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QUARTERBACK
Starting quarterback Jeff Garcia started the game with a 20-yard pass to wide receiver Michael Clayton, and Garcia was accurate throughout the entire game. On the Bucs' second drive he set up their first score on a very creative play. Garcia scrambled to his right and then to his left and eventually found running back Warrick Dunn running free down the sideline. Garcia lofted the pass to Dunn who caught it and turned upfield. Dunn raced 36 yards into Minnesota territory. The Bucs converted that possession into three points.

On the next possession, Garcia led the Bucs to another field goal. He hooked up with tight end Jerramy Stevens for a 20-yard catch. He also hit 12-yard passes to Dunn and wide receiver Antonio Bryant. Garcia took a big shot from defensive end Ray Edwards that almost knocked him out of the game. Edwards was flagged for a roughing the passer penalty. That led to a first-and-goal situation from the Viking three-yard line. Garcia made some questionable decisions in the series. He did not throw to some open receivers that Tampa Bay had in the end zone, including Bryant on a crossing route, and Stevens on a fade route. On third-and-goal, Garcia tossed a quick shovel pass to running back Clifton Smith that went nowhere, and Tampa Bay had to settle for a field goal.

Garcia did not do much on the next drive with less than two-minutes left in the half. Wide receiver Joey Galloway ran a deep out-and-in route and was open but Garcia threw short to wide receiver Ike Hilliard for a loss of one. If Garcia threw to Galloway, Tampa Bay could have had a quick score. That ended the first half for the Bucs offense. Garcia was 12-of-15 for 136 yards, but was unable to get the Bucs into the end zone on two red zone trips.

Garcia reversed the trend on the Bucs next possession to open the second half. He hit Bryant for 24 yards and completed a number of short passes. From the Minnesota 24-yard line, Garcia scrambled threw in the middle of the field to Bryant, who had a great run after the catch and zig-zagged his way into the end zone. A holding penalty nullified the touchdown. Garcia came back on a second-and-30, throwing down the seam and dropped in a perfect pass to Stevens who made a great catch and was tackled at the 1-yard line. The 31-yard pass set up fullback B.J. Askew to plunge ahead and tie the game for Tampa Bay.

In the fourth quarter, Garcia led the Bucs to a go-ahead drive. He ran the ball himself on a number of occasions including a five-yard run on third-and-3. On the 13-play drive, the biggest gainer was Garcia hitting Stevens for 14 yards. The drive stalled out, but Tampa Bay made a 26-yard field goal to go up by three.

After the Vikings fumbled the kickoff back to the Buccaneers, Garcia had a few completions but also had two incompletions on the goal-to-go situation. The Bucs settled for another field goal. Minnesota turned the ball over again, but this time, the Buccaneers missed the field goal.

Garcia finished the game completing 23-of-30 passes for 255 yards. He threw no touchdowns and interceptions for a quarterback rating of 101.4. He also ran the ball six times for 21 yards. Garcia did a great job of completing a high percentage of passes. After the game, Garcia admitted that he missed some receivers and left some points on the field.

GAME GRADE: B


RUNNING BACKS
Early in the first quarter, starting running back Earnest Graham injured his ankle on his first carry of the game. His return was deemed questionable, but he did not come back into the game. Dunn had to shoulder the load, and helping to spell Dunn was rookie Clifton Smith.

Dunn was unable to convert a third-and-1, and a fourth-and-1 on the Bucs first possession. On the next possession, Dunn made his 36-yard reception that set up the Bucs first score. Dunn also had some nice runs on the drive, and a 9-yard screen pass that turned a 48-yard field goal attempt into a much easier 39-yard field goal.

In the game, Dunn ran the ball 20 times for 53 yards, with a long of 11 yards. He caught four passes that went for 65 yards and his long reception of 36 yards was the longest play from scrimmage for Tampa Bay against Minnesota. While Dunn did not have a good yards per carry average, a lot of that was due to the Vikings playing good defense.

Smith had some success on the ground. His first three carries went for 17 yards, including a 7-yard run on third-and-1 on the Bucs' touchdown drive. The following possession, Smith had a bad mistake that took away a scoring chance for Tampa Bay. He ran a pitch off the left side, and fumbled the ball as he was hit. His fumble came on the Vikings 28-yard line. Smith finished the game with four carries for 21 yards.

Fullback Askew saw his first game action since Week 3 at Chicago. Askew took his first handoff in the third quarter and powered his way through a defender into the end zone for Tampa Bay. That touchdown tied the score. Askew also caught two passes for nine yards. He did a good job of blocking in his first game back. Backup fullback Jameel Cook had some snaps, and made his biggest impact on special teams.

GAME GRADE: B-


WIDE RECEIVERS
The Bucs wide receivers had a fairly quiet but productive game against the Vikings. Throughout the game they consistently got open. Repeatedly though, the ball was not thrown their direction. The receivers did a good job of breaking off their routes, and could have had a huge game against the Minnesota pass defense.

