Broncos 31, Bucs 23
December 2nd, 2012
The Bucs offense stalled mysteriously in the second half. And combined with the predictable roasting and toasting of Leonard Johnson and the Bucs secondary, the Bucs lost decisively but still haven’t lost by more than one score under the New Schiano Order.
Peyton Manning stayed upright and completed 71 percent of his passes. At least that was better than the 80+ percent clip of Matt Ryan last week.
Joe was numb after the painful yet tolerable one-point loss to Atlanta last week, and this week Joe’s again numb after this thumping by one of the NFL’s best in their house. What the hell happened to the offense and Freeman? It was a near complete shutdown for far too long of a stretch.
Joe figured the Bucs would start the game strong, and play damn hard as they’ve done all season. And they did. But it was a confidence freefall after a 10-7 halftime lead, as the Bucs dug an inescapable hole.
Now the Bucs are in a tight corner. Seattle upset Chicago and sits at 7-5, one game ahead of Tampa Bay (6-6) for the final NFC Wild Card spot, and Seattle has a better record in the conference, the critical tiebreaker between the two teams.
The Bucs absolutely have to win out to make the postseason — home for Philly, then at New Orleans, and home for St. Louis before the season finale in Atlanta.
Yeah, the Bucs are good enough to win four straight. But the the odds are darn long.
December 2nd, 2012 at 8:19 pm
Maybe instead of being desperate for time at the end of every game, we should try and score when we have the ball, 2 minutes, and timeouts before half time. So sick of seeing Schiano run out the clock and go into the locker room happy to hand the ball over to the other team. Every possession matters.
December 2nd, 2012 at 8:20 pm
Sullivan has already checked out. Looking forward to his BC payday. Defense was better than normal.
December 2nd, 2012 at 8:23 pm
Sure missed our oline on this one.
December 2nd, 2012 at 8:23 pm
Well, we won the first half and did not leave the locker room for the second half. 8-8. Still waaaaaaay better than last year.
December 2nd, 2012 at 8:27 pm
This game turned out much closer than I thought it would be. Not yo crazy that we didn’t kneel down at the end of the game.
December 2nd, 2012 at 8:30 pm
i thought they fought hard against a very good defense. Josh was clearly flustered in the 3rd quarter. The willingness to play to the end of the game is a welcome sight. After watching raheems group shut down at the ten minute mark of the first quarter, I like the 60 minutes of playing, and the victory formation attacking. Send a message that they aren’t going to stop until the final whistle.
December 2nd, 2012 at 8:31 pm
Actually the game would have been closer without that pick 6.
December 2nd, 2012 at 8:34 pm
If Sullivan goes to Boston, Norv Turner might be available. His time management skills are impeccable.
December 2nd, 2012 at 8:35 pm
sure seemed like the refs were on Mannings side today. He got a lot of help from them in pass interference calls that Freeman didn’t get.
December 2nd, 2012 at 8:35 pm
joe we have Philly next week at home then NO in there house
December 2nd, 2012 at 8:38 pm
Fox knows from his time in Carolina that all you have to do is get a little pressure on Freeman and he’ll start scatter-shooting his throws as buckwild crazy as a damn blind man with a 12-gauge. How are they gonna beat the Rams who have almost as many sacks as the Broncos and who’s defense is ranked fourth in the league? Freeman is vulnerable to any sort of pressure, and as he goes so goes this offense.
December 2nd, 2012 at 8:38 pm
And Seattle gets to happily play Arizona and Buffalo the next two weeks. We’re f’ked. 🙁
December 2nd, 2012 at 8:41 pm
I guess the don’t have timing routes…because …they can’t
December 2nd, 2012 at 8:41 pm
Were was Vincent Jackson?
December 2nd, 2012 at 8:41 pm
Not to mention we finally had a halfway decent CB who didn’t get roasted on every pass play in LeQuan Lewis (who also has some wheels) and it looks like he’s probably out for the season. Yes Leonard Johnson is a fighter but his feet move about as fast as molasses in January.
December 2nd, 2012 at 8:42 pm
The Seahawks and Bills game is being played in Toronto……….Bills always play well in TO
December 2nd, 2012 at 8:42 pm
We play Philly next week:)
December 2nd, 2012 at 8:47 pm
Looks like we have moved up from super crappy to borderline mediocre.
I guess that is progress.
December 2nd, 2012 at 8:55 pm
This team wont amount to squat until Schiano gets a cut throat mentality on offense. Sitting on small leads and not even trying to get points before halftime, settling for FGs when you need TDs against Elite QBs is border line insane and makes me think he plays to not lose instead of playing to win…. Thats not good enough in the NFL.
December 2nd, 2012 at 8:58 pm
PHI and STL we’ll beat I’m certain………….and I think at the very least we will win one of the division games.
10-6 is not unrealistic at all. A stretch…….but we can beat the remaining 4 teams on our schedule.
December 2nd, 2012 at 9:00 pm
@Silence
Totally agree. Schiano tries to make time of possession his guiding motivation instead of scoring points. He’ll learn or he won’t last in this league. He should get advice from his buddy Belichick. Bill knows you gotta score points early and often in order to win. Schiano is too much of a throwback and he’ll either adapt or the league will chew him up and spit him out. I’m hoping for adapt.
December 2nd, 2012 at 9:02 pm
An there is your problem. No pressure on the QB again. You also played Payton Manning. You have a young team still learning. Who in their right mind thought this team was going to even be in the talk of playoffs? Sure was sad to see Sullivan overthrow passes, get picked, get handed the ball and get shut down in the second half. Oh wait. That was Freeman and company. Sully was not on the field. The line did not hold up and put pressure on Freeman and he made some bad reads. After the pick 6 they had to get away from the run. Once again they will learn. We should be happy to see we are where we are so far and know it will only get better.
December 2nd, 2012 at 11:37 pm
When we handed the ball to our second string running back (Ware) on 3rd and 20… I turned it off! Took a vacation day from my job to see that? No, I will not be attending the Rams game as planned. Fool me once, shame on me!
December 3rd, 2012 at 1:21 am
What do they put in the water down there in Tampa? You guys are crazy. Every time we win all the comments are Schiano is the best, we’re the best team ever, love this coach. When we lose it’s all Schiano can’t make it in this league, we’re terrible, worst team to ever step foot on the gridiron. It is what it is. We’re a young mediocre team thats improving, and getting better every week. Fact is, Schiano is a great coach that is improving himself every week and still learning (ahead of the curve) in this league. And dont give me this “I’m not ok with mediocre, you must be” crap. Yes I’m ok with our HUGE improvement and even though we played bad, we still held in there against one the best teams in the league.
December 3rd, 2012 at 3:24 am
Dallas jumped ahead of us and so can Washington if they beat Giants… I think playoffs are done… But at least we are in the right direction.. Or wrong direction if we don’t know who’s our OC next year?? Just terrible..
December 3rd, 2012 at 8:23 am
A few points….Josh Freeman is not an elite QB. I think he is a good backup.
It appears Mike Sullivan has indeed checked out with his play calling in Denver.
The Leonard Thompson experiment is over.
Is Doug Martin tired or is the offensive line offensive?
The coaching staff has indeed done a great job in one year given the injuries and suspensions. The game was far better and closer than I imagined. We have a good start to grow upon.