Pregame
Literally nothing, they cut in with maybe 2 or 3 minutes of chatter about Tom Brady not playing, showed a clip of Brett Farve playing for the Jets, and then went to ad before the opening kickoff. Somewhere, off-camera, the Patriots won the toss, and deferred to the second half.
Since we're in the designated local region, CBS4 is carrying the NFL Network feed.
First Quarter
The opening kick goes as a far catch, as Stephen Gostowski has really been pounding the ball in the preseason.
Antonio Bryant breaks a short pass out to the edge for a gain of 15 before he's pushed out by the still-shitty Ellis Hobbs.
It’s too bad Jeff Garcia won’t be playing tonight. It might have added a little extra spice to the game to see a guy with some major CFL experience on the field. -Rox
The Bucs are eating up some yardage with short completions. The Patriots coverage looks a little porous, but they're just getting warmed up.
Jerod Mayo just made a nice tackle on the elusive Warrick Dunn after a short catch. Mayo did a good of closing in on him after being in a deeper zone coverage.
Jeff Garcia is picking on Ellis Hobbs, and I can't blame him. Hobbs is still instinctively dropping 7 yards after the snap, and praying for a safety to come.
I always love to see a helmet roll on the field. It either means that someone took a huge hit, or an athlete is just too conceited to actually buckle up his chin strap. Go Buccaneers!-Rox
The defensive line just got a nice push and stuffed Ernest Graham behind the line. That kind of pressure is going to make or break this defensive unit over the course of the season.
I can't believe I'm watching a Pats/Bucs game and John Lynch was not only mentioned, but is actually on the field. I feel slightly sick. It's like watching Romo play for Oakland, I loved the man, but no more.-Rox
Warrick Dunn is really looking good. He's been one of the leagues most underrated players over his career, in my opinion. He just took a dive up the middle for 10 yards. Eleven years, 10,181 rushing yards, 4,009 receiving yards, and 62 touchdowns, plus 3 Pro-Bowls.
The Patriots are getting killed by Brian Griese on quick slats and hitch routes. The Bucs have driven down to the goal line, and Earnest Graham drives it in from a yard out. Earnest Graham has replaced Mike Alstott as John Grudens goal-line binky/touchdown vulture. Dunn may be a great back, but Graham will probably get at least 8 touchdowns this year, and if Tampa Bay really rolls, he could get into double-digits.
Buccaneers score, 7-0 Tampa Bay with 5:22 remaining in the 1st
Tom Brady won't be playing today; he stayed behind in Foxboro with a sore foot. Shitty-Balls Matt Cassel gets the start.
I don't know about Sox, but I'm really keeping an eye out for Eugene Wilson to make a big hit, it's always interesting to see how a team's former player will react to a new environment. But wait, interception. Maybe next series. -Rox
After two runs up the gut, the announcers predict play-action on the next play, and apparently so did Tampa linebacker Barret Ruud. Cassel fakes the ball and then looks to the post. Ruud was lurking in a soft zone underneath and read the ball perfectly, drifting back and leaping to snatch it out of mid-air.
Whoa, slow your horses. There was a review on the play, and apparently Ruud dropped the ball, making in incomplete. Scott Hanson punts it away.
Not to knock the NFL Network, but all these advertising breaks just don't have the same luster as watching Fox. The Touchdown Robot really adds some class to the gridiron.-Rox
On back to back plays, Richard Seymour makes a tackle and bats a pass down at the line. He's really looking healthy, and if he can stay that way... Look out NFL.
Jerod Mayo flashes some of the ability that has Pats fans agog, coming from the backside of the play to make a take on a short swing pass. He's really going to bring a element of speed to the Patriots Front-7 that we haven't seen in a long time.
Chad Jackson is back to return the Tampa Bay punt, and Maurice Stoval knocks him away before he even has the chance to touch the ball, giving New England the ball on their 40.
Maroney takes the hand-off up the middle and squirts out for 10 yards. He always looks like he's falling forward. Always.
After that nice run, he gets stuffed in the back-field twice in a row. Please Josh McDaniels, let him run to the outside. He's not Ladanian Tomlinson, those inside runs are not going for 15 yards a pop, at least not yet.
