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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARI at STL | ATL at TEN | BAL at SF | CAR at NO | CHI at GB | CLE at NE | DAL at BUF | DET at WAS |
| JAX at KC | MIA at HOU | NYJ at NYG | SD at DEN | SEA at PIT | TB at IND | ||
Week 5 Game Recap: Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14, Indianapolis Colts 33
What you need to know
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
QB Jeff Garcia could not get the team going on offense. In the first six drives, Garcia and the Buccaneers only produced one drive where they got a first down. It was not all Garcia's fault, the receivers dropped several balls and the offensive line was unable to open holes up for the running game.
RB Earnest Graham shared time with Michael Pittman early in the game, but Pittman left with an ankle injury in the second quarter. Neither running back had any success on the ground.
WR Joey Galloway dropped several balls during the game, which stopped any chance to gain momentum the Buccaneers had. Hilliard caught all nine balls thrown his way, but one was taken away due to an offside penalty. TE Alex Smith was only targeted three times, but his two receptions were both in the end zone for touchdowns.
| Indianapolis Colts |
QB Peyton Manning led the Colts to another victory, completely controlling the game while the Colts were on offense. He threw the ball underneath often because the Buccaneers were playing against the long pass, leading him to go 29/37 on the night.
RB Joseph Addai sat out, so Kenton Keith started for the Colts. Kenton had success by getting into the end zone on two goal line runs.
TE Dallas Clark caught all three passes from Manning on the opening drive, including a ten yard touchdown reception to cap the drive. Marvin Harrison did not play due to injury, so Anthony Gonzalez became the number two wide receiver, stepping in nicely with 71 yards receiving. Wayne had a nice day with a touchdown catch in the fourth quarter.
The story of this game was the Indianapolis defense, only allowing the Buccaneers to get first downs on three drives on the night, two in the fourth quarter after they were up big.
What you ought to know
| QB Jeff Garcia, Pass: 18 - 23 - 143 - 2 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 1 - 7 - 0 |
Garcia was unable to consistently move the chains. Five of the first six Buccaneers possessions were three and out. He did have two touchdown passes to Alex Smith in the red zone, but failed to find people much more than five yards off of the scrimmage.
| QB Bruce Gradkowski, Pass: 3 - 4 - 22 - 0 TD / 1 INT |
Gradkowski came in late in the fourth quarter to get reps as the Buccaneers were down by 19 points. He was accurate, but the passes were thrown for short gains. The interception he threw went right through Joey Galloway's hands.
| RB Earnest Graham, Rush: 6 - 11 - 0, Rec: 2 - 18 - 0 (2 targets) |
Graham had a tough time running the ball against the Colts defense. There was rarely a hole to hit, and the Buccaneers quickly gave up the run game. Graham did catch both balls thrown his way, and showed the ability to get away from tacklers when given the chance.
| RB Michael Pittman, Rush: 5 - -1 - 0, Rec: 2 - 16 - 0 (2 targets) |
Pittman shared time evenly with Graham before getting hurt in the second quarter with an apparent ankle injury, he was carted off.
| RB B.J. Askew, Rec: 1 - 3 - 0 (1 targets) |
Askew caught one ball out of the backfield as the fullback for Tampa Bay.
| WR Ike Hilliard, Rec: 8 - 58 - 0 (9 targets) |
Hilliard was the number two receiver behind Galloway. He caught every pass thrown his way, but most of them were for short gains, except for one 16 yard reception.
| WR Joey Galloway, Rec: 4 - 50 - 0 (8 targets) |
Galloway dropped a couple of receptions that could have got the Buccaneers going. He was the receiver Jeff Garcia looked for in tough situations, only he could not convert against the stingy Colts defense. Galloway beat the Colts defense down the middle of the field in the fourth quarter but Garcia's throw was under-thrown.
| TE Jerramy Stevens, Rec: 2 - 14 - 0 (2 targets) |
Stevens did not get much playing time, and caught both balls thrown his way.
