The Buccaneers' "division title express" experienced a minor derailment on Sunday with Tampa Bay's unexpected loss in convincing fashion to what had appeared on paper to be a significantly inferior Houston Texans squad. While backup QB Luke McCown had looked scrappy and durable against New Orleans, he looked scared in Houston--uncomfortable in the pocket and unable to get rid of the ball.
The Carolina Panthers did their part by dutifully losing to Jacksonville, but the division title celebration in Tampa was delayed--hopefully temporarily--by the Saints' victimization of the hapless, headless Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football.
This would have been a fairly inconsequential (though disappointing) defeat for the Bucs if it weren't for the fact that, with a win, they would have moved ahead of the Seattle Seahawks for the third seed in the NFC and closer to a first-round date with the toothless Vikings or Cardinals, instead of the now-likely meeting with the dangerous New York Giants.
Ultimately, the team brought this upon themselves. The defense seemed blase at best, the offense could not find its rhythm, and special teams might as well have stayed on the team bus. All phases broke down in what amounted to a puzzling loss to a mediocre (at best) foe, and aside from seeding implications, this debacle will surely create much fodder for criticism from the sports journalism community--a group which tends to overlook and underrate the Bucs, even on good weeks.
Mercifully, Jeff Garcia will be back under center this Sunday when the team takes on Atlanta and, hopefully, celebrates an NFC South Division Championship.
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2 comments:
vikes have, like, three teeth man. AP, CT and a massive O-line. And a killer Run D. It's weird but true!
Yeah, the Vikes are looking fairly formidable, actually.
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