Two weeks in a row now, Josh Freeman has led the Bucs from behind in the 4th quarter; this time down 22-13 in the 4th qtr behind the excellent kicking of Conor Barth, and timely interception of Quincy Black. If anything, the Bucs may have scored too early after Blacks interception when Cadillac Williams stretches into the endzone for the go-ahead touchdown.
The first sign of a problem was a 15 yard, enforced on the kickoff penalty on Kellen Winslow, but the Bucs covered the return team and kept Miami pinned deep in their end of the field. The defense once again has failed this team as they allowed the Dolphins to drive down the field in under two minutes.
While there may be no pressure to win right now, the Bucs still fought for 60 minutes and showed us some signs to be optimistic about this team's future.
If anything, the play of the game may have been the end of the 1st half atrocity perpetrated by the officials when they ruled Michael Clayton had fumbled a caught ball when replays clearly showed the ball was caught and the play was dead. This resulted in 10 Miami point the Bucs had to fight back from.
Yet the defense did show some fight, but holding MIami to 5 of 14 third down conversions was little consolation to giving up 199 yards on the ground, something the Dolphins clearly went to on the final drive.
And so the season goes on, Tampa Bay is developing an offense which just needs to show up a little earlier, and a kicker which is a position that has sorely been missed in 2009 until today. The defense however is still simply undermanned. Defensive Tackles, Ends and a few guys in the secondary are going to be needed if this thing will be turned around next season. Today, we saw a little bit of the foundation the future will be built on.