Five Plays That Made A Difference Roy Cummings, The Tampa Tribune, published 5 October 2008 The Bucs and Broncos were still feeling each other out when the Bucs walked to the line for a second-and-8 play from their 22 midway through the first quarter. Bucs QB Brian Griese didn't like what he saw and immediately checked out of his original play and into a run to the right for Earnest Graham. Good call. With the Broncos' defense running around a bit, Graham ran around their left flank for 14 yards before being run out of bounds. Two plays later, a 38-yard run by Warrick Dunn got the Bucs into scoring position. The Bucs didn't let the chance go to waste. After three plays netted them 6 yards, they still capitalized, notching a 33-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead with 4:28 left in the quarter. Costly Mistakes Jeremy Trueblood turned in a couple of costly plays near the end of a drive midway through the second quarter. The first came when he was called for holding on a third-and-2 play from his 49. The second came on the ensuing third-and-12 play from his 39, when he was beaten cleanly by DE Elvis Dumerville for a 5-yard sack. That dropped the Bucs back to their 34 and forced them to punt. Eddie Royal's 20-yard return gave the Broncos good field position, and the Broncos took advantage of the opportunity. They moved 42 yards in nine plays to set the stage for a 40-yard Matt Prater field goal that gave the Broncos a 6-3 lead. Pittman Power The Broncos had the Bucs in a bit of bind early in the third quarter, but the Bucs had a chance to get out of it when Denver lined up to run a third-and-5 play from the Tampa Bay 42. The Broncos even threw a familiar face at the Bucs on the play, sending former Bucs RB Michael Pittman on a run up the middle. Pittman responded by making his former team wish it hadn't let him go. By the time he was done bowling over the Bucs, Pittman had gained 16 yards to the 26, all but assuring the Broncos would take the lead. Two plays later, Denver took a 13-6 lead on a 10-yard Jay Cutler pass to Brandon Stokley. Big Conversion Having stopped the Bucs for the third time in the quarter, the Broncos were in position to start pulling away from Tampa Bay midway through the third. The only thing that was going to prevent that was a big stop by the Bucs, and their first chance came on a third-and-2 play from the Denver 37. As he had been for a while, Broncos QB Jay Cutler chose to play catch with Brandon Stokley on the play. The two combined for an 8-yard gain to the 45 on this one. The Broncos still needed another 11 plays to finish off the drive with a 27-yard Matt Prater field goal, but it was that conversion on third down that gave them the momentum they needed. Keeping It Alive The Bucs found themselves in a familiar position midway through the fourth quarter. Just as they were in Chicago a couple weeks ago, they were down by 10 points and running out of chances to stay in the game. With Jeff Garcia at the helm, though, the Bucs rallied again. The key play this time came on a third-and-3 play from the Tampa Bay 37. Garcia threw short on the play to Antonio Bryant, who caught the ball and reached for the first down as he was being dragged down. That kept alive a Bucs touchdown drive that got them back into the game, but their rally came up a little short as the Broncos held on for a 16-13 victory.