Garcia, Tampa Bay defense give Bucs big win over Vikings

By Jeff Dickinson  |   Monday, November 17, 2008  |  Comments( 2 )

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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Adrian Peterson is to the Minnesota Vikings as peanut butter is to jelly. Peterson is the heart and soul of the Minnesota offense; he's the reason the team had jumped back into playoff contention prior to Sunday’s game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Stop Peterson, and Tampa Bay knew it had a good chance to beat the Vikings. The Buccaneers’ defense did just that, limiting Peterson to 85 yards and no touchdowns in their 19-13 victory over the Vikings. The win improved Tampa Bay to 7-3 on the season and helped the Bucs keep pace with NFC South-leading Carolina, while the Vikes fell to 5-5.

Commentary: In addition to Tampa Bay’s stifling defense, which limited Minnesota to 210 total yards on the day, 38-year-old quarterback Jeff Garcia continued to defy Father Time and put together one of his best performances of the season.

Garcia completed 23 of his 30 passes and didn’t throw an interception. Garcia orchestrated the game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter by leading Tampa Bay 69 yards in 13 plays, eating up almost nine minutes of precious time. More importantly, Garcia and the Tampa Bay offense were keeping Peterson off the field.

Fan Pulse: Fans are glad that the Bucs made Peterson ineffective in the fourth quarter.

Fantasy Impact: Garcia is becoming a more solid fantasy football option at quarterback each week. He is not going to be the type of player who throws for four touchdowns, but he manages the game efficiently and limits his mistakes. Fantasy players could do a lot worse than Garcia as their quarterback. Warrick Dunn scored some fantasy points with 53 yards rushing and 65 receiving, but he failed to reach the end zone. Look for his production to increase if Earnest Graham can’t play next week.

Injury Watch: Graham only carried the ball one time before leaving the game with an ankle injury. He has been battling knee and ankle problems for several weeks and it looks like the bulk of the running responsibilities will now fall on Dunn until Cadillac Williams is ready to go.
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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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