The Buccaneers struggled to contain Phillip Rivers and the Chargers offense in the first half, giving up 254 yards, including 218 through the air. When the first half whistle sounded things weren’t looking to bright for Tampa Bay.

Part of the problem was a lack of pressure on Rivers, who at times appeared as if he were playing backyard football, with a 10-Mississippi rush.

In the second half, things were dramatically different, as Rivers only adding 105 yards to his stats, and the Chargers scored just three points.

Buccaneers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy said there was reason behind the late game improvement.

“They (defensive coaches) kind of let us go,” McCoy said. “You know I said I have a time where I tell y’all they need to let us go this way (motioning up the field). We said, ‘coach we are doing too much of this (motioning lateral stunts) and we need to do more of this (motioning up the field). And he did. They kind of did. Our coaches trusted us they made a decision, and said, ‘look, if this is what y’all want, then go.’ And it changed things (in the second half)."

The Buccaneers intercepted Rivers twice in the second half, with both of the throws being forced by pressure from McCoy. The former overall No. 3 draft pick appreciates coaches willing to listen to their players.

“I love that, I love that the coaches are always open to hear what we have to say,” McCoy.  They tell us, ‘we (the coaches) aren’t the ones out there.’ They aren’t out there so they don’t know. They try and make the best coaching decisions, and they did, and it worked out for us."