Game Review - Bucs Beat Pats 13-10

Well, before I go any further, this review is a day behind the times because I wanted to watch the video of the game to make sure I saw what I saw at the stadium. Having said that, I believe I can now review the game.

On Offense, the Bucs started out a little slow with Garcia attempting a more passes than runs during the two short drives. He did hit one nice pass to Caddy on the edge, and did get a first down pass into Galloway's hands, but the ball went incomplete and almost got picked off. Once Luke McCown came in, the Bucs started primarily running the ball, jamming it right down the Pats' throats. That opened up some room in the passing department, where Luke went 7 for 7 (the Force was truly with him). The running game was, in fact, very successful all game long. I was actually rather impressed with the offensive line in the running game. And once they had success running it, they had much better success against the pass rush. In general, the offensive line did a pretty good job protecting the QB, only allowing about 5 or 6 pressures, with a couple of Luke's sacks coming from holding onto the ball too long. There were only two outright break downs that I counted with a couple more that were borderline. It will be interesting to see if this line can open holes against the Jags as well. If it can, I think we can be pretty safe in thinking that this offensive line will allow them to run the ball effectively all season.

On Defense, the overall effort was strong, as they limited the Patriots to only a couple of effective drives and 10 total points. The pass rush was so-so, but they were also playing one of the better offensive lines in the league. They did collapse the pocket quite a few times, but they need to actually get the QB more often. Two sacks (I don't understand the 1 sack, as Wyms and Sims both got sacks in the game) is not the greatest for this defense. I do think that they may get better as they start working together more. The run defense was excellent, and the defensive line rarely got pushed back, generally winning or pulling a draw at the line. That allowed the linebackers and safeties to come up and make plays. Nece was so-so at the MLB spot. Ruud will be better as he's bigger and stronger. June and Winborn looked good, as the Pats' tight ends weren't much of a factor. The secondary was pretty solid, though they still give up a good gain on occasion. I want to see them a little tighter at times. The Bucs held the Pats to just over 200 yards of total offense and 3 of 9 on third down conversions. The Pats also got some calls their way, including an offsides that was caused by a flinch by the Left Guard. Brooks also had a shot to kill the one TD drive that the Pats had when a pass went right into his arms, but it deflected off his biceps.

On Special Teams, the coverage teams were pretty solid, giving up only one long return. The return team wasn't very effective, and the Bucs need to find a way to change that. Punting was solid, and Matt Bryant nailed his two attempts, including the game winner as time expired. This unit looks pretty much like last years. If they can just improve the return game, they would be solid.

Overall, the team looked quite good, with few penalties and no real big mistakes, save the fumble by Gates (that's not good!). This team looked really solid against a good Pats team, even though it's just preseason. The best thing is that the offensive line looks like it could be one of the best that Gruden has had since he's been here, much as the Channel 8 commentators stated. It could be even better once Petitgout gets healthy. Garcia needs to get some better timing down in the offense, but he should be fine, and the defensive line needs to continue to work on getting the QB on the ground, and not just getting in his face. This was a good start, but we'll see how they handle the Jags next week. If they can play physical and push the Jags around, I'll be even more impressed.