Bucs edge Bears in OT 27-24

I'll admit that I saw little hope of winning the game as the clock slipped under 5:00 to go in the fourth quarter. The Bucs' offense simply had not provided enough consistency to think they could come back from 10 points down.

The win was sweet, and there were plenty of great plays to talk about by both sides. Chicago fans can stew over the fact that the officiating significantly affected the outcome of the game. I certainly know how that feels, but it's a better feeling when you have the win in the books.

I'll just focus on two aspects of the game.

First, people may make a big deal about Chicago's success running the ball on the Buccaneer defense, having chalked up a total of 158 yards and a 4.3 ypa average.

That's an illusion. The Bucs gave up a total of seven first downs rushing, and one of those first downs skewed the stats. Those who saw the game know where I'm going with this.

Late in the game, the Bears fake a punt and Garrett Wolfe reeled off a 38 yard gain, giving Chicago an important first down deep in Buc territory. Adjust the stats for Wolfe's run and they look quite a bit different: 120 yards rushing on 36 carries for a 3.3 ypa average. The best average other than Wolfe's eye-popping 38.0 yards-per-attempt came from quarterback Kyle Orton, who averaged 3.5 yards per carry.

Orton wasn't supposed to rush except on one of those plays, where he gained one yard on a sneak to pick up a first down. So Chicago was picking up about 3.3 yards per rush on average--not the kind of average that leads to consistent first downs.

In short, not much to worry about regarding Tampa Bay's rush defense. Minus Orton's scrambles and the fake punt the defense gave up just 100 yards rushing to Chicago.

So that brings us to the slightly bigger concern: The Bucs gave up 268 yards passing, and quite a few of those came against Ronde Barber.

Again, not a big concern.

The hits against Barber came late in the game with the Bucs on the short end of time of possession. Barber's coverage was decent in each case, but credit goes to the Bears for making the plays. Gruden called Barber the least of his worries during his Monday press conference.

True, that.