Posted by  Lou Brock, Delaware on 09/15  at  10:07 AM

I simply can not believe that fans are doubting the win and complaining about blown calls for the Vikings. Hey, the Patriots and Eagles got to the Super Bowl thanks to some of those calls along the way. I am still not sold on Greise because Galloway had two men beat in the end zone and he did not have the arm strength to reach him. I love the Bucs and what they have done. I personally see Sunday as a win hands down but if by some remote chance they didn’t, I’ll get over it. I still love the Bucs. This team will improve every week. I guarantee that and I’m with them until the end. I’m what you call a real fan!

Posted by  bob, ny on 09/15  at  12:51 AM

since the glazers come from upstate ny,hopefully they will not get too upset if their team gets manhandled by the buffalo defense.

Posted by  joe, Sunshine state on 09/13  at  01:49 PM

We have the real deal coming in this week...hold off the celebration until we see what we can do against a REAL DEFENSE.  Go BUCS!

Posted by  Greg Donoghue, Bradenton on 09/13  at  09:11 AM

Offensive line needs to maintain their blocks longer. They were up against a big beefy Defensive Line and despite all the praise, just barely held their own. Too many plays had them standing around while their running backs were mugged by 6 or 7 Vikings. Put em back on the sleds, they need the work.

Posted by  Dan, Treasure Island on 09/13  at  06:21 AM

One Game Does Not make a Season!

There was a bad call for interferance on a Viking defender. That call would have changed the whole complection of the game. Yes, we’ve had our share of bad calls and I don’t believe that’s over yet… so I’ll enjoy the cheap win for what it is.

On the other side, Both the Offense and the Defense played well and a big Kudo for new comers Alexander Smith and Carnell Williams. Welcome to the NFL.  I didn’t hear any penalties of Walker either… Surprise , surprise.
Congratulations…

Posted by  Larry, lakeland on 09/12  at  09:18 PM

Where’s the screen plays? Cadillac would excel at this. We were lucky to get that win with Culpepper getting hot down the middle. We need to blitz on every play or a average passer, with time, will eat us up.The Bucs cannot keep throwing those interceptions, take that play out of the phone book. I know it’s a dream but the shotgun would help keep our quarterbacks out of the ER.

Posted by  Victor Barney, Lehigh Acres, Florida on 09/12  at  07:13 PM

While I’m very happy about the win, I still am not convinced that Brian Griese is the best of the quarterbacks! If we’re going with the young, I think that quarterback, Chris Simms, would be a good place to start! I’m not sure that Galloway, “Cadillac” and Smith can pull if off consistently with Brian at the helm. At least they kept him from losing another game in the fourth quarter. This time I had the feeling that Joey Galloway saved Brian Griese from his typical tunnel vision offense! Time will tell?

Posted by  Mark White, Trinity on 09/12  at  01:53 PM

This team is horrible.

Unless you call a game in which the opposition had 2 touchdowns called, the first call, the offensive P/I, being a total joke. You have to actually touch the other player for it there to be interference. The other touchdown the Vikes scored that was called back was dubious also.

No, this team is far from ‘Back.’

We should count are blessings that we won this one.

Posted by  Shut 'em Critics,  on 09/12  at  12:06 PM

ESPN had the Vikings as Power Ranked #4. Of course, that’s last year’s ranking with Randy Moss’ signature on it.
Yesterday, the Vikings showed lack of offense, thanks to the Bucs’ great defense.

Gruden called too many run plays so that the Vikings were focusing on Cadillac constantly.  Before Caddy’s 71 yd TD run, his numbers were 2.8 yds/run.  I would like to see more play-action passing when the run plays gets so predictable. Galloway and Alex Smith both showed great plays. 

Our defense all played great. Our offense can be just “a bit more offensive by biting and and tearing up” the score.  Don’t let the other teams stay in the game on a tight score!  The last few minutes of the Vikings’ game was STILL TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT.  It’s time to make these games
more boring with EASY WINS- just like those Patriots’ boring victories.

Posted by  Sean Bussey, New Jersey on 09/12  at  11:02 AM

To be a legitimate contender, you must do three things: 1) You have to stop the run. It has been my wish for Hovan and McFarland to become the 2nd coming of Warren Sapp and Brad Culpepper. After one game they’re not there yet, but they’re going to be real good. 2) You have to run the ball. Anybody noticed the biggest stat of all won by the Bucs yesterday...Time of Possesion. No, they didn’t win it by a wide margin, but the fact that the Bucs even had the edge in that stat suggest one thing...a lot of 2nd and 6 situations which is a heck of a lot better than 2nd and forever like, in previous seasons. 3) You have to close out teams on defense in the fourth quarter. It wasn’t pretty, but the “D” did something it hadn’t done in two years...close the door in the 4th.
Contenders do these things for sixteen games..only fifteen more to go.....

Posted by  Bruce Miller, St. Louis, Missouri on 09/12  at  10:08 AM

This was a big win, a huge win on the road. The young talent on this team has to know what it takes to win in a hostile place like the Metrodome, and they dug deep and found a way. With the additions of Cadillac and Alex Smith, you now have offensive tools you haven’t had in a while. The defense shined again in creating turnovers and keeping Tampa in the game. It’s too quick to label this team as a title contender, but 9-7 or 8-8 is not out of the question.

