Dashon Goldson ruled out

Tampa Bay Buccaneers free safety Dashon Goldson (38) tackles Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Damaris Johnson (13) during the first quarter at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Tampa Bay Buccaneers free safety Dashon Goldson suffered a knee injury in the team’s Week  7 loss to the Atlanta Falcons and missed the following Thursday night game against the Carolina Panthers. Goldson was actually able to play through the pain against the Falcons, but he couldn’t make the short-week game against the Panthers. According to Buccaneers official site beat writer Scott Smith, Goldson has been ruled out for today’s big game against the Seattle Seahawks, as he was unable to make the trip with the rest of the team.

It’s a bit surprising to hear that the Buccaneers have ruled out Goldson before releasing the official inactive list on gameday, but his knee just isn’t healing up as quickly as expected. I’ve been critical of Goldson’s coverage, but this is a huge blow for the Bucs. Nobody would expect the Buccaneers to defeat the Seattle Seahawks with Goldson on the field, but it’s going to be a lot more difficult for the Bucs to win without their playmaking safety.

Second-year man Keith Tandy will start at FS for Goldson, which means that the Buccaneers will be starting two second-year safeties today in Tandy and SS Mark Barron. Tandy and Barron are listed on the injury report as well, so the Buccaneers are definitely banged up at the safety position. Hopefully this is the last week Goldson misses, because the Bucs can’t afford to have the high-priced free agent signing out for another week. I don’t anticipate Goldson being out next week, but I said the same thing about his chances of playing this week against Seattle.

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