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Garcia Gets By With A Little Help

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By ROY CUMMINGS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 20, 2007

Updated: 11/20/2007 12:16 am

TAMPA - The majority of the stats he posted on Sunday weren't all that impressive. For once, they didn't have to be.

The Bucs handed the Falcons a 31-7 defeat at the Georgia Dome despite getting something other than a spectacular game-altering performance from quarterback Jeff Garcia.

It was a good sign.

When Garcia has struggled or failed to be a difference maker this year - as he did in Detroit a month ago and at home against Jacksonville three weeks ago - the Bucs have lost.

Garcia's effort against the Falcons was nothing like those turned in against Detroit and Jacksonville. He didn't turn the ball over, and two of his passes went for touchdowns.

Still, he completed just 10 of 20 throws for a modest 159 yards. You don't win too often in this league when your quarterback puts up numbers like that, unless, of course, he gets some help from other areas.

Garcia got lots of help Sunday. He got it from a running game that churned out 149 yards and averaged nearly 5 yards per carry, and he got it from a defense that finally showed some scoring ability of its own.

The Bucs defense forced four turnovers, and the Bucs scored points off three of them, including a touchdown on a 41-yard second-quarter fumble recovery by cornerback Ronde Barber that turned the game in the Bucs' favor.

Tampa Bay was ahead 7-0 at the time, but the offense was struggling to move the ball because of an array of inequities, including penalties, dropped passes and poor communication. Against a Falcons team that was struggling even more than the Bucs, at least on offense, Barber's scoop and score of a Byron Leftwich fumble gave Tampa Bay a momentum shift it never lost.

"I'm just glad we play on the same team as the No 1 defense in the league," said Bucs receiver Ike Hilliard, whose defense is actually ranked sixth overall. "They kept us in the game and made the big plays for us."

The offense had a big play or two as well. Garcia's 44-yard pass to Joey Galloway gave the Bucs their first score, and his 19-yard pass to Galloway early in the third quarter set the stage for their third score, a 23-yard Matt Bryant field goal.

Garcia also threw a 21-yard touchdown to tight end Alex Smith that helped to further deflate an already downtrodden Falcons team later in the third quarter.

But the stage for each of those big pass plays was set by the defense, which intercepted Leftwich before the first and third scores and stopped Warrick Dunn for a loss on fourth-and-inches before the second. And, when the defense wasn't making big plays, the running game was.

Earnest Graham ran four times for 30 yards to put the Bucs in position for Bryant's field goal, and he ran 26 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. That run helped Graham finish the day with 102 yards rushing and marked the second time in as many games that he has run for more than 100 yards.

With the games clearly becoming more meaningful now and opponents working to lessen the impact Garcia has on them, Graham said it's important for him and others to step up the way they did against the Falcons.

"Jeff isn't always going to complete 80 percent of his passes, 90 percent of his passes," said Graham, whom Garcia lauded for his play Sunday and in recent weeks.

"He's doing a great job for this team," Garcia said. "He's running the ball, getting positive yardage, blocking when he has to block, catching the ball when he has opportunities to catch the ball. He is a solid player."

Garcia remains solid as well. Sunday was an indication that's all he has to be. That could prove to be very important as the wear and tear of a 16-game season begins to take its toll.

But Garcia won't settle for solid. He still wants to excel personally, and he clearly wants the offense he's running to excel. In time, he believes it will.

"We're winning football games but still not quite putting it all together on the same day," he said. "So I think we can still be better. I just want to see us be more consistent."

Reporter Roy Cummings can be reached at (813) 259-7979 or at rcummings@tampatrib.com.

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