Admit it, your initial reaction when the Buccaneers signed Brad Johnson was that everyone else in the NFC was playing for second place.
It's OK, you're not alone. Long thought to be a quarterback away from being
a true Super Bowl contender, the Bucs finally got their man when they outbid
the NFL champion Ravens for the 32-year-old Johnson, a free agent who was
squeezed out of Washington by the salary cap or team owner Daniel Snyder or
both.
|  | | Tony Dungy plans to keep the Bucs' offense on the conservative side. |
Throw in the subsequent signing of former Cardinals sackmeister Simeon Rice
and you can make a case for the Bucs being the most improved team so far
during a sluggish NFL offseason.
Exhilaration reigns in Tampa, where Johnson is considered the final piece
to the puzzle, the proven quarterback who will finally give the Bucs a
championship-caliber offense to go with their universally feared defense.
Before you go awarding the Bucs a spot in Super Bowl XXXVI in New Orleans,
however, there is one small question that must be asked.
Haven't we heard this all before?
Like, say, last year?
You remember last year. That's when the Bucs, coming off a touchdown-free,
11-6 loss to the Rams in the NFC championship game, added three Pro Bowlers
-- wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson and blockers Randall McDaniel and Jeff
Christy -- to their simplistic, struggling offense. Johnson, in particular, was supposed to be the player who would allow the Bucs to open up
their offense and become the team to beat in the NFC.
Oops.
It didn't happen.
Johnson was never used properly, the inconsistent offense improved
only marginally (from 28th to 21st in total yards, from 30th to 26th in
passing) and the team's regular-season record fell by one game to 10-6. Then
the Bucs dropped their playoff opener to the Eagles, 21-3, the second
straight year they exited the playoffs without the benefit of a touchdown.
Hence the acquisition of Brad Johnson for five years and $28 million.
But critics of coach Tony Dungy's conservative, let-the-defense-win-it game
plan would be well-advised to take a wait-and-see attitude on the anticipated
new offense. If Dungy's first five seasons in Tampa showed anything, it is
this: Just because the players change doesn't mean the philosophy will, too.
Asked recently if the Johnson & Johnson combination will finally open up
the Bucs' staid offense, Dungy's reply should have sent shivers through
central Florida.
"I don't think we'll be a lot different than we have in the past," he said.
There is ample evidence to support Dungy's statement. Lately, the two most
important positions on any offense -- quarterback and coordinator -- have
been as unstable in Tampa Bay as the NASDAQ index. The offense, on the other
hand, has changed very little. It's still unimaginative, it still lacks
daring.
Two years ago, the Bucs began the season with veteran Trent Dilfer at quarterback and Mike Shula as the offensive coordinator. The offense's 1999 struggles ended up costing both men their jobs.
Last year, the Bucs began the season with young Shaun King at quarterback and Les Steckel as the offensive coordinator. Despite promises for more wide-open offense, it never materialized. Now King has been demoted and Steckel fired.
This year, the Bucs will begin the season with Brad Johnson at quarterback and Clyde Christensen, Dungy's longtime quarterbacks coach, as the offensive
coordinator. But will anything really change as long as Dungy occupies the
corner office?
Basically, Dungy is looking for improvement in one area -- completion
percentage. With Dilfer and King playing quarterback for most of his tenure
in Tampa, the Bucs have completed only 54 percent of their passes. Dungy
thinks his growing number of critics will disappear if Johnson, who has
completed 61 percent of his passes during his career, throws as accurately as
he has in the past.
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“ |
I think we have the right formula. The one thing we haven't
done well is throw the ball efficiently. Does that mean you have to have a
lot of formations, a lot of plays, and throw the ball more? I don't think we
do. ” |
|
|
— Tony Dungy, Buccaneers head coach |
"I think we have the right formula," Dungy said. "The one thing we haven't
done well is throw the ball efficiently. Does that mean you have to have a
lot of formations, a lot of plays, and throw the ball more? I don't think we
do."
The easy-going, media-friendly Dungy has become a bit touchy on the subject
of opening up the offense. He says he doesn't even know what opening up the
offense means, that he just wants the Bucs to get better at what they're
trying to do.
Ironically, Dungy found some ammunition for that argument in the Super
Bowl, where the Ravens won the title many had ceded to the Bucs five months
earlier. Baltimore won with a dominating defense and an offense --
quarterbacked by Dilfer, of all people -- whose main goal was to avoid
catastrophic mistakes. Sound familiar, Bucs fans?
Ravens coach Brian Billick has a reputation as an offensive wizard, but he
set aside his considerable ego last year because his personnel didn't match
his preferred style. Dungy has no such ego, but he is stubborn. He favors a
defense-first philosophy and plans to stick with it.
As a result, Dungy hopes to make his passing game better, not different.
Johnson, accurate and experienced, will be an improvement over past
quarterbacks simply by performing in cold weather and making a few plays in
the playoffs.
