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Stephen F Holder, The St.Petersburg Times, published 27 October 2008
Jeff Garcia faced an adequate pass rush most of the day, but the Cowboys' rush intensified on the Bucs' final drive. With the front line knowing the Bucs were in a passing situation, the Tampa Bay offensive line sprung frequent leaks that left Garcia running for cover. "They were doing the best job they could possibly do," Garcia said. "I felt like there was enough time to make decisions, and that's all I really ask from them."
But WR Michael Clayton saw it differently. "The line has to step up in protection," he said. "If we had another half a second, we could make a play."
No turnover zone
The Bucs entered having recorded a turnover in 21 straight games, the longest active streak in the league. Unfortunately, it's no longer an active streak.
The Bucs' inability to force a turnover enabled the Cowboys to sustain several drives that would otherwise have been thwarted. And having missed out on several opportunities to come up with interceptions, it was frustrating for the Bucs.
"Sometimes you get turnovers, sometimes you don't," defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin said. "Those guys over there get paid, too. I think we played a pretty good game. But, yeah, it'd be nice to have four turnovers."
Brad buckles down
Brad Johnson didn't exactly overwhelm the Bucs with his 122 yards passing. His longest completion, after all, was 14 yards. But the 40-year-old former Buc was much improved from his debut last week, when, in his first game in place of injured QB Tony Romo, he was sacked three times and threw three interceptions.
This time, he played cautious and smart. The Bucs "shut people down," he said. "For us, we did not want to turn the ball over and give them a chance to score on short fields."
Having watched Johnson on film during the week, Derrick Brooks saw a different guy, too. In fact, he fully expected that. "Last week, he tried to force some things, and it ended up being turnovers," Brooks said. "This week, he just threw the ball away at times, and a couple times, he took his shots. We knew he wouldn't give us the chances that St. Louis had."
No party over there
Antonio Bryant knows the Cowboys probably better than anyone on the Bucs roster, having spent two-plus seasons in Dallas. He said he didn't have any particular emotions facing his former team, but he claimed to have a good sense of the feeling in the Cowboys locker room after they won a nail-biter.
"I'm just disgusted," Bryant said. "I hate losing games like that. It hurts because of all the hoopla surrounding them. We went out there and played a horrible game. I can just tell you this: Over there in that locker room, they're not celebrating. It's more like, 'Whew, we won one.' I guarantee that's how they feel over there, because when they scored that touchdown, it wasn't the kind of celebration I know occurs in this stadium. It was more a sigh of relief than a celebration."
Quick hits
Dallas' 172 total yards are the fewest in a Cowboys win in team history.
Derrick Brooks started his 200th straight game, the second longest active streak in the NFL behind Jets QB Brett Favre.
With two sacks, Bucs DE Gaines Adams, right, now has 10 for his career. It was his second two-sack game (9/14/08 vs. Atlanta).
The Bucs defense held the Cowboys to 70 yards rushing, has yet to yield a 100-yard individual rushing performance and is the only team not to allow a rushing touchdown this season.
With 228 passing yards, QB Jeff Garcia moves to ninth on the Bucs' all-time passing yardage list with 3,465 yards.
Dallas leads the all-time series with Tampa Bay, 8-3, with a 7-1 mark in Texas Stadium. Eight of the 11 games played in the all-time Bucs-Cowboys series have taken place in Texas, 10 of 13 if one includes the two postseason meetings between the teams after the 1981 and 1982 seasons.
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