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Amid A Passing Frenzy, The Bucs' 'Wall' Held Firm

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By MARTIN FENNELLY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 23, 2008

Updated: 09/23/2008 12:13 am

TAMPA - The wall never came down.

Brian Griese threw 67 passes against the Chicago Bears.

It was the second most amazing statistic of the day.

No. 1: Griese wasn't sacked.

Not once.

"You'll never see that again," Bucs coach Jon Gruden said Sunday.

Bucs offensive lineman Jeremy Trueblood sat on a chair in the winning locker room. For the longest time, only his mouth moved.

"I've never felt this exhausted," he said.

Granted, Trueblood wasn't too tired to start that field scrum in overtime that led to a Bears personal-foul penalty that saved the day and led to the Bucs' game-winning drive. But you get the idea.

"We're all spent," Trueblood said.

This line isn't money yet.

Nobody Got To Griese

We still don't know when it will all come together.

Maybe when Davin Joseph returns.

Maybe.

Three games into this season and we know that when this line blocks well, the Bucs run well. Sunday came relatively historic pass protecting against a Chicago defense that brought all kinds of looks and blitzes, stacked gaps. It dared Griese to beat it.

Sometimes, he didn't.

In the end, he did.

The one constant: Nobody got to him.

No sacks, 67 passes.

Picture Gruden standing at the paper shredder, feeding running plays into it.

Will the Bucs ever run the ball again?

This line still has to put a complete game together.

But consider that Joseph is still sidelined.

Consider its youth. Consider Sunday.

"It's something to take pride in," Trueblood said.

Since training camp, people talked about this line being a strength. We weren't sure after their weak protection at New Orleans. But their run blocking was great, as it was against Atlanta. There weren't as many holes Sunday. A lot of that was the Bears. Some of it was the Bucs line.

"We had some good looks, some draw plays," Gruden said. "Warrick Dunn had some nice looks. If you watch the game, they have a guy in every gap on every snap and it's hard to run."

You also want to have to run.

Enough of that. It was a passing frenzy Sunday.

And the wall held.

This Group Can Be Special

Bucs pass rushers know the deal. They watched Sunday's deal.

"It helps that Griese was getting the ball out fast," defensive lineman Greg White said. "But the line, they were amazing. Chicago kept coming, but they never did get there."

Everyone thinks this line can be special.

"Those guys, I want to be here when they become great," Bucs receiver Ike Hilliard said a few days before Sunday's game.

There is room to grow.

This team can run if this line is on. It can pass if this line is on.

Now it's just a matter of doing it on the same day.

Bucs lineman Donald Penn nodded.

"Now it's about putting it all together."

We're waiting.

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