The Continuing Saga of Tampa Bay Buccaneer Fan!

I have seen the future, and his name is Caddy.

Let me get this out of the way first, this game was much closer than the final score, which wasn't a blowout anyway. With under two minutes left, the Vikings were driving for the go-ahead score with the tally 17-13. The defense looked gassed - they weren't stopping anyone. They had a chance to end the game with a fumble by Jim Kleinsasser, but he recovered it despite four Bucs around the ball. Then, two plays later, with the Vikings in a goal to go situation, Culpepper (who looked like a rookie, by the way - a bad rookie) throws a pass to Moe Williams that's *this* close, but instead the ball bounces off his hands and into the waiting hands of Brian Kelly, who snags his second INT of the game. The Bucs run it a couple of times, and need about two yards for the first down that will end things. Instead, Caddy breaks a 71 yard scamber for a score, with an assist by the obstructionist Michael Clayton. Culpepper doesn't really have enough time to do anything with it, and as luck would have it, he doesn't - he throws an interception to Derrick Brooks (which compliments the two he threw to Brian Kelly and his two fumbles on the day) for the ballgame.

Enough about how it ended. Here's how it went:

The Bucs DOMINATED the Vikings in the first half. I think Minny rushed for 26 yards or so in the entire game. Their lone highlight was an 88 yard INT return by Darren Sharper. This is my biggest worry as a Buccaneer fan - Griese may not be over his penchant for throwing six the other way. In any case, the first half was no contest. Caddy's yardage wasn't all that great (you can do the math on 27 carries for 148 yards...after you remove a 71 yard run), but what was impressive was how he turned those "no blocking" situations from one yard gains (Pittman or Alstott) into three or four. Man, I can't imagine what he'll do when the line gels.

Oh, and again, that was 27 carries for Caddy. Somebody say a few kind words about the spread the rock offense in Tampa as it's finally laid to rest. Michael Pittman? Zero carries. Zero. He did drop a pass though. Mike Alstott? One.

Besides the pick to Sharper for six, Griese was his usual ho-hum self - 18 of 29, 213 yards, two TDs, two INTs. It's like Brad Johnson is still with us. Hey, if he adds a few yards to that - maybe 50 - plus a completion or three, and turns the two INTs into one or none, and it's pretty much what we can expect all year. And I'll take it.

Michael Clayton had a lousy game, no way to sugarcoat it. He dropped at least two or three balls, and finished with just 4 catches for 57 yards, well below his averages last season. He was an inch off sideline away from turning that into 4 for 90 and a TD, but if the Queen had balls, as they say. Joey Galloway, on the other hand, brought back memories of his Ohio State years. He caught 5 passes for 97 yards - nearly 20 a pop for the math challenged. He also cleanly beat a top secondary not once but twice, only to be overthrown.

I told you about one TD - the cherry by Caddy. The other two were actually courtesy of another rookie, tight end Alex Smith. He finished with 4 catches for 34 yards, and as I said, half of those were in the end zone. He's listed at 6'3 but he looks like he's about 6'7 when he's standing in the endzone. I would not be the least surprised to see him become one of those stud hybrid tight ends that are so popular now - you know, the Shockeys and Heaps of the game. At the very least, he has a sizably lead in the "best 3rd rounder" derby.

The line was, well...it wasn't as bad as last year, which is encouraging considering there were 3 guys getting broken in. It's a shame, because if Caddy had an elite line in front of him, he'd have gone for 200 or more on Sunday. Still, this group showed promise. The run blocking was indeed lousy. The pass blocking though was cause for cheer - Griese only got sacked twice, which is a coup in Tampa.

Matt Bryant rounded things out on offense by hitting all three of his extra points and a 41 yard field goal in his only attempt.

There isn't enough praise to heap on the defense. The mighty Vikings - four runners deep, six receivers deep, all world line, and a future Hall of Famer (in his prime) at quarterback - looked like the Chicago Bears. Culpepper was sacked twice, and his mobility bought him the split second he need to avoid at least another four. The Vikings leading rusher, Moe Williams, had 15 yards. The guy that started the game, Michael Bennett, had negative one on six carries. All in all, they turned the ball over five times and had 248 total yards. The defense brought a tear to my eye with memories of the great units of 1999 and 2002. They were swarming, gang tackling, and they were hitting. It was a sight.