Gruden happy with win; Griese status uncertain

Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden voiced his satisfaction with his team's 27-13 win over Miami during his Monday press conference, carried live on The Sports Animal

Gruden said he was "happy with the win," and while he did not want to give the team a grade at present, that many facets were "passing."

As for the status of QB Brian Griese, Gruden said that he had a twisted and sprained knee, and that test results were not back yet. His status would be uncertain until the results come back, and he will probably get a second opinion afterwards.

Gruden said that he was pleased with Chris Simms's maturity in replacing Griese, and that the team will practice with the idea that Griese will not play.

Other injuries include S Dexter Jackson (hamstring), who Gruden said may miss a couple of weeks, and LB Shelton Quarles (lower back bruise) who is OK. S Jermaine Phillips was also deemed "ready to return."

The fear is that Griese suffered a relatively knee injury when Zach Thomas tackled him during the second quarter of Tampa Bay's 27-13 win over Miami.

Some reports are that Griese has a torn ACL. Thomas, a former teammate of Griese with the Dolphins, said he felt terrible and that it was the fault of a cut block. Replays uphold his contention -- and so does running back Michael Pittman of the Bucs.

"I went up to Brian at halftime, and I told him, 'Sorry,'" Pittman said in the St. Pete Times. "Because I cut Zach Thomas, I cut him down, and Zach rolled into his leg. Maybe if I stayed a little bit higher, he probably wouldn't have had a chance to roll into his leg."

Other players hurt Sunday included safety Dexter Jackson and Shelton Quarles.

"Just tired, and a little bit sore," is how Quarles described his condition after the game. "If you can walk, you can run. We hold ourselves accountable here." Pittman was also on the postgame show and said "I had to play" even though his shoulder took a while to get loose and he was listed as questionable.

Pittman, defense lead banged-up Bucs to win

With Cadillac Williams out, Shelton Quarles ailing, both starting safeties gone and oh yes quarterback Brian Griese getting knocked out of the game, the Buccaneers still managed a victory on Sunday. Tampa Bay went to 5-1 on the season with a 27-13 win over Miami at Raymond James Stadium.

The bye week could not come at a better time for Tampa Bay though the injury to Griese will likely extend beyound that. Griese suffered a knee sprain in the second quarter and could be out for some time.

"To beat a team like Miami is a great accomplishment, and to be 5-1 is something we're very proud of. Hell, we only won five games all year," head coach Jon Gruden said on the postgame show on WDAE.

Chris Simms did well enough especially on Tampa Bay's first drive of the second half, which came after the Dolphins had cut the lead to 10-6. Simms completed his first six passes -- he would end the game 6-for-10 -- as the Bucs got a field goal.

"Definitely made some good throws that first drive of the second half," Simms said. "We had some guys that made some plays for me. We put together a good drive to get some momentum going in the second half."

Simms was not required to pass the ball much more because of what ensued the rest of the quarter. Michael Pittman ran for a huge 57-yard touchdown, while the defense got on the board for the first time this year with a Will Allen 33-yard fumble return to give Tampa Bay a comfortable 27-6 margin.

While Pittman had 15 carries for 127 yards and Earnest Graham had 17 for 50 yards, the much-talked about Dolphins situation was feckless. Ricky Williams had eight yards on five attempts and Ronnie Brown contributed 22 yards and a score on nine carries.

"Our run defense is working really well right now. I can see why they got away from it," said Ryan Nece on the postgame show.

Pittman's wild TD run on 3rd-and-1 put the Bucs ahead by two touchdowns with 1:45 left in the third. He appeared to be caught by Jason Taylor in the backfield on the pitch play but made a juke to get loose, and then actually almost got caught by Jason Taylor after celebrating too soon. Then with six seconds left in the quarter Greg Spires sacked Gus Frerotte to knock the ball loose, and Allen returned the fumble 33 yards for an easy touchdown and a 27-6 lead.

The Bucs stuffed Williams on a fourth down but Graham fumbled on the next play, and Ronnie Brown's 8-yard run with 10 minutes left has drawn the Dolphins to within 27-13. Miami was threatening to make a game of it but Simeon Rice made a huge play, sacking Gus Frerotte with 5:21 left as Booger MacFarland recovered in Miami territory.

Tampa Bay was up 10-3 at the half but Miami took the opening drive of the third quarter 38 yards to set up Olindo Mare's 53-yard field goal. Simms completed his first six passes of the quarter to set up Matt Bryant's 32-yarder to get the Buc lead back up to seven points at 13-6.

In the second quarter Griese took a hit and went down with what looked like a serious injury. Despite shooing away the medical personnel cart and walking off under his own power, Griese has a knee sprain and is out for the game. Griese was having a good day, completing 12 of 16 passes for 120 yards and a score.

Joey Galloway had three third-down receptions, the last a 7-yard touchdown, as the Bucs took the opening drive 78 yards for a touchdown to grab an early 7-0 lead. Galloway finished with nine catches for 96 yards. Miami came back with Olindo Mare's 47-yard field goal on its first crack to draw to within 7-3. The Bucs again got the offense rolling on the next possession with a 21-yard pass to Galloway, a 23-yard catch and rumble by Mike Alstott and a 16-yard scamper. The Bucs had to settle for a 36-yarder by Matt Bryant with 1:10 left in the quarter.

Tampa Bay got a scare on Miami's first play from scrimmage, when linebacker Shelton Quarles was hurt while helping make a tackle on Ricky Williams. Quarles walked gingerly off the field and has a bruised hip. He got back in the game, and got a big workout on Miami's last play of the quarter, covering Chris Chambers 65 yards down the field on a play that very nearly went for a touchdown.

Pittman, the starting running back for a second straight week, had a big 33-yard run to get the Bucs down to the Miami 25. Earlier on a 3rd-and-9 Griese found Galloway over the middle for 19 yards and later from the 20, the duo hooked up again for a 10-yarder.
From 620 WDAE online...best station on the planet!