Matt Cassel slings the ball out to Wes Welker on a swing pass out of a 4 receiver set, and he slips a couple of tacklers to dart ahead for 16 yards. He's called tough and gritty because he's white, but if he was black we'd rave on and on about his "natural talent." Any insider will tell you that football is racist as an institution, in a lot of little ways.
Second Quarter
At this point I'm convinced that Welker is open on every single play. He nabs a short gain a little inside of the left hashmark, and just runs away from the defenders.
Watching commercials during the football season can be incredibly frustrating (Think Chevy; "This is our country") or incredibly tangential. Speaking of which: Madden 09, going to be a good game. Anyone seen ads for a NFL 2K9 game? Nope, thats because 2K Sports stopped their NFL line after EA bought the exclusive rights from the NFL to use team and player names. A class action suit is currently running through the court system over an alleged Monopoly held by the Madden franchise. Maybe they have a point.-Rox
Kevin Faulk fumbles the ball after a 5 yard gain, and the Buccaneers recover. Early on in his career, he had a severe case of fumble-itis, but in recent years he'd appeared to have been cured. Still, every time he lets the leather hit the turf, it bring up the stuggles of his younger days. As far as chronic fumblers go, I'm of the mind that they can regress rapidly.
Watching commercials during the football season can be incredibly frustrating (Think Chevy; "This is our country") or incredibly tangental. Speaking of which: Madden 09, going to be a good game. Anyone seen ads for a NFL 2K9 game? Nope, thats because 2K Sports stopped their NFL line after EA bought the exclusive rights from the NFL to use team and player names. A class action suit is currently running through the court system over an alleged Monopoly held by the Madden franchise. Maybe they have a point.-Rox
Oh wow, the Jerod Mayo hype-mobile just hit a pothole. After Antonio Bryant makes a nice reception downfield, he lays a nasty stiff arm on the rookie out of Tennesse. I mean, hand-meets-helmet, helmet-meets-turf.
"The buccaneers were pirates who attacked Spanish, French, and Dutch shipping in the Caribbean Islands during the late 17th century."-Wikipedia via Rox
Vrabel appears to be playing out in space more than he has in recent years. Most observers will agree that Vrabel has lost a step in coverage, but coming off of a monster sack year (12.5) he could be well utilized as a decoy in zone-blitzes or other stunt packages.
Luke McCown is hitting his spots, finding the holes in the New England secondary, driving down to the 24 yard-line, before he finally misses a few, overshooting all-World scumbag Jerramy Stevens in the endzone, and they have to settle for a 34 yard Matt Bryant fieldgoal.
Buccaneers score, 10-0 Tampa Bay with 7:25 left in the second
Many critics from the continent say that America lacks cultural history. But one need not dig deeper than the names of our NFL franchises to discover a plethora of valuable information. And I quote again from Wikipedia: "The term buccaneer derives from the Arawak word buccan, a wooden frame for smoking the meat of sea cows, hence the French word boucan and the name boucanier for French hunters who used such frames to smoke meat from feral cattle and pigs on Hispaniola." And right now Bill Belichick's herd of sea cows is indeed being smoked on the boucan.-Rox
Tampa Bay is really burning up a lot of clock. It seems like they've had the ball the entire game. Funnily enough, Yahoo! Sports credits an "I. Jones" on the Patriots with 5 tackles. There is no I. Jones, unless he's reserve wideout C.J. Joneses alternate personality.
Wow, the Tampa ref's must not give a damn about block in the back calls, after about three on that return a flag was finally thrown.-Rox
With only seven carries Bennett of the Bucs has pumped out 57 yards for a 8.1 average. May he thank his O-Line for the garage door sized holes.-Rox
The announcers hear an audible from down on the field, and correctly interpret it as a 3-step drop to a swing pass, meant to take advantage of the apparent Patriots blitz. Good job by the color man.
Now down inside the 20, Luke McCown finds Michael Bennett underneath, wide open, and he dives down inside the 5.
McCown play-action fakes to the inside, and then flips it out to fullback Byron Storer who slipped outside to the flats, and jogs into the endzone untouched. The guy may have just scored, but he still possess the most awkward name of anyone on the field.
