Indianapolis Colts - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17-24: Bucs scratch and claw their way to 3-1
by Sander on Oct 4, 2011 12:34 AM EDT
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It wasn't pretty, but they got it done. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Indianapolis Colts 24-17 in a tight and very sloppy contest. 20 penalties were called throughout the game, 14 of them on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for 106 yards. But despite that, the Bucs pulled out a win with dominant play in the fourth quarter.
That may be a little unfair to the Buccaneers, even. The Bucs were dominant throughout the game, except on two plays: a second-quarter 87-yard touchdown pass to Pierre Garcon, where Aqib Talib missed a key tackle as he seemed to be playing safety. The other play was a 59-yard touchdown pass, again to Pierre Garcon. This time it was a screen pass, and while no Buccaneer was ever really in position to tackle the receiver due to some great blocking on the side of the Colts, the referees also missed several blocks in the back on that play.
Those two plays as well as a first-quarter field goal drive gave the Colts 17 points, and guaranteed them a tie or the lead through the third quarter. But the Buccaneers were never outplayed, and always looked like the better team, albeit a sloppy team. Outside of those two plays to Pierre Garcon, the Colts were held to just 172 net offensive yards. They were held to just 62 rushing yards on 18 plays. The Bucs defensive line managed four sacks: two by Michael Bennett, one by Gerald McCoy and one by Adrian Clayborn. If the Bucs hadn't dropped three interceptions this would have been a lot uglier.
On offense it seemed like the same old story early on in the game: slow starts and Freeman being just a little off. But after a quick three-and-out Josh Freeman got it together and played sharp the rest of the way. In fact, his final stats of 25/39 for 287 yards and a touchdown pass don't do justice to his performance. Freeman also added a touchdown and two first downs on a quarterback sneak as well as two crucial first downs with his feet late in the game.
But besides all that, his receivers weren't helping him out. Mike Williams dropped the ball twice, Luke Stocker seemed to drop the ball on a slightly underthrown ball. And when Arrelious Benn seemed to help out Freeman by catching a short pass on a scramble and turning it into an 62-yard touchdown by breaking a dozen tackles, that play got called back because Benn had touched the sideline ever so slightly before catching the ball.
That Illegal Touching penalty was just one of many that nullified some great plays by the Bucs. Perhaps the most egregious: a twelve-men on the field penalty on a first-half ending field goal, that nullified the game-tying three points. The only receiver who seemed to really step up was Preston Parker, who caught five passes for 70 yards and a touchdown. Parker is fast turning into a real threat as a slot receiver.
In the end the Bucs got it done. Josh Freeman led scoring drives in the second, third and fourth quarter to give the Bucs 24 points. The defense stifled the Colts in the fourth quarter to give the offense a chance to win the game. And Legarrette Blount pounded a worn-down Indianapolis front-seven as he ran for 127 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries in the game. And for the second game in the week the Bucs closed out a game by converting a fourth down in their four-minute drill.
The Bucs are 3-1 and have a share of the division lead. Next week they travel to San Francisco to keep that lead.
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I agree...
We are making a lot of mental mistakes and we can’t have that especially against better teams.
by sports_aficionado on Oct 4, 2011 4:43 AM EDT up reply actions
Blount is a beast cant wait to see him do that to the 49ers
IF U AIN'T A BUC GET THE BUC OUT OF HERE
by WE GOING TO THE SHIP on Oct 4, 2011 12:50 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
That's for DARN sure. AND I'M BUC!!!!!
The caller said the boy, after removing the bulb from its socket, left the building and threw the bulb on the ground. When the bulb broke, the caller said the boy screamed "not since they nerfed sunfire capes"
†††If you love Jesus Christ and are 100% proud of it, copy this and make it your signature!†††
by Top Gun Numba 1 on Oct 4, 2011 4:19 AM EDT up reply actions
That game was a mess...
We will lose to every team we have left on the schedule playing like that with the exception of maybe the Jaguars.
Penalties, Olson, bad challenges, penalties, Olson, Freeman throwing high, bad challenges, Olson, penalties, Olson, bad challenges…..aaaahhhhhhh!!!!!
I think I as a fan, I need my own bye week….now.
I am thankful for Blount and the D-line and that Josh Johnson bootleg.
GO BUCS!!! PLEASE PLAY BETTER!!!!
Freeman was on point today, Olson didn't do many things stupid either.
