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Rick Stroud, The St.Petersburg Times, published 5 November 2007
The team is full of banged up players dealing with a multitude of injuries, but the Bucs proved at least there is nothing wrong with their heart. Following Sunday's 17-10 win over the Cardinals, symbols of their resilience were evident throughout the locker room.
There was previously seldom-used running back Earnest Graham, peeling the bandages off his bloody right elbow the way he ripped free of tacklers, gaining a career-high 124 yards on 34 carries. "He always falls forward. He never seems to take a tackle for a loss," Jeff Garcia said of Graham.
There were safeties Tanard Jackson and Jermaine Phillips, the new Hit Show in Tampa Bay, explaining how they knocked the ball from and the will out of Cardinals receivers. Each had an interception, including the game-sealing one by Phillips with 2:31 left. "They're seeing the ball, and they're making hits," defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin said. "I know there are some good safeties around the league, but these guys are right up there."
There was receiver Ike Hilliard, playfully pleading with Garcia to stop his headfirst forays from the pocket. "We need him to stay healthy," Hilliard said.
To which Garcia replied, "I thought I was a running back."
But most of all, there was a sore and tired team grateful to enter the bye week 5-4 and first in the NFC South, a half-game up on the Panthers and red-hot Saints, who have won four in a row.
"I think the resiliency of this team is spectacular, and we keep fighting and finding ways to do it," Garcia said. "It doesn't look pretty. I wish this game could have been more dominant. But this is the NFL. Nothing comes easy.We're going to appreciate the break that we have. We're going to come back hungry and fighting for the next seven weeks of this season."
Garcia, rebounding from five turnovers in the past two games, completed 18 of 28 passes for 196 yards, including a 37-yard touchdown to Joey Galloway. He also was sacked three times and scrambled seven times for 26 yards. "He gives our team a chance," Jon Gruden said of Garcia. "What he did with his legs and with his decision-making was really, really, really exciting.
Arizona was coming off a bye week, and they came out with some multiple looks that you'll never see again. It's great to have a veteran that has the poise and the savvy to just grind it out and find a way to win."
The Bucs defense took control of the game after the Cardinals' first possession, during which Larry Fitzgerald caught a pass from Kurt Warner and raced 47 yards before stepping out of bounds without being forced at the Tampa Bay 33. The drive eventually resulted in a field goal. The long gain represented the Cardinals' only first down and more than half of their yards (78) of the first half. "I'm disgusted. I'm embarrassed. I'm way too good of a football player to be a part of something that we just did out there on the field," said Warner, who was 10-of-30 for 172 yards and two interceptions.
When the Cardinals opted to drop eight men into coverage in the second half, Gruden committed to running the ball. The Bucs dominated time of possession, holding the ball for just more than 43 minutes (to just less than 17 for the Cardinals) and running 77 plays to the Cardinals 42. The Bucs took a 17-3 lead by taking the second-half kickoff and marching 64 yards, a drive capped by Graham's 2-yard touchdown run.
But the game was not without its missed opportunities. The Bucs put together an 86-yard, 19-play drive that ate nearly 12 minutes off the clock but got nothing for it after Alex Smith dropped a pass in the end zone and Matt Bryant hooked a 26-yard field goal wide left. "You've got to make the plays and finish the drive. That's ridiculous," Gruden said. "To be a great team, we're going to have to make all the plays all the time."
But what the Bucs need most now is time to rest and get healthy for the final seven games. Smith and cornerback Brian Kelly returned from injuries Sunday. Running back Michael Pittman, receiver Michael Clayton and defensive linemen Patrick Chukwurah and Greg Spires could be back after the bye.
"Obviously, we wanted to win this game for our own psyche if not everybody else's that's going to be following us here down the stretch," Ronde Barber said. "Our schedule is ... favorable for us because I think we've got an opportunity to make a little bit of a run and start playing some good football against some teams we need to beat - if we're going to be any kind of player at the end of the year."
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