Remembering The Winning Touchdown
November 20th, 2012
It has been so long, Joe can’t remember a more exciting finish to a Bucs game then the overtime thriller Sunday when Dallas Clark caught a game-winning pass from Josh Freeman to beat the Panthers.
Clark appeared on “The Sunday Drive” following the win, heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio to recount how the Bucs came back on the Stinkin’ Panthers.
“It was a fun one, I just lulled them to sleep,” Clark said of his part in the game-winning drive. “I ran four or five arrow routes and caught them sleeping a bit and got a step past the Sam linebacker. It was weird. Never ended a game before like that. Fun feeling.
“It was getting late. We were down 11 with like six minutes left and I started to wonder, ‘Are we going to do something or are we going to pack it in and get prepared for next week?’ We kept doing our job even though we were playing horrible but we were able to rally last six minutes.”
Joe wonders if this is a harbinger of things to come or not. No, the Bucs should not have been losing to a garbage team like the Panthers.
But consider, Josh Freeman had a bad day. The offensive line sure looked like the injury-riddled unit it is. Doug Martin couldn’t get on track. Mark Barron looked like the Rookie Wall hit him.
But that was the beauty of this game. Players who were not playing well for most of the day but found a way to find their stride and, voila, a win happened!
November 20th, 2012 at 8:40 am
“Doug Martin couldn’t get on track.”
This isn’t really true. Doug didn’t get any touches on the kast two drive in regulation because time was running out and we didn’t run it anymore, but up until that point he had 19 carries for 90 yards or 4.7 yards per carry. He also had 4 catches for 23 yards. He also had a rushing TD that was taken away and ruled a fumble by idiot referees.
He blew up for 48 yards on 5 carries in OT, but he had been good all day long. It just seemed like we were dead set on throwing the ball Sunday and didn’t utilize Doug real well.
November 20th, 2012 at 8:53 am
Yea the Panthers stink but any division road win is tough and treasured.
November 20th, 2012 at 9:26 am
I was at the game Sunday. The whole comeback was surreal. At no point did I feel like we were going to win the game after the Doug “Fumble”/Lafell TD. Alot of Bucs and Panthers fans started to leave thinking it was over. Even the local sports radio guys up here thought it was over. I still can’t believe what I saw. Is that the most improbable comeback in Bucs history?
November 20th, 2012 at 9:33 am
I know the Panthers record says they are garbage, and in the words of Bill Parcells “you are what your record says you are” , but I watched the Panthers and Denver game and even though the final score was a rout, Carolina gave them some fits. Their Defense, in particular their front 7 is really good. They’ve been competitive most games. A garbage team to me is a team like the Chiefs who have not lead for a single second this season in regulation. I don’t buy in to the notion that the Bucs should have waltzed right in to a division rivals house and cut off the lights by halftime. We aren’t the 91 Redskins or whatever. “Jiminy Christmas.” The Bucs needed to just find a way to win at their rivals’ house in their continued development in to a consistent, winning program.
November 20th, 2012 at 9:43 am
The haters have moved on but I think conditioning played a big part in that win. Martin certainly had some big runs after feeding them body blows all game and they had nothing left.
I guess those dreaded gauntlets are worth something after all.
Conditioning and crafty play adjustments ended up having a big difference…. who would have thought?
November 20th, 2012 at 9:57 am
GREAT GAME!!!
November 20th, 2012 at 10:10 am
Aceofaerospace…Agreed!
November 20th, 2012 at 11:03 am
Joe, no doubt the Bucs had a bad game, but for them to find a way to win a road game against a division team shows mettle.
Come playoff time, this is what distinguishes who is watching and who is playing.
November 20th, 2012 at 12:01 pm
SensibleBuc Says:
I was at the game Sunday. The whole comeback was surreal. At no point did I feel like we were going to win the game after the Doug “Fumble”/Lafell TD. Alot of Bucs and Panthers fans started to leave thinking it was over. Even the local sports radio guys up here thought it was over. I still can’t believe what I saw. Is that the most improbable comeback in Bucs history?
.
Doug took that really hard too. I saw him on the bench face in hands bent over. My concern was that he would not shake it off. I can understand why he was so hard on himself.
He was probably thinking Schiano was going to cut him, lol. Or rather…that he had cost the team a win. In OT I think he came out loaded for bear.
November 20th, 2012 at 1:02 pm
@ Tampa2
Chiefs held a brief lead against the Steelers in a primetime game recently.
November 20th, 2012 at 10:24 pm
@SENSIBLE BUC,good for you man,rewards for being a loyal fan!