Eleven years ago, the Buccaneers were facing a team with a firmly-established veteran receiver and a big-name rookie first-rounder. The Bucs opted not to double-cover the well-hyped rookie in his first NFL game -- and Tampa paid for it, giving up two touchdowns to the rookie in a 31-7 loss. (There’s a great highlight package from that September 1998 game floating around in cyberspace.)
This year, the Eagles have a rookie first-round wideout, who hasn’t gotten as much hype thanks to the presence of guys like Mike Vick and Donovan McNabb and Kevin Kolb.
And when the Bucs faced Philly on Sunday, they opted to blanket second-year standout DeSean Jackson (to the delight of his many fantasy owners), giving Jeremy Maclin plenty of room to run.
The result? Six catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns for Maclin.
Quarterback Donovan McNabb, in his first game back since breaking a rib, served up long throws, showing great accuracy in completed 16 of 21 passes for 264 yards and three scores.
Mike Vick was expected to have an expanded role in his second appearance. Technically, he did -- but the outcome wasn’t much better. He completed one of four passes for one yard, and he ran four times for 10.
His passer rating through two games? 39.6.
And so it’s no surprise that the Eagles are getting the word out that Vick will be a one-and-done presence in Philly. They signed him (we believe) in order to take an extended look at whether he might be the best guy to lead the offense in 2010. Apparently, they’ve already decided that Vick’s name is the first to scratch off the list that includes McNabb and Kolb.
Meanwhile, the Bucs played as their record would suggest. They’re 0-5, and the chance matching the Lions’ “feat” from 2008 is growing each week.
The only bright spot for the Buccaneers is that quarterback John Johnson has drawn some praise for holding his own.
“I really like that quarterback,” Eagles coach Andy Reid said of Johnson. “He’s a smart kid. We were putting a lot of pressure on him and he hung in there and threw it to the right spots most of the time. I think things will work out well for him down the road.”
Of course, if things work out well for Johnson, that will mean the Bucs wasted a first-round draft pick on Josh Freeman.
So why in the hell did they draft him?
Unfortunately, most questions regarding the Bucs in the coming weeks and months will start with the word “why.”