Tampa Bay scores, 17-3 Tampa Bay with 1:13 remaining in the 2nd
John Lynch and Wes Welker could be brothers. It's really uncanny how much they look alike. If Lynch can fufill the role he was brought in
Randy Moss makes his first reception of the game on a 10 yard dart up the sideline. I 'm surprised he's in the game at this point, with less than a minute in the second, but I guess they really want to try and score before the half.
After he hits Kevin Faulk on a crossing route underneath the coverage, he completes a 20 yard line-drive out to Moss. It was a pretty bad pass by the book, but anything in Randy Mosses direction can be considered catchable.
After a time-out, that reception puts the Pats on the Tampa Bay 43, and Belichick calls out the fieldgoal team.
Wow. Gostowski just put one up from 53 yards out, and that might have been good from 70. High, strong, and right down the middle.
New England scores, 17-3 Buccaneers with 00:00 left in the 2nd
Halftime
My dad just called about seeing some biker gangs motorcycling through the snow in the high Rockies swinging chains. I see some rather disturbingly similar trends appearing in the Tampa offense in relation to the Pats. The Bucs are leading New England in points, first downs, yards passing, and yards rushing.-Rox
Affirming my previous statement, Tampa Bay has the clear advantage in Time Of Possession with 20 minutes and 8 seconds minutes to 9 minutes and 52 seconds for New England. The Patriots have run 20 plays compared to 37 for the Bucs, and two 3-and-outs.
Brian Griese appears to be achieving decent success with the short pass with more completions but smaller yardage than McCown. Maybe he'll be able to stick with the Buccaneers for longer than a single season. Who knows, the once believed-to-be-replacement for John Elway may finally find a home in Tampa Bay and begin some kind of professional rythm. Or he could continue to bounce around the league and fade into the undistinguished "might have been" category of quarterbacks. There's just no telling what the future of this once-Bronco, once-Dolphin, once-Bear and twice-Buccaneer.-Rox
Third Quarter
Matt Slater is in for the return for New England, and takes the fair catch. Offensive lineman Billy Yates goes down on the play. It might not seem like much, but he's right there as a top backup at the guard spot, and with the line in as tough of shape and thin of depth as it is, that's worrying.
Depth-chart scuba-diving center Dan Connolly and Matt Cassel somehow manage to mangle the snap, allowing defensive back Sabby Piscitelli to scoop up the ball and dash 24 yards to the endzone.
Tampa Bay scores, 24-3 Tampa Bay with 14:44 remaining in the 3rd
The Patriots are redefining the term "Comedy of Errors." On the ensuing series after their fumble fiasco, Cassel is victimized by a pair of drops to help ensure another 3-and-out.
Rox and Sox Player Report: Sabby Piscitelli. Sabs played football for Oregon State as a Strong Safety and finished up his senior year as defensive captain. A Buccaneer 2nd round pick in the 2007 draft, he posted a respectable 4.4 second 40 yard dash and a 375 bench press at the NFL Combine.-Rox
He's also white. An effective white defensive back. I for one, welcome our new Caucasian overlords. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
The Patsies finally man up and force a 3-and-out, stuffing some short passes and edging Antonio Bryant out of bounds on a 3rd down pass up the sideline.
Cassel is out of the game. He got a nice long look, and didn't do terrible. No one really stepped up around him, but he still wasn't anywhere near good. Kevin McConnell comes in, and on his first play drops back deeps, and rolls out, and out, and out. He holds onto the ball seemingly forever until he finally lets go and completes it to Elbert Mack... who plays his home games in Florida. Luckily the I-N-T was right along the sideline.
"Swallow your pride and throw it away, swallow your pride and throw it away..." The announcer's mantra while watching the replay of that killer interception. But no matter how many times he chants, O'Connell can't take that pass back.-Rox
The Patriots are really falling apart. They're getting stiff armed, out run, and run over. Tampa bay has driven down inside the New England 5.
I would love to be the 165 lb. cameraman who has to handle the "Huddle Cam," running out onto the field with men who wouldn't think twice about smashing you for being in the way and stressing the time clock.-Rox
The Buccaneers committed a penalty running out of a 3 tight-end set on the 2, forcing them to go back out to the 10. That may work in their favor, seeing as they've been merely good with the running game, as opposed to their stellar passing game. It'll give them more room to play with.
