Change for the worse with scoreline, by the numbers Rick Stroud, The St.Petersburg Times, published 1 November 2005 The Bucs wanted to see Chris Simms in control against the 49ers on Sunday. What they got, at times, was a quarterback whose head was spinning faster than his passes. Simms often threw the ball too short or held it too long. First, he lost his poise and then the game. The real concern wasn't how Simms played in Sunday's 15-10 defeat to the 49ers. If Monster Park looked like a house of horrors to Simms, imagine what he will make of Atlanta's Georgia Dome, site of the Bucs' next road game. If the 49ers can snap a five-game losing streak needing only five field goals from Joe Nedney, what will Simms have to do to beat Carolina next weekend? If he can't outperform 49ers backups Ken Dorsey and Cody Pickett, how will he fare against Jake Delhomme and Michael Vick? "I've been around long enough to know that the first performance of a young quarterback really isn't a gauge as to where he can go and what he can become," Bucs coach Jon Gruden said. "He's going to learn from this, and there's things he's got to learn from in a hurry because Carolina will have no mercy next week." Simms went 21-of-34 for 264 yards, but that doesn't begin to tell the story of his hesitant and mistake-filled performance against a team that lost 52-17 to the Redskins Oct. 23. He threw two interceptions to set up field goals, including one that bounced off the head of umpire Darrell Jenkins, and lost a fumble with 1:42 remaining. It was a day of hard lessons for the Bucs. All-Pro defensive end Simeon Rice was sent home by the team Sunday morning and deactivated for the game for missing a meeting Saturday night after the Bucs arrived in San Francisco. Simms probably wished he could have joined him. Making his first start of the season in place Brian Griese, who had season-ending knee surgery Friday, and third overall, Simms, 25, had a rough first half. The third-year pro was sacked twice, hit six times, hurried eight times and knocked down five times. And it was obvious he was nervous from the outset, short-arming three passes that bounced several yards in front of the feet of Joey Galloway. "We played a young quarterback, and we have some growing pains we have to work through," Gruden said. "We turned the ball over in some key situations and missed some opportunities to make some plays. We couldn't get anything done running the football. It hurt us. What can I say? It wasn't enough." Simms, however, didn't sound like a quarterback who believed he played poorly. "I felt good all game," Simms said. "I felt focused and felt I was seeing the field real well. We just didn't get it done. There's always a little bit of getting into the flow of the game. I don't want to say I was rusty. But I know I can play better." In fairness to Simms, the Bucs offense didn't do much to help him. Running back Cadillac Williams, returning after missing two games with a sprained foot, never got on track and was held to 20 yards on 13 carries. The 49ers, which entered last in the league in points allowed at 35.3 per game, played mostly eight-man fronts and dared Simms to beat them. "This is Chris' first start (this season). You just can't point the finger at Chris," running back Michael Pittman said. "Look at the running game, the offensive line. He's getting rushed. I will say he was a little nervous at the beginning, of course, but it's no excuse. As an offense, we have to play better." When Simms wasn't under siege, he held on to the ball too long, especially in scoring territory. Twice, he took sacks with the Bucs inside the 49ers 30. One came early in the fourth quarter, before Matt Bryant was short on a 52-yard field goal with the Bucs trailing 12-3. "Obviously, he can understand our protections better, where our hot receivers are," Gruden said. "Learn to throw the ball away ... when we're in striking distance, in field position. Things like that he can do a lot better job with." In fact, the lone highlight for Simms and the Bucs offense came on one of his shortest throws. He hit Galloway on a hitch route the receiver turned into 78-yard touchdown by outrunning safety Mike Adams to the end zone. Galloway finished with eight catches for 149 yards. "There were some good things done, and there were some bad things done. And I think you can say that about the offense as a whole, not just him," Galloway said of Simms. "Each man, all of us, including him, including myself, have got to play better to beat Carolina next week." That goes for the Bucs defense, too. It yielded 101 rushing yards to Kevan Barlow and couldn't get the ball back for Simms late in the game, when the 49ers drove 42 yards on 11 plays and took 5:02 off the clock before Nedney's 28-yard field goal. "We've got to bounce back, and everybody has got to rally around Chris," defensive tackle Ellis Wyms said. "He's going to be our quarterback the rest of the year. He's going to go through some growing pains. But he's going to get better as he goes and gets experience. We're going to be fine."