Bucs beat Giants in a thriller
In what was a game of highs and lows for the Bucs, they finished on a high as Nick Folk nailed a 34 yard FG as time expired and the Buccaneers edged the NY Giants 25-23.
The Bucs got the offense untracked as Jameis Winston had his best game of the young season passsing for 328 yards and three TD’s to three different receivers to lead the Bucs to victory. Rookie TE OJ Howard caught a 58 yard TD pass, his first TD of his career and Winston also connected with Mike Evans and Cameron Brate.
This was also the 7th 300 yard passing game of Winston’s career. Vinny Testaverde has the record with 12 300 yard passing games and there is a good chance that Winston can tie or break that record this season.
The running game got back on track. As a team the Bucs ran for 111 yards, 83 of those by Jacquizz Rodgers. After a disappointing effort last week in Minnesota, The Bucs offense tallied 439 yards their best of the season.
Always happy to see the Bucs win, I was a little disappointed in the defense. For the second consecutive game, the Bucs did not register a sack. Their only sack of the season so far came in the first half of the season opener against the Chicago Bears. At Times Eli Manning had all day to set up and deliver the ball to his receivers.
For the second consecutive game, the Bucs did not have a turnover. No interceptions, no fumble recoveries. Nothing. The Second half of last season, the Bucs defense was in the top 5 in takeaways and it‘s a mystery as to where that opportunistic defense has gone.
I Thought rookie lB Kendall Beckwith played a great game. With Lavonte David and Kwon Alexander out with injuries, the defensive calls were handled by Beckwith. He also led the team with nine tackles. When David and Alexander get back, that is going to be a very good group when you add Beckwith to the mix.
Nice to see Brent Grimes back and making plays. Grimes made his presence felt throughout the day with his tight coverage and numerous key defensive plays throughout the afternoon. Odell Beckham who was covered by Vernon Hargraves most of the afternoon had seven catches for 90 yards, but was kept out of the end zone.
You could feel the angst in the crowd as K Nick Folk missed his first xtra point attempt, and proceeded to miss FG’s of 35 and 43 yards before hitting the game winner from 34 yards. After the game Dirk Koetter said he had all the confidence in the world that Nick Folk would make that kick. No hesitation at all about sending him out for the kick after two misses.
it was announced today that RB Doug Martin has been activated from his three game suspension, and plans to play in Thursday‘s game against New England. The Bucs put TE Alan Cross on waivers to make room for Doug martin. The Bucs hope to sign Cross to the practice squad if he is not claimed by another team.
This is game that the Bucs can build on offensively. The running game was solid, and Jameis Winston delivering the ball to seven different receivers. The Bucs have to get DeSean Jackson involved more. It seems that the timing between Jackson and Winston is a bit off and not where it needs to be.
Defensively, despite the lack of turnovers and pressure on the QB, the Bucs made plays when they needed to and put one in the win column. They will need to bring their A game on Thursday night as Tom Brady and the New England Patriots will be in town.
The Bucs came out of this game pretty healthy. Let’s hope Alexander is healthy enough to go on Thursday as The New England Patriots will bring their No. 1 rated offense to town.
