2006 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season

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2006 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season
OwnerMalcolm Glazer
Head coachJon Gruden
Home fieldRaymond James Stadium
Results
Record4–12
Division place4th NFC South
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro Bowlers
AP All-ProsCB Ronde Barber (2nd team)
Team MVPWR Joey Galloway

The 2006 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season was the franchise's 31st season in the National Football League (NFL), the 9th playing their home games at Raymond James Stadium, and the 5th under head coach Jon Gruden.

The team failed to improve on their 11–5 record in 2005, tumbled to a 4–12 record and missed the playoffs for the third time in four seasons.

Summary

After winning their division in 2005, the Buccaneers suffered through an abysmal 2006 season. The season was plagued by injuries, with starters such as G

Carnell Williams, DE Simeon Rice, CB Brian Kelly, and QB Chris Simms all being placed on injured reserve at some point in the season. The season also saw a lot of rookies starting for the Bucs, such as QB Bruce Gradkowski, T Jeremy Trueblood, and G Davin Joseph
. The league schedule was also unfriendly to the Bucs, scheduling them for 3 games (two of them away games) within 11 days of each other.

There was more to the lost season than just injuries, as most of the players put on injured reserve had been done so after the team's 0–3 start, and offensive shutouts in the first two games in which no touchdowns were scored by the Buccaneers. The departure of several key defensive coaches and assistants didn't bode well with players, who complained to some in the media of not being able to hear coaches in team meetings.

President George W. Bush visits the Bucs at practice before their week 3 game against the Carolina Panthers

Inconsistent and unorganized are how some players referred to one of the newcomers, who most players had a hard time making the transition from longtime favorites Rod Marinelli and others. Some believe the problems in 2006 were rooted in recent years mistakes, lack of salary cap room to bring in high impact free agents, lack of top 50 draft picks over the last 5 or 6 years due to trades, and maybe even a failure to properly assess talent resulting in a lack of contribution from second day draft picks in recent history.

The Bucs started off the season 0–3, with QB Chris Simms throwing only 1 touchdown to 7 interceptions. In the third game of the season, a last-minute loss to the Carolina Panthers, Simms's spleen was ruptured, and he was placed on injured reserve for the rest of the season. After their bye week, the Bucs elected to start rookie quarterback Bruce Gradkowski, a 6th-round pick from Toledo.

Gradkowski started off performing decently. People who in hindsight claim the Bucs should have started the more experienced Tim Rattay forget the Bucs nearly upset the New Orleans Saints, and then went on to win two narrow victories: one, against the Cincinnati Bengals, winning on an overturned call resulting in a touchdown; and another against the Philadelphia Eagles, thanks to Matt Bryant’s 62-yard field goal. After these victories, though, Gradkowski’s performance declined. After a 3–17 loss to the New York Giants in heavy winds, the Bucs proceeded to lose 5 of their next 6 games, leading them to a record of 3–10 (0–6 in their division). In the loss to the Atlanta Falcons, Gradkowski was replaced in the 4th quarter by Rattay.

In the first half of the Bucs' next game, against the Chicago Bears, Gradkowski was again replaced by Rattay, who led the team from a 24–3 deficit to a score of 31–31, with three touchdowns in the fourth quarter. However, the Bucs then lost the game in overtime, 34–31. Rattay was then named the new starting quarterback for the last two games for the season. The Bucs finished their season with a 4–12 record, tied for third worst in the NFL. The overall defense was ranked in the low 20s, the first time a Tampa defense was not ranked in the top ten since 1996.

The Bucs sent three players to the

Dave Moore (A "Need" player according to Saints coach Sean Payton), and late addition outside linebacker Derrick Brooks
(as an injury replacement). This would be Brooks's 10th consecutive Pro Bowl and 10th Pro Bowl overall.

It was also the final season for longtime fullback Mike Alstott. Although he was on the roster the following season, he was unable to play due to a preseason neck injury against New England.

Offseason

In the

T.J. Williams (who was lost for the upcoming season to injury when he tore his right Achilles tendon the week of June 19), Oregon CB Justin Phinisee, Clemson DE Charles Bennett, and Michigan TE Tim Massaquoi
.

After a potential season-ending injury to backup quarterback Luke McCown, the Buccaneers signed veteran quarterback Jay Fiedler to back up Chris Simms on June 29. The signing maintains the four-deep status of the backup quarterback position, as Tim Rattay, Jared Allen, and Bruce Gradkowski are still on the roster (as of July 18). Additionally, the team signed two-year veteran tight end Matt Kranchick to replace T.J. Williams, who was lost for the season due to injury, as noted above.

Staff

2006 Tampa Bay Buccaneers staff

Front office

Head coaches

  • Head coach – Jon Gruden
  • Assistant head coach/running backs – Art Valero
  • Assistant to the head coach/football operations – Paul Kelly

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special teams coordinator –
    Richard Bisaccia
  • Coaching assistant – Dwayne Stukes

Strength and conditioning

  • Head strength and conditioning – Mike Morris
  • Assistant strength and conditioning – Kurtis Shultz

Roster

2006 Tampa Bay Buccaneers final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad


Rookies in italics
53 active, 10 inactive, 7 practice squad

Preseason

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers played four

preseason games. The home team is in capital letters. [1]

Schedule

In the 2006 regular season, the Bucs’ non-divisional conference opponents were primarily from the NFC East, although they also played the Seattle Seahawks who headed the 2005 NFC West, and the Chicago Bears who had headed the 2005 NFC North. Their non-conference opponents were from the AFC North.

