Bucs rally to top Colts, 24-17 Roy Cummings, The Tampa Tribune, published 4 October 2011 Well that was a fine how do you do. A Tampa Bay Buccaneers team eager to show both a nation and a local community what it's all about made a shaky first impression but eventually put together the introduction it was hoping for Monday night. After wasting three first-half scoring chances during yet another typically slow start, Tampa Bay put together yet another typically fast finish to pull out a 24-17 victory against the Indianapolis Colts at sold-out Raymond James Stadium. "I think we turned a lot of heads tonight," said running back LeGarrette Blount, who finished off his fifth career 100-yard rushing effort with a 35-yard scamper with 3:15 to play to gave the Bucs their winning edge. "I think we showed that the team we had last year wasn't a joke and that we can win a lot of games." The Bucs have won three games so far this year and with a 3-1 record they retained a share of the NFC South division lead. They have also won three straight for the first time since 2008 and 15 of their last 23. The offense also made a bit of history Monday, finishing with 466 yards from scrimmage, the most in team history for a home game. "We showed everybody that old Bucs football is back," said left tackle Donald Penn, who was part of an offense that squandered chances in the first half and bounced back from a 10-7 halftime deficit. "We never feel like we're out of anything," said cornerback Ronde Barber. "Not with (quarterback) Josh (Freeman) and not with (coach/defensive coordinator) Raheem (Morris) calling the defense and guys on that side of the ball standing up and winning." Among the defensive winners on this night were linemen Michael Bennett, Gerald McCoy and Adrian Clayborn, who combined for four sacks (two by Bennett) for a unit that has recorded eight sacks the last two weeks. The defense also limited the Colts to 62 yards rushing, making this the second straight week that the Bucs have allowed less than 100 yards rushing. As usual, though, it was the offense that brought the Bucs back. Freeman engineered three scoring drives to bring the Bucs even at 17-17 and then leaned mostly on Blount during the drive that culminated with Blount running 35 yards for the game-deciding score. "We tried to give it away," cornerback Aqib Talib said of a team that was penalized 14 times for 106 yards. "The refs tried to take it away a little bit. But we overcame and we came away with the W." The Bucs went into this game eager to show national and local television audiences how they play, and they certainly accomplished that objective during the early going. A team that has been characterized as much by its slow starts as its fast finishes, Tampa Bay staggered out of the gates yet again, making this the 58th straight game in which their offense failed to score more than seven points during the opening quarter. Taking that struggle a step further than usual, the Bucs finished out the first quarter down by 3-0 thanks, in part, to a 46-yard field-goal attempt that Connor Barth that clanked off the right upright. The second quarter didn't start off much better. After two offensive drives went nowhere, the Colts responded with the game's first touchdown, which came on an 87-yard catch and run by Pierre Garcon on a pass from quarterback Curtis Painter, making his first NFL start. Down 10-0, the Bucs found themselves in what seems to be their offensive comfort zone as Freeman breathed life into his team by hitting on three straight passes to move back into scoring position. Tampa Bay cashed in this time as Freeman plowed his way into the end zone from one yard out to finish off a nine-play drive that cut Indianapolis's lead to 10-7. The Bucs were in position to score once again as the first half drew to a close, but let that chance slip away when they were called for having too many men on the field during a hurry-up field goal try. The two missed field goals brought to 13 the number of points the Bucs left on the field in the first half. The others were a result of Arrelious Benn being called for stepping out of bounds before he caught what appeared to be a 62-yard touchdown pass. The Bucs drove 52 yards in 10 plays for what proved to be a 46-yard Barth field goal that came on their first drive out of the chute in the second half. But a three-and-out one series later helped set up a one-play Colts scoring drive in which Garcon took a short pass from Painter and scampered 59 yards to give Indianapolis a 17-10 edge. The Bucs erased that deficit, too, this time by driving into the end zone from their own 30, and tying the game after Freeman hit receiver Preston Parker with a 13-yard touchdown pass. The Bucs caught a break on the Colts' next series. After Indianapolis moved deep into Tampa Bay's end of the field, it was the Colts' turn to leave points there as Adam Vinatieri missed on a 42-yard field goal try. Not that the Bucs could do anything with that opportunity, either. A pair of penalties left them with a first-and-32 situation they never got out of before punting the ball away with nine minutes to play. That helped set up the final drive for the Bucs, who got the first 100-yard rushing effort of the season out of Blount and also got four more sacks out of a defense that has been on the rise the past few weeks. The total of four sacks matched what the Bucs managed against Atlanta last week. Not that the defense dominated. Painter threw for 281 yards and two touchdowns and twice helped the Colts counterpunch Freeman and the Bucs down the stretch.