Griese, Pittman had something to prove to their former teams

By Jeff Dickinson  |   Tuesday, October 07, 2008  |  Comments( 2 )

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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After being in a Denver uniform for the first five years of his career, there is no doubt that Brian Griese wanted to help the Tampa Bay Buccaneers go on the road and stick it to the Broncos last Sunday. At one time, Griese was in line to be the heir apparent to John Elway. He ended up being bounced out of town and hasn’t exactly had a stellar career since then.

Griese, whose team was on the wrong side of a 16-13 decision, wasn’t the only player who had something to prove to the opposition as the Bucs battled the Broncos. In fact, ex-Tampa running back Michael Pittman, currently in Denver after spending six years as a Buccaneer, must have relished the opportunity to try to play a contributing role against his former team.

Commentary: Prior to getting knocked out with an elbow injury midway through the third quarter, Griese was having a pretty average game. He didn’t have any turnovers, but he also didn’t do much to impress. In all, he was 13 of 19 for just 88 yards.

Griese had to sit helplessly on the sideline during the fourth quarter while backup Jeff Garcia was unsuccessfully trying to rally Tampa Bay. Meanwhile Pittman, who had only carried the ball once in the game prior to the fourth quarter, became the go-to guy for the Broncos in crunch time.

As the Broncos were trying to preserve their three-point lead with just under 2 minutes left in the game, Pittman got a first down by gaining 12 yards on two carries to ice it for Denver. Although he only amassed 39 yards on the ground, Pittman had 22 of them in the fourth quarter to help the Broncos burn time off the clock.

Fan Pulse: Now who leads the Bucs: Griese or Garcia? This is the hot topic on most fan sites involving Tampa Bay football. Because Garcia came in for the injured Griese and led the Bucs on a 90-yard scoring drive, many fans think he should be reinstated as the starter. Remember, Garcia was a Pro Bowler last season after leading Tampa to an NFC South title.

Fantasy Football Impact: The good news for the Bucs is that they are developing a solid two-pronged rushing combination in Earnest Graham and Warrick Dunn. The bad news is that the reemergence of Dunn with Tampa Bay is taking fantasy points away from Graham. Several weeks ago, Graham was a lock in fantasy leagues to provide between 10 to 15 points each game. Now it’s anyone’s guess as to which back will get the bulk of the carries.

Injury Watch: Griese is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers. Also questionable for the Carolina game is linebacker Barrett Ruud, who missed part of the second half in Denver with a knee injury.
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About Jeff Dickinson

I have been writing and editing professionally for 18 years. I spent the first three years of my career as a sportswriter for a daily newspaper in Alabama and got to cover sports and get paid for it! It was great until I got married and then it wasn't too much fun being away from my wife every ...
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