Bucs Killed Their Own Momentum
December 2nd, 2012
The Bucs got a huge gift of a momentum swing late in the first half and proceeded to implode and the offense took another two quarters to recover.
The mysterious nosedive came at the worst time.
Joe’s going back here to the Bucs leading 10-7 with about 5:13 left in the first half. The zebras missed a clear pass-interference yank of Dallas Clark’s jersey, and on the next play Josh Freeman made an ugly throw that was intercepted, but a roughing the passer call saved the drive and put the Bucs on the Denver 49 yard line.
The Bucs had momentum and the ball with 5:00 left in the half. But then the playcalling and execution fell apart and didn’t return until late in the game. Erik Lorig dropped an easy pass. Freeman was hit and threw an incompletion. And then Freeman threw incomplete to D.J. Ware, who wasn’t going to do much with that pass anyway. That whole sequence came at a terrible time, when the Broncos were vulnerable.
One more first down there and the Bucs are in field goal range and chewing up precious clock. Success there doesn’t win the game, but the Bucs never recovered.
Mike Sullivan, if he’s not busy emailing resumes, should start right there when examining what went wrong with his unit.
December 2nd, 2012 at 8:47 pm
The OL was over matched. They’ve played well to this point though.
Maybe we can rattle off 4 straight…one can hope – ’tis the season.
December 2nd, 2012 at 8:48 pm
If Sullivan is truly “pursuing” other jobs while the Bucs are in the middle of the playoff race, then the hell with him, go already. The Bucs playcallin has not been overly impressive, and the offensive scheme seems relatively simple compared to other top NFL offenses. Of course, for continuity’s sake, i hope he stays, but there are many well qualified OC’s out there that can, at minimum, bring as much as Sullivan. Also, doesnt speak to well of “character” if he’s actually seeking out jobs now.
December 2nd, 2012 at 9:20 pm
And we know for sure nobody changed any calls at the line because we were all there. Execution of the plays. Sully does that when he is on the field playing too.
December 2nd, 2012 at 9:24 pm
This is the exact samething that was going on with Monte in his last year here. And we seen how well that played out. Just hope its not the case. Players cant leave there respective teams to persue “other jobs”, coaches shouldnt be able to either. Especially not after the first dam year.
December 2nd, 2012 at 9:54 pm
Yeah that drive was a great opportunity. I didn’t expect the Bucs to win this game. Manning against our pass D?
We get healthy next year & make upgrades at CB, look out