I don’t find much to complain about except the penalties
"Well, if you guessin' it's me, you guessed correctly
I just stay with a stallion, you would swear I was an equestrian
I hit her with that pipe, call that Nancy Kerrigan
Stay on the greenest greens, call us vegetarians
You be on that minor league, but we smoke professionally"
by 4QB on Oct 4, 2011 2:52 AM EDT up reply actions
you nailed it.
I wanted to put my fist through my PC monitor ast halftime. Olsen’s continued mismanagement of the Offense, coupled with all these damn penalties will eventually hang this team against better competition.
I want to be happy being 3-1, but not at the reality that this team has major flaws to address.
On a positive note...
Freeman played well, no picks. Blount is a beast, nuff said. Freeman is finding Williams. McCoy is getting on the stat board. Clayborn is legit.
by flash_kiley on Oct 4, 2011 1:21 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
Not sure if the blame lays with Freeman or Olson
but he is a check down machine. Take some shots downfield. We lose to 30 other teams tonight because of the lackluster offense.
"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example." ~ Mark Twain
agreed
Olsen is holding this offense back in my opinion with his predictable play calling and not going deep… I noticed Hue Jackson in Oakland and Chan Gailey in Buffalo are getting more outta their offenses with lesser weapons and average qbs than Olsen is with Freeman and the wide outs we have which are better than what those teams have
If the defense wants to play that Cover 2 shell the whole night and leave the middle of the field open for those checkdowns, why not take an easy 7-10 yards each time? Was a little disappointed they did it during the 2-minute drill since it kept the clock going and cost them the chance for a possible touchdown, but the rest of the game I had no problem with the check-downs. It’s not like Freeman was forcing the checkdowns or even taking them as his 1st options, but if the other routes aren’t immediately available then yeah, grab the easy yards and try again next play.
All the Colts injuries prevented them from playing a defense more aggressive than the Cover 2 shell, but against defenses that run other things I’m pretty sure Olson and Freeman will use different tactics.
Clearly they weren't getting 7-10 yards every time
or they wouldn’t have ever punted. It was more like 2-3 yards every time.
"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example." ~ Mark Twain
Obviously not...
But your still wrong. 4.5 to 9 yards would be more accurate.
Bennett is doing rather well in pass rushing.
So Bowers’ time will be limited for now.
Yeah how could i forget the leading sacker
Bennett has being playing very well this season, im just glad that this D line is finally starting to take off and live up to its potential
In 4 games we have
7 sacks by the D-line and 10 overall. Last year we had 15 sacks by the D-line and 26 overall for the WHOLE SEASON. Looking much better this year. Penalties were a killer. Outside of those two plays we dominated. Talib needs to get it together. Both of those TDs were his coverage. First was cover 3 (you could see the SS move to shallow coverage) and Talib neglected his third and then missed the tackle. Second one was Cover 2 man, he gave a 7 yard cushion, backpedalled and couldn’t recover before he got blocked out by the Tackle coming over. No way that should happen, his reactions have got to be quicker than a OL getting to the edge. Biggers is getting better, and again was put on the #1 WR. Don’t know what’s going on with that, but this is two weeks in a row. Either Talib is in Morris’ dog house, or Biggers is impressing coaches more than fans.
They said last week it was to change what the other team planned for.
putting Bidders on the number ones i mean
On the first Garcon TD, in Cover 3.
Talib looked like he tried to peek at Painter before getting to his zone, and looked really surprised when he saw Garcon running his route there.
Biggers was really solid in M2M all night. Impressed the hell out of me. It actually seems like our DB’s play better in man than in zone.
Which we can get away with now, because the front 4 can create a pass rush without a ton of blitz help.
I wasn’t a big fan of how often Ronde was 1 on 1 with Dallas Clark, not how I would have schemed it. But he did a solid job, IMO.
"I have one word for you...Be careful."
-Jose Guillen
Clark wasn't a big factor
In fact, most of that passing game wasn’t much of a factor except for those two long plays by Garcon.
As for that first TD by Garcon, I don’t think that was Talib’s fault. It was more a good route against that coverage scheme. THe one thing Talib can’t do in that situation is miss the tackle, though. That’s terrible.
I was baffled that he didn't just push Garcon out of bounds. He was a step off the sideline.
I’m not sure what he was trying to do, but it wasn’t an attempt to really tackle or push him out. Kind of got stuck in between.
"I have one word for you...Be careful."
