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Injuries, penalties, and general ineffectiveness have written the first half story for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Earnest Graham left in the first quarter with an ankle injury and is gone for the game. Eric Lorig went down with an injury as well leaving Lumpkin as the only healthy running back on the active roster. Mason Foster is down with an ankle injury. His return is questionable. Tanard Jackson went down with a hammy, no word yet on his return. Brian Price was also injured but he returned to the lineup before the half.
The Bucs were flagged 4 times for 39 yards in the first half. The Bucs gained 137 yards however most of them came on the last drive of the half as we ran our 2 minute offense and got down to get a field goal. We only have 33 yards rushing. The offensive line looks like swiss cheese and Freeman has had no time to throw.
Matt Forte of the Bears has looked unstoppable. 15 carries for 108 yards and average of 7.2 yards per carry and believe me it’s looked every bit that bad. On the upside our defense picked off Jay Cutler once and Ronde Barber almost had another that would have been a pick 6 but he was unable to hang on.
The Bucs did get a safety when they stopped Forte in his own endzone following a Bears INT on the 1 yard line. Other than that there hasn’t been much to love. Unless we can get Freeman some time to throw back there it is going to be a very long and disappointing day.
We all know the Buccaneers are a second half team. Here’s to hoping the Bucs 2nd half magic is enough to overcome the insane amount of injuries.