Bucs Beat Falcons 24-9

After opening the season with a loss against the Saints (that sounds familiar somehow), the Bucs took it to the Falcons early, jumping on them 14-0. The Bucs appeared to be on cruise control to a blowout when the offense started stalling. Then the Falcons managed to get a little help from the refs and got back in the game with a couple of field goals to make it 17-9. Then Graham put the dagger in to seal it at 24-9.

So let's look at how the core units performed in this game:

Offense: Last week Garcia looked panicked and often times threw behind receivers, or ran into sacks or pressures. This week, with Griese at the helm, we saw a much more calm QB who faced down blitzes, burning a couple with some nice passes while a defender was in his face. Where Griese faltered was on some of the wide open intermediate and deep passes that he mostly overthrew (under threw one for Smith) which could have been TD's or at least very big plays. Had Griese been a little more accurate on those passes, the Bucs would have rolled early, and the running game would have been more effective that it was early on as the Falcons were regularly stacking the box. Dunn looked like his old self, dancing around and occasionally busting a nice run, including a weavin 3rd and 17 yard run for a TD. Graham was having a pedestrian day (due to the 8 and 9 man fronts) until he broke a LG gap run to the right and outside the tackle, running down the sideline while busting through a tackle attempt and getting some nice blocks to take it 68 yards to the house. That was his longest career run, and lays some rest to the "he can't hit the home run" comments. Gilmore and Smith both had excellent games, with Gilmore getting the first TD, and Smith getting open regulary and having some nice catches. The receivers were open a lot, but Griese missed them on some nice down field possibilities. Hilliard was the goto guy. Bryant dropped one. Clayton caught one. And Galloway caught 2, but was wide open for a possible TD and was overthrown. The offensive line was solid, only allowing pressure a few times, though one sack had a fumble that killed a drive in scoring position. Zuttah was called for a couple of infractions, and didn't have great push at the point. They did enough to get the job done when it counted, and gave Griese the time he needed to make the throws. Overall, the effort was solid, if not overtly spectacular.
Overall grade: B+

Defense: Unlike last week, when the defense broke down 5 times for some big plays, the Bucs pretty much stifled the Falcons' offense all game long. The Falcons came out throwing, and the Bucs got a pick by Aqib Talib on the third throw, which was deflected somewhat. The Bucs offense scored right after and the defense kept it up. The pressure was solid, and got in Ryan's face for most of the game, forcing him to start out with 9 incompletions. The Bucs also made sure that their wouldn't be a second straight week of Turner highlight runs, as they put the clamp on him all day long, allowing him just 42 yards on 14 carries. The Bucs held the Falcons to just 234 total yards, with much of that coming late on one drive. But, what was even more impressive, was that the Bucs held the Falcons 0-3 in the red zone, and 0-2 in goal to go situations, harking back to the Bucs' defense around the Super Bowl time frame (99-02). They kept the dirty chickens out of the endzone, and that kep the game in the Bucs' control. The Bucs also recorded 4 sacks with Gaines getting a solo and two half sacks. Greg White picked up a sack and a half as well. Piscatelli had a good game with a bad play. While he picked off one pass, made some nice tackles, and caused a fumble late in the game on a return (though recovered by Atlanta), he also got a fumble recovery and lateralled the ball away. It was a stupid play as it was an illegal forward pass, and it was lost back to the Falcons, who would go on to score a FG. Hopefully, he learned from that. Brooks also played off and on and recored a couple of big tackles. It was a very good effort overall.
Overall grade: A-

Special Teams: This unit was alright, covering kicks and punts well, until it allowed one big punt return, 37 yards, to setup a field goal for the Falcons. They held the Falcons to 21 yards per kick return. But they also only got 20.3 yards per kick return, and failed to get any yards on punts. So the return game was...eh. Bryant nailed his field goal attempt and all three extra points, and had some good depth on his kick offs, with one going through the endzone. Bidwell averaged 46.6 yards per punt with a 38 net. In summary, Special Teams wasn't really a major factor either way, but didn't do anything to lose the game.
Overall grade: C

Coaching: Gruden had some excellent plays designed up for the offense to exploit the Falcons, and they nearly did on a few plays, but the execution wasn't great. Some really poor penalties, especially by the line, that killed scoring opportunities, even taking a TD back. The game plan was solid, but the execution wasn't always there, and some of this reflects on the coach. Monte had his defense ready to shutdown Turner, and put the heat on Ryan. His defense did an excellent job, and kept Ryan rattled for most of the game, while stopping that running attack. They also force a couple of turnovers, though coughing a fumble back up through a dumb play by Sabby. Special Teams played well on converges and in the kicking departments, but the return game left a lot to be desired. Jackson really didn't have any where to go except on one kick return where he got some nice blocks and went 33 yards, nearly busting free. Better schemes, or blocking, or something, is desparately needed for the return teams. Overall, though, the team had a good plan, and executed most of it well.
Overall grade: B-

Now it's off to Chicago where Griese and Gilmore have a chance to really use what they know against the Bears' defense. Should be fun.