Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

Tampa Bay needs just one more win to clinch the division, which they should get this weekend against the helpless Atlanta Falcons. No team is in more disarray than the Falcons who just this week saw their former star Michael Vick sentenced to 23 months in the slammer and their head coach leave them for Arkansas. The latter having led the Falcons players to describe Petrino as a “coward” and a “liar”.

BY THE NUMBERS (DVOA explained here)
Buccaneers
Offense: ppg, 19.6 (#19) – DVOA, 12.8% (#8)
Defense: ppg, 16.5 (#2) – DVOA, -7.9% (#6)
Falcons
Offense: ppg, 14.2 (#30) – DVOA, -3.9% (#26)
Defense: ppg, 23.5 (#21) – DVOA, 12.6% (#29)

The defense is the strength of the Falcons’ team although strength is a relative term. Rich McKay, who used to be the GM for Tampa Bay, has invested a lot of money and draft picks in a defense which has so far failed to live up to expectations. The Falcons offense has been a mess with the constant quarterback carousel which has seen three different quarterbacks start this season. The rare offensive highlights for the Falcons this season have been from Jerious Norwood (who continues to be the #2 back despite having a higher value per play than Warrick Dunn) and Roddy White (who does his best to make a fool of himself when does get into the endzone).

Good news for the Bucs it looks like Jeff Garcia will be back at quarterback after a three game absence because of a back injury. Garcia could have likely played last week but Gruden made the wise decision and made sure his quarterback was 100 percent before coming back. It is almost a lock at this point that the Bucs will have the #4 seed and a home game in the playoffs.

Bucs Blog Post of the Week: St Petersblog
Ok, they aren’t really a Bucs blog but kudos to the Sblog guys for pointing out that the Sports department at News Channel 8 are not exactly gifted wordsmiths.

Cheerleader of the Week: Nikky the Shooting Comet
I have thing for cheerleaders who don’t know how to spell their own name, especially those that imagine themselves as giant flaming comets.

YouTube Video of the Week: Coaches Telling Lies
Bonus YouTube Video of the Week: Petrino Calling the Hogs
Two clips involving former Falcons coach Bobby Petrino, the first a song from Ryan Parker, the Weird Al of sports songs. The second video is a favorite of mine, with Petrino and a room of reporters repeating the Arkansas “Calling of the Hogs.” Atlanta may have dodged a bullet with the Petrino quitting.