what was the turning point for the Buccaneers season?

[ultra-buc's]

They won the first 4, and have gone 1-3 since... what was the turning point?

[Atog]

clearly, not having a Michigan Quarterback was a deadly blow to the team. 3 of the last 4 Super Bowl winners had a U-M QB.
Can't argue with statistics.

[Mercer Boy]

I'm thinking it was a combination of #3 and #4, but I went for #4 since that was the final straw. Griese was handling the QB duties decently (like Dilfer on the '00 Ravens decent ) as the defense was keeping the other team from scoring as much as the offense could.

Once Simms got in there, and combined with the loss of their new star RB, I'm sure the offense was deflated. There's no way they should have lost to the 49ers 15-10. They should have beaten the Jets also (14-12 loss). With those victories in hand, they're 7-1 right now and on top in a very tough division.

Sure, Carolina and ATL could have beaten them down later and knocked them out at a later date...but at 7-1, the Bucs would surely feel better than they might right now at 5-3 and 1-3 in their last four games.

Simms is going to have to muster some sort of respectable pass game, or else teams will just stack the box against the run game and score enough to win every time. It's not over yet, obviously...but the chances of them beating ATL or CAR right now aren't looking so good.

[logan]

caddy getting hurt didn't hurt all that much really. pittman more than performed with griese in at qb. i think it was a combo of their easy early schedule and griese getting hurt. they should still be at worst 6-2 as with griese in i think they role san fran. (course having the best defensive player you have sitting on the side lines didn't help either) carolina was their first real test versus a better than average offensive team. i think with griese it would have been closer but i'm still not sure they win that game.

[The_Captain]

I think the loss of Griese was the turning point in the Bucs season. I think #3 played an important role too b/c for some reason Gruden thought he could ride a rookie like a bucking bronco. Caddy's injury has played some role in the downturn and while Pittman has been good, he hasn't been early-season Caddy good. I think it won't be long before we see Rattay.

[bdrotoronto]

I think losing Cadillac was a big hit for them, when that happened they had trouble beating the Lions, and then lost to Grandpa Vinny and the Jets the next week. But obviously losing Griese and having to go with Simms has just totally thrown them under the bus, they've been terrible since then.

By the way, what has happened to their defence in that time??.. For all the talk here about their offence, their defence has really been lousy for me lately.. hopefully they will turn it around..

[jayday]

with griese, they had to at least respect the pass...teams drool when they see simms at quarterback.....just stack the running game, and keep galloway in front of you and you have the bucs anchored down....

[Guru13]

clearly, not having a Michigan Quarterback was a deadly blow to the team. 3 of the last 4 Super Bowl winners had a U-M QB.
Can't argue with statistics.

one quarterback?

[Kensat30]

Brian Griese can get the job done. Chris Simms can't. It's that simple.