Bucs 23 Panthers 31 - the game report Scott Smith, Buccaneers.com, published 31 December 2007 The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a little difficulty getting the ball into the end zone on Sunday. Maybe that should have been expected, since six men who accounted for 21 of the team's first 34 touchdowns watched the game from the sideline. The Carolina Panthers ended the Buccaneers' bid for a season-long sweep of the NFC South by winning the regular-season finale, 31-23, Sunday at Raymond James Stadium. Carolina moved the ball well behind rookie QB Matt Moore, but the Bucs increased their own level of difficulty by deactivating seven starters and playing the balance of the game with mostly reserves. "I'm very eager to get going here in the playoffs, but I thought our coaches and players did a good job of preparing for this game," said Jon Gruden. "This was a big game for a lot of our guys. They prepared well and sometimes played well against a very tough team. We didn't play a lot of our regulars today…and if we had it to do again we'd do the same thing." Among those who didn't suit up were QB Jeff Garcia, WRs Joey Galloway and Ike Hilliard, RB Earnest Graham, FB B.J. Askew, LB Barrett Ruud and S Jermaine Phillips. Most of the rest of the first-team defense was out by the start of the second quarter. Graham and Galloway have a combined 16 touchdowns between them this season. The reason for the lineup juggling, of course, was the relatively low stakes of the game. The Buccaneers clinched the NFC South title in Week 15 and could not improve or worsen their number-four playoff seed with Sunday's outcome. Since the team is already dealing with a lengthy injury list, it was loathe to put any more central figures at risk. Still, starting QB Luke McCown and the Buccaneers' reserves fought hard and moved the ball relatively well between the 20s. The Bucs wanted to test their depth for the playoffs on Sunday, and certainly got some intriguing performances from McCown (21 of 28, 236 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, 47 yards rushing), RB Michael Bennett (67 combined rushing and receiving yards and WR Chad Lucas (five catches for 82 yards). Lucas, just activated from the practice squad on Wednesday, made his first career start and, on the fourth play of the game, caught a 52-yard pass that led to the game's first touchdown. Their efforts included the longest drive in team history, a 98-yard march in the third quarter that temporarily gave the home team a three-point lead. McCown turned in the biggest play of the drive with his feet, scrambling left and outrunning LB Thomas Davis for a 31-yard gain. Two plays later, Bennett turned a swing pass into a 23-yard touchdown. Bennett's catch-and-run completed an impressive 98-yard drive, besting a pair of 97-yard touchdown marches in 2003 (vs. New Orleans) and 2001 (at Tennessee). The Bucs main shortcoming on offense was the same one that plagued them in San Francisco a week ago: An inability to turn red zone possessions into seven points. The Bucs essentially took over in the Panthers' red zone twice in the second quarter – once on Phillip Buchanon's third interception of the season and once on Quincy Black's forced fumble on a punt return – but came away with field goals both times. In the fourth quarter, a fine Micheal Spurlock punt return allowed the Bucs to start at the Carolina 46, but they again had to settle for three points on Matt Bryant's 49-yard field goal. "We are obviously disappointed in defeat," said Gruden. "There were some bright spots in my opinion, some guys got to play for the first time. Obviously our short-yardage offense let us down today. We didn't play up to Buc standards, but we're excited now to get the playoffs started." The lead from Bennett's touchdown lasted all of three minutes, as Moore hit WR Drew Carter on a 46-yard bomb down to the one and RB DeAngelo Williams scored one play later. Moore, making his third career start, completed 15 of 24 passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns as the Bucs' defensive reserves allowed 349 yards of offense on the afternoon. The defense, too, was bit by a familiar bugaboo, as it allowed Carolina to convert on seven of their 14 third-down tries. Among the reserves who played extensively on defense were LBs Jeremiah Trotter, Quincy Black and Adam Hayward, DTs Ryan Sims and Greg Peterson, Ss Kalvin Pearson and Will Allen and CB Sammy Davis. Trotter led the way with eight tackles and Sims looked stout against the run, piling up five tackles. The defense's main deficiency on Sunday was an almost complete lack of pressure on the Panthers' very green quarterback. Moore was sacked only once and often enjoyed long, unhurried moments in the pocket. Carolina also ran the ball very well, getting good initial push up front and finishing with 180 yards on 37 carries. The Bucs not only emptied out the bench, they dug deep into their playbook as well. On one interesting snap late in the first half, the team lined up with a split offensive line, with two linemen wide to the right in front of Bennett. The result of the play was an incomplete slant pass to WR Michael Clayton, but the Bucs were obviously in experimental mode. The special teams got into the act with a pair of interesting pooch kickoffs, one of which nearly led to a Buccaneer recovery (TE Jeff King alertly called for a fair catch on the second one). The Bucs came out running, giving it to Pittman on the first three plays and gaining a first down out of it as Pittman picked up just enough on third-and-three. That produced a perfect play-action opportunity, and McCown made the most of it by hitting Lucas down the right side for a gain of 52 to the Panthers' five. Lucas was wide open on the play as Panthers safety bit on an underneath route and the receiver simply ran a fly down the field. Lucas had to wait a bit for the throw, and