Defense Tough - Until The End Theresa Smith, The Tampa Tribune, published 5 October 2008 All afternoon, even after the rain began to fall and the fatigue set in, Tampa Bay's defense was stout. The Bucs had limited a Broncos team that averaged 38 points in its previous three victories to one touchdown and three field goals. Needing one more stop, one more three-and-out to get its offense back on the field, the Bucs couldn't deliver in a 16-13 loss. Denver took possession on its 14-yard line with 2:02 left and daringly called a pass play. Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler found tight end Tony Scheffler for a 12-yard gain on first down, forcing Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden to use the first of his three timeouts. Michael Pittman dashed for 6 yards on the next play, leading to the second timeout. Pittman found a gap for another 6 yards, and the hard-hitting game ended with Cutler kneeling on three plays. There was nothing surprising about the Broncos' last offensive series, according to Bucs safety Jermaine Phillips. "They did everything we thought they were going to do," he said. "They just executed. "I'm just disappointed in us. We knew how big that was. We knew we wanted to give our offense the ball back, especially after our long drive, their defense had been on the field a long time. So we knew we'd have a good chance to score if we got the ball back. But they executed. They got a couple first downs and won the ball game." The Broncos came into the game averaging 33.2 points and 435.5 yards. Wide receiver Brandon Marshall was averaging nine catches, and rookie Eddie Royal 6.5. While limiting Denver's offense to 333 yards, the Bucs defense kept Marshall and Royal out of the end zone, holding them to three catches apiece. The only touchdown allowed was a 10-yard pass from Cutler to Brandon Stokley. That score was set up by the best Denver field position of the day, with the Broncos starting on the Tampa Bay 47. The key play was Pittman's 16-yard burst on third-and-5. "We knew they were a very explosive offense, and we kept them out of a lot of explosive plays," said linebacker Cato June, who had five tackles. "However, they still were able to move the ball a little more than we should have allowed them to. And our third-down percent, I don't know what it was, but I don't imagine we were very good. Plus, the red-zone opportunities we gave them, they kick three and they score." Broncos kicker Matt Prater, who replaced fan favorite Jason Elam, booted field goals from 55, 40 and 27 yards and Denver (4-1) converted six of 15 third downs for a 40 percent success rate, a reduction from its 47.7 percentage in previous games. "We had a great game plan," said Phillips, who deflected a Cutler pass and made a team-high eight tackles. "But we didn't get them in third-and-long like we wanted to. We got them in third-and-short, so we were on the field much longer than we wanted to be. And they came up with some great plays when they needed it. They kept running the bootleg. And we knew that, being Denver, if it was successful they would keep running it. We just fell short today." Cutler, a third-year quarterback out of Vanderbilt, passed for three conversions and scrambled 12 yards for another. Pittman gained the other two. While Pittman cited an advantage, knowing the Bucs defense, June said it was not a factor. "It's not about who you know," he said. "It is about executing. We didn't execute down at the end."