The Patriots manage to hold the Bucs to 5 yards on a run up the gut, an incomplete pass off the hands of the receiver in the endzone, and a pass batted down at the line by Titus Adams. They settle for another Matt Bryant field goal.
Rox and Sox Player Report: Sabby Piscitelli. Sabs played football for Oregon State as a Strong Safety and finished up his senior year as defensive captain. A Buccaneer 2nd round pick in the 2007 draft, he posted a respectable 4.4 second 40 yard dash and a 375 bench press at the NFL Combine.-Rox
He's also white. An effective white defensive back. I for one, welcome our new Caucasian overlords. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
The Patsies finally man up and force a 3-and-out, stuffing some short passes and edging Antonio Bryant out of bounds on a 3rd down pass up the sideline.
Cassel is out of the game. He got a nice long look, and didn't do terrible. No one really stepped up around him, but he still wasn't anywhere near good. Kevin McConnell comes in, and on his first play drops back deeps, and rolls out, and out, and out. He holds onto the ball seemingly forever until he finally lets go and completes it to Elbert Mack... who plays his home games in Florida. Luckily the I-N-T was right along the sideline.
"Swallow your pride and throw it away, swallow your pride and throw it away..." The announcer's mantra while watching the replay of that killer interception. But no matter how many times he chants, O'Connell can't take that pass back.-Rox
The Patriots are really falling apart. They're getting stiff armed, out run, and run over. Tampa bay has driven down inside the New England 5.
I would love to be the 165 lb. cameraman who has to handle the "Huddle Cam," running out onto the field with men who wouldn't think twice about smashing you for being in the way and stressing the time clock.-Rox
The Buccaneers committed a penalty running out of a 3 tight-end set on the 2, forcing them to go back out to the 10. That may work in their favor, seeing as they've been merely good with the running game, as opposed to their stellar passing game. It'll give them more room to play with.
The Patriots manage to hold the Bucs to 5 yards on a run up the gut, an incomplete pass off the hands of the receiver in the endzone, and a pass batted down at the line by Titus Adams. They settle for another Matt Bryant field goal.
Tampa Bay scores, 27-3 Buccaneers with 7:38 remaining in the 3rd
The Patriots now face a 24 point deficit, one has to wonder what is effecting them most. Brady's absence? Pre-season cobwebs? Or is it just that Tampa seems to be hitting harder and focusing harder? Sometimes statistics just can't tell the whole story.-Rox
I think that in this case, the statistics do a pretty good job.
McConnell is still in, and it's not pretty, just like your mom. He's wild, tossing two straight incomplete passes to C.J. Jones. On the second he went to Jones over the middle, almost leading him into a monster hit. If he had caught that ball, all that would've been left of C.J. Jones would've been his impressive dreadlocks.
Now that the teams have completely switched over to their back-ups, the Patriots defense has really stiffed, forcing a second straight 3-and-out.
The Patriots seem to be trying to get the pressure off of their Quarterbacks, but it's not particularly working. O'Connell got some decent protection on the last play, but instead of trying to pass the ball, he looked to take off running, and was brought down at the line. That's a pretty common mistake for a young QB. With time, he should learn to bring the speed on his reads u
The on-air personalities rip Cassel a pretty good one on his performance should Tom Brady become injured. "I'd be worried to see what would happen to this New England Offense. He's the least mature player on this team; I mean he's played the least football.-Rox
Spurlock dances away his chances for a more than average return.-Rox
Fourth Quarter
It seems as if Rox and I have accidentally emulated the structure of your standard broadcast. I seem to be doing more of the play-by-play stuff, while he's taken on more of a color role. Just an interesting meta note.
The REAL announcers wonder if the Patriots secondary is banged up, what with Matthew Slater in at safety. I politely disagree: he's listed as a wide receiver, he mostly sticks to special teams, but he played defensive back in college. He's capable of doing pretty much whatever he's asked to do. I think they just want to give him some live-game action.
