Short Passes Lead to Long Day for Bucs’ Defense

TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers claimed to know the answers even before Eli Manning and the Giants’ offense provided the test Sunday in their National Football Conference wild-card playoff game. anarchy online credits ao credits Instead, Tampa Bay looked frustrated as Manning meticulously picked apart the Buccaneers’ defense during a 24-14 victory, a lesson in game management. cabal online alz cabal alz The Bucs’ defense, ranked No. 2 in the N.F.L. and No. 1 against the pass, did not intercept a pass or cause a fumble, turnovers Tampa Bay surely figured it could count on entering the game. A defense that claimed to be ready to slug it out against running back Brandon Jacobs and to bewilder Manning into game-breaking errors appeared worn down and unable to make basic adjustments. city of heroes Influence coh influence coh powerlevel “We knew what they were going to do,” Buccaneers strong safety Jermaine Phillips said. “They did what we wanted them to do. We thought they were going to go downfield more, and they never did. They were scared of our pass rush, I guess. But they were really patient.” city of villains infamy cov infamy cov powerlevel Manning’s longest completion was for 21 yards, to the rookie receiver Steve Smith, who accounted for about half the yardage after the catch. Manning was 20 of 27 for 185 yards, and his 9.2 yards per completion might have been seen as airtight coverage on the part of Tampa Bay’s pass defenders had the Giants lost. dofus kamas buy dofus kamas But Manning was so accurate that only two of his misfires were credited to the Buccaneers as passes broken up (compared with seven for the Giants). eve online isk eve isk eq gold eq plat eq platinum everquest gold everquest plat everquest platinum eq2 gold eq2 plat eq2 platinum everquest 2 gold everquest 2 plat everquest 2 platinum “It was all dinky-dunk routes,” defensive tackle Chris Hovan said. “If we had a little more pressure, get Eli patting the ball a little bit back there, we might have got a big play or turnover and given our offense a short field to work with.” final fantasy XI gil ffxi gil final fantasy gil Manning was sacked once. His pump-fakes and quick, improvised throws to secondary receivers seemed part of the Giants’ strategy, although Manning said the Buccaneers caused him to recock his arm numerous times. gaia online gold gaia gold “They just did a good job of guys flashing in lanes,” Manning said. “They do a great job getting turnovers. My thought process was to play really safe, don’t force anything.” guild wars gold gw gold The Buccaneers’ defense guessed wrong several times during a 15-play, 92-yard drive that started late in the third quarter and that gave the Giants a 24-7 lead. imvu credits imvu money As they had much of the game, the Buccaneers seemed inches from deflecting Manning’s passes, only to see him complete 6 of 7 attempts on the drive, which took 8 minutes 37 seconds off the clock. l2 adena lineage 2 adena “We were unable to make plays like we’re used to making them,” cornerback Phillip Buchanon said. maple story mesos maplestory mesos maple story mesos eu maplestory mesos eu “Eli, he really played kind of poor,” Buchanon added. “He was not even trying to make any longer throws or do anything drastic. But the game plan they had for him was a good one. They played it safe. It was all real controlled, safe pass patterns. mu online jewel mu jewel mu online zen mu zen “He did a good job. But we missed tackles on crucial plays and couldn’t get many pass breakups.” rs gold cheap rs gold buy rs gold runescape gold runescape coin runescape money runescape item runescape powerlevel Giants wide receivers Amani Toomer and Plaxico Burress often used their bodies as shields to aid Manning and keep the smaller Buccaneers at bay. Toomer caught seven passes for 74 yards and Burress had four receptions for 38 yards. second life linden second life money buy second life linden cheap second life linden sl linden sl money In all, seven Giants caught passes as Manning compiled a 117.1 rating, the second highest against the Buccaneers this season. silkroad online gold sro gold “Their passing game is tough to defend,” Bucs cornerback Ronde Barber said. “You had to position yourself against Plaxico and Amani and we had a hard time doing it. Those guys are good. I wish them well.” star wars galaxies credits swg credits Barber said last week that Manning could be easily forced into bad plays, perhaps wanting to dare Manning into bravado. world of warcraft gold wow gold cheap wow gold On Sunday, Manning did not take the bait and responded with a near flawless performance. world of warcraft europe gold wow gold europe wow eu gold “We gave him some good looks, some easy reads, and he made a whole bunch of quick throws that were hard to defend,” Barber said.

Phillips added: “We definitely left some plays out there. We tried to adjust, we tried to get them out of their game plan, but it was just too late.”

For Manning and the Giants, the answers came in a timely manner.