"Those seven percentage points, if we can improve that, will make a big
difference," Dungy said. "Maybe that will make it seem like we're opening it
up and make everybody happy. I remember Brian (Billick) saying he would
rather go 6-10 playing exciting attack football than play our style and win.
When push came to shove, I think he had second thoughts about that and
embraced our style."
Does that sound like a coach who wants to make dramatic changes in his
overall philosophy?
Elsewhere, dramatic changes won't be necessary. The addition of Rice gives
the Bucs four former first-round draft choices up front on defense, enough
talent and pass-rush ability so that Rice's liabilities against the run might
not matter. And the likelihood of the team staying relatively intact by
eventually re-signing offensive tackle Jerry Wunsch and cornerback Ronde
Barber has increased due to the soft market for free agents league-wide.
The challenge for Dungy remains to build an offense good enough to win a
Super Bowl before the defense collapses under the weight of age or free
agency. The signing of Brad Johnson gives him the raw material he needs to do that.
The question now becomes: When push comes to shove, can Dungy embrace a new
offensive style?
Why Cowboys can't bank on Banks
Maybe there is a method to Jerry Jones' madness after all.
Jones, the Cowboys' hands-on owner, gave concussion-plagued Troy Aikman his
release a month ago and last week signed Tony Banks as Aikman's replacement.
Yes, that Tony Banks.
| |  | |
| Banks |
The man signed to replace Mr. Cowboy (1990s version) has a world of
physical ability and throws the deep ball -- a Jones favorite -- very well.
However, Bank's maddening inconsistency and persistent fumble-itis caused the
Rams and Ravens to give up on him.
Ironically, the only way the signing of Banks to a dirt-cheap, one-year,
$500,000 contract will turn out bad for Jones is if Banks turns out to be
good.
Huh?
Bear with me on this. There are two ways for the Cowboys to come out of
this a winner, but both require Banks to fall flat on his face.
The first way is if Banks quarterbacks the Cowboys all season and they
flounder. The last time Dallas went into a season with a journeyman
quarterback and no heir apparent was in 1988. That year, the Cowboys went
3-13 with Steve Pelluer as the starter and secured the No. 1 overall pick in
the draft, which turned out to be Aikman. Dallas can't land the first pick
this year (expansion Houston is guaranteed that pick), but it could land a
quarterback of the future with the second pick.
The second way the Cowboys will come out a winner is if Banks is so bad
coach Dave Campo benches him during the season. The last two coaches who gave
up on Banks -- Dick Vermeil of the Rams and Brian Billick of the Ravens --
went on to win Super Bowls shortly after doing so. So if Banks falters, then
look for Anthony Wright (two NFL starts) or Clint Stoerner (one NFL
appearance) to lead the Cowboys to the league championship.
The only way the Cowboys can lose in the Banks deal is if the light bulb
finally goes on, Banks starts playing to his vast potential and the team
contends in the NFC East. Then Jones will face pressure to sign Banks to a
long-term deal, something that won't be easy for a team that will have $23
million in dead cap money this year and won't escape salary-cap hell until at
least 2004. Should Banks play well and leave, the Cowboys could end up with
no quarterback, no high draft pick and an even bigger rebuilding job than
they have now.
Fortunately for Jones, that's an unlikely scenario given Banks' 25-36
record as an NFL starter and the sorry state of the Cowboys' roster.
QB competitions open in Chicago, New Orleans
There are two quarterback competitions to keep an eye on in the NFC.
In Chicago, beleaguered coach Dick Jauron has thrown the quarterback job
wide open. That's a departure from the last two years, when he handed the job
to Cade McNown only to see the brash youngster falter during the regular season.
Journeymen Jim Miller and Shane Matthews have outperformed McNown for the
most part during that time, but they haven't been able to hold the job due to injuries and McNown's status as the team's quarterback of the future. But the future appears to be now for Jauron, who probably needs a winning season to
hold onto his job.
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| McNown |
"The perception of it this year is it's going to be different," Jauron
said. "In my eyes, it has been this way. I've said about every position, that
on opening day of training camp, we name a starter at every position. That's
for that day. The players decide when they come out of camp who has the job.
The difference we have at the quarterback position this year is there's not
going to be a starter named. They are going to go in and compete for the job
from day one on."
In New Orleans, the situation isn't quite so grim, although ultimately the
decision could be more difficult.
Coach Jim Haslett must decide whether to go back to nine-year veteran Jeff
Blake, who led the team to a 7-3 record before he broke his foot, or stick
with youngster Aaron Brooks, who was spectacular at times in leading the Saints to the playoffs in Blake's absence.
Blake represents the safe route but Brooks, loaded with potential, could
become one of the NFL's top quarterbacks with more playing time. The Saints
say there will be an open competition for the job.
"I think they will both make the best of the competition and get better
because of it," offensive coordinator Mike McCarthy said. "I don't think it
will cause any problems. We've been very up front with it with both of them.
They understand the situation."
Even if the coaching staff doesn't.
Tom Oates of the Wisconsin State Journal writes a weekly NFC column every other Thursday for ESPN.com. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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