Bucs Win!

Betsy Winter Hall, my magazine article writing professor told me that I am only entitled to three exclamation points in my career. Well, I'm using one of them here.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers win!

Controversy surrounded two calls on the final drive that brought Tampa Bay its winning touchdown. The first was a "roughing-the-passer" call on Bengals Defensive End Justin Smith. Smith sacked Tampa QB Bruce Gradkowski at the Bengal's 40 yard line, and was charged with roughing. Official Michael Carey explained after the game that the call should have been unnecessary roughness, as Gradkowski had not yet released the ball.

“The ruling on the field was roughing the passer,” said Carey. “Technically, it was unnecessary roughness because the pass didn’t get away. But in the tackle, the defender, stopped forward progress, drove him backwards, and then at the end gave him the extra effort and stuffed his head into the ground. We’re directed to protect the safety of the quarterback. Most people don’t understand [unnecessary roughness], so we just called it roughing the passer.”

In a post-game interview, Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer openly disagreed with the call. As a quarterback, he questioned how any sack could be ruled roughing, and how defenders are expected to tackle.

The second call was the challenged, game-winning touchdown.

With 34 seconds on the clock, WR Michael Clayton made a quick catch from a Gradkowski pass and lunged toward the end-zone, extending the ball passed the goal line. When he landed, the ball bounced out of his hands. Bengals fans thought it was an incomplete pass, but the final ruling on the play was that he still had possession of the ball when his feet had touched the ground. At that time the ball had broken the plane of the goal line, thus making it a complete pass and a touchdown.

Gradkowski, the replacement for my nemisis Chris Simms, completed 25-44 for 184 yards. Not bad. Cadilac Williams, showing off his bulk went 94 yards on 19 carries. That's not spectacular compared to the 1,800 yards he put up last season, but it tells me that the offensive line is stepping up, making holes and giving better pass protection.

Defensively, our secondary looked a little weak. Carson Palmer threw a stunning 261 yards (24/37), speading it out to six recievers. The d-line was able to maintain pressure up front, and that was the saving grace for the Bucs. The ability to shut-down the Bengals offense, one that has scored no less than 24 points in all of its appearences this season, and holding them to just one touchdown was vital. The two field goals scored by the Bangels were put up from no less than 34 yards, which means that the Buccaneers were holding the offense in the flat all day, a drastic improvement from the defense that coach John Gruden has consistantly criticized this season.

Defensive Tackle, Anthony McFarland, admitted to the St. Petersburg times that Gruden's complaints against the Tampa Bay defensive performance were valid and well deserved in an interview Sunday.

Now, let us see how the Bucs will fair against the Eagles at Raymond James. My hope is that the Eagles show up still stunned from their embarrassing loss against the Saints.

Go Bucs!

Source: Buccaneers News Detail