Bucs Beat Bears in OT 27-24

What an exciting game that was! The Bucs pulled out their first game, under Gruden, when they were down by more than 10 points. Getting that monkey off their back may be a big emotional spring board for this team. To be able to come back from 10 points down in just 6 minutes, and get into overtime, then win it, is one heck of a way to get this team pumped for future games.

So how did the team do? Here's my take:

Offense: The Bucs were not able to run at all in this game. That was mostly because the Bears, who probably have the best defense we will face all season, were determined to shut the run down, constantly putting 9 men in the box and bringing a lot of run blitzes. They forced the Bucs to beat them through the air, and they did. Griese had his ups and downs in this game, throwing three picks, but also throwing 67 times, for 407 yards and 2 TD's. If not for the picks, the Bucs might have won the game going away. What was remarkable is that this vaunted Bears defense, which had already recorded 5 sacks coming into this game, did not record a sack. That goes to stellar pass pro by the offensive line, and the RB's an TE's chipping in. The offensive line showed some nastiness in this game, retaliating against some nasty play by the Bears. The over time third down play that Fox showed Trueblood swinging at a Bear on the ground apparently was the result of the Bear player grabbing or hitting Trueblood where it counts. This line takes no schnitt from anyone. The TE's showed why the Bucs have the best TE group in the league, with Stevens pulling in the tying TD pass on a big mismatch. The wideouts were also big with Bryant coming up with 10 catches for 138 yards, including the 38 yarder that put the Bucs in position to kick the winning field goal in over time. Hilliard came up big with 6 catches for 57 yards and a TD. And Clayton came up huge on some big third downs, hauling in 5 passes for 54 yards, dropping nothing catchable. The big comeback and win, despite all the turnovers, and doing it on the road against that defense, is something to behold. I don't think people quite know just how strong a performance the offense had down the stretch of that game. It should also serve to force teams to play the pass more regularly and open the running game back up.
Overall grade: B+

Defense: The defense started the game out quite well holding the Bears to just 6 points on three early drives that all started in Bucs' territory due. Ruud killed one drive with an amazing pass defense that he turned into a pick while in the endzone. The defensive line got constant pressure on Orton during the first half and made him look really bad. Then, on one pressure, Adams read a screen play and got in front of Clark to pick the ball off, then he raced down field for the score, though it had to be challenged when initially ruled out of bounds at the one. White and Wilkerson provided a lot of heat, as did Carter, and the Bucs ended up sacking Oroton 3 times, once by Barber on a corner blitz. The defense also stuffed the run for most of the game, with a fake punt accounting for 38 of the 158 yards allowed (the runners only got 3.3 yards per carry during this game). But what hurt the defense down the stretch, and allowed the Bears to come back, was the amount of time the defense was on the field going into the second half, where Griese had 2 of his picks. The defense started giving up a few big plays, and allowed the Bears to get out by 10 points before the Bucs' offense turned the game around. The Bucs defense did step up with less than 3 minutes left to stuff the Bears and get the ball back to the offense for the game tying TD drive. They also minimized the damage the Bears did in their lone overtime drive. In the end they gave up some points and a lot of yards, but they played well until they got a little tired.
Overall grade: C+

Special Teams: Ok, Bryant made his kicks, and Bidwell punted well. Bryant also had some good kickoffs. That's the good stuff. The bad stuff? The Bears tore up our coverage units with Hester in there. Then Dexter Jackson continued is woeful ways looking like some scared little kitty cat. He fell down repeatedly in front of would be tacklers. The Bucs replaced him with Clayton, who consistently attacked the coverage teams and made some yardage, as much as was available. What really made this a game was field position that was constantly won by the Bears. The Bucs were constantly in the hole, and the Bears made a living out of starting near midfield. This wasn't a very good day for special teams.
Overall grade: D+

Coaching: Gruden had Griese take what the defense gave him, and that was the passing game. He had the offense go into the hurry up offense late in the game, and that sparked a comeback as the Bears seemed not to be as well conditioned as the Bucs down the stretch. One could argue for more runs, but the reality is that you just don't run into constant 9 man boxes. Monte Kiffin called a pretty good game early and his defense got some serious heat on the QB. The defense was off to a great start, but it started fading late, and the Bucs ran too many defensive plays without deep safety help on the side of Lloyd who was able to get behind Barber a couple of times. Monte needed to make an adjustment, but it was slow coming. Special Teams looked horrible, and you have to wonder why Bisaccia couldn't have his crew better prepared for what the Bears had. This are needs to be improved next week. Overall the offense and defense had a solid plan of attack, but some key issues kept giving the Bears a chance to take hold of this game, and they briefly did. But, in the end, the Bucs won.
Overall grade: B-

Now that the Bucs are back to being tied at the top of the division, they will host the Green Bay Packers, who will likely be without CB Al Harris, who appears to have ruptured his spleen and will likely be gone for the season. Woodson also appears to still have some issues with his toe. So the Bucs will have an opportunity to exploit the passing lanes. Should be fun. Just make sure we pack the house this week as last week's attendance was piss poor.