Hawks 20, Bucs 6

Different quarterback, same offensive results for the Bucs. Although for once the quarterback is not to blame. Once again we saw Cadillac pulled out of the game early because of injuries (ribs) and the Bucs were forced to piece meal together a rushing attack out of Michael Pittman and Earnest Graham. When Cadillac was in the game the Bucs had a considerable amount of difficulty getting the running game going although much of that blame appeared to fall on the o-line's shoulders. Bottom line, if Cadillac is going to be nothing more than china doll in a Bucs uniform the franchise may want to draft a back to split carries with Caddy, a la Julius Jones and Marion Barber in Dallas.

Silver lining to today's game, Jeff Garcia is going to be a hell of a quarterback for the Bucs. He was consistently able to find open receivers down the field, somthing which doesn't sound that toughuntil you take into account some of the Bucs recent quarterbacks. Plus, Garcia had that certain je ne sais quoi on the field. When other quarterbacks would have been flustered playing from behind Garcia appeared confident in the team's abilities up until the last few minutes of the game. Additionally, Garcia's ability to buy time with his feet will lead to more plays even if it does lead to a better chance Garcia will be injured (as we discovered today).

The defense seemed to play with more passion, especially early in the game which can be tough when you have flown across the country to play. The new assistant coaches must be doing their jobs since this was the swarming Bucs defense we are used to seeing. Give them credit, this is a damn good Seattle offense which will likely average someplace well in the area of 30 points a game. Throw in the number of new starters on the defense and by mid-season we can expect good things from this defense.

I've written it before, this team will struggle coming out of the gates. They are not only breaking in a number of new starters on the defense but they have several key new starters on the offense and it will take the team some time to gel. It doesn't help that many of the Bucs most difficult games come in the beginning of the season. So don't sell this team off if they start out with a losing record through their six or seven games, they should rebound down the stretch.