Bucs flambe Falcons 37-3, cinch NFC South title

The Bucs gave game announcers one less hackneyed stat to reference during Buccaneer football games by breaking an amazingly long streak without a kickoff return for a touchdown.

Oh, and the team beat the Falcons and clinched a home playoff game by beating the Falcons 37-3.

Special Teams
Special teams coach Rich Bisaccia deserves a great deal of credit for prying one 500 lb gorilla of a monkey off the backs of the Buccaneers. The rest goes to Michael Spurlock, a speedy wide receiver who played quarterback at Mississippi, a player who won the job as kick return specialist thanks to an injury to wide receiver Mark Jones.

I had a feeling about this particular kick return, but not enough of a feeling to match that of a guy in the row behind me, who not only had the feeling but was drunk enough to predict that the return would go for a touchdown. He's made the prediction before, but that can't possibly detract from the satisfaction of getting it right!

The return looked like the prototypical kickoff return for a touchdown. A lane forms, the returner speeds through it, then just has to outmaneuver the kicker and a couple of other guys to make it to paydirt. The Bucs went delirious. The crowd went delirious. The Bucs were up 14-3 and the offense hadn't scored a point.

Defense
The defense gave up several big runs on the ground, but none for touchdowns, and more importantly played great pass defense. Greg White and Gaines Adams have begun to look like the real deal rushing from the ends the past month or so. Adams rang up the Bucs' only sack of the game, stripping the football in the process--it was recovered by ball hawk Jovan Haye inside the Falcons' 10 yard line and led to a touchdown. On the Falcons' third play from scrimmage to open the game, Ronde Barber intercepted and carried the ball in from 29 yards. Barber now has 10 touchdowns in his 11-year NFL career, which should help him earn Hall of Fame consideration.

Offense
Quarterback Jeff Garcia played as well as he needed to play. The offensive line had its problems with pass protection, but with the early lead they had the luxury of bearing down on the running game.

Part of Garcia's post-game commentary:

“We basically got into a very run-oriented mode and we used a lot of two tight end sets and just pounded the ball. That really became our offensive scheme from what seemed like the second quarter on. We were protecting the lead and we turned it over to our offensive line and said, be physical with Earnest Graham and Michael Pittman and we were able to get Michael Bennett involved late in the game. Those guys did an outstanding job of running the football.”
(Buccaneers.com)

Summary
A very satisfying win against a struggling opponent. The improvement of the pass rush continues to encourage.

Next Up
San Francisco in San Francisco. The Bucs have a history of playing poorly on the West Coast, but the 49ers aren't going to beat the Bucs through the air. Frank Gore needs to have an excellent day for the Niners to have a chance. The Bucs should register win No. 10 on the season.

*****