Offensive Line Gets Stellar Reviews Katherine Smith, The Tampa Tribune, published 19 September 2005 The offensive line has heard the criticism before -- maybe too many times. They're the weak link. The unit with the most question marks. The ultimate cause for the offense's ineptness. Tampa Bay's offensive linemen are accustomed to being the scapegoats when things are going wrong. On Sunday, the line helped produce 191 rushing yards and 318 total yards against a defense that allowed only 120 yards and recorded five sacks the previous week. "Coming into the game, we knew that Buffalo's front seven was very talented," said quarterback Brian Griese, who was sacked only once Sunday. "There haven't been a whole lot of offenses in the past year and a half that have been able to do much of anything against Buffalo. I was real proud of the way our offensive line played." Griese wouldn't have completed 73 percent of his passes if it weren't for the consistent protection and time the line provided, and with all due respect to Cadillac Williams, the rookie running back didn't rush for 128 yards and one touchdown by himself. "All the credit goes to those guys up front," Williams said. "Those guys, they did a heck of a job. They are making my job a lot easier." Gruden credited the offensive line with keeping the Bucs out of third-and-long situations. Half of Tampa Bay's 14 third downs were for 5 or less yards. "Their offensive line did a great job because they stayed with it," Buffalo linebacker Takeo Spikes said. "At times they had a couple of runs in spurts, but for the most part they stayed at it." With 14 games remaining, Tampa Bay's offensive linemen aren't letting the good reviews go to their heads. "I'm not going to say we've fixed everything right now, but we're getting better and that's a good thing," right tackle Kenyatta Walker said. "We're getting better and our confidence is building. We're just trying to add bricks to the house. That's just two bricks. We've got a lot more to go." Center John Wade agreed there is room for improvement and shied away from the accolades. "We won so I don't care who gets the credit," Wade said. "You can give it to Cadillac. You can give it to Brian. It makes no difference because we won." Bucs nose tackle Chris Hovan goes up against the offensive line every day at practice and knows what they're capable of -- something he says the rest of the league is now discovering. "The guys are hard workers man, and it shows up on Sundays," Hovan said. "Their tapes are getting sent out around the league right now. Everybody's going to see this game and they're going to see what this offensive line is made of -- that's relentless blocking and being physical at the line of scrimmage. They're going to get the recognition they deserve."