TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Sims Makes 1st Start Since 2005 In Place Of Haye

ADVERTISEMENT

By ANWAR S. RICHARDSON

arichardson@tampatrib.com

Published: December 9, 2008

Updated: 12/09/2008 01:12 am

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - It has been a while since Tampa Bay DT Ryan Sims strapped on his helmet early in the first quarter.

Sims has been a backup his last four years in the NFL. His previous start occurred when he played for Kansas City and the Chiefs recorded a 37-3 victory against Cincinnati on Jan. 1, 2005.

Since joining Tampa Bay in 2007, Sims appeared in nine games last season and 11 games this year prior to Monday's game at Carolina.

Sims made his first start in four years in place of Jovan Haye, who missed the game due to a knee injury.

Sims batted down a third-quarter pass by Carolina QB Jake Delhomme and finished with two tackles.

For Sims, the rare start occurred in somewhat familiar territory.

Sims played collegiately at North Carolina and was drafted in the first round by Kansas City (sixth overall) in 2002. His college teammate was Panthers DE Julius Peppers, who was selected second overall in the same draft by Carolina.

SECONDARY CREATES SCORES: After struggling for the first half of this season, Tampa Bay CB Ronde Barber continued his second-half resurgence.

Barber recorded his third interception of the season (36th of his career) when he intercepted Delhomme's pass attempt to TE Dante Rosario.

As a result, Tampa Bay marched 76 yards on 12 plays, which led to K Matt Bryant's 20-yard field goal.

In addition, Bucs S Jermaine Phillips intercepted Delhomme on Carolina's first possession in the third quarter. It was the third interception by Phillips this season, tying him with Barber and Aqib Talib for most on the team, and 11th of his career.

Two plays later, Tampa Bay QB Jeff Garcia threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Bryant.

RED ZONE, NO SCORE ZONE: Tampa Bay's red zone offense has been ranked among the worst in the NFL and Monday's contest was evidence of its struggles.

After Barber's interception, Tampa Bay had first-and-goal on Carolina's 2-yard line, but was unable to score a touchdown. Tampa Bay settled for Bryant's field goal.

The Bucs have made 49 trips inside their opponent's 20-yard line, scoring only 17 TDs (24 field goals), which has them ranked 30th in the NFL.

BUCS BITS: NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was in Charlotte for Monday night's game and shared his enthusiasm about attending a late-season NFC South contest. "It's great, two teams playing for a division title. It doesn't get any better than this." ... Garcia had won five consecutive games against Carolina prior to Monday's game. ... Tampa Bay has 19 interceptions, with 10 players having at least one pick. ... Panthers WR Mark Jones played for Tampa Bay from 2005-07. In 2007, Jones set Tampa Bay's single-season record for kickoff-return average after 10 kickoffs for 286 yards (28.6 average). Jones sustained a season-ending knee injury and signed with San Diego and was released prior to this season. He later signed with Carolina. ... The temperature at game time was 38 degrees. ... Matt Bryant missed only his fifth field goal this season, a 40-yard attempt in the first quarter. Bryant rebounded to make a 20-yarder in the second quarter.

Anwar S. Richardson

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT