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Freeman, Blount lead Bucs to wild win over Arizona
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Roy Cummings, The Tampa Tribune, published 1 November 2010
For their Halloween afternoon game against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers came to University of Phoenix Stadium dressed as "the best team in the NFC.'' And while they didn't necessarily show themselves to be worthy of best costume honors, the Bucs did eventually claim the day's biggest prize: a 38-35 victory that pushed their record to a (believe it or not) NFC-best 5-2.
"I remain un-wavered,'' said Raheem Morris, who sparked a minor controversy in the wake of last week's victory over the Rams by stating the Bucs were the "best team in the NFC.'' "As long as our record says that we're the best team in the NFC, I'm not going to let anyone tell me that we're not. I mean, somebody has to be No. 1. Why not us?''
The Bucs, who are actually tied with next week's opponent, Atlanta, and the New York Giants for tops in the NFC, offered up a few reasons on Sunday, with the biggest being their ability to blow a 17-point second-half lead.
But with quarterback Josh Freeman leading yet another fourth-quarter comeback the Bucs rallied to reach the halfway mark in Morris's "Race to 10'' wins before they even reached the halfway mark in the season.
"I really didn't do much this time,'' said Freeman, who made only his 16th NFL start but has now engineered six fourth-quarter comebacks and is 8-8 overall. "This one was on the defense.'' This time it really was. The Bucs defense, which had allowed an NFL-low 35 second-half points prior to Sunday, wasn't as dominant as it has been in the second half, but it was opportunistic.
A unit that intercepted Cardinals quarterbacks Max Hall and Derek Anderson four times total picked off Anderson twice in the final 5:08 to help preserve the victory.
"What can I say, we're just a very resilient team,'' said middle linebacker Barrett Ruud, who picked off the first of those final two against Anderson. "Our job is to score and get the ball back and we definitely did that.''
It didn't look like they'd have to when the Bucs came out in the third quarter and picked off Anderson to set up a scoring drive that gave them a 31-14 lead with 4:47 left in the period.
The Cardinals (3-4) showed some resiliency of their own, though, and scored a pair of touchdowns in a span of just 23 seconds, with the second coming on Gerald Hayes' 21-yard return of a LeGarrette Blount fumble.
A hard hit to Blount's neck helped cause the fumble and nearly knocked Blount out of the game, but after he passed a quick concussion test on the sideline he was back in a series later.
The Bucs were down 35-31 by then, the result of a 5-yard Anderson touchdown pass to Larry Fitzgerald. Despite being in a hurry-up offense that usually features Cadillac Williams, they leaned mostly on Blount.
The strategy paid off as Blount ran for 10 yards on first down and gained 7 more on a short pass one play later to set up a 53-yard Freeman pass to Arrelious Benn that carried the Bucs to the Cardinals' 1-yard line. Blount, who had scored one touchdown earlier in the game, ran the final yard to give the Bucs the lead they wouldn't relinquish, but his biggest highlight was yet to come.
With Tampa Bay looking to run out the clock, Blount yanked the Bucs out of a hole by running 48 yards from their 6-yard line to the Cardinals' 46. The run included a leap over free safety Kerry Rhodes and helped Blount finish the day with 120 yards on 22 carries, but it still didn't take the Bucs to safety.
When the series stalled at the Cardinals' 43-yard line, Arizona was given one last shot to win it. With the help of a Stylez G. White sack, though, the Bucs snuffed that one out, too.
"It was one of those character games,'' Ruud said. "First we had it, then we gave it back and then we had to find a way to win it in the fourth quarter again. I'll say this, we don't lack for entertainment value.'' They don't lack for the ability to win on the road either. This was the Bucs third straight road win this season and, coupled with the two they finished the 2009 season with, gave them five straight.
That ties the franchise record for consecutive road wins, one that was set by the 2002 Super Bowl championship team. The last remaining member of that team says, however, the record may be the only thing the two teams have in common.
"I know one thing, we never scored points in abundance like we do on this team,'' cornerback Ronde Barber said. "That's something I would have liked to have been able to do, but it's nice that we can do it now.''
It's also nice, Ruud said, to have a big game coming up. He said the only truly big game the Bucs played last year was their season opener. Now, the Bucs are a team that has to be reckoned with.
"Hey, there's room on the bandwagon if anyone wants to jump on,'' White said. "You better jump on board now, though, because we're hot, and we're feeling good about ourselves and where we're going.''
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