CB Ken Lucas nearly caught up to the play, but the first-year receiver made a nice shoestring catch to set up first-and-goal. The Panthers then forced a third-and-goal at the three, but the Bucs punched it in using a nice piece of strategy. Before the snap, TE Jerramy Stevens sprinted out wide to the left, obviously recalling his game-winning touchdown play at New Orleans. That route was a fade to the outside, but this time Stevens gave a quick fake out and then cut under the defender to catch a slant just over the goal line. The Panthers answered almost as quickly. Smith's deep square-in on third-and-eight produced a 22-yard gain to the Bucs' 45, and Williams' 14-yard run two plays later put the ball at the 29. A well-executed bubble-screen to Smith converted a third-and-five at the 12, but the Bucs held there to force a field goal. CB Brian Kelly got a hand in front of Carter in the back of the end zone to break up a third-down pass, and the Panthers sent John Kasay out to hit a 22-yard field goal. Kasay hit it, but the Bucs were flagged for defensive holding, resulting in a new set of downs. Two plays later, Moore hit TE Christian Fauria with a two-yard TD pass and the game was tied with four minutes to go in the first quarter. After a touchback, the Bucs started again at their own 20 but got into Carolina territory in five plays, including a 17-yard strike to Stevens and a five-yard scramble by McCown on which he impressively escaped a near-sack. McCown couldn't get away from LB Thomas Davis' blitz up the middle on third down from the 42, however, and the Bucs had to punt for the first time. Josh Bidwell's hanging punt forced a fair catch at the 14, and that allowed the defense to provide the offense with outstanding field position. On third-and-seven from the 17, Moore tried to hit Smith on a quick slant but Buchanon got underneath the route and picked it off at the 22, returning it to the 18. The Bucs couldn't produce a first down from there, but K Matt Bryant came on to hit a 31-yard field goal for a 10-7 lead. The Bucs brought in a raft of defensive reserves on the next drive, essentially ending the day for Brooks, Barber, Haye, Hovan and June. The Panthers' starting defense moved the ball rather methodically against that unit, particularly on the ground, and took the lead on Moore's fine lob pass to TE Dante Rosario for a 20-yard touchdown. The Bucs had to punt on the ensuing drive but the special teams came up with a game-turning play. First, Bidwell launched a massive, 60-yard punt that forced return man Ryne Robinson into a long backpedal to catch the ball at the 15. Then Spurlock and Black trapped Robinson at the 16 and Black stripped the ball from the returner's hands while he was dragging him down backward. Allen recovered for the Buccaneers at the 17 and, two plays later, McCown threw a seam pass to Smith that was good for 18 yards. S Marquand Manuel was hit with a personal-foul call after launching himself into a helmet-to-helmet hit on Smith, and the result was a first down at the two-yard line. Two Bennett runs actually lost three yards and McCown's third-down pass was deflected at the line of scrimmage. The special teams then stumbled on the ensuing kickoff, as Robinson broke containment to the right and raced 60 yards to the Bucs' 35. The defense did halt this drive at the two-yard line, but the Panthers still tacked on another Kasay field goal to make it 17-13 at the half. The Bucs' defense opened the first half with a stop but Jason Baker dropped his first punt of the game down at the Bucs' two, setting up the Bucs' record-setting drive. Two Bennett runs got the Bucs out of immediate trouble, and McCown's long run put the ball at the 25. Bennett's second touchdown as a Buc was an impressive effort, as he caught a screen pass just past the line to the right and got around several defenders to find a clear path down the sideline. Williams' touchdown put Carolina back on top, 24-20, with four minutes left in the third quarter. The Bucs' next offensive series went nowhere, but the defense forced a three-and-out thanks to a Greg Spires sack and a botched shotgun snap that rolled all the way back to Carolina's 11. On the ensuing punt, Spurlock caught the kick at the Bucs' 39 and got back 15 yards to the Panthers' 46. The Bucs missed a golden scoring opportunity on the drive's second play when McCown threw too far for Pittman on a pump-and-go that had the back running wide open toward the end zone. Pittman dived valiantly but couldn't reach the pass, and the Bucs had to settle for Bryant's 49-yard field goal attempt. Bryant nailed it, pulling the Bucs to within one with 14 minutes to play. Carolina put the game out of reach three possessions later, driving 69 yards on six plays for their final score. Williams finished it with a 32-yard burst over right guard, making it 31-23 with just over six minutes to play. The Bucs did mount one last drive, beginning with Clayton's 21-yard tackle-breaking catch-and-run, and another 17-yard strike to Clayton the next play. McCown tried to do too much on the fourth play of the drive, however, and was picked off by CB Richard Marshall at the seven. On the play, McCown scrambled left, then right, eventually spotting Darby apparently wide open near the right pylon. It was a long throw to make on the run, and it hung just long enough to Marshall to get there in front of Darby. The defense needed a quick stop but failed to stop Williams on a third-and-eight run. The first down allowed the Panthers to run the clock down to the two-minute warning and forced the Bucs to burn their final two timeouts. Carolina's eventual punt was fair caught by Spurlock at the Bucs' 43 with 1:52 remaining. The drive went nowhere, thanks in large part to another big play by Marshall. The Carolina defensive back sacked McCown for a loss of nine on a perfect second-down blitz and the Bucs couldn't recover.