Looks like more Griese next week

Coach Jon Gruden said he didn't want to speculate on who might start at Chicago next Sunday, but he promptly went on to say he foresees Griese starting in the Windy City.

Jeff Garcia didn't have much to say after game, saying only that he'd wait for Gruden to decide his next course of action at quarterback. Guess he won't have to wait long, because Gruden's mind appears made up.

Griese finished the day 18-of-31 with 160 yards and a touchdown. He was sacked twice and didn't throw an interception. It was about what you might expect from Griese: unspectacular but not bad, either. He missed some open receivers, threw a bunch of balls to his backs and tight ends and didn't really stretch the field.

But he won, and that will take you places with Gruden.

It will be interesting to see how he fares next week against an opportunistic Chicago defense, on the road no less. Gruden will have a lot to do with his success or lack thereof. He called a much better game today, one that played to Griese's strengths. It's arguable that you could say the same thing about the Saints game.

We'll see how everything plays out, but it appears we know who the quarterback is in Tampa Bay -- for another week, at least.

In other news, receiver Joey Galloway suffered what the team is calling a foot sprain in the second half and didn't return. Since we couldnt speak to him after the game, it's impossible to know what his condition is. Galloway left the field around the 2-minute warning mark and wasn't seen again, at least by anyone in the media. Gruden admitted he's concerned about the injury given all the time Galloway missed in the preseason. We'll do our best to update you in the morning.

Comments

[Al Gore]

To bad Garcia had to meltdown in the offseason, you would think after 5 teams he would learn to lead a team, instead of the me first attitude that he always ends up with after a little success.

[bucfan4life]

stay w/griese trade garcia and galloway

[david kilmer]

I wasn't a Greise fan prior to today and today didn't help. However, it appears Gruden has made his decision. My guess, you may see Garcia next week during the game if Griese stumbles. If he plays the way he did today, he clearly will against a tough Chicago D. My fear,if we don't get quality play from either QB, there goes your offense.Hate to be negative , but if this offense doesn't find someone to lead it , this team and the season are in BIG TROUBLE. I hope I am wrong, but what I saw today from the offense was sad, except for the run game, problem is you must be able to run and pass in this league, look at Denver, Dallas even GB we don't look like them, not even close

[david kilmer]

I wasn't a Greise fan prior to today and today didn't help. However, it appears Gruden has made his decision. My guess, you may see Garcia next week during the game if Griese stumbles. If he plays the way he did today, he clearly will against a tough Chicago D. My fear,if we don't get quality play from either QB, there goes your offense.Hate to be negative , but if this offense doesn't find someone to lead it , this team and the season are in BIG TROUBLE. I hope I am wrong, but what I saw today from the offense was sad, except for the run game, problem is you must be able to run and pass in this league, look at Denver, Dallas even GB we don't look like them, not even close

[George Bush]

So you put in Griese and he has almost the same stats Garcia had..same completion percentage, missed the same open receivers. Only difference is the defense didn't give up the big plays this week. So what exactly was the reason for switching QBs again Jon?

[Al Gore]

Hey George, maybe it was a problem with bad intel...you know all about that right? The sooner you are back on your tractor in TX the better. Vote for buhrock, and use one square of TP people, and help save the planet. I am the man, I am the Al Gore, I believe in manbearpig. Jessica Simpson loves me and only uses one square of TP after dookie'n.
Greise is the only reason the bucs won today, because happy feet Garcia would have ran into abraham 3 more times than Greise did.
I just hope Greise takes advantage of his opportunity this time, and doesn't become greasy again.

[farawaybucfan]

The difference between our two QBs is most obvious in committment to the team, rather than in stats, and committment is what Brian has, and Jeff lacks, (evidenced by his attendance at the Garlic festival) this will lead in two drasticly different directions, one, (Jeffs) into obscurity as celler dwellers, one (Brians) into the playoffs! The players will know the difference, and respond in kind!
Go BUCS!

[farawaybucfan]

Oh yea, dnt forget that the Garcia slide began last year, not this year, or even over the off season!

[Brandon]

You forgot to mention the bone-headed play Griese had inside the 10 when he lollygagged out of the pocket without purpose and got stripped and lost a fumble. Just as costly as an INT... numerous times he missed wide open receivers down the field, this guy is not the answer, he is the problem. The Falcons are complete and total garbage and we should have had them KO'd in the 3rd quarter. At least one good thing came out of this, after watching Matt Ryan and his extremely limited athleticism (like I have been saying for years), there appears to be TWO starting QBs with less arm strength than Griese, Chad Pennington AND Matt Ryan. Congrats Matt on taking the 2nd spot, you'll be a mediocre QB at best.

