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Fennelly Column: Not Enough Offense, Or Defense, For Bucs

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By MARTIN FENNELLY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 7, 2008

NEW ORLEANS - A word about our hosts:

Gustav has passed, and this city mostly dodged it. Some outages, downed trees, some minor flooding. People were still returning from what was one of the largest evacuations in American history.

Across the street from my hotel, a long line of military vehicles were parked in front of the convention center that three years ago, along with the Superdome, became the painful face of Katrina's aftermath. It didn't happen this time.

At the hotel, the woman at the front desk said that there would be limited services, including no room service. "We're so sorry about this," the woman said. "We'll try and do better next time." She still didn't have power at her home.

They'll try and do better next time.

God bless this city. God bless it.

Now, to the mundane, the NFL season.

Bucs at Saints.

Not enough offense, not enough defense, not enough at the end in a 24-20 loss.

To the B-List:

* Hey, why wasn't that a Bucs touchdown?

Blown call on the wildest play of the game. I thought Reggie Bush had possession of that looping second-quarter screen pass from Drew Brees; you know, when Ronde Barber went helmet to helmet with Bush and knocked the ball loose. Cato June scooped the ball up and, a hurdle here, a spin there, took it in for a score.

Uh, no.

The pass was ruled incomplete.

And away we go.

* Looked at the sideline before the game. Jeff Garcia was introducing himself to Joey Galloway.

No, they weren't out of sync, were they?

* Michael Clayton, son of Louisiana or no, was inactive for the game, presumably because of injury. It was listed as a chest bruise -- and, no, it wasn't from the footballs bouncing off. We think.

* The Bucs defense couldn't have looked worse on the opening drive of the game. Brees hit his marks, Bush slashed and burned and Bucs rookie and top draft pick Aqib Talib looked fairly hapless with his ill-timed, no-chance leap on Brees' touchdown pass to David Patten.

* The Bucs defense couldn't have looked better on the Saints' next series. Barrett Ruud smacked Brees as he threw the ball, Phillip Buchanon caught the fluttering duck and returned it to tie the game at 7.

The defense.

It's up to them -- again.

* Arron Sears: Two holding penalties, one illegal-man-downfield call.

Thanks for playing, Arron!

* That Bucs runner, name of Graham, he looks pretty good, doesn't he? Think he might merit more than 10 carries in a game?

* I don't know if it was the first or second time Garcia was sacked after Jeremy Trueblood got eaten up by the Saints rush, but at precisely the same moment, Brett Favre was throwing a touchdown in Miami.

* The Bucs had 80 -- count 'em, 80 -- yards of offense with seven minutes left in the first half.

* Garcia kept missing badly on third down. When he wasn't under a pass rush, which he was a lot, he still acted like it.

* Where were those big games against the Saints for the great white tiger, Galloway? Think Garcia and Galloway not playing together in the preseason didn't matter?

* Now kicking for the Saints: Martin Gramatica.

Am I just getting old?

* Loved the running game Sunday. What there was of it.

* This just in: Bucs punted on seven of their first eight possessions, went zero for their first eight tries on third down.

I don't care who they've brought in. When you need a guy to make a catch, give me old Ike Hilliard any day -- he always falls forward.

* As I was saying, No. 34 likes to run it, doesn't he? He answered the Sainst immediately after they tied it at 10, going for 46 yards down the right side, racing, rumbling, bashing.

* Derrick Brooks on the sideline late in the third quarter -- bad hammy, reports said. He did he not look happy.

* Neither did anyone else on the Bucs sideline after Brees, taking advantage of a free play (Gaines Adams offsides) threw deep. Barber stumbled down and away went Devery Henderson, 84 yards and a score. Second-longest completion of any kind in Bucs history and the longest since Monte Kiffin has been defensive coordinator.

Stuff like this just doesn't happen.

*But then, stuff that needed to happen finally began to happen.

Garcia looked great on the following drive. So did Galloway and Graham and Warrick Dunn and the pass protection and then next thing you knew, Garcia was hitting Hilliard for two yards and a score.

Hated the play call by Jonny G -- run the ball! -- because Garcia had to throw a perfect strike to Hilliard near the goal line.

Uh, he did.

* Uh, then the Saints scored.

Ever see the Bucs D give up plays like this, as in, this many in one game?

Third and 5 from the Bucs 42, Bush on a swing pass, Bucs linebacker Matt McCoy (who?) had no chance on Bush, then Jermaine Phillips faked out of his undies, and later, touchdown. Amazing stuff. Brutal stuff, too.

Of course, the Bucs don't answer. Garcia and Galloway not on the same page again and again.

And the Saints defense is awful. You see all those missed tackles?

No matter.

One last drive. Fourth down at the Saints 24. One last pass.

Garcia over the middle.

Picked.

And away we go.

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