GM Mark Dominik Gets First Shot At Old Boss

We, the fans, know how invested we are in our beloved Buccaneers.  We know the players battle hard and take the results personally.  It's no different for the front office.

And the General Manager in particular.

Imagine the scenario (maybe it's even happened to you):  A boss you respect heads off to build a new company elsewhere -- what do you do?  

Only two people know what the situation was when Rich McKay left the Buccaneers in 2003, leaving then-pro personnel director Mark Dominik in Tampa. Was he left behind?  If so, why? Did he choose to stay?  If so, why?

Seven years laster, does "why" even matter anymore?

This Sunday, Tampa Bay Buccaneers General Manager Mark Dominik gets his first shot at now team President Rich McKay and the Atlanta Falcons.  And I think it means a lot to Dominik.

Rich McKay was General Manager of the Buccaneers for a decade, from 1993 to 2003, leading the team from pretender to contender and then on to SuperBowl Champions in Superbowl XXXVII played January 26, 2003.  However, in December of that same year, McKay was introduced as the new President and General Manager of the NFC South foe Atlanta Falcons.  McKay may have bolted because of the battle over the hiring of Jon Gruden versus Marvin Lewis in 2001 (McKay wanted Lewis).  Maybe McKay and Gruden did not see eye to eye.  Maybe the draft picks given up for Gruden (so soon after the Keyshawn Johnson trade) made McKay question if he could sustain the team.

Whatever the case, McKay left and Bruce Allen came to town.  And Mark Dominik watched it all unfold from his office at One Buccaneer Place.  Dominik had already been with the team since 1995, having been involved in college and pro scouting for 7 seasons when the GM change took place.

So this weekend Dominik faces his old boss.  Dominik is only in his second year as GM, but the roster is covered with his fingerprints.  And I'm sure he feels the competitive spirit which permeates everything related to the NFL.  So a win this weekend would be pretty sweet.

But it's just one game.

General Managers care about every game, so for Dominik, I think the old saying applies: "Success is the sweetest Revenge".

Dominik's Buccaneers are currently on track to make a playoff appearance this season, which is only Dominik's 2nd as General Manager. In contrast, Rich McKay did not reach the playoffs until 1997, his 5th season at the helm.   Those are the kind of numbers that General Managers compete over. 

Another thing GMs compete about is currently a big fat tie:  Both men have a SuperBowl XXXVII ring.

But here's the final measure:  It took McKay eight years as General Manager to reach the SuperBowl, winning it in his first try.  Believe me, that is the ruler by which Dominik measures his own success.  

And Dominik getting a second SuperBowl ring with himself as General Manager?  

It would be the ultimate revenge.

NFC South Tops NFC East For A Decade

NFC East fans, it starts here with two small victories then goes downhill -- prepare yourselves.  And believe me, only the NFC North and NFC West should be ashamed of how their division came through the 2000-2009 decade in the NFL playoffs.  NFC East fans, hold your heads up!  That's your first small victory.

Round 1
With 13 appearances in the first (or wildcard) round of the playoffs and a 7-6 record in those games, the NFC East tops the 8 appearance of the NFC South and their 4-4 record.  In the NFC East the Philadelphia Eagles have 5 first round game appearances.  In the NFC South the Buccaneers lead with four first round appearances.  And while it's an impressive count for the NFC East, this is not the round where champions are crowned.

Round 2
Every team in each division played in a 2nd round playoff game during the '00s.  And while the NFC East had a winning 7-5 record in their games, the NFC South was deadly with a 6-1 record in the same round. 

In the NFC East, Washington and Dallas combined for a pathetic 0-3 record in the second round for the decade.  The abysmal performance by those teams could not be offset by the Giants' 2-0 record in the second round.  In the NFC South each team had a 2nd round playoff game victory at least once (twice each for the Panthers and Saints).  Fortunately for the NFC East the Eagles had 7 appearances in this round with a 5-2 record providing the NFC East with more games in this round.  And the NFC East generated two teams in this round in the same year (2007, Giants and Cowboys) but, again, this is not where champions are crowned.