[jason]

To quote Stephen - "He called a much better game today, one that played to Griese's strengths. It's arguable that you could say the same thing about the Saints game.."

It's more than arguable to say that Gruden did not do that last week...he recognized in this game what a RB corps we may actually have. Instead of forcing his starting QB to be the hero and win the game (which the RB's were already winning), he let his starting QB to just manage the offense. Must've been a heck of a pill to swallow for Gruden, but Graham averaged 7.7 yards as opposed to his 'starting QB' average of 5.2!

I like Griese and always have when he's wearing pewter/red. I do think that Garcia got the short end of the stick here, but I want to see W's...not sympathy. Garcia still has the big paycheck to cry on.

[Edgar]

I heard that the Bucs were attempting to trade Garcia to the 49ers but the 49ers were not interested.

[Scorps]

I am not a Garcia fan but it seems he was under a lot more pressure last week than Griese was this week. Griese threw a few errant passes but had some drops which should have been caught.

I think Garcia would have also won this week if he had played. Both QB's look like they need more practice time to get timing issues down with their receivers.

I think the true QB problem isn't whether Griese or Garcia play it is that they play. We need a franchise QB and they are not it (neither was Farve).

I don't know if Gruden could develop a franchise QB or if one would even be willing to play for him.

[George Bush]

C'mon Al! Even I could see from Washington that Griese couldn't hit the broad side of an Afganistan barn with a scud missile today. He fumbled the ball. What do you think is going to happen when 'Mr. I Can't Scramble' goes up against a real pass rush like Chicago next week? My hanging chads are on Brian not being the starter after next week. Then will it be Luke? Garcia again? Hell, put Condi in there. Couldn't do much worse!

[jason]

To quote Stephen - "He called a much better game today, one that played to Griese's strengths. It's arguable that you could say the same thing about the Saints game.."

It's more than arguable to say that Gruden did not do that last week...he recognized in this game what a RB corps we may actually have. Instead of forcing his starting QB to be the hero and win the game (which the RB's were already winning), he let his starting QB to just manage the offense. Must've been a heck of a pill to swallow for Gruden, but Graham averaged 7.7 yards as opposed to his 'starting QB' average of 5.2!

I like Griese and always have when he's wearing pewter/red. I do think that Garcia got the short end of the stick here, but I want to see W's...not sympathy. Garcia still has the big paycheck to cry on.

[Vince]

Call it like it is. Garcia is a much better option at QB who is rusty, (just like Peyton Manning was this week), and just needs time to acclimate to the game. Gruden must call the right plays at the right time to showcase his players talents. Gruden seems to be the kind of guy whom if he doesn't get along with you, you're done. While I respect that because it means he really cares about his players and likes to bond with them, the down side is that you can lose a great talent like Garcia in the process. In the interest of building a real team, I guess it's a necessary element, to have all the players on the same page and loving everything and everyone team related.

[rob]

I am not real high on either Garcia or Griese and neither of them are a long term solution. And they way the WRs are playing, it doesn't make much difference. Two things about this Gruden era: 1.Unable to keep/get top notch WRs.With the exception of Galloway, every other WR has been a bust, draft or free agent. Thus we have no "juice" at that position. 2. Inability to groom a QB of the future. We all know Simms story (pick which ever side you like). McCown may have a shot, but Gruden won't let him play. Gruden is on a tight hook, which means he will always be in a "Win Now!" frame of mind and will never mentor a QB of the future or spend a high draft pick on one. It seems he will have to be fired and the new coach will have to deal with that problem.

[King]

I like Garcia, and what he did for the team last year. But I see this as a smart call, for next week anyway.

Griese wasnt an all star by any means today. But he was calm, collected, and did a decent job leading the offense for the most part. But as far as playing the Bears, Griese knows that team better then anyone else on the Bucs seeing how he just left there not too long ago.

[ButtRack Obama]

You can put lipstick on a Pig. But at the end of the day it still looks like a Pig.

If I'm elected President of the United States I'll support passing a federal law to make it illegal for Luke McKown not to be in the starting line-up.

Yes, we can bring change to America. We can take the lipstick away from the Pig.

[Oprah Winfrey]

You go get them ButtRack...

[jason]

wow, I'm seeing the genepool de-evolutionizing here. seriously, real stimulating and enlightening conversation. Are we in 8th grade again douchewads? If so, please pass the wine coolers this way.

