Buccaneers 24, Rams 3: Where For Art Thou, Mike Martz?

On Friday, I pondered the possibility of Drew Bennett, 6'5'' against defensive backs no taller than 5'11'', being the target of a fade in the end zone. And he was, but the results defied logic: Philip Buchanon intercepted the pass.

A lot of things about the Bucs' 24-3 victory over St. Louis defy logic: the Rams finally getting Steven Jackson on track, to the tune of 115 yards, and only scoring three points; Marc Bulger, he of a 97-62 career touchdown-interception ratio, throwing three picks without a touchdown; the Bucs defense, considered tepid in the offseason, putting together a second-straight dominant effort.

But I guess at this point in the season, there is no logic to be defined. We've got three games, not nearly a large enough sample to judge, and prior seasons mean nothing. On that note, this is what we know, and it's always open to change: the Bucs are playing perfect playoff football while looking like the best team in the NFC South, and the Rams need Mike Martz back, in the baddest way.

He was erratic. He was egotistical. He had trouble managing the clock, timeouts, and challenges. He hardly knew of these things we call "defense" and "the run game." But the Rams made the playoffs four out of his six years as head coach, they had a 53-32 record during his tenure, and even at their most inconsistent and sloppy, they were never, ever, ever this bad.The Bucs simply had their way with the Rams today and the Rams didn't even care enough to put up a fight. They exploited the Rams biggest flaw by pounding for 182 yards at 5.7 yards a run. And though Jackson was the game's leading rusher, it was the Bucs' attack that was much more effective. It took Jackson 30 carries behind a terrible offensive line, who lost yet another player in Mark Setterstrom, to get the 115. Tampa, meanwhile, split carries almost evenly between Cadillac Williams, Michael Pittman, and Earnest "Who?" Graham, with both Pittman and Earnest Graham averaging 8.0 and 9.4 yards, respectively. The Bucs' offensive line did a much better job dominating at the point of attack and getting to the second level, blocking for five runs of 10+ yards compared to two for the Rams.

The other pillar of playoff football, defense, was on display for Tampa as well. Barrett Ruud, who converted me last week, continued what should be a Pro Bowl season with 11 tackles and an interception. His development has to be considered the key to the defense's performance this season. But they're also getting contributions from veterans that we kinda left for dead -- Buchanon's interception ended one of the Rams' only two threatening drives, Kevin Carter and Derrick Brooks combining for 15 tackles and half a sack.

Of course, the Rams didn't offer much in the way of resistance. They continue to look timid. A large part of this is due to the horrible luck on the offensive line -- Jackson is being mobbed, Torry Holt doesn't have enough time to get downfield, and Bulger doesn't have time to set up in the pocket -- but it goes beyond that. Hanging the entirety of the blame on the offensive line isn't accurate. Scott Linehan is running a bland offense that is afraid of taking shots downfield. Martz was too daring, Linehan isn't daring enough. There was little use of the play action or any shots downfield, and the Rams called 34 runs to 26 passes despite falling into a three-score hole. The Rams didn't have a completion of 20 yards or more. And they underuse or flat-out ignore weapons like Brian Leonard, Randy McMichael, and Bennett. It's baffling.

It's still too young to bury the Rams, but it isn't too early to identify deep flaws in this year's model that are already very close to derailing their season. They may not have been the best barometer for this Bucs team, but you play who's on the schedule, and Tampa is doing pretty well in that regard.