Griese to IR

In a move that comes as no surprise, Brian Griese has been placed on the IR for the season.

What is surprising is that no one is talking about this move as the end of the Bucs season. When Pennington went down earlier in the season, most people said that the Jets season was done. If Vick, Manning or Brady went down with injury most people would say the Falcons, Colts and Patriots could say good bye to the playoffs.

Now I'm not comparing Griese to any of these quarterbacks in terms of skill, but Griese was the quarterback for a 4-1 team before he went down with what will most likely be a season ending injury. Why is nobody forecasting the end of the Bucs season after their starting quarterback went down to a torn ACL?

The answer is that the Bucs did not rely on Griese to win games. He played a Trent Dilfer-like role in the offense. Call the plays, throw the ball every now and then, and try not to turn the ball over.

Cadillac Williams is the reason the Bucs have been winning games. Well, Williams and Gruden's play calling. Simms promotion to the starting squad will not change that. This team will need a healthy Williams, not a healthy Griese, to win games.


Scott said...

And the Bucs proved they don't even need a healthy Cadillac to win games (though it certainly makes it easier.) Pittman did an excellent job last week (8.5 yards/carry!) and Graham did ok, except for the fumble. This season, as in the last 30, the defense is the key.

And let's be clear on your Trent Dilfer reference. You meant the Dilfer that played for the Ravens, not the Dilfer that played for the Bucs. I don't think anyone wants the 1996 model back.

Ski said...

good point on Dilfer, I should have clarified the model.

on a side note, how much do you think the Ravens wish they still had Dilfer? If they did they would be considered Super Bowl contenders, what with that defense and offensive talent that would surround him.

Scott said...

You mean today? Nah. Dilfer is sporadically good, as evidenced by his performance this year. The "all he does is win" mystique left Dilfer when the Rams made him look ridiculous in October 2002. It was still crappy for the Ravens to release him after the Super Bowl. He probably would have been good for them for another year, but he's not their long-term answer. Neither was Elvis Grbac. Or Chris Redman. Or Randall Cunningham. Or Jeff Blake. Or Kyle Boller. Or Anthony Wright.

Could it be that every one of those quarterbacks were talentless hacks that simply couldn't get it together and dragged the team down behind him? Or could it just be that the coaching staff is less than stellar? What does Occam's Razor tell you?

(it's too bad, too, because I liked Boller and thought he would be great under a guy like Gruden.)

Ski said...

If Boller could stay healthy the Ravens would have a much better record right now (cause Wright is awful).

Don't get me wrong, I think Dilfer is a horrendous quarterback who couldn't throw the ball deep. He played not to lose games and that affected him. Good quarterbacks play to win but Dilfer was asked not to lose a game, which is akin to telling him he was a bad quarterback.

Getting sent to Baltimore made him realize he wasn't as good as he thought he was, so he finally got comfortable in the Ravens offense. That's my bit of pop psychology for the afternoon.

Dilfer ain't a bad quarterback, but he ain't a good one. The Ravens though . . . they have some bad quarterbacks.