Week 16 Game Recap: Tampa Bay Buccaneers 22, Cleveland Browns 7

What you need to know

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

In his first start as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer, Tim Rattay did a good job of spreading the ball around and efficiently managing the game to help the Buccaneers move to 4-11. Rattay completed 16 of 26 passes for 212 yards with one interception against the Browns, a day after it was announced that Tampa Bay had reached an agreement to bring Chris Simms back next season. Rattay’s most targeted wide receiver on the afternoon was running back Michael Pittman out of the backfield, who caught four balls for 21 yards. Also with four catches were third wide receiver Ike Hilliard and tight end Alex Smith, who gained 67 and 45 yards respectively in impressive efforts by both players. The starting wide receivers caught two passes a piece, with Joey Galloway picking up 34 yards while rookie Maurice Stovall added 45 yards.

In his return to his home state, Gruden gave the Browns a heavy dose of the running game, even with Cadillac Williams out with a foot injury. In his absence, Michael Pittman got the start, gaining 86 yards on sixteen carries, including an eleven yard touchdown run at the beginning of the second half to open the game up to a 12-0 score. Especially n the red zone, and as the team was trying to grind out yards throughout the second half, Mike Alstott was actively involved, carrying the ball 22 times for 56 yards. Ernest Graham spelled the pair occasionally with five carries for 12 yards. Quarterback Tim Rattay had one official carry for negative one yard.

Cleveland Browns

The only bright spot on the afternoon for the Browns was running back Reuben Droughns, who appeared to run better than he had all season, with 19 rushes for 92 yards against the Buccaneers’ defense. The strong effort from Droughns kept Jerome Harrison on the bench most of the afternoon, who was active for this game due to Jason Wright being placed on injured reserve during the week. Harrison did not receive an official carry in this game, while Derek Anderson had one rush for negative one yard.

Unfortunately, the Browns’ passing game struggled mightily against Tampa Bay, with four interceptions and a multitude of dropped passes. Before separating his shoulder late in the game, Derek Anderson completed just 10 of 27 passes for 123 yards. With Charlie Frye still unable to play, Ken Dorsey entered the game to throw one incomplete pass.

Joe Jurevicius was the most productive receiver for the Browns, catching four balls for 58 yards. Starting in place of Braylon Edwards for undisclosed reasons, Dennis Northcutt looked good early with two receptions for 31 yards, but did not see much of the field once Edwards returned. Edwards was targeted often upon his return, but dropped a few passes and caught just two balls for seven yards in the game. Both of the tight ends struggled in this game, with Kellen Winslow hauling in two passes for 27 yards while Steve Heiden failed to hang on to a pass, notably dropping a likely touchdown pass on the opening drive which hit him square in the numbers.

What you ought to know

QB Tim Rattay, Pass: 16 - 26 - 212 - 0 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 1 - -1 - 0

Rattay completed 62 percent of his passes for an average of 8.2 yards per attempt to compile a 71.3 passer rating, building on his effort against the Bears a week ago. Rattay looked solid most of the afternoon, though threw what could have been a critical interception near the end of the first half in the red zone to a spot at the goal line where no wide receiver had run a route.

RB Mike Alstott, Rush: 22 - 56 - 0 (1 targets)

Alstott averaged just 2.6 yards per carry, failed to convert a fourth down and less than a yard in the red zone in a 3-0 game early in the second quarter, but wore down the Browns defense and helped his teammates to be successful on the ground and in through the air with his hard work.

RB Michael Pittman, Rush: 16 - 86 - 1, Rec: 4 - 21 - 0 (7 targets)

In extended playing time, Pittman took advantage of his touches, making a nice eleven yard run for a touchdown at the beginning of the third quarter with a rare carry inside the red zone, with most of those carries reserved for Mike Alstott.

WR Ike Hilliard, Rec: 4 - 67 - 0 (5 targets)

Hilliard was used to find the hole in the zone, and Rattay effectively took advantage of Hilliard when he was able to do so throughout the game, with Hilliard performing as the most efficient receiver in this game.

WR Maurice Stovall, Rec: 2 - 45 - 0 (3 targets)

Stovall got the start and made a pair of nice grabs with runs after the catch on the opening drive, and despite these nice plays for 18 and 27 yards, lost playing time to Ike Hilliard in two wide receiver sets as the game went on.

WR Joey Galloway, Rec: 2 - 34 - 0 (6 targets)

Galloway was relatively quiet on the afternoon in his return to the state of Ohio, but received significant commentary time on how he is still one of the fastest wide receivers in the game.