-Jose Guillen
In fairness...
to last seasons DLine play…..Morris has been dialing up the blitzes this year! He’s played a ton more aggressive as a Dcordinator this year. However this years DLine is OBVIOUSLY better despite that. Gawd, my heart stop a little evertime I see Price down. When he’s on the field he is disruptive and draws a lot of double teams. I didn’t see Black on the field much….I’m assuming that has alot to do with the combination of the Colts passing O and Morris giving him ample time to rest his ankle in between plays? The Freeman 2 Benn connection is starting to heat up over the last few weeks…I think we are only see slight glimpses of what this offense will be heading down the stretch. Good win Bucs! Clean it up and wer playoff bound.
Price
He’s definitely getting a lot of double teams and opens up the opportunity for the other guys to get one on one matchups they can win. I also get nervous every time he’s on the ground. Just don’t know how that injury is doing since it’s not a common FB injury.
I am a UCLA fan. Watched Price play for 3 seasons and the pieces of the last 2. Actually played against him once in high school.
Guy cramps a ton. 90% of time he goes down, he is cramping. Doubt it will ever go away, just think that when you see him down instead of the fluky hamstring to pelvis injury.
"I have one word for you...Be careful."
-Jose Guillen
Yeah, he went down grasping his hamstring but it seemed more like a cramp than a real hurt
That will probably start to disappear a little as he gets in better condition, but it’ll take a while. He’s still kind of rehabbing.
Running right behind Davin and True is working
but if you watch the TD run by Blount, key blocks are made by both Benn and Lorig. Davin and True pushed the whole D-line inside, Benn sealed the MLB, and Lorig took out the OLB or Safety (I couldn’t see in the replay). Lorig has done an exceptional job lead blocking for Blount. And I think Blount is starting to trust Lorig as his lead blocker. He’s actually hitting the hole hard behind Lorig instead of dancing around looking for a cutback lane in the backfield. This will be interesting (and fun) to watch as the season progresses.
Don't forget that they are also pulling Zuttah a lot.
That seems to really help with some of his big plays.
What happened to the playbook for passes >12 yards?
Man, that was frustrating to watch in person.
"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example." ~ Mark Twain
Why warn me lol? I'm BUC
The caller said the boy, after removing the bulb from its socket, left the building and threw the bulb on the ground. When the bulb broke, the caller said the boy screamed "not since they nerfed sunfire capes"
†††If you love Jesus Christ and are 100% proud of it, copy this and make it your signature!†††
by Top Gun Numba 1 on Oct 4, 2011 4:19 AM EDT up reply actions
You don't know the rule that every user is only allowed 81 "lols" a day
Your 82nd earned you a warning.
"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example." ~ Mark Twain
Seemed like the Colts were in a Cover 2 shell the entire game.
Deep passes against that defense need to be precise. When the middle of the field is open for 7-10 yards a pop why not take it?
@realjedidiah
Congrats guys
It was a good game, but the Colts are too injured to beat any quality teams. Not just Manning, but the secondary and the DL and OL are just torn to shreads. Don’t like the look of that Foster injury, initial report says dislocated ankle. Anyway, congrats guys and still hoping you guys win the division
Coltsider. A great place for Colts news, oh and I write there.
I hope it is "only" a dislocation
That was a really ugly injury. I thought it would be a lot worse after watching the video.
He had surgery today
Likely IR soon. They just said it was a dislocation, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a few fractures or a few tendons torn. I hope he can come back next year, one of my favorite players…
Coltsider. A great place for Colts news, oh and I write there.
Probably
Though I’m not a doctor, but I’m not sure if a dislocated ankle requires surgery alone. But anyway, he’s going to end up on IR, and it was one of the more gruesome injuries in recent memories.. Sad too, he was a good player who came in an UDFA and ended up being in the rotation and spot starter.
Coltsider. A great place for Colts news, oh and I write there.
Dislocating the ankle actually takes longer to recover than breaking it clean.
He would have been better off if it snapped.
"I have one word for you...Be careful."
-Jose Guillen
Not surprised
Something similar, when I dislocated my shoulder and it came clean out of the socket, it also tore a few tendons and ligaments on the way out I guess. I’m guessing that’s what happened to him.
Coltsider. A great place for Colts news, oh and I write there.
Happy to see Blount get going.
If they commit to a run game (17-20 carries), it opens up so much for them.
As you can always expect come from behind victory is when you least expect it.
Can you imagine what went throught that DB's mind when...
