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Week 4 Game Recap: Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20, Carolina Panthers 7
What you need to know
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
Jeff Garcia drove Tampa Bay for a score on the opening drive of the game. He capped the drive with a three yard touchdown run and put the Buccaneers up for good. Garcia completed 15 of 25 passes for 176 yards. He did not throw a touchdown but he also did not throw an interception and was not sacked.
Cadillac Williams had a great start to the game rushing for 41 yards on six carries. At the end of an 18 yard run, Williams went down awkwardly on his right knee. He left the game on a cart. Pittman and Graham stepped in and played very well. They combined for 138 yards on 32 carries. Graham scored a touchdown on a short run.
The Panthers were able to shut down Joey Galloway but Ike Hilliard picked up the slack. Hilliard caught seven passes for 114 yards. He made a nice catch on a 56 yard pass play. Galloway only saw two passes thrown his way. He caught one pass for just seven yards. Alex Smith added four catches for 17 yards.
The Tampa Bay defense completely shut down the Carolina offense. They recorded three sacks as well as two turnovers. The defense was looking like it might shut out the Panthers but Carolina scored with just seconds remaining in the game.
| Carolina Panthers |
David Carr was called on to start the game with Delhomme unable to play. Carr struggled quite a bit against a tough Tampa defense. He completed 19 passes on 41 attempts. Under pressure all day, he threw for 155 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
DeShaun Foster carried the ball 15 times for 64 yards and he also caught three passes for 17 yards. DeAngelo Williams only carried the ball two times for five yards. He caught three passes for 37 yards including a 24 yard touchdown pass on a screen play. The touchdown came with just 23 seconds left in the game.
Eight different Carolina players caught passes in the game. Steve Smith caught the most balls with five. Yardage wise the leading receiver was DeAngelo Williams with just 37 yards. David Carr was under a lot of pressure in the game and it definitely affected his ability to get the ball to his receivers.
The Carolina defense was unable to get pressure on Garcia. He threw for 176 yards on 15 pass completions. The Panthers gave up over 4 yards per carry to the combination of Pittman, Graham and Williams. Overall Tampa Bay rushed for 189 yards. Carolina had no sacks and was only able to force one turnover, a fumble by Ike Hilliard.
What you ought to know
| QB Jeff Garcia, Pass: 15 - 25 - 176 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 4 - 10 - 1 |
Garcia has seemed to make a big difference in the Tampa Bay offense. He is able to move the team down the field with both his arm and legs. On the opening drive of the game, Garcia passed for 47 yards and then scored a touchdown on a three yard run. He completed 60% of his passes going 15 for 25 for 176 yards and no interceptions. Garcia's only touchdown of the game was on his three yard run.
| RB Earnest Graham, Rush: 17 - 48 - 1, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (2 targets) |
Graham split time with Pittman after Cadillac Williams left the game with an injury. Graham ran for 48 yards on 17 carries and scored a touchdown from the one yard line. Tampa had gotten to the Carolina 13 yard line when Graham came into the game. He carried three straight times for the score. Later in the game, with the ball at the Carolina four yard line, Graham got four chances to score. The Panthers defense stepped up and held Graham out of the end zone on four straight plays.
| RB Michael Pittman, Rush: 15 - 90 - 0 (1 targets) |
Pittman came into the game after Williams got hurt. He ran the ball effectively gaining 90 yards on 15 carries. He got a chance from the Carolina nine yard line but only picked up two yards so Tampa had to settle for a field goal. Late in the third quarter Pittman ran the ball three straight times down to the Carolina four yard line. He then came out of the game in favor of Graham.
| RB Cadillac Williams, Rush: 6 - 41 - 0 (2 targets) |
Williams was having a very good start to the game before he was injured on an 18 yard run. He went down awkwardly on his knee and had to be carted off the field. Early reports are that it's a season ending injury. Prior to leaving the game, Williams carried the ball six times for 41 yards.
| RB B.J. Askew, Rec: 1 - 17 - 0 (2 targets) |
Askew caught one pass for 17 yards. His catch continued the drive that led to Tampa Bay's second touchdown. Garcia tried to hit him deep down the field later in the game but the pass was incomplete.
| WR Ike Hilliard, Rec: 7 - 114 - 0 (7 targets) |
With Carolina aiming to shut down Galloway, Ike Hilliard was targeted seven times by Garcia. He caught all seven passes for 114 yards. On the opening drive of the game, Hilliard caught four passes for 46 yards. His final catch got the ball down to the three yard line. Garcia ran the ball in on the next play. In the second quarter, Hilliard fumbled after trying to gain more yards after the catch. He later redeemed himself with a nice catch for a 56 yard completion. The catch led to a field goal for Tampa Bay.
| WR Michael Clayton, Rec: 1 - 13 - 0 (2 targets) |
Clayton caught one pass for 13 yards. His only other target was near the Carolina goal line. The pass was incomplete and the drive ended in a Tampa field goal.
| WR Joey Galloway, Rec: 1 - 7 - 0 (2 targets) |
Galloway was basically shut down the entire game. His first target was not until the fourth quarter. Galloway caught one pass for seven yards.
| TE Alex Smith, Rec: 4 - 17 - 0 (6 targets) |
Smith caught four passes for 17 yards. Garcia mainly tried to hit Smith on short passes. He got one red zone opportunity but it was just a one yard pass from the Carolina ten yard line.
| PK Matt Bryant 2 - 2 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 8 points |
Matt Bryant made field goals from 25 and 38 yards. He made both of his extra point attempts as well.
| TB Rush Defense |
The Tampa rush defense shut down the Carolina running game only allowing the Panthers to gain 99 rushing yards. The Panthers picked up just six first downs on the ground. They forced a DeShaun Foster fumble deep in Carolina territory. The Tampa offense wasn't able to cash in on the turnover when they got stopped on fourth down at the one yard line. Carolina did not get inside the Tampa Bay 45 yard line until the final drive of the game.
| TB Pass Defense |
The Tampa Bay pass defense put pressure on David Carr all game. They kept him on the run and quite often just forced him to just get rid of the ball. The defense sacked Carr three times and also intercepted him once. They also forced a fumble on a Foster catch but he was able to recover. The defense only allowed 155 passing yards. They had a shut out going until the final 23 seconds when Carr's screen pass to Williams went for a touchdown.
| QB David Carr, Pass: 19 - 41 - 155 - 1 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 5 - 28 - 0 |
Carr filled in for Jake Delhomme but wasn't able to get anything done against a suffocating Tampa Bay defense. He threw the ball 41 times but only completed 19 passes for 155 yards. Carr was under pressure most of the game and it led to one interception. He did have a touchdown right before the end of the game. With Tampa trying for the shut out, Carr hit Williams with a screen pass and he was able to score from 23 yards out. Carr showed his athleticism early in the second quarter when he was scrambling and instead of sliding he pulled a Superman-like dive right over two defenders. It definitely got the crowd back into the game even though Carolina was down 14-0 at that point.
| QB Jake Delhomme |
Delhomme did not play due to his injured elbow.
| RB DeShaun Foster, Rush: 15 - 64 - 0, Rec: 3 - 17 - 0 (6 targets) |
Foster rushed for 64 yards on 15 carries. He never quite got on track but did have a nice run of 13 yards. Foster fumbled twice in the game losing one of them. His lost fumble was on a 10 yard run but it gave the ball to Tampa Bay at the Carolina 20 yard line. On their final drive, Foster had an incomplete pass thrown to him at the Tampa 14 yard line. It was his only red zone opportunity.
| RB DeAngelo Williams, Rush: 2 - 5 - 0, Rec: 3 - 37 - 1 (6 targets) |
Williams scored the only touchdown for Carolina. It came with just 23 seconds left and prevented a shutout. Williams carried the ball just two times for five yards. He also caught three passes for 37 yards. His touchdown reception was on a screen and he picked up 24 yards for the score.
| RB Brad Hoover, Rush: 1 - 2 - 0, Rec: 2 - 17 - 0 (2 targets) |
Hoover carried the ball one time for just two yards. He also caught two passes for 17 yards. At the start of the second half, he caught a pass that went for 14 yards and got the ball to midfield. The drive stalled after his first down.
| WR Steve Smith, Rec: 5 - 32 - 0 (9 targets) |
Tampa's defense bottled up Smith and it definitely had Smith frustrated. The cameras picked up Smith yelling into the sideline telephone most likely calling for the ball. Overall Smith had five catches for 32 yards with his longest catch going for 15 yards. All of Smith's catches came on short passes. Carr tried to hit him deep on a couple of plays but they were unsuccessful.
| WR Keary Colbert, Rec: 2 - 16 - 0 (5 targets) |
Colbert caught two passes for 16 yards. Carr didn't throw to him until the second half. His first catch came right before the two minute warning. His other catch picked up a first down at the Tampa Bay 25 yard line.
| WR Drew Carter, Rec: 2 - 16 - 0 (6 targets) |
Carter was thrown to six times but he caught just two passes for 16 yards. Carr looked for him on third down a couple of times but both passes were incomplete. Twice Carolina went for it on fourth down and both passes were thrown for Carter. He caught one for a first down and the other was way overthrown. At the end of the game, Carter made a diving catch in the end zone but a holding penalty brought the play back.
| WR Dwayne Jarrett, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (1 targets) |
Jarrett caught his first career pass for six yards. It was his only target of the game.
| TE Jeff King, Rec: 1 - 14 - 0 (6 targets) |
King caught one pass for 14 yards although he was targeted six times. His only pass came over the middle and he was wide open. King did have a catch for eight yards brought back on a holding call. Carr was targeting King when he was intercepted in the fourth quarter.
| PK John Kasay 0 - 0 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 1 points |
Kasay had one extra point try and made it. Carolina did not attempt a field goal.
| CAR Rush Defense |
The Carolina rush defense was unable to stop the Tampa Bay rushing combo of Williams, Pittman and Graham. Tampa Bay gained 189 yards on the ground. It allowed Tampa Bay to control the clock and led to nine minutes more in time of possession. The Carolina defense gave up 12 first downs on the ground and also two touchdowns. Garcia scored on a three yard run and Graham punched one in from the one yard line. The highlight for Carolina was a nice goal line stand. They stopped Graham on four straight runs inside the five yard line.
| CAR Pass Defense |
The pass defense only gave up 176 yards of passing yards but they did not get any sacks or interceptions of Garcia. They did have a fumble recovery on an Ike Hilliard reception. Besides Kris Jenkins, the Carolina defense just didn't seem to be able to get any pressure on the quarterback. Julius Peppers came out early in the game and was having his wrist checked out. He did return to the game but wasn't very effective. The defense was hurt by the loss of Dan Morgan, who was out with an ankle injury.
