, sports are the one place it rarely happens. Usually, it doesn’t matter what your last name is…what matters is if you can perform in the games or not. Jarrett Payton (son of Walter) doesn’t get any special treatment. He has had to earn every minute of playing time with the Titans this season. So why has Simms been allowed to cruise through an unremarkable career to a place where he can earn (or not earn) millions have dollars? I wish I had the answer.

Simms was recruited by some of the big time universities. Not because he was anything special. Only because his father was Phil Simms. Other colleges knew not to go anywhere near Simms. Tennessee, where Phil played college ball, didn’t bother recruiting Chris. They knew he was no good. If he had any talent, you can be sure that Tennessee would have made a serious push for Phil's heir apparent

Simms went to Texas under the leadership of Mack Brown. Some said this was a good match. I say it was a case of the blind leading the blind. Mack Brown has wasted more talent at Texas than any other college coach. Brown is an decent recruiter (seriously, how hard is it to recruit in the state of Texas), but a horrible coach. So here comes this no-talent quarterback with a famous last name. Brown certainly can’t make him better. Simms doesn’t get any better himself. So instead of letting Simms waste away on the bench, Brown decides to make him the starting quarterback during his sophomore year.

Complicating the situation was another quarterback at Texas named Major Applewhite (great name by the way). While Major had no real chance of ever making a NFL roster, he was a quality college quarterback. But Simms starts and does well. Of course, Simms is playing against the sister’s of the poor (aka, Rice, Baylor, etc…). Then comes the Oklahoma game. Oklahoma kills UT. Simms is dreadful. He also gets hurt. Applewhite comes in and looks great. He wins games against real Big 12 teams. What happens the next year? Simms is named the starter. The whole process repeats itself. Texas fans routinely call for Applewhite to start, Simms to be benched or cut and Brown to be fired.

So after a below average college career, you figure that the Simms saga is over. Not by a long shot. The Bucs take a chance with Simms in the 2003 draft. But they don’t take him with a sixth or seventh round pick that is usually reserved for “reach picks”. They take Simms with their third rounder. The Bucs took Simms ahead of players like Domanick Davis, Asante Samuel, Brandon Lloyd, Robert Mathis (currently leads the NFL in sacks), Cato June and Justin Gage. They took Simms because of his last name. It certainly wasn’t because of his high school or college success…because he didn’t have any.

Fast forward three years and the Bucs are forced to put Simms under center. With Griese out for the year, Tampa traded for Tim Rattay from the 49ers. But he hasn’t learned the offense yet and is still a few weeks away from seeing playing time. So the Bucs are stuck with Simms as their starter, down the stretch, in the middle of a playoff race. And despite putting up decent yard statistics in his two games, Simms has also thrown four interceptions, been sacked ten times, lost two fumbles and been the main cause for the two straight losses. Ah, sweet cosmic justice. Tastes good, doesn’t it?

As for the Redskins, they are facing the Bucs at the right time. This is clearly a team struggling for some offensive production. Tampa will be facing a defense that is finally getting healthy and is finally starting Lavar Arrington. If only they’d bench Walt Harris and put Carlos Rogers in (please, for the love of God do this).

At any rate, this is a game the Redskins should take. But because it is on the road, I’m sure that means we will see the patented Redskins mistakes (dumb penalties, untimely turnovers, dropped passes, missed tackles, etc…). Just how many of these mistakes and when these mistakes occur will determine the game. Unless Chris Simms finally starts playing like his dad, who routinely killed the Redskins, the Bucs are going to have trouble putting any points on the board and should give the Skins some great field position and easy scores.