Posted by  Ron Undieme, St Petersburg on 09/12  at  09:10 AM

Someone should tell Coach Gruden that there are four quarters to a football game. The offense looked great in the second quarter and Cadillac looked great for the last 2 minutes of the fourth quarter. But the rest of the game looked like last year’s Bucs. I hate to see Gruden get a couple of points ahead and go ultra conservative. Let’s see if they can play a whole game.

Posted by  Diane Collins, Tampa, Fl on 09/12  at  09:04 AM

How incredibly refreshing!!!  In some ways a sloppy win, but a great preview of possiblities to come.  Most of all, I loved the passion of the defense and the young guys.  Brian Greise has improved and reminds me of...Brad Johnson.  By the way, I didn’t see Brad on the Vikings sideline.  GO BUCS!

Posted by  Lou Brock, Delaware on 09/12  at  08:00 AM

Minnesota’s defense is going to be that good which makes this victory even sweeter. I can guarantee that there will not be another back that comes close to the yards that Cadillac got against them. With Clayton, Cadillac, Smith, Ruud, Allen, Cooper, etc...our team is younger and the future looks bright! I am proud as heck of my Bucs on turning it back around. We may not make the playoffs this year but we’re headed in the right direction.

Posted by  JPMoore7, Charlotte NC on 09/12  at  07:22 AM

Great team effort, but we must stop the other teams’ tight ends from gaining YAC or at the line.  The defense can’t be lax at any time any day!!  The offensive line must protect the pocket and block for all run formations with no offsides. I prefer Mercedes and BMW, but I would drive this Cadillac.

Posted by  Lee Nathan, Bama on 09/12  at  02:35 AM

Caddy starts a might slow most years.  Ya’ll ain’t seen nothing yet!

Posted by  A. Forero, Peosta, IA on 09/11  at  11:42 PM

The rookie draft class looks great, The Defense looked tough! 

With the Caddy on the field there is always the possiblity of him breaking a big run.

If the defense continues to cause turnovers, the sky is the limit! 

Gooooo Bucs!!

Posted by  Chet Crum, st. pete beach on 09/11  at  09:53 PM

Loved it!!  Defense is back and we have more young offensive weapons.  However, Coach Gruden, the third qtr. plays seemed conservative compared with the second qtr.  The stats show you need 24 points to get to the Super Bowl, how about getting them, then slow it down.  The final minutes of games like this are really tough on the fans!

Posted by  rocko, detroit on 09/11  at  09:44 PM

the buc D is baaaaaccck and i like what they bring, too many flags for me, and what happen to the 2TE and rocket backfield, too much HB TOSS. go bucs

Posted by  Thomas Peluso, Floral Park, NY on 09/11  at  09:19 PM

While this is an awesome win for our boys that should either shut a lot of critics up or at least make them think twice before doubting us, there’s still a lot of kinks they need to iron out before we can realistically call them championship contenders. Cadillac was definitely game today, but I’d like to see him get some more consistent gains (there were too many 1 & 2-yarders for my liking) and while the defense did its job, it shouldn’t have to rely on timely turnovers or penalties to do so. There’s still 15 more games to go… but this is certainly a much better start than what we had last year.

Posted by  Adam Locascio, Tampa on 09/11  at  08:25 PM

Every ESPN analyst picked the Bucs to lose this one. I would like to see if this D-line can handle a big back like a McAllister or a Stephen Davis before we start polishing the trophy.

I will say this: it’s about time we have a home-run threat in our backfield. If that was Pittman he would have either tripped or been caught from behind.

Posted by  Chris Bugden, Brisbane Australia on 09/11  at  07:41 PM

Remember… Just one game. The real test will come against the power running games in our own division. I agree that they looked very good today, but there is a lot of ball to be played.

Posted by  Jome of Lutz/Land O' Lakes, Santa Barbara California on 09/11  at  06:41 PM

Great win.  This time last year it took a few weeks to get where the team is, one win.  A step in the right direction, but remaining healthy and keeping all of our contributors on the field will be the key to a successful 2005 season.  Go Bucs!!

Posted by  Carl, North Carolina on 09/11  at  06:30 PM

Seems like back to back losing seasons has made the “experts” forget about what made this team great to start with.  Today the defense served up a very nice reminder.  As long the defense is healthy and we can make field goals the Bucs will be contenders.  Cadillac is just icing on the cake.

Posted by  Daniel, Tampa on 09/11  at  05:58 PM

Remember folks that last year we lost 3 or 4 games as a result of the kicking game. In a weak NFC, making those kicks would have put us in the playoffs. Getting Booger back and adding Hovan is like two additional first round picks on our already stout D-line. Most experts said our defense is too old, obviously they missed the preseason games D. Brooks played in. Our D will be in the top 5 again in points and yards allowed. If Booger stays healthy we should stop the run much better than last year and contend for a playoff spot. Finally the rookies played with passion and purpose, no wonder Gruden was so enamored with Caddy at the Senior Bowl.