Shawn Crable leads the team sack on Simms as he dances over defenders only to hit the oh-so-sweet turf. The Make My Day law need not apply. -Rox
Tampa Bay linebacker Geno Hayes lays the leather on rookie tight-end Jonathan Stupar, knocking the ball out of his hands right as he was clamping down on the pigskin.
Rox and Sox Player Report: Geno Hayes. Fresh out of the fifth round of the 2008 draft makes his debut with the Buccaneers. At only 20 he could become a staple in the Tampa-2 system given ample time and space to develop. While with the Seminoles he was noted as being an exceptional hitter.-Rox
He's also known for being as dumb as he ferocious.
The Patriots are showing signs of life. Undrafted rookie BenJarvus Green-Ellis is gutting out some tough yardage inside, and Kevin O'Connell is looking much more poised. On back-to-back plays he completes an 11-yard hitch to Chad Jackson (on a very nicely run route) and a beautiful skinny post to C.J. Jones that brings the Pats down to the 3 yard-line. Heath Evans bulls his way into the endzone for the Patriots first touchdown of the game.
I think that in this case, the statistics do a pretty good job.
McConnell is still in, and it's not pretty, just like your mom. He's wild, tossing two straight incomplete passes to C.J. Jones. On the second he went to Jones over the middle, almost leading him into a monster hit. If he had caught that ball, all that would've been left of C.J. Jones would've been his impressive dreadlocks.
Now that the teams have completely switched over to their back-ups, the Patriots defense has really stiffed, forcing a second straight 3-and-out.
The Patriots seem to be trying to get the pressure off of their Quarterbacks, but it's not particularly working. O'Connell got some decent protection on the last play, but instead of trying to pass the ball, he looked to take off running, and was brought down at the line. That's a pretty common mistake for a young QB. With time, he should learn to bring the speed on his reads u
The on-air personalities rip Cassel a pretty good one on his performance should Tom Brady become injured. "I'd be worried to see what would happen to this New England Offense. He's the least mature player on this team; I mean he's played the least football.-Rox
Spurlock dances away his chances for a more than average return.-Rox
Fourth Quarter
It seems as if Rox and I have accidentally emulated the structure of your standard broadcast. I seem to be doing more of the play-by-play stuff, while he's taken on more of a color role. Just an interesting meta note.
The REAL announcers wonder if the Patriots secondary is banged up, what with Matthew Slater in at safety. I politely disagree: he's listed as a wide receiver, he mostly sticks to special teams, but he played defensive back in college. He's capable of doing pretty much whatever he's asked to do. I think they just want to give him some live-game action.
Shawn Crable leads the team sack on Simms as he dances over defenders only to hit the oh-so-sweet turf. The Make My Day law need not apply. -Rox
Tampa Bay linebacker Geno Hayes lays the leather on rookie tight-end Jonathan Stupar, knocking the ball out of his hands right as he was clamping down on the pigskin.
Rox and Sox Player Report: Geno Hayes. Fresh out of the fifth round of the 2008 draft makes his debut with the Buccaneers. At only 20 he could become a staple in the Tampa-2 system given ample time and space to develop. While with the Seminoles he was noted as being an exceptional hitter.-Rox
He's also known for being as dumb as he ferocious.
The Patriots are showing signs of life. Undrafted rookie BenJarvus Green-Ellis is gutting out some tough yardage inside, and Kevin O'Connell is looking much more poised. On back-to-back plays he completes an 11-yard hitch to Chad Jackson (on a very nicely run route) and a beautiful skinny post to C.J. Jones that brings the Pats down to the 3 yard-line. Heath Evans bulls his way into the endzone for the Patriots first touchdown of the game.
New England scores, 27-10 Tampa Bay with 10:20 left in the 4th
After a Kenneth Darby run, and a quarterback scramble, Vince Redd blows through the Buccaneer offensive line on 3rd down and brings rookie QB Josh Johnson down to force another 3-and-out. Redd is a rookie free-agent out of Liberty, but he's really impressed a lot of the coaching staff with his athleticism and grasp of the defense. It's a long shot that he makes the roster, but I hope he does. He's a sure-fire practice squad candidate if he doesn't make the team.
On 3rd-and-10 O'Connell completes the 7 yard crosser to CB/S/WR Ray "Bubba" Ventrone. One of the things you always hear coaches say is "Don't run a 9 yard route on 3rd-and-10." That's pretty close to what happened here. I like Bubba, but he's raw.
