Michael Bennett "will be okay" after injuring ankle

Daily Bucs Links 10/26/12 - Reviewing the game

10 Things We Think We Learned from the Buccaneers vs. Vikings

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers shocked just about everyone in the nation by going into Minnesota and beating the living tar out of the Vikings in front of a national audience. What did we learn from the game?

Buccaneers - Vikings Recap: Doug Martin runs Tampa Bay to victory

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers jumped out to an early lead once again, but this time they didn't let go. Hard running by Doug Martin and some key third-down conversion gave the Bucs a dominant win in an unleashed Metrodome.

Buccaneers - Vikings Post-Game Thread

GIF: Doug Martin ass-blasts Jared Allen

Doug Martin has 214 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lead 36-17 in the middle of the fourth quarter. It's been a pretty good day. Here's one of the best moments of the game: Doug Martin pushing Jared Allen into the endzone. Yep, diminutive running back Doug Martin pushing dominant defensive end Jared Allen into the endzone. That's all lower-body strength. Impressive, no?

Doug Martin's breakout game. Awesome.

GIF: Jared Allen and Donald Penn fight it out

Jared Allen is a bad boy, just in case you didn't know that. The Bucs were dominating the Vikings, holding a 30-10 lead at one point, but the Vikings managed to turn around that situation with some good plays. The first was a long Adrian Peterson touchdown, while the second was...a Jared Allen fight. Yep. Here's the footage:

And here's the result:

Yeah, Allen was not happy - and he immediately got a sack to prove it. A quick three-and-out forced by the Tampa Bay defense fixed that issue, but there's plenty of time for the Minnesota Vikings to get back into the game. The crowd is certainly more into it after that sequence of events.

By the way, this is what Allen felt after that sack:

Buccaneers - Vikings Fourth Quarter Thread

GIF: Adrian Peterson tears up Tampa Bay defense

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been dominant in run defense this year, but that was before they faced Adrian Peterson. Adrian Peterson is the best running back in the NFL and he's tough to contain - but giving him a 64-yard touchdown run may be a bit much.

Ronde Barber missing that tackle may be a bit of payback for an earlier outstanding tackle by the veteran. That score put the Vikings right back in this game, making it a two-score game in the middle of the third quarter. The Bucs have been dominant throughout most of the game but have failed to put the Vikings away. Are they giving away yet another game?

GIF: Doug Martin owns Vikings defense

Doug Martin is having an amazing game. A few statistics: 105 yards rushing, 79 yards and a touchdown through the air. That's 184 yards from scrimmage -- exactly 2/3 of Tampa Bay's total offense. Ridiculous. In fact, he has two more yards from scrimmage than the Vikings. Here's his latest screen:

I'm quickly falling in love with that stiff-arm. Going through the hole created by Jeremy Zuttah, he just throws out his arm to make some lineman fall to the ground. An amazing game for the rookie.

Buccaneers - Vikings Third Quarter Thread

Doug Martin runs for 106 yards in first half

Doug Martin has his first 100-yard game of his short career - and that's after just one half. The highlight of his day so far was this great 41-yard run, setting up the team's first field goal.

Overall, though, Martin has looked amazing. He's displayed some great vision, taking advantage of great blocking by the left side of the offensive line, and his stiff-arm has destroyed several people. I'm pretty sure I could make a highlight reel of Doug Martin stiff-arms at the end of this season.

Martin got his 106 yards rushing on just 14 carries, for an average of 7.6 yards per carry. Add to that two catches for 15 yards, and he's having a great game. If he can keep this up, the Bucs should walk away with a win.

GIF: Mike Williams touchdown catch makes it 20-7

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers continue to win on offense, with a 3-yard Mike Williams touchdown catch punctuating another drive set up by a fumble. That fumble was caused by Ronde Barber, of course, as the veteran always seems to show up with big plays in prime time games.

The touchdown was a thing of beauty, though. The Vikings sent an all-out blitz, Freeman saw Mike Williams in single coverage on the right and fired a fade to the corner of the end zone while getting leveled by a Viking. And Mike Williams showed he's back to his rookie form, with a great leaping grab and amazing toe-tap for the touchdown. Great play all around.

GIF: Percy Harvin turns it into a one-score game

The Minnesota Vikings offense came to life, thanks to a healthy dose of Percy Harvin. He set up the first touchdown with a long gain on a screen pass, and then finished it off himself. Harvin ran a great route here, and the throw by Christian Ponder was absolutely amazing and, quite frankly, impossible to stop. See for yourself:

It's 13-7 now and the Vikings are trying to reverse momentum. So far, they're succeeding. Can the Bucs hang on?

GIF: Vincent Jackson's Amazing Grab Sets Up First Touchdown

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are dominating this game. It's 10-0, and they're in Minnesota territory setting up for another score. This is how they got their first touchdown: an amazing catch by Vincent Jackson on third down while Freeman got clobbered delivering the ball. Jackson's play went for 26 yards, and Erik Lorig got to finish off the drive with a one-yard touchdown. Things are looking up for the Bucs in this game.

This is why they signed Jackson: he's a big, physical target who can go up and catch jump balls, helping out Freeman who has some accuracy issues.

Buccaneers - Vikings Second Quarter Open Thread

GIF: Doug Martin 41-yard run leads to field goal

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers got off to a decent start in this defensive battle, forcing two three-and-outs and getting a field goal to take a 3-0 lead. They got there because of Doug Martin, who has certainly looked much better the past couple of weeks. This time he started with a 41-yard run on his second run, which is pretty good.

Note the outstanding vision and patience behind the offensive line, allowing the play to develop and finding the cutback lane. That should be Martin's biggest strength: his vision, as well as his hard running. So far so good.

Buccaneers - Vikings Inactives: Da'Quan Bowers Will Play

Buccaneers - Vikings Big Darn Preview

Facing the Minnesota Vikings on their first nationally televised game in the Greg Schiano era, will the Bucs wilt under the spotlight or will they live up to their potential?

Bucs - Vikings: Game Time, TV Schedule, Previews, Online Streaming, Odds and More