Johnson rolled out with guess who as his option? I almost wish Josh had lateraled to Blount just to see what might have been.
Dline is really jelling, great to watch
Blount is a beast. Freeman had a much better game, although he was lucky to not have a pick in the end zone again on one bad decision. A lot of checkdowns, but they were just taking what they were given. Trueblood was responsible for at least 2 sacks. Blech. Olsen’s playcalling was much better this game, I thought. I thought the secondary didn’t have the best game. Talib missed Garcon on the TD and missed a clear pick later. Even Barber missed a couple tackles I thought he should make. The team’s penalties are getting ridiculous, they really need to clean th
In the end, winning ugly is still
Too many penalties!!!!!
Wow, it may have been ugly, and we really blew the end of half FG. That’s not like us. BIggest problem was the penalties. What I saw was a bunch of VETERENS pushing the buttons of some youngery upstarts and getting them to blow their cool at times. Several really bad silly unneeded penalties.
Some of the holds were good calls…..FReeney and the Colts rush were in full attack mode.
BUT, when it counted, and when we needed it, both Freeman and Blount came through. WEjust plain dominated most of the game…just gave up the two big plays….one of which may have been called back just like Regis’s catch but wasn’t.
We are now 1/4 through the season and are 3-1…..I can live with that for sure. BUt now the real schedule begins. With NO 2 games in like 4 weeks, a trip to SF who seem to be alive and well. and the trip back home to LOndon for the owners we will need to stay focused and find ways to win.
WR’s are killing Freeman right now (when he hits them) with drops..these kill drives.BUt I did like that FReeman took control.called his own number to get CRITICAL first downs and then made them pay with the BLOUNT force trauma. Just beat them until they gave in.
GO BUCS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Totally agreed there
but he can’t be that sort of liability in the pass game. That was a critical play. I realize we’re stuck with him for at least this year and probably next year as well but still…
ONE more thing!!!
I know BLack played, I heard them say so.but where was he??? I didn’t see any disruption from him. I think we are better with Watson, he seems to protect against the pass and even cause havoc in the back field at times. Just an observation. I know Black is the starter (for know) but I like Watson’s nose for the right place at the right time instinct.
GO BUCSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Watson is a non-factor against the run
But a better pass rushers than Black. Which is why Black starts on first and second down while Watson get the passing downs.
its a very small sample size to sit out black and give his job to watson
dont get me wrong i like watson better but you cant give out a contract like we did to quincy black and have him benched, I think that he knows that he cant slouch off because THEY WILL give his job to watson. honestly i’d rather have watson starting if quincy didnt get that contract. Then again, bringing in watson on 3rd down and keeping in Black on 1st and 2nd is a win/win since your still using watson at his strong point which is pass rush and quincy as a run stuffer on the first two downs, i just think watson plays harder though but who knows how much that ankle has been bothering quincy.
by Carlitin1988 on Oct 4, 2011 10:53 AM EDT up reply actions
Is Talib in a funk
or am I just overreacting. If he keeps this up , we have to go corner in the first round next year.
by flash_kiley on Oct 4, 2011 8:59 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
probably distracted from a possible suspension
sometimes distractions like that can affect a player’s play on the field
Well.........
Like i said before, Olsen should call the offense like he does in the four minute drill…. Fast pace…. Freeman in the shotgun, and rolling out and sometimes use blount in the shotgun for some runs. And stop running up the middle. It doesnt work. We have to run to the right side. I cant make any complaints on defense we played great. Talib needs to get it together!!! and we have to stop dropping int’s. WHERE IS T-JACK? Oh yea and bench Black and start WATSON!!!!!!
Our offense showed some flashes of what it was doing late last year
Boy has Preston Parker stepped up, and the D line is playing pretty good, scary to think they are all rookies and second year players. Dont know if it was just me or did anybody else see sean jones take really bad angles yesterday ? really happy we got the win and were 3-1 but if its anyone other than a quarterback who has never started a game (less on mnf) we’d lose, dont want to be a debbie downer but were only playing about 2 1/2 quarters, it takes us right before halftime to get it going… this isnt going to work with the saints or any playoff caliber team really. 106 yards in penalty is never ever acceptable, man thats a lot of free yards. Blount ends up with 127 yards but he needs to stop dancing in the backfield. or maybe its not dancing but hell grab the ball and come to a complete stop looking for a lane when he should just use that momentum and drive right through
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