TE Alex Smith, Rec: 4 - 45 - 0 (5 targets)

Though he hobbled off the field multiple times throughout the game, Alex Smith kept coming back and made a number of nice catches, looking like a reliable target in Gruden’s passing attack.

PK Matt Bryant 3 - 3 FG, 1 - 2 XP, 10 points

Bryant connected on field goals of 23, 24 and 27 yards, but had an extra point blocked to keep the Buccaneers from stretching the advantage to 13-0 early in the third quarter.

TB Rush Defense

The rush defense struggled to stop Reuben Droughns throughout the game, but playing with the lead most of the game, did not have to worry about focusing on the ground attack.

TB Pass Defense

With an excellent effort that limited the Browns to 123 yards, caused three sacks, four interceptions and created one touchdown, the whole team stepped up to lead the Buccaneers to their fourth victory of the season. The only score by the Browns came on a defensive play, and as such, Tampa Bay shut out the Browns offense on the afternoon.

QB Derek Anderson, Pass: 10 - 27 - 123 - 0 TD / 4 INT, Rush: 1 - -1 - 0

After a few games in which Anderson looked very good, Anderson struggled mightily in this game, completing just 37 percent of his passes with an average gain of 4.6 yards per attempt, and finished with a passer rating of 12.5. While Anderson had passes go through the receivers hands or was hit hard on interceptions, the second year quarterback still was responsible for the poor effort. Anderson departed late in the game after being sacked, and it was announced he had separated his shoulder.

RB Reuben Droughns, Rush: 19 - 92 - 0 (1 targets)

Droughns looked very good in the second quarter of this game, starting a drive off with strong runs of 18, 5 and 5 yards which ended due to a Derek Anderson interception, and came up with three carries for double digit yards in one of his best efforts of the season, as he averaged 4.8 yards per carry.

WR Joe Jurevicius, Rec: 4 - 58 - 0 (5 targets)

Jurevicius looked to be Anderson’s only reliable target in this game, but after being driven down hard, was again forced to the sideline with symptoms similar to last week, when he was reported to have sustained a concussion.

WR Braylon Edwards, Rec: 2 - 7 - 0 (7 targets)

Edwards did not start this game, and only entered in the second quarter following a tongue lashing which teammate Kellen Winslow received on the sidelines from the head coach. The announcers noted that Edwards has been dealing with a hand injury, but it is not clear whether this contributed to him starting the game on the sidelines, or whether this was related to a coaches decision. This was the second time this year that such a scenario existed where he did not start, but entered in either the second or third quarter of the game. Once in the game, Edwards dropped multiple passes, and was generally ineffective in gaining separation from the Buccaneers secondary.

WR Dennis Northcutt, Rec: 2 - 31 - 0 (3 targets)

Northcutt got the start and made a pair of nice catches, but disappeared after dropping a pass.

TE Kellen Winslow Jr, Rec: 2 - 27 - 0 (6 targets)

Winslow was the target on the first two interceptions by Derek Anderson, with both balls potentially catchable by Winslow. On one, the linebackers hand limited his vision of the ball, and he saw it go through his hands. In a post game report on the other interception, Winslow stated that his recurring knee injury, which will require surgery in the offseason, limited his ability to stretch for the ball.

TE Steve Heiden (3 targets)

Heiden found himself wide open across the middle of the field near the goal line on the Browns opening drive, but dropped a twenty yard throw that hit him in the chest and would have more than likely gone for a touchdown.

PK Phil Dawson 0 - 1 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 1 points

Dawson’s contributions in this game actually came as the Browns punter, including a pooch punt on the opening drive where the Browns elected against trying a 44 yard field goal. While Dawson converted the extra point following the Browns fumble return for a touchdown, Dawson had a 31 yard field goal blocked when the Buccaneers came around the end and forced Dawson to kick the ball low into the line.

CLE Rush Defense

With a steady dose of the bruising Mike Alstott and speedy Michael Pittman, the Browns gave up 153 yards and a touchdown on 44 carries. The longest run on the afternoon was Pittman’s eleven yard touchdown, but the Browns could not consistently stop the rushing attack to help overcome the deficiencies of their own passing attack in this game.

CLE Pass Defense

The secondary shut down Joey Galloway in this game, and created three sacks, one which forced a fumble that was returned for a touchdown, and limited the Buccaneers from having an even bigger game, but it was not enough as the Browns fell to 4-11.