Bucs hang on to get win in Miami
This was a tale of two halves. Two totally different games. The Bucs went up 20-7 in he first half and and had to count on a Pat Murray FG with five seconds to play to secure the 30-20 win in Miami. There was a lot to like and lot to dislike about this Bucs win.
The Bucs defense created five turnovers. The Dolphins had 17 penalties and yet here we were with five minutes left and the Dolphins driving for the go ahead score. This just shows you how lackadasical this Bucs team was at times to let the Dolphins back in the game and almost lost it.
The Play of Ryan Fitzpatrick was exactly what the Bucs needed to help secure this win. Fitzpatrick was calm, cool and collected on the final drive as he marched the Bucs downfield into FG range. Fitzpatrick did not try to force the ball, he took what the defense gave him. This is a lesson that Jameis Winston needs to learn and hopefully he took good notes and was paying attention on the sideline.
OJ Howard had another solid game as he caught three passes for 52 yards and one TD. He would have had another TD but it was called back due to a penalty on the OL.
The Defense created more turnovers in this game than they had the last three games combined. The defense picked off
Jay Cutler three times in the first half as they built a 20-7 lead. The Bucs defense did not allow a third down conversion in the first half.
Pat Murray continued to solidify the kicking game as he was 3/4 on FG’s. Since coming on board Murray is 10/12 on the season.
In the second half it was a totally different Bucs team. The Dolphins replaced the injured Jay Cutler who was in concussion protocol in the second half with Matt Moore. All Moore did was carve up the Bucs defense for 288 yards and Rally the Dolphins from a 20-7 deficit to tie it up at 20-20 with 5 minutes left in the game. Miami had the ball in Bucs territory, but the defense made two great plays on a third and one and then on a fourth one which the Bucs defense snuffed out. Fitzpatrick took over and took the Bucs down the field for the winning FG.
The Bucs got a garbage TD on the last play of the game as Miami took the kick-off and fumbled the ball in the end zone which the Bucs recovered for the TD.
The OL line struggles continued with penalties at the most inopportune times and they could never get the run game going as Doug Martin ran for just 38 yards on 19 carries. As a team the Bucs averaged 2.2 YPG.
It wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win and the Bucs have now won two straight to go to 4-6 on the season. The Bucs will travel to Atlanta next weekend to play the Falcons.
Jameis Winston was evaluated today by the medical staff and it was determined that he is not ready to begin throwing yet, so Ryan Fitzpatrick will make his third start of the season next weekend.