O'Connell covers for his buddy by completing a nice nice 5 yard touch pass to Chad Jackson. A lot of people have made comments about his seeming inability to learn the playbook, but he's looking good out there. Most of his catches have been on well-run, nicely-felt routes.
After the punt, I realize that the last New England drive was a lot less effective than it felt. 18 yards in 8 plays, 5 of them incomplete passes. I know there's a lot of pressure to see what these young QB's can do, but it'd be nice to seem them doing it in situations where they're not passing on every down.
Yahoo Sports' current New England top performer is Heath Evans with 1 Rush, 1 Yard and 1 Touchdown.-Rox
He's also the proud owner of one ass-whupping at the hands of Florida State village idiot, Geno Hayes.
The Buccaneers milk the clock on their last drive, moving down to the New England 19 before gracefully taking a knee.
On 3rd-and-10 O'Connell completes the 7 yard crosser to CB/S/WR Ray "Bubba" Ventrone. One of the things you always hear coaches say is "Don't run a 9 yard route on 3rd-and-10." That's pretty close to what happened here. I like Bubba, but he's raw.
O'Connell covers for his buddy by completing a nice nice 5 yard touch pass to Chad Jackson. A lot of people have made comments about his seeming inability to learn the playbook, but he's looking good out there. Most of his catches have been on well-run, nicely-felt routes.
After the punt, I realize that the last New England drive was a lot less effective than it felt. 18 yards in 8 plays, 5 of them incomplete passes. I know there's a lot of pressure to see what these young QB's can do, but it'd be nice to seem them doing it in situations where they're not passing on every down.
Yahoo Sports' current New England top performer is Heath Evans with 1 Rush, 1 Yard and 1 Touchdown.-Rox
He's also the proud owner of one ass-whupping at the hands of Florida State village idiot, Geno Hayes.The Buccaneers milk the clock on their last drive, moving down to the New England 19 before gracefully taking a knee.
Final score, 27-10 Tampa Bay
Postgame Notes
This was a really short game, finishing up at around 2 hours and 45 minutes.
It's hard to read much into the game. Laurence Maroney didn't run effectively (15 yards on 7 carries) and no one else ran for more than 10, or had more than 5 carries. As a team they totaled 56 yards on 22 caries, for an average of 2.5 per carry.
The QB's weren't very good, going for 118 yards on 25 attempts at a 48% completion percentage O'Connell and Cassel were both about the same today. O'Connell did throw the one pick, but to my eyes, he appeared to perform better.
Overall, the protection was slightly better than against the Ravens, but it still doesn't inspire much confidence. I'll leave it to Rox to lead us out.
Well, the game closes out at 27-10 in favor of Tampa. What this game came down to was first stringers not playing in the exhibition and the Buccaneers superior morale. The Pats were not hitting nearly as hard as the Buccaneers, and the increase in physicality is just what the team needed to make up for their lack-of-luster performance in the QB slot. Oh well, it's pre-season and who cares. New England has plenty of time to pull itself together and pray that Brady remains healthy.-Rox
-Sox and Rox
It's hard to read much into the game. Laurence Maroney didn't run effectively (15 yards on 7 carries) and no one else ran for more than 10, or had more than 5 carries. As a team they totaled 56 yards on 22 caries, for an average of 2.5 per carry.
The QB's weren't very good, going for 118 yards on 25 attempts at a 48% completion percentage O'Connell and Cassel were both about the same today. O'Connell did throw the one pick, but to my eyes, he appeared to perform better.
Overall, the protection was slightly better than against the Ravens, but it still doesn't inspire much confidence. I'll leave it to Rox to lead us out.
Well, the game closes out at 27-10 in favor of Tampa. What this game came down to was first stringers not playing in the exhibition and the Buccaneers superior morale. The Pats were not hitting nearly as hard as the Buccaneers, and the increase in physicality is just what the team needed to make up for their lack-of-luster performance in the QB slot. Oh well, it's pre-season and who cares. New England has plenty of time to pull itself together and pray that Brady remains healthy.-Rox
-Sox and Rox
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