Bucs Beat Jets 16-3

Well, I finally found time to put my two cents worth in on the Bucs Preseason win over the Jets. We didn't see much of the stars on offense or defense, which was expected, but we did see the Jets keep most of their first string offense in against the Bucs second string defense. And while the Jets did drive the ball, Pearson forced a fumble/sack, and Ruud recovered. From there on it was all Bucs. It was pretty obvious, by the time it was deep into the second half, that the Bucs clearly had a much deeper team than the Jets. Some of our third stringers could start for some teams. The Bucs finished the game holding the ball for just over 36 minutes, while racking nearly twice as many first downs (23 vs. 12) and putting up 305 yards vs. 185, with 167 coming on the ground. The Bucs held the Jets running game in check all game, and forced the Jets to make do with a lot of short passes (4.3 yards per pass play). Granted, the Jets are in transition, and may not be all that good, but it was clear the Bucs were at least a couple of levels above them.

The Bucs could have tacked on another TD late, but sat on the ball to finish up. But they weren't looking to rub it in, and wanted to get out of there healthy. Joseph and Trueblood got a lot of time together on the offensive line, and they looked quite good for their first time out, especially in the running game. While it was the Jets, the Bucs were able to run through any gap they chose to, and did so quite well, though Pittman seemed to have an off night, fumbling twice, and not really breaking through the holes well. The offensive line held up very well in pass protection, giving up no sacks, with Rattay slipping past the closest attempt during a scoring attempt. The receivers played well with Galloway not playing and with both Clayton and Boston seeing little time. Stovall had the most catches with three, including the clinching TD pass to put the Bucs up 16-3 (missed extra point). Davis ran quite well, for a fullback, coming in right behind Graham, who had another excellent game. Tight ends played well, but weren't heard from much in the passing department. The defense played solid with a lot of base coverages, though the defensive line didn't put up enough pressure, in my opinion. The linebackers played great from top to bottom, and the secondary was solid, only allowing one big pass play on a miscommunication on the defense. Special teams were fine. Bryant is probably a lock, as he's got the better kickoffs, and Betia missed an extra point attempt (never a good thing).

Overall, I was quite impressed. We'll see how they do against Miami, a better team that usually plays us to win during the Preseason. If they continue to play like this, it would be a good sign. One thing I liked was the lack of any major injuries. So far, this team seems to be in pretty good condition, and hopefully that will be a sign of things to come. It would be a very good thing if Morris' conditioning program made a noticeable difference in the frequency of preventable injuries.