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Tom McEwen, The Tampa Tribune, published 24 November 2008
The Buccaneers beat the Lions Sunday at Detroit about as they should: pretty easily. Detroit is no better and no worse than were the Buccaneers who started up with the horrible 0-for-26 start-up of 1976-77 before finally winning their first game ever Dec. 11, 1977 against, tah-dah, the Saints in New Orleans.
A neat salute to the breakthrough of those tragedies from the Buckos of today would be a win over the modern day Saints at Raymond James Stadium Sunday when the two bad teams of those times meet three decades later. If the Bucs win Sunday, surely it will be in part to the great play and thus progress some of their players made at Detroit in that solid 38-20 win.
Some Bucs Sunday surely will be momentarily embarrassed at rule-breaking plays, but most learned plenty by dandy play. Can’t ever say enough about the quarterback and field goal guy, never. Matt Bryant was perfect again with field goals and extra points, and Jeff Garcia at QB just wins, just scrambles, just finds someone somewhere open enough for a dump or a lob, or strike. He got popped a couple of times, but he got up and went back to work.
He does not seem too frazzled ever but kept his wits and wiles throughout. You like him in the clutch. You like also to see him get off the floor. He got it good, and illegally at times Sunday, but recovered.
The game at Detroit against old Buc assistant - Rod Marinelli - promoted to the top job was a tough one for running backs Warrick Dunn and Carnell (Cadillac) Williams, and Mr. Everything Antonio Bryant. Dunn was phenomenal. At 5-foot-7 and under 200 pounds, he’s a marvel. He carried the ball, he caught the ball and ran with it. He took it outside, just inside and straight ahead inside. He was always there as the escape receiver for Garcia.
All of Bucland has to be grateful Dunn came back to Tampa after Atlanta let the tough guy go. And, the same fandom surely must cheer Coach Jon Gruden for his talented team’s confidence in Cadillac (great name, eh?). Cadillac and Garcia bumped early in the game, fumbling and seeing a Lions lineman scoop it up and run in for a second Detroit touchdown and a 14-0 first quarter lead, one that would end at 17-0 before the Bucs began to play well.
Garcia and Cadillac both took blame for the fumble. Didn’t matter: the Bucs came alive a bit later for the resounding surge. Williams hadn’t played much until Sunday, but he did then and got himself going. Cadillac had a knee injury that could have cost him his career. Didn’t. Won’t. He started a bit slowly Sunday, but once he got it going he was indeed a Cadillac the Auburn people said he was.
He was high-stepping, strong and fast. Twice made have-to yards on third and fourth downs. Earnest Graham would have gotten that call had he not been injured in the Minnesota game. Thus the call for the Cadillac and Williams was tuned.
Clifton Smith had himself one of those see-how-he-runs plays with a punt return to stretch the lead from 21-17 to 28-17, and the indefatigable cornerback Ronde Barber made one of his two vital interceptions, returning it for a score and a 35-17 lead. It was among Barber’s best games and he’s had scores of them.
Also stout like Barber on defense were linebacker Barrett Roud, the tireless Kevin Carter, Cato June, Jovan Haye, Gaines Adams and Jimmy Wilkerson, at times a stalker of Detroit quarterbacks. Moreover, forget not another in-state survivor of so many of these games and a star of most, wideout Ike Hilliard. What Hilliard does is get open and catch the ball.
A lot of teams have beaten these Lions lately, but that will not always be so. They are not very good right now. The Bucs are better because they have a smart quarterback and depth. The Bucs are limping, too. Can’t do that for extended times in the NFL. Maybe like, no longer, now.
It is time for the Rouds, the Cadillacs, the Bryants (both of them), the Wilkersons, the Junes to call themselves to account. The Bucs now have established themselves as a genuine playoff team with that got-to win victory Sunday for which they were so beautifully set up to lose.
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