I know it’s just the pre-season and the Patriots never take it serious but it was still nice for the Bucs to win their first pre-season game last night.  Matt Bryant nailed a “walk-off” 32-yard field goal to beat the Patriots last night.  Jeff Garcia made a brief appearance as he completed only 1 of 4 passes for 4 yards but he also ran the football 3 times for 19 yards (6.3 ypc).  Luke McCown is moving his way up the Bucs’ depth chart after how well he played last night as he completed all 7 passes he attempted for 68 yards and a TD.  Bruce Gradkowski didn’t look that great completing 6 of 11 passes for 50 yards.  Rookie running back Kenneth Darby was outstanding last night as he carried the football 15 times for 84 yards (5.6 ypc) as he is trying to make the Bucs opening day roster.  Earnest Graham also turned in a nice performance with 7 carries for 35 yards (5.0 ypc).  WR Paris Warren is a long shot to make the Bucs but he played well last night grabbing 4 passes for 46 yards (11.5 avg) with a TD.  The Bucs were outstanding running the football last night with 36 carries for 169 yards (4.7 ypc).  The Bucs were efficient throwing the football as they completed 14 of 22 passes for 110 yards.

The Bucs defense looked good last night as they were flying all over the football field.  They held the Patriots to 89 yards rushing on 25 carries (3.6 ypc) and the Patriots only completed 15 of 24 passes for 124 yards.  It was still just a pre-season game last night but the Bucs had a lot of things to like about their performance.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270810027