Revis grounded once again
The Tampa Tribune, published 2 December 2013

Darrelle Revis was listed as questionable with a groin strain but played until suffering a different injury late in the third quarter. He nearly intercepted quarterback Cam Newton’s pass intended for wide receiver Steve Smith at the right sideline, in front of the Carolina bench, but Revis came down awkwardly and remained on the ground for several minutes.

Revis never returned and the Bucs said he hurt his chest and shoulder on the play. “All I know is I hit my head on the ground,’’ Revis said. “Other than that, I don’t know what’s going on. You’re going to have to talk to the trainer.’’

At that point, Revis departed the locker room to board the team bus, leaving his status for Sunday’s home matchup against Buffalo uncertain.

Bottoming out
After driving 59 yards on their opening possession, leading to Rian Lindell’s 27-yard field goal and an early lead, Tampa Bay’s offense basically took the rest of the day off. The Bucs set season lows for total yards (206), third-down conversions (1-for-10), offensive snaps (46) and sacks allowed (5), while registering only 10 first downs for the second consecutive week.

“They’ve got a good defense for sure, but there were a lot of things we could have done better,’’ Bucs left tackle Donald Penn said. “We came into this game with some momentum and we didn’t get the job done. I can’t wait to play these guys again, but right now, they’re playing good football.’’

The Bucs were unable to establish a credible ground game, leaving quarterback Mike Glennon in too many third-and-long situations. “To say we struggled on third down would be an understatement,’’ coach Greg Schiano said. “We were non-effective.’’

By the time the Bucs gained 50 of their 66 total rushing yards in the third quarter, they were 11 points down against the hottest team in the league. “We knew we needed to stop the running game, because that’s a big part of their offense,’’ Panthers linebacker A.J. Klein said. “Especially with their play-action pass off of it, too. So, the No. 1 goal was to stop the run first and foremost, and then get after the quarterback, which we did.’’