Dallas Teaches Young Bucs Some Tough Lessons

When the Bucs look back at this one against the mighty Dallas Cowboys, they'll focus on four plays. Take away those four plays and the Bucs hold Tony Romo to 121 yds and six points. Unfortunately for a young team in a battle with allegedly one of the NFL's best teams, defenses lapses are going to happen. It was up to Romo to take advantage of those mistakes and he most certainly did. Romo hit Miles Austin on a 42 yd touchdown late in the first half to put the Cowboys up at the half 13-7, then connected on throws of 66, 80, and 44 to lead the Cowboys to a 34-21 win over the plucky Buccaneers. Tampa Bay's offense was no slouch, either. The Buccaneers offense churned up 450 yds, bouyed by their sensational running game which pounded 173 yds on the ground. Cadillac Williams led the way for Buccaneer rushers, slashing for 97 yds and a touchdown, while Derrick Ward added 69 yds and a score. Byron Leftwich was solid, completing 25 passes for 276 yds and a touchdown. The game also saw the return to form of Michael Clayton, who made some tremendous catches en route to a team leading five catches and 93 yds. The Buccaneers defense was solid until it wore down in the second half. Marion Barber led Dallas with 76 yd rushing and a game sealing touchdown. This day belonged to Romo. With Tampa Bay leading 7-6, Romo found Miles Austin down the sideline on a busted coverage for a 42 yd score. Busted coverages seemed to be a the rule of the day for the Tampa Bay defense. We told you before the ballgame that pressure would be a crucial component for the Bucs to have a chance to win. The Bucs didn't get the pressure they needed and the Cowboys took advantage of the Bucs young secondary. Sabby Piscitelli had a day he would love to forget, going for Romo pump fakes several times during the ballgame and leaving receivers wide open down field, a cardinal sin for a safety. Piscitelli bit on a pump fake and allowed Roy Williams to split the seam. Williams would rumbled 66 yds for a touchdown to give the Cowboys a commanding 20-7. The Bucs battled back, driving 84 yds in 11 plays and capping it off with a one yard score by new Buccaneer Derrick Ward. Tampa Bay trailed 20-14 with 13:45 left. Romo would dash the Bucs hopes two plays later. A well designed play had Bucs safety Sabby Piscitelli lined up against the Cowboys fastest receiver, Patrick Clayton. While Piscitelli has wheels, he couldn't stay with Crayton and when the young safety bit on a Romo pump fake, it was all over for Tampa Bay. Romo hit Crayton in stride and the speedy receiver raced 80 yds for a score to open up the lead to 27-14. The plucky Buccaneers wouldn't give up, driving all the way to the Cowboys 26 yd line. Facing fourth and seven, Leftwich put the ball on the money to the Bucs' top acquisition of the 2009 off-season, Kellen Winslow, Jr. but Winslow dropped the pass. Romo would victimize the Buccaneers secondary again, hitting Crayton for 44 yd strike, setting up Marion Barber's six yard touchdown to seal the game for the Cowboys. Leftwich led the Bucs back down the field one last time, capping an 11 play, 72 yd drive with a touchdown pass to Winslow to shave the lead to 34-21 with 1:28 left. The Cowboys would recover the on-side kick and that would be the ballgame. So for the young Buccaneers, they went toe-to-toe with allegedly one of the best teams in football and were in the ballgame most of the way. There was a lot to be excited about for the Buccaneers, especially on offense. Tampa Bay faced a tough Dallas defense and moved up and down the field on the vaunted Cowboys. The Bucs simply couldn't finish off enough drives to stay with Dallas. Lapses in defensive concentration and shoddy play on special teams did them in. You have to imagine Bucs GM Mark Dominik was on the phone with Matt Bryant to see how his hamstring is doing. Bryant's replacement Mike Nugent had one kick blocked and missed a makeable one, costing the Bucs six points. In pre-season the one achilles heel of this new Bucs defense seemed to be the big play downfield. That continues to be the case as of the first regular season game. Until the Bucs can pressure the quarterback or no go for pump fakes, streaking receivers will continue to be an unwelcome sight. The good news for Tampa Bay is that the problems experienced aren't due to talent deficiencies but mental errors. Its correctable.The Bucs can run the football and their offensive line protected Byron Leftwich, allowing no sacks by the team that led the league in that category last season. If the Dallas Cowboys are truly one of the better teams in the NFL, Buccaneer fans can take heart that their team may not be that far away from contending themselves.