Injuries Force Pearson Into The Fire The Tampa Tribune, published 17 October 2005 At the beginning of the season, S Kalvin Pearson was on the Bucs' practice squad. Sunday against Miami, he was running around the field with the starters. When FS Dexter Jackson limped off at the beginning of the third quarter with a hamstring strain, Pearson came of the bench and took his place. Jackson injured his right hamstring trying to tackle Miami WR Chris Chambers. Pearson, who was cut from the team Sept. 3, signed to the practice squad Sept. 5 and promoted to the active roster Sept. 17, finished with two tackles and two passes defensed, including a ball he batted down in the end zone during the game's final drive. "Here's a guy we let go [at the beginning of the season] and look what he does today," defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin said. "Pearson's a good football player and he made some nice plays out there today. It doesn't matter where you come from or what your name is, if you can get into this system, you'll be a player." Already without starting SS Jermaine Phillips, who missed his second consecutive game with a fractured thumb, Tampa Bay's secondary lost another player when nickel back Juran Bolden injured his left shoulder early in the fourth quarter tackling Miami TE Randy McMichael. "I think our [injury] luck ran out today," Kiffin said. Bidwell wins field position battle With two strong defenses, the battle for field position was going to be a critical. The Bucs won that battle, especially in the second half, thanks in part to P Josh Bidwell. Five of Bidwell's seven punts were downed inside the 20, including on the Dolphins' final three possessions. Bidwell's last punt, a 53-yarder, was downed at the five-yard line by CB Torrie Cox, who returned the only kickoff that wasn't a touchback 23 yards to open the game. The Dolphins began 10 of their 14 possessions inside their 30-yard line. Eight of the Bucs' 12 possessions began inside their 30. "When it came down to the end, it was really the big difference for us," said Bidwell, who entered the game ranked second in the NFL with a 47.7-yard average and averaged 48.9 yards on seven punts Sunday. We're rooting for each other right now. I had guys coming out of nowhere to find me during timeouts to say 'good job.' " Other injuries MLB Shelton Quarles left the game during the defense's first series with a bruised lower back. Rookie LB Barrett Ruud replaced Quarles for a couple of plays before the veteran returned and tied WLB Derrick Brooks with a team-high nine tackles. Ruud finished with three tackles. "I thought [Quarles] was done," Kiffin said of Quarles. "But you can't keep that guy out of a game." Penalties still too plentiful for Bucs You knew it was coming. They knew it was coming. It has happened every game this season. Jon Gruden even hired help to try to keep it to a minimum. And we're not talking about the fans who get arrested for jumping onto the field after the game. It's penalties. And lots of 'em. Comparatively speaking, Sunday was a light day for officials. The Bucs drew only nine penalties for 65 yards, slightly off their league-leading average of 10.6 flags for 88.6 yards per game. Talk to anyone in the Bucs locker room, though, and they'll tell you they were walking backward far too many times. " (Derrick ) Brooks said it best," linebacker Ryan Nece said. "We don't realize it now, but those penalties will come down and bite us in the butt down the road. We need to take those things now and realize that penalties will hurt us in the long run." The Bucs were flagged for only one personal foul Sunday (a questionable roughing the passer on Booger McFarland ) but were plagued with false start and holding calls that turned makeable downs into stretches. One theory is penalties are a display of being too aggressive and trying to make too many plays. But tight end Dave Moore looks at it a bit differently. "That's just an individual playing a selfish role and taking their personal feelings and not thinking about what's best for their teammates," Moore said. "(The call on McFarland) was a game-played personal foul, not an after-the-whistle-being-a-selfish-guy personal foul. We've taken some steps, but we still have to clean up some offsides and things like that." On the receiving end Joey Galloway tied his career high with nine receptions, finishing with 96 yards and a touchdown. He has scored in 10 of his past 11 games and is two catches short of 500 for his career. Perhaps even more important is the fact six of Galloway's catches came on crucial third downs in which he tallied 71 yards and converted four first downs. Other notes Tampa Bay's 5-1 record matches the franchise's best start after six games. The Bucs were 5-1 in 1979, '97 and 2002. The Bucs are 3-0 at home for the first time since 1998 when Raymond James Stadium opened. S Will Allen, starting in place of Phillips, scored his first NFL touchdown when he returned a fumble for 33 yards in the third quarter. The Bucs converted eight of 17 third downs; the Dolphins were three of 14.