JACKSONVILLE - On the first play, Bucs quarterback Brad Johnson dropped back to pass.
And he slipped.
The 7-yard loss was a precursor to a frustrating night for the Tampa Bay offense, which had trouble with more than just footing during a 17-10 loss to the Jaguars. The Bucs, sporadic on offense for much of the past month, had just 221 yards.
"We struggled tremendously," coach Jon Gruden said. "On the first play of the game Brad slipped. We had a critical holding call that put us behind. We had a couple nice drives resulting in scores in the first half. We missed a field goal opportunity in the third quarter. And obviously Jacksonville's defense had a lot to do with that."
Numbers tell the tale.
The Bucs had just 77 rushing against the Jaguars, who entered the game ranked third in the league against the run. They converted 2 of 12 third-down plays. They reached the red zone once.
Johnson was 21-for-38 for 156 yards and one interception. On the Bucs' second possession, Johnson was intercepted by linebacker Mike Peterson after pressure forced him to throw off his back foot. He was sacked twice, knocked down and pressured repeatedly as the Bucs struggled to find their rhythm.
"We had our chances to move the ball and didn't get the job done," tight end Ken Dilger said. "We knew their front four was pretty active. We thought we had a good game plan but we couldn't get it done up front."
The Bucs seemed to shake their slow start by scoring on consecutive drives in the first half. Running back Thomas Jones capped a 56-yard drive with a 5-yard run to tie the score at 7, and Martin Gramatica converted a 47-yard field goal set up by a forced fumble by linebacker Derrick Brooks for a 10-7 lead.
But the offense did not maintain momentum.
On the first possession of the second half, Johnson was sacked on second and 6 and the Bucs punted.
Later, a holding penalty on wide receiver Charles Lee negated a big gain by Michael Pittman. Though the Bucs overcame the penalty, the call seemed to take the wind out of the offense. The drive ended with a missed field goal.
"Right now, I'm kind of lost for words," receiver Keenan McCardell said. "We seem like we get it going and all of a sudden we're going backwards."
Trailing 17-10 late in the fourth quarter, the Bucs took possession at their 33 with 5:12 left. They reached the Jaguars' 49, but Johnson had consecutive passes batted down.
"Jacksonville's front four played a very strong game," Gruden said. "We've got to do much better to run it, to throw it, to have any kind of success and sustain drives. (Hugh) Douglas and (Tony) Brackens and the two big guys (Marcus Stroud and John Henderson) - they're a handful. I think again they proved that tonight."
