Bucs Lose 13-16

Ok, I'm getting ridiculous with this, but there's just way too much stuff going on right now. In any case, let's look at the loss.

Offense: The offense stunk. Shall I elaborate? Seriously, Griese took no chances against what was frequently a max zone coverage scheme. What sucked about it was the fact that Griese should have run more run plays at this defense and force them to either come up at of those zones, or get run on. Graham and Dunn had good averages, though Dunn got stopped short on some downs forcing a failed third down conversion on one run that I think Graham would have converted. Griese got sacked 3 times (really only 2, as I can't see how you count a run outside that didn't lose any yardage as a sack), but was also dragged down by the face mask, right in front of the ref, but didn't get the penalty. Had it been called, which it should have been, the Bucs would have had a first down around mid-field. His safe play also resulted in the Bucs failing to consistently move the ball, though, and kept the Bucs from getting enough drives going. Then he got hurt and Garcia came in. It took a little while before Garcia got going, but he managed a 90 yard drive to get to within 3, but it took way too long, and the defense failed to get the ball back to the offense. Garcia, incidently, got tackled on a run near the 1st down marker, and also got his face mask pulled without a penalty called. The offense had over 300 yards again, but failed to put up enough points.
Overall grade: C-

Defense: The Broncos had the number 1 offense coming into this game, but the defense held the Broncos to just 16 points, with one of those TD's coming off a bubble screen that should have been called back, as Stokely ran around a Bucs' defender that was grabbed from the front and behind and twirled and pulled down to the ground by the blocker. That one play cost the Bucs dearly, as they likely would have held the Broncos to a field goal, and that late TD could have been the game winner for the Bucs and Garcia. The Bucs slowed the running game down, and held the passing game in check for the most part, but Cutler found some holes on a couple of second half drives that allowed them to get 10 points down the stretch. The defensive line failed to get a sack, though they did close the pocket in on Cutler a lot, but Cutler just gets rid of the ball so fast. What really sucks is that Kevin Carter could have killed the TD drive if he held onto his pick around mid-field, and would have set the Bucs' offense up with great field position. Unfortunately, it was not too be. A very strong defensive effort let up a couple of times, and the offense wasn't able to put up enough points to win it.
Overall grade: B+

Special Teams: This unit sucked on the return teams. The Bucs' offense was consistently in the hole, rarely starting beyond the 20. Dexter Jackson had another bad week with punt returns, letting a punt at the 30 roll back to the 10 yard line when, had he run up and caught it, he could have easily gotten to the 40. That was the punt return for the late TD drive, which might have ended a couple of minutes sooner with better field position. The coverage teams were OK, but not stellar. Bryant continued to nail everything, while Bidwell continued to punt well. But bad starting field position was a problem in this game.
Overall grade: C+

Coaching: Gruden had this team prepared for the Broncos they saw on film. Unfortunately, the Broncos changed their defense up completely, and they never really trully adjusted for it. The Bucs should have run the ball 40 times in this game, and jammed it down their throats. Let's hope the lesson was learned. Monte's defense played quite well, but failed to get a sack against the toughest QB to sack. They held the number 1 offense to just 16 points, which was quite a feet, especially when you consider the illegal block that allowed the Broncos to score a TD. Special teams seemed to take a step back, and Bisaccia's group is still having too many problems on punt returns and punt coverage. They really need to work on this area and clean it up.
Overall grade: C+

Well, the Bucs made it a close game on the road, and clearly look to be a team that can continue to contend down the stretch if they can work out some kinks. They'll need it this week against the Panthers.