Idiots.

[Montana Tom]

Griese isn't going to get us to the playoffs. No imagination. No out of the pocket thinking.

[Michael]

Pathetic! Griese? Put Garcia in immediately. No hope with Griese. He did not look good. It's Atlanta for Christ's sake!

[farawaybucfan]

coach Gruden seemed pretty happy about something that Brian did in changing calls at the line, give it some time, Maybe the coach is smarter, and has better info than we do?! I am pretty sure there are no other coaches in our division with the number of division titles that Gruden has had....

[Chris Simms]

Had I stayed there in Tampa I think Jon might have given me a shot in another few weeks after Luke. Guys, if you proformed well enough on your jobs to be considered the mvp on your "team" and saved the jobs of your boss (and his) and you were rewarded by getting screwed out of a very large bonus plus those whom you saved now are shopping for your replacement.........do you think that you might have a little bit of an attitude? It's true that as a professional one shouldn't let emotional issues affect ones proformance. But as a manager (or coach) shouldn't you reward great proformances and respect the leaders of your team who saved your a**??
Speaking of a**'es....what was Belichick thinking when he did'nt sign me last week? Randy Moss would of broke his record from last year if I was throwing to him.

[Tom]

Musical QB's does not work whether it be high school, college, or the NFL and Gruden has not found the right person to play the position. If you look around the NFL the teams that have the best passing game have a QB and receiver combination that work(ed) together in the offseason.
You guys think Griese played bad because his passes were off and I suggest to you part of the problem is because he did not get to work with the receiving corp (if you can call them that?).
Our receivers do not ALWAYS complete their pass routes. Our receivers do not ALWAYS try hard to catch a pass that is behind them, or too high and not perfectly thrown. (As opposed to the Falcon's receivers who caught passes high, low, behind or atleast tried to...check the film).
Need I say more?

[aaron]

so now the Bucs want to trade Garcia to San Fran? Interesting. again gruden has made a poor personnel decision. we never should have brought garcia here in the first place. too old, too fragile. after this years camp we should have gotten rid of garcia and started Greise with simms as our #2 and McCown as our #3.

[DR]

The Bucs beat the Falcons which isn't much of a victory. Their offense didn't play well again, and needed field position from unforced errors by Matt Ryan to score. Nobody can be satisfied from this win because this was probably the easiest team on the schedule. The Bucs will need to play far better than this to get in the playoffs.

[Carmine]

Gruden is an egomaniac and Greise is NOT the answer.
Guy still can't throw a deep ball as evident in the game, and once defense's realize this, they will stack the box, and the running game will suffer.

With Griese leading the way, bucs will be lucky to go 8-8

[John Klopfer]

I have never been a big Brian Griese fan. However facts are facts...in a Bucs uniform Griese has been a winner. He did go down town on a couple of throws...but the timing was off. My biggest concern is Antonio Bryant. From my vantage point, sitting on the couch, it appears that Antonio should be sitting on the couch too. He runs poor routes, doesn't fight the defender for the ball and when the ball is catchable...he drops it. Maybe Ike should start in his place. Anyone else see this?

[Carmine]

I saw some poor throws to Bryant, though probably catchable, considering these guys have done this since they were 10.

But on E.G.'s 68 yard TD run, Bryant was key 'throwing' two interference blocks to give Graham the touchdown

[Dave]

Buttrack - you have my vote.

[JJ]

Anyone know the status of Aqib Talib? I saw he left the game with an injury.

[migget]

FIRE JON GRUDEN ,HE SUCKS!

[Tom]

Aaron, your Gruden tirades are getting old. I'm not reading your blogs anymore because it's the same blah, blah, blah.

We should've never brought in Garcia? Did it cost us a high draft pick? Did it win us a division last year?

Griese made some good decisions with the ball yesterday. Although, he missed some very wide open WRs. Hopefully, he can clean that up next week.

[Tom]

Did any notice that the Bucs played a Dime yesterday? Gruden talked about playing Piscitelli, Jackson and Philips at the same time but I didn't think they actually would go through with it. I like the formation in clear passing situations.

[Tom]

John Klopfer, you're right on about Bryant. He looked terrible yesterday. He showed no determination to fight for the ball. If he continues to play like he has the past two games, his career is over.

[Chris]

Everyone needs to not freak out about the QB play. Our offense has a leader:
Ernest Graham......... I would rather see 100 yard rushing days over 300 yard passing days. 100 yard rushing days in this offense mean you most likely won the game. 300 yard passing days mean you most likely lost

[JS]

a very nice debate after we passed on favre because garcia was "our man"...very nice.