Week Date Kickoff (ET) Opponent Results Game Site TV
Final score Team record
1 September 10 1:00 pm Baltimore Ravens L 0–27 0–1 Raymond James Stadium CBS
2 September 17 1:00 pm at Atlanta Falcons L 3–14 0–2 Georgia Dome Fox
3 September 24 1:00 pm Carolina Panthers L 24–26 0–3 Raymond James Stadium Fox
4 Bye Week
5 October 8 1:00 pm at New Orleans Saints L 21–24 0–4
Louisiana Superdome
Fox
6 October 15 1:00 pm Cincinnati Bengals W 14–13 1–4 Raymond James Stadium CBS
7 October 22 1:00 pm Philadelphia Eagles W 23–21 2–4 Raymond James Stadium Fox
8 October 29 1:00 pm at New York Giants L 3–17 2–5 Giants Stadium Fox
9 November 5 1:00 pm New Orleans Saints L 14–31 2–6 Raymond James Stadium Fox
10 November 13 8:00 pm at Carolina Panthers L 10–24 2–7 Bank of America Stadium
ESPN
11 November 19 1:00 pm Washington Redskins W 20–17 3–7 Raymond James Stadium Fox
12 November 23 4:15 pm at Dallas Cowboys L 10–38 3–8 Texas Stadium Fox
13 December 3 4:15 pm at Pittsburgh Steelers L 3–20 3–9
Heinz Field
Fox
14 December 10 1:00 pm Atlanta Falcons L 6–17 3–10 Raymond James Stadium Fox
15 December 17 1:00 pm at Chicago Bears L 31–34 (OT) 3–11 Soldier Field Fox
16 December 24 1:00 pm at Cleveland Browns W 22–7 4–11 Cleveland Browns Stadium Fox
17 December 31 1:00 pm Seattle Seahawks L 7–23 4–12 Raymond James Stadium Fox
Division games are in bold text.
  Indicates the Thanksgiving Day game.
  Indicates game is Monday Night Football.

Standings

NFC South
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
(2) New Orleans Saints 10 6 0 .625 4–2 9–3 413 322 L1
Carolina Panthers 8 8 0 .500 5–1 6–6 270 305 W2
Atlanta Falcons 7 9 0 .438 3–3 5–7 292 328 L3
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 4 12 0 .250 0–6 2–10 211 353 L1

Regular season

Week 1: vs. Baltimore Ravens

Period 1 2 34Total
Ravens 7 10 3727
Buccaneers 0 0 000

at Raymond James Stadium

The Buccaneers opened the regular season at home against

Carnell Williams
struggled with back spasms and was held to just 22 rushing yards on 8 carries.

Week 2: at Atlanta Falcons

Period 1 2 34Total
Buccaneers 0 3 003
Falcons 7 7 0014

at Georgia Dome

The Bucs went to the

Carnell Williams was held to just 37 yards on 15 carries. The Bucs' only points came on a chip-shot 22-yard field goal by kicker Matt Bryant
.

Week 3: vs. Carolina Panthers

The Bucs played one of their most heated rivals,

Carnell Williams scoring his first TD run of the season. Later that quarter, Simms led a drive that was wrapped up by a 2-yard bootleg by Simms on a fake to Mike Alstott, but Simms was hit hard on the play, and had to leave the game momentarily to let rookie Bruce Gradkowski take over. Simms returned in the fourth quarter to lead another scoring drive which ended with a long field goal by Matt Bryant. Unfortunately for the Bucs, the Panthers' kicker John Kasay hit his fourth field goal of the day, winning the game for the Panthers with only six seconds to spare. After the game, it was learned that Simms had a ruptured spleen
and went into emergency surgery to remove it. Originally diagnosed as bruised ribs, it was only discovered shortly after the game ended. If discovery had been delayed any longer, Simms would have died. The injury cost Simms the rest of the season.

Week 4: Open date

The Buccaneers bye week was scheduled for week 4.

Week 5: at New Orleans Saints

Period 1 2 34Total
Buccaneers 7 0 7721
Saints 3 7 7724

at

Louisiana Superdome

  • Game time: 1:00 PM
    J.C. Pearson

Coming off their bye week, the Buccaneers were still looking for their first win of the season. The Bucs traveled to the

Louisiana Superdome for their third divisional match-up in a row—this time, against the New Orleans Saints. The Bucs scored first as rookie QB Bruce Gradkowski threw an 18-yard TD pass to WR Joey Galloway in the first quarter; the Saints responded with a 21-yard field goal from kicker John Carney. The Saints continued scoring, with a 24-yard TD run from RB Deuce McAllister in the second quarter, and a 9-yard TD pass to TE Ernie Conwell in the third quarter. The Bucs finally responded with a 1-yard TD run from FB Mike Alstott, and took the lead in the fourth quarter with Gradkowski's 3-yard TD pass to TE Alex Smith. Unfortunately for the Bucs, a special teams breakdown led to Saints RB Reggie Bush
getting his inaugural NFL touchdown on a 65-yard punt return, which sealed the win for the Saints.

Week 6: vs. Cincinnati Bengals

The Bucs were predicted by many as an underdog by several sports commentators to defeat the 3–1 Bengals, and they pulled off an upset win, with Bruce Gradkowski throwing 2 touchdowns, and Cadillac Williams running for 94 yards. With 34 seconds remaining in the 4th quarter, Gradkowkski threw a pass to wide receiver

Mike Carey determined that Clayton had possession of the football when he crossed the plain of the goal line. The call was reversed, and the Buccaneers were awarded the touchdown. At the end of regulation, Shayne Graham
had a chance to win the game with a 62-yard field goal, but missed it wide right, giving the Bucs their first win of 2006.

Week 7: vs. Philadelphia Eagles