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Ugly, But Still A Win

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By Joe Henderson

Published: October 14, 2007

The Bucs' game Sunday was entertaining, IF ...

* You're not really into the whole points-scored thing;

* You like seeing bodies slammed and flying - particularly if those bodies belong to running backs;

* You averted your eyes whenever Jeff Garcia handed off to a back instead of dropping to pass.

* You can overlook the fact the Bucs let, gulp, Kerry Collins engineer a game-tying touchdown drive with 1:17 to play. You can overlook that because Jeff Garcia led them right back down the field for a game-winning field goal by Matt Bryant with 11 seconds to play.

Yeah, the Bucs 13-10 victory over Tennessee was - as the senior drill instructor in "Full Metal Jacket" so blithely observed - "so ugly it could be a modern art masterpiece." But who cares about looks? The Bucs were trying to put the taste of the whoopin' they got last
week at Indianapolis behind, and they did that.

They are 4-2 and that's all that matters.

The other things, well, they can work on it.

It's stating the obvious to point out that the running game, sans Cadillac and Michael Pittman, was basically nonexistent. That Jeff Garcia was able to generate any sort of offense against an excellent Tennessee defense without the benefit of ground cover was commendable.

And it's like the Bucs' defense took some of the press clips about Tennessee's defense as a personal insult, for most of the day at least. We'd think it helped that Vince Young missed most of the second half with a quad injury, except that the much-maligned Collins did lead the Titans on that scoring drive that tied the game late.

There was some bad news. For the third consecutive game the Bucs got a guy carted off - this time, tight end Alex Smith. We don't know the extent of his injury yet - it was an ankle problem - but we do know this: the Bucs have that "solidarity show of support" down cold, rushing out en masse to surround their fallen teammate.

Then again, they've had enough practice.

Now What?
They head to Detroit now after holding serve in this one.

It would be nice if general manager Bruce Allen could engineer a trade for a running back before Tuesday's deadline, but failing that - and you don't see a lot of NFL trades this time of year - these Bucs pretty much are what they are.

We know they don't have enough offense to go very far, but we thought that back in '99, too, and they struggled all the way to the NFC Championship Game.

So you never know.

Besides, all that matters in the NFL is winning.

Win, and the week is good.

Win, and you stay in the race.

That's even more urgent in the NFC South, where the Bucs' only serious challenger is Carolina and 82-year-old Vinny Testaverde.

These next two weeks loom as a large opportunity for the Bucs. If they at least get a split between Detroit and Jacksonville, they'll arrive at the midpoint of the season with a record over .500 and probably be in control of the division.

And each week they can hold the fort is one week closer to getting Pittman back, assuming there is no trade.

Whatever It Takes
This is far from a complete football team, but so what? An ugly win is better than no win, and an ugly 4-2 record beats the alternative.

Say what you will about the Bucs, but they have been a resilient bunch. After getting blown out last week at Indy, the season was at a crisis point. A loss to the Titans would have left them 3-3 headed out on the road. It could have sent them into a spiral.
They got just enough from Garcia. They got more than enough from their defense. They got the win.

You can say this can't last, and maybe it won't.

But it lasted long enough to get them through Sunday. That's really all you ask in the NFL.

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