Simms' Second Shot Has Mixed Results Tony Fabrizio, The Tampa Tribune, published 3 January 2005 Chris Simms got his long-awaited opportunity to show whether he's the Bucs' quarterback of the future. What he showed in Sunday's ugly, season-ending 12-7 loss to the Arizona Cardinals is he still has a way to go. In his first full NFL game, Simms displayed his athleticism and completed some tough throws. But he also threw two interceptions, lost a fumble on one of several bobbled exchanges with center Sean Mahan and struggled with accuracy late in the game. That the Bucs managed only 249 yards and seven points wasn't all Simms' fault. Arizona's defensive front overtook the Bucs' offensive line like a storm, forcing the second-year quarterback to make the majority of his throws under duress. Simms, the 2003 third- round pick out of Texas, finished 16 of 32 for 224 yards with a 75-yard touchdown pass to rookie Michael Clayton. He was sacked four times. ``We had some opportunities to make some big plays, and Arizona was coming from everywhere,'' Jon Gruden said. ``That's a credit to them. [Week 17], they're going to blitz every play from different alignments. The 3-3 nickel, the four-man line, the five-man line. It was a very, very hard game for a quarterback. I credit Chris for hanging in there.'' The Arizona defender who created the most havoc was former Florida State star Darnell Dockett. He intercepted a Simms pass in the second quarter from his defensive tackle spot, recovered a fumbled snap in the third quarter and also had a sack. ``To be honest with you, a lot of times we didn't blitz,'' Dockett said. ``We were just dominating everything in front of us.'' Dockett was complimentary of Simms, saying he's better than the Giants' Eli Manning, the top pick of the 2004 draft. But he admitted the Cardinals tried to get in Simms' head by roughing him up. ``The opportunities we did get to hit him we tried to take his damn head off,'' Dockett said. The Bucs almost turned the quarterback job over to Simms early in the season. He started the Oct. 10 game against New Orleans, but a shoulder injury sent him into the bench. Brian Griese played well in relief, and Gruden made him the starter. But Sunday, Griese couldn't play because of a sprained ankle. That gave the Bucs a chance to give Simms a 60- minute tryout for next year's starting job. Simms' high point Sunday was the TD pass to Clayton, who did most of the work himself after catching a short pass. His low point came with 5:19 left in the game, when he missed a sure touchdown by badly overthrowing Earnest Graham on a deep route. ``It's going to kill me all offseason,'' Simms said of the play. ``We got to the perfect audible and we were ready. I threw it a little before I had to because I had some guy coming up in my face, and I ended up throwing it too much.'' The Bucs had two possessions after that blown opportunity. The first ended at the their 22 after Simms missed an open Mike Alstott on third down, and on fourth down, Clayton dropped a pass that would have gone for a first down. Then, after the Cardinals' Neil Rackers missed a 47-yard field goal with 1:10 remaining, Simms tried to hit Clayton in tight coverage and Adrian Wilson intercepted. Asked what he learned about Simms on Sunday, Gruden said, ``He's a tough guy. I think he's got a lot to learn. Obviously, this was a good experience for him. He does have talent. This was an extremely tough defensive team to go up against.''