Monday Morning QB - 10/2

The Bucs overcame a subpar performance on offense. Griese continues to turn the ball over, but the defense kept us in the game. With the Caddy in the garage for the second half, the Bucs did enough to win, including getting some officiating calls, to secure the victory.

Another ugly win. At some point, the bounces will not go our way. It could happen at any game.

My prediction: Bucs 27, Lions 23

Score: Bucs 17, Lions 13

Griese continues to turn the ball over. If the Lions were a quality opponent, we lose this one by a mile. As it stands, all of the Lions points were off of drives from turnovers. This has got to stop.

Offense: D. Two plays for scores, by Pittman and Galloway, don't outweigh four turnovers.

Defense: B. All of the Lions points were off of short fields generated by our turnovers. A great job of holding the Lions to field goals in those situations. Almost gave up a 90 yard drive to the Lions to lose the game, but a close officiaing reversal allowed the Bucs to hold on to the win.

Special Teams: B. We hit all of our PATs and field goals.

Coaching: B. We did enough to win against a bad team. Don't know just how impressive that is.

Outstanding Players: Pittman and Galloway. Stepping up to make enough plays to win.

Things That Drove Me Nuts: Griese's propensity for bad and untimely turnovers! Because of him, we should be 2-2, not 4-0. His turnovers will cost us a game, eventually.

Bucs Record: 4-0. The first quarter of the season is over and, no matter how ugly, you couldn't ask for a better start. Things have to improve in order for the Bucs to make it to the playoffs. We've played the Pack, Vikings, Lions and Bills the first quarter of the season. Their combined records are 3-11, so we've only beaten very bad teams. Our next four games are against the Jets, Dolphins, San Francisco and Carolina, who currently have a combined record of 5-9, with only Miami holding a winning record of 2-1. The Bucs could do well the next quarter of the season, but Cadillac needs to heal and the turnovers have to stop. The pessimist in me says the Bucs go 2-2 over the next four games, losing to Miami and Carolina. But, I thought they'd go 2-2 the first quarter of the season, so what do I know?

Next Opponent: The New York Jets lost their starting and backup QB to injury. They lost last week with their third string QB leading the charge. They signed ex-Buc Vinny Testaverde, who will probably start against the Bucs. The Jets have a solid defense and a good running game, but have been demoralized by the injury to the QB position.