Bucs regulars show they can keep the chains and clock moving with air and ground game.
By ROGER MILLS
Published August 29, 2004
TAMPA - It's hard to be overly giddy about anything in the preseason. After all, it meansdiddly.
But as frightfully tedious as the first half of the Bucs' 17-10 win over the Dolphins Saturday night appeared to be, Tampa Bay has a reason for optimism.
Using a bevy of starters and regulars, the Bucs put together two sustained drives in the first half, and generally moved the ball well for most of the game.
"I think we did an excellent job of trying to get it down to third and short," quarterback Brad Johnson said. "We only had one third-and-long situation. We started with the running game, and we connected on some passing plays to convert the yardage and keep the downs alive."
Things weren't perfect. Both drives ended with a kick by Martin Gramatica, one sailing wide right from 43 yards, the other splitting the goal posts from 30 yards for a 3-0 lead.
Still, as the Bucs try to patch together the offensive line, establish their receiving corps and find rhythm for the running game, prolonged drives are a thing of beauty.
"It's important to let us see where we are at as a team," running back Michael Pittman said. "The starters didn't really get that many reps in the first two games, so it was a good sign that we were able (to run the ball). But there's a lot for us to get better on, like finishing off the drives. But, it was pretty good."
Mixing the pass and the run, Tampa Bay converted three third downs on its first possession. During that drive, which went 55 yards over 14 plays in about seven minutes, Johnson completed three passes to Tim Brown, one for a first down, and added another first-down pass to tight end Rickey Dudley.
For the first time since joining the team in training camp, Brown showed some of the flash that has marked the first 16 seasons of his career, a good sign for a team missing veterans Keenan McCardell (holding out) and Joe Jurevicius (recovering from back surgery).
"It's been a great experience for me so far and I'm looking forward to the year," Brown said. "I know last week me and Brad didn't connect and it's all about what he likes to do and what I like to do. We talked about some stuff and we had the same situation (Saturday night) and I knew what he was going to do with the ball and we made it happen. But certainly, the more you can get out there and play together the better the whole situation will be for everybody."
Meanwhile, the running back trio of Charlie Garner, Mike Alstott and Pittman each broke runs of 5 or more yards to keep the chains moving.
"It was great to see our running game get going," Johnson said. "We had some big runs today and converted some third downs. The offensive line did a great job pass protecting. It was great to see Tim catch a few balls. ... We've had two long drives and hopefully we can finish them off, but it's a good night's work."
With the starting offensive line still playing the bulk of the snaps, Johnson and Co. seemed even more polished. First-down completions to Bill Schroeder (for 12 yards) and Michael Clayton (8 yards), a 14-yard catch from Danny Farmer and two bruising runs from Alstott (11 and 8 yards) gave the Bucs the ball at Miami's 12.
"I felt great out there," Alstott said. "We were able to convert some first downs and make some plays to move the ball down the field."
The Garner/Pittman/Alstott trio finished the first half with 60 yards on 11 carries and served notice that the running back by committee approach may work.
"We're all going to play, we know that," Pittman said. "We're going to have our role and we're down to share the ball and that's what it's going to take to help the team win. (Saturday night) was a taste of it. But, as a running back corps, we have high expectations for ourselves and when the season comes around we can tear it up."