| TE Alex Smith, Rec: 2 - 6 - 2 (3 targets) |
Smith caught two touchdown passes for the Buccaneers, only being targeted three times. He dropped the other ball which killed a drive, but he caught the ones that counted.
| PK Matt Bryant 0 - 0 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 2 points |
Bryant made both of his extra points, but did not have an opportunity to produce further than that.
| TB Rush Defense |
The Tampa Bay rush defense was solid early in the game, but eventually got worn down by the huge gap in time of possession (38:15 to 21:45) due to the offense struggling to stay on the field for more than three plays.
| TB Pass Defense |
The Tampa Bay pass defense had a difficult time against Peyton Manning, rarely pressuring him. They generally did a good job in coverage, but when Manning has time he is usually going to find someone to throw the ball to and that is what happened.
| QB Peyton Manning, Pass: 29 - 37 - 253 - 2 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 2 - -2 - 0 |
Manning was very patient and accurate as he typically is, except on a forced deep pass to Reggie Wayne where the ball was under-thrown and intercepted. Manning showed once again why he is considered one of the best quarterbacks in the league by commanding the game and controlling every aspect of the offense, only making one real mistake all game.
| RB Kenton Keith, Rush: 28 - 121 - 2, Rec: 5 - 37 - 0 (7 targets) |
Keith was the feature back for the Colts while Addai rested. Keith had a tough time running the ball successfully outside the red zone early, causing Peyton Manning to throw the ball more often than usual. Keith caught several balls out of the backfield, most of which were check-downs due to good coverage. Keith started getting more running room after the methodical Colts offense wore down the Tampa Bay defense.
| RB Clifton Dawson, Rush: 8 - 24 - 0, Rec: 1 - 9 - 0 (1 targets) |
Dawson backed up Kenton Keith and saw limited action doing so.
| RB Luke Lawton, Rush: 1 - 0 - 0 |
Lawton was third on the third running back on the depth chart for the Colts.
| WR Reggie Wayne, Rush: 1 - 4 - 0, Rec: 7 - 62 - 1 (10 targets) |
Wayne drew a pass interference penalty against Ronde Barber on what would have been a touchdown for Wayne, ended up being a one yard touchdown run for Kenton Keith. He also caught a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter when Tampa Bay had eight people in the box, leaving him in single coverage from the nine yard line.
| WR Anthony Gonzalez, Rec: 7 - 71 - 0 (9 targets) |
Gonzalez saw more playing time because Harrison sat out, and he did not disappoint. He caught all seven balls thrown his way for 71 yards, often being able to make the first defender miss to get extra yards.
| TE Dallas Clark, Rec: 7 - 49 - 1 (8 targets) |
Clark started the night very well, opening the game with three catches including a touchdown in the first drive. There was a scare that Clark was hurt on a hard hit when Manning led him over the middle, but he returned during the next series. Clark often lined up from the slot during the game.
| TE Bryan Fletcher, Rec: 2 - 25 - 0 (2 targets) |
Fletcher served as the back-up tight end as Ben Utech sat out of the game. He caught both balls thrown his way.
| PK Adam Vinatieri 2 - 2 FG, 3 - 4 XP, 9 points |
Vinatieri had an extra point blocked early in the second quarter, but other than that looked excellent. His kicks were all right down the middle.
| IND Rush Defense |
The Indianapolis run defense was excellent, holding Pittman and Graham to ten yards on 11 attempts. They let Graham get a nine yard run in the fourth quarter as well. The defense was just pushing the Tampa Bay offensive line back, and the opposing running backs had no chance all night.
| IND Pass Defense |
The Indianapolis pass defense held the Tampa Bay pass game down, only allowing short passes from Garcia. However they did fail to record any sacks, and their only interception was with less than two minutes left in the game on a Gradkowski pass that went through Galloway's hands.