Clayton caught a 20-yard pass on the first play for the Buccaneers. Clayton caught a few passes on the Bucs touchdown drive, including a 9-yard catch on second-and-10 that set up an easy third down run. For the game, Clayton grabbed three passes for 36 yards.

Bryant got into the action with a 12-yard reception to start Tampa Bay's second possession. Bryant also got open in the end zone on second-and-goal in that drive, unfortunately for Tampa Bay, Garcia did not see him or was uncomfortable throwing the ball into that opening. Bryant started out the second half hot with a 23-yard catch. He ran a double reverse for nine yards, and then had a great 21-yard catch and run for a touchdown that was called back on a holding penalty. Bryant made some big catches in the second half, and was open in the red zone on numerous occasions but was not thrown the ball.

Galloway and Hilliard got some snaps, but Hilliard's catch for a loss was the only reception from the veteran receivers. Galloway had worked himself open on a few routes, but Garcia did not throw the ball downfield to him. That was the theme for all of the Bucs receivers, who will have a lot to applaud when they watch the tape on Monday as far as getting separation, but not much to applaud for receptions.

GAME GRADE: B


TIGHT ENDS
Starting tight end Alex Smith missed the contest with the Vikings with an ankle injury. John Gilmore started in his place, and Stevens also logged a significant number of snaps. Gilmore came off the field injured late in the fourth quarter, but does not look to have a serious injury. He had one reception for four yards, and as usual did a good job of blocking.

Stevens got active on the Bucs' third possession, catching passes on successive plays. The first went for five yards and the next one was a 20-yard reception. Stevens made a great catch on the 20-yarder as he snared the ball in his hands as he fell forward. In the second half, Stevens was called for a questionable holding penalty that negated an 8-yard run by Dunn. Stevens made up for the penalty by making a great over the shoulder catch on a seam route between Viking defenders. He was called down at the 1-yard line on that 31-yard reception, and Askew scored on the next play.

Stevens kept up his strong play in the second half catching a number of passes that helped the Bucs move the ball down the field. On the go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter, Stevens grabbed a 14-yard pass that was the longest play of the drive. Stevens ended up being the Bucs leading receiver making six catches for 84 yards.

GAME GRADE: B+


OFFENSIVE LINE
The Bucs starting offensive line of left tackle Donald Penn, left guard Arron Sears, center Jeff Faine, right guard Davin Joseph, and right tackle Jeremy Trueblood had their hands full with the Vikings standout defensive line, but they proved up to the challenge.

Things started badly for the Bucs O-line when it failed to open up a running lane for Dunn on third-and-1, and fourth-and-1. On both plays, Minnesota got penetration into the Bucs backfield and overwhelmed Dunn before he could get to the line of scrimmage.

On the next drive, the offensive line killed the Bucs touchdown chances again when an unnecessary roughness penalty on Trueblood took the Bucs out of third-and-three at the Vikings 15-yard line to a third-and-18 at the Vikings 30-yard line. Trueblood was not the only member of the line that was called for a costly penalty.

Overall in the first half, the Bucs line had a solid performance. They had good pass protection and did not let Garcia get sacked. At the same time, the line struggled in their run blocking only producing 27 yards and losing the time of possession 16:49 to 13:11.

In the second half, the line had a good start with its blocking to protect Garcia. Joseph was called for a holding penalty that negated a touchdown catch and run by Bryant. Fortunately for Tampa Bay, it scored on the drive anyway.

Faine, Joseph, and Sears did a great job of negating the pass rush from the Vikings great defensive tackles in Kevin Williams and Pat Williams. The interior of the Bucs offensive line had one of their better games of the season against the best defensive tackle tandem that they will see all year. Neither Williams notched a quarterback knockdown, hurry, or sack.

Penn stepped up and shut down another of the leagues' best pass rushers in the Vikings Jared Allen. Allen did not sack, hurry, or knockdown Garcia in the game. It was the Vikings least heralded defensive lineman that had the most success against the Bucs.

Defensive end Ray Edwards had a decent game against Trueblood. Edwards had four tackles, a tackle for a loss, and three quarterback hurries. Trueblood had an uneven performance in this game. At times he was overwhelming, and then there were moments when he was beaten.

The line did struggle on third-and-1 conversions, and not getting the running game going hurt the Bucs ability to put the Vikings away, but overall it was a fine game for the Buccaneers offensive line. There was one play classified as a sack against Tampa Bay, but that came when Garcia scrambled and fell down. Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway tagged him down, but the sack was a loss for no yards.

The Bucs offense totaled 363 yards, 153 yards more than Minnesota. They also dominated the time of possession in the second half, and overall for the game they held onto the ball for 33:49 to the Vikings 26:11.

GAME GRADE: B+

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