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Roy Cummings, The Tampa Tribune, published 24 December 2006
They're in the home stretch now. Literally. All that remains is a game at home next Sunday against Seattle and the pondering of "What Ifs?"
For example, what if Coach Jon Gruden had turned to Tim Rattay instead of Bruce Gradkowski when Chris Simms went down after just three games? Would the Bucs' 2006 season have turned out any different?
We'll never know for sure, but Sunday's 22-7 victory against the Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium left some thinking it might have.
Though Rattay struggled to get the Bucs into the end zone, he did help them move the ball consistently well, and the result was the first victory for the Bucs in five games.
"I thought Tim did a good job," Gruden said. "He converted some key third downs for us and he moved the ball well. He did have one that slipped out of his hand [and resulted in an interception at the goal line], but other than that he played error-free ball. But we got help from a lot of guys in this one."
Jermaine Phillips was one of those guys. He had two of the Bucs' season-high four interceptions, including one that set up a field goal. The biggest defensive contributor, however, might have been Derrick Brooks. Just days after being left off the NFC Pro Bowl squad, Brooks intercepted a Derek Anderson pass and returned it 21 yards for the touchdown that all but assured the Bucs their first - and only - road victory this season.
"We had some chances to get some turnovers, and we took advantage of them," Brooks said. "Earlier in the year we were dropping those balls or just knocking them down. [Sunday] we [secured] them and we also got some sacks. This game I think showed people what we're truly capable of doing as a defense."
It wasn't just the defense that showed what it's capable of doing. Fullback Mike Alstott, a seemingly forgotten member of the Bucs' rushing attack, got a chance to show what he's capable of as well. His chance came largely as a result of a foot injury that forced Cadillac Williams to watch the game from home, but Alstott took advantage, running a team-leading 22 times.
He appeared to lose steam as the game progressed and wound up gaining just 56 yards, but he and Michael Pittman, who ran 16 times for 86 yards and a touchdown, did have some sizeable gains. "It was like a tag team out there again, kind of like we used to do it," Pittman said. "It was fun getting that opportunity, and I hope it gives me a chance to get the ball some more."
Rattay probably doesn't have to worry about getting the ball back. With a win in his pocket, he's almost assured of starting that season finale against the Seahawks. And with a couple of adjustments, he just might be able to keep the Bucs in the win column. Though he turned the ball over twice (he had a lost fumble returned for a touchdown), his play was mostly solid. He completed 16 of 26 passes for 212 yards and was particularly sharp on third downs, where the Bucs completed 47 percent of their tries.
"It was fun to be back out there again, it was fun to get hit again and it was fun to compete again," Rattay said. "But the big thing is, we got a win. That was huge. I think we played well in all three phases of the game, and the guys up front did a heck of a job. We moved the ball well the whole game and really pounded it in the fourth quarter, but we still need to get it in the end zone more."
There's no denying that. Though he moved the Bucs into scoring position on several occasions, Rattay was able to lead them into the end zone only once, that on Pittman's early second-half run. With the exception of Brooks' score, the Bucs' other points all came off Matt Bryant field goals. Against the now 4-11 Browns, though, that was enough to give the Bucs a win that was the 100th in the regular season of the Glazer family's tenure as owners.
That was one of the few things the Bucs had to play for. After all, four teams from each conference had been eliminated from playoff contention when Sunday's games started. This one featured two of them. And it showed. The Bucs were whistled for offsides on the opening kickoff and Bryant followed by kicking the ball out of bounds after the penalty.
The mistakes gave the Browns the ball at their 45-yard line, and for a while it looked as if they'd capitalize on the opportunity. However, a dropped pass and a poorly executed pooch punt off a faked 44-yard field goal attempt got the Bucs out of trouble and possession of the ball.
The Bucs moved it a lot smarter than the Browns did, hitting Maurice Stovall on two big third down plays, but still had to settle for a 23-yard field goal. That drive was a harbinger of things to come. That certainly was the case in the first half, when the Bucs gained 211 yards but settled for a pair of field goals and a 6-0 lead. The second of those field goals came at the end of a 27-yard drive that started after the second of Phillips' two interceptions.
The pick was the second in as many series for Phillips, who became the first Bucs safety to intercept a ball this season. The absence of those kinds of big plays has been seen as one of the Bucs' problems this year, but the offense proved the woes actually run much deeper than that.
Though they got the ball at the Browns 43, the Bucs still couldn't turn the first of Phillips' picks into points, their drive stalling out at the Cleveland 9, where Alstott was stopped for no gain on fourth-and-1. After turning Phillips' second pick into points, the Bucs got one more chance to put points on the board in the first half. That effort died out, though, when Browns safety Daven Holly stepped in front of a Rattay pass and picked it off at the goal line.
The play seemed to be enough to give the Browns momentum, but any momentum the interception might have produced was destroyed by the Bucs early in the second half when they drove 74 yards for Pittman's touchdown. A 12-yard pass from Rattay to Alex Smith and Alstott's 8-yard run on third-and-1 helped set up Pittman's touchdown run.
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