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In The End, It Was Enough

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By Joe Henderson, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 4, 2007

TAMPA - With 12 players on the disabled list, including their top two running backs, the Bucs will take success pretty much any way it comes.

No one dare quibble, especially after consecutive losses, with any game that ends in a "W" for the men of pewter.

So, take Sunday's 17-10 victory over Arizona and accept it for what it was - a fifth victory in nine games and much-needed salve after consecutive losses to Detroit and Jacksonville. It wasn't a game filled with a lot of video-game type highlights, but it was enough.

The Bucs controlled the play from start to finish. They were cautious, efficient, and basically mistake-free. They didn't have to take risks, so they didn't. They were clinical and almost businesslike.

Earnest Graham just kept chugging away with the ball as he seems to do every week now, gaining over 100 yards. And the defense dominated the Cardinals for much of the afternoon.

The Bucs held Arizona to 9 total yards on its last six possessions of the first half. Cards quarterback Kurt Warner managed only a 15.2 passer rating in those first 30 minutes, which saw the Bucs take a 10-3 lead. And when the home team scored on its opening drive of the second half, well, put it this way: a two-touchdown lead was huge.

It meant that even when Warner awoke and drove Arizona the length of the field in the fourth quarter for a touchdown, the Bucs had enough cushion to hold on.

So, the Bucs head to the break with a 5-4 record and a loud voice in any playoff conversation. Given everything that has transpired this season, what more could they ask?

Did What Was Needed
Now, hold on a second before you fire off any angry e-mail that I'm being "negative" because the top of this opus seems a little tepid.
Honest, I'm not.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the workmanlike win. There's nothing wrong with the fact it got a little hairy at the end. They won.

It's what they needed to do, and they pulled it off. They've lost their margin for error in the division with the losses in the previous two weeks, you know.

I suppose we may as well get used to this.

The Saints are charging and Carolina always seems to hang around, so who can say how the NFC South ultimately will go? On paper, you can make a good argument that the Bucs don't have enough firepower to navigate the last seven weeks of the season. Then again, I didn't think we'd be this deep into the season and still be talking about the Bucs as a playoff team.

Sunday's game was a microcosm of this season.

They started well, faded a little, and ultimately hung on.

They made big plays, such as Jeff Garcia's 37-yard touchdown pass to Joey Galloway.

They made bad plays, such as the drop in the end zone by a wide open Alex Smith in the fourth quarter. That was followed by a botched field goal try by Matt Bryant, which meant the Bucs had kept the ball more than 12 minutes on that drive and got nothing.

Warner drove the Cards for a touchdown right after that and got the ball back with a little more than 3 minutes left and a chance to put together a game-tying drive. But the Bucs held.

Like they had to.

Take A Break
This open date comes at a good time. The Bucs could use a little time off for healing and to refocus on the home stretch of this season.
They've got two games with the Falcons, one each with the Saints and Panthers, and non-division games with the 49ers, Redskins and Texans.
It's looking like the season could hinge on the Dec. 2 game at New Orleans, but that's a month away, so who really knows?

What we do know is that the Bucs, patched together as they are, are 5-4.

They are in the hunt.

They got through it Sunday with a win.

Can you really ask for much more?

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