NFC Championship
In the NFC Championship Game, both the NFC East and NFC South captured three NFC Titles.  The NFC East had seven appearances by two teams:  Philadelphia had a 1-4 record and the Giants a 2-0 record.  The Washington Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys did not get to the NFC title game during the past decade.  For the NFC South, each team had at least one appearance in the NFC title game during the first decade of the 21st century:  Tampa Bay 1-0 (after 2002 season), Panthers 1-1 (2003 and 2005 respectively), Saints 1-1 (2009 and 2006), and the Falcons 0-1 (after 2004 season).  Clearly, top to bottom, the NFC South performed at a higher level than the NFC East.

NFL Champions
Of the 10 NFC appearances in the Superbowl during the 2000-2009 decade, six of the ten teams were from either the NFC South or NFC East.  In fact, the appearances are equally divided with each division having three appearances each.  The NFC West also had three appearances.  The NFC North had just one.  No clear leader here.

As far as being World Champions, only two NFC divisions gathered a SuperBowl trophy for the NFC during the seasons from 2000-2009.  The other two divisions, the NFC North and NFC West, did not win a championship during the '00s.  The NFC East got one with the New York Giants taking out the 15-0 New England Patriots.  The NFC South, however, landed twice as many Lombardis - the Buccaneers after the 2002 season and the New Orleans Saints after the just-completed 2009 season.

When it comes to Champions, the NFC South was the Division of the Decade.

Overall, the NFC South had a 15-9 record in playoff games, a healthy 0.625 wining percentage.  The NFC East barely finished above .500 with an 18-17 record.

So, if your team makes the playoffs in 2010, you should hope they avoid NFC South teams for an opponent.  In fact, an NFC East team will at least get you about a 50-50 shot at winning -- better to hope for that instead.

Game Plan Revisited

During 2009 Week 15 a review of the overall direction of the offense posed the question: what type of offense will Tampa Bay have? At the time the Bucs were passing the ball on 60% of snaps making it appear the offseason would require some retooling of the offense.

There were only three games remaining on the schedule -- the Buccaneers went 2-1 over those games – but what type of team were they when the season ended?

vs Seattle

In the first half, Tampa Bay threw 12 passes and ran 13 times and went into halftime down 7-3. For the game, however, the Buccaneers passed 26 times and ran 34 times (14 passes and 21 rushes in the second half) and the Buccaneers won the game 24-7. Cadillac Williams finished with an average of 5.5 yards/carry.

vs New Orleans

The Buccaneers passed 18 times and ran 13 times in the first half on the way to being down 17-3 at halftime. For the game the pass/run was 31/34 (13/21 in the second half and OT) and the Buccaneers had their most memorable win of 2009 with a 20-17 overtime victory. Cadillac Williams averaged 5.4 yards/carry and ran the ball on 9 of 10 plays in OT getting into field goal range for the winning OT kick.

vs Atlanta

In the first half there were 14 passes and 11 rushes on the way to a 10-3 halftime deficit. In the second half the Buccaneers passed 17 times and rushed 12 (for a full game run/pass of 31/23), losing 20-10. In this game, Cadillac Williams averaged just 2.1 yards/carry.

In each game the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had over 20 rushing attempts. In the two wins, Cadillac ran for over 5 yards per carry (he averaged 3.5 yards per carry in the other 2009 win against Green Bay). In the games won by the Buccaneers the offense ran more times than they passed over the whole game. But most importantly, they ran more than passed in their signature game of 2009. While not totally convincing, it does seem like over the final three games of 2009 Tampa Bay reinforced the blueprint for the power running game which can be a big key for future success. Hopefully that mentality carries through the 2010 offseason and keeps producing in 2011 and beyond.