[skp]

anybody who was wondering, "what's the big difference, blah, blah, blah?"

....finding your receivers on 3rd down! our conversion rate was much improved and we converted several 3rd-and-longs...that was our biggest failure as a team last weak, and the biggest reason our tired defense was gashed for a few very big plays in the second half.

ATL's pass rush was as good if not better than NO's, and the QB on Sunday stood in the pocket, risked the hit and delivered to open guys at key times....he didn't scramble around like a scared lost child and then throw 5 yards off target.

griese was far from spectacular, but he made a number of important plays despite leaving several big plays on the table....not a championship showing, but no way we win that game with jeff playing the way he did last week

Fact is, the offense looked smoother yesterday than it ever has when Garcia runs it. Sure Griese missed some wide open shots....the same ones Garcia missed, but I believe Griese will get better as the season progresses and Garcia won't. He'll still miss those big ones and fail to lead his receivers (which Griese does). As a fan I don't have the same sense of panic when Griese throws the ball as when Garcia does.

Garcia's 38 and fragile. He won't last longer than this season anyways. Might as well grab the guy that's in his mid 30's seeing as how Gruden can't cope with a QB that didn't personally know Moses in college.

More importantly, while Greise had the same stats, I have a sneaking suspicion that he had more balls dropped on him...specifically by Antonio Bryant...who's a gaping hole at WR if I ever saw one. Might as well throw Clayton in there if we're giving guys second chances.

[Matt]

We're still on track for a 9-7 season.

If we win 6 of 8 at home and win three of these 4 road games, @Chicago, @Detroit, @Kansas City, @ Atlanta:

We'll either win the division or get a wild card.

...and if Gruden really thinks its over for Garcia trade him and Bennett and try to get some additional picks for next year so we can make a run at trading up to get Chase Daniel.

"If we win 6 of 8 at home and win three of these 4 road games, @Chicago, @Detroit, @Kansas City, @ Atlanta:"

we can easily win the last three of those games. Chicago will be a real good test. We need to cut down on the penalties though.

[Yoda]

Sucks, Garcia does. Patience, do well, Griese will! Hmm, yes, numbers were same, he he he he! But happy feet Griese has not! Why he seems to have more time and protection, it is.

[Vince]

Griese played much better because he converted third downs. Griese is not the long-term solution, but he is the best option right now. Anyone who thinks Garcia is the best option is thinking of last year's Garcia, who was healthy and happy with his contract.

[aaron]

Tom, do think Gruden is doing a good job?

[Elliot]

When was the last time Griese led a team to the playoffs???

Garcia did it the last two years.

Garcia would have put up 24 pts by the half.

[Tom]

Aaron, he's had some very bad moments and he's had some very good moments. He's had bad personnel moves and he's had some fantastic personnel moves.

He coached a very good game yesterday, and he coached a terrible one against the Saints.

If he goes less than 8-8 this year, we need to show him the door. If not, we have a very good foundation for a very good team for years.

Aaron, you just have a personal vendetta against him for some reason. And you can't seem to get over it.

[Edgar]

Gruden needs to open up the offense more. Making the lonely Falcons back into the game until Graham broke one loose for a TD. When you have an early lead 17-0, put teams away so teams like Atlanta won't get so close in the game. Gruden has a bad habit of doing that. Gruden needs to feed Graham the ball more about 20 to 25 times and mixture with Warrick Dunn. That is why they lost to the Saints week one other than the Bucs pass defense played poorly. Bucs could had been 2-0 heading to Chicago. They should beat the Bears with a horrible QB Kyle Orton under center.

[Kurt]

I thought he looked fine for his first outting. He missed a couple of looks and there were a few drops and some untimely penalties also. The offense as a whole executed far better than it usually does and I think it has everything to do with the QB. The gameplan was fine and we were never in jeopardy of losing from my vantage. Many of you just hate to be wrong and about Griese and don't like Gruden. Get over it, cause it looks like they're here to stay.

[ian]

It really doesn't matter who starts at QB, when it comes to production they'll be sub-average at best. Outside of Graham and Galloway, there are no playmakers on this team, something we knew last year and failed miserably to address in the offseason. But hey, if we could've just gotten Favre, everything would've been great, right Chuckster???

I love the Bucs, but I'm so sick of the same old drama, year in and year out. If they drop another 6-10 season, I'm all for seeing Gruden gone.