Cadillac Driving Tampa Back Into the End Zone in Week 1

Cadillac Williams was running strong in this game.  

He looks to be back to his old self, and I just hope he stays healthy. I continuously heard the announcer say that Cadillac ran for six or seven yards on most of the plays where he was running the ball.  

Early in the second quarter, Cadillac broke through for a 35-yard run and was stopped short of the endzone by a Cowboy defender.  Cadillac finished the game with 97 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Derrick Ward gave a good performance as well in his regular season debut as a Buccaneer, giving Cadillac a breather in Tampa's 2-2-1 rotation.  Ward ran for 62 yards, 21 receiving yards and a rushing touchdown.  

Earnest Graham did not do much in this game, other than perhaps some blocking, rushing only once for one yard. (Fantasy tip:  If you have Graham, I suggest you drop him unless you also have Cadillac and are in a deep league.)

Regarding the passing game, I saw a lot of overthrown passes by Byron Leftwich, which partially accounted for his 25 completions out of 41 attempts.  

Many of the overthrown passes were about five to ten yards ahead of the intended receiver.  But albeit the errant passes, Leftwich threw for 276 yards and a touchdown, to the Buccaneers' new tight-end Kellen Winslow.

Wide receiver Michael Clayton did not record a touchdown last Sunday, but he did catch five passes for 93 yards.  

At one point, Clayton caught a 20-yard pass in the red zone, where he was immediately hit by a Cowboys safety and yet somehow was still able to hold onto the football and stay upright.  

As a Buccaneers fan, I am excited to see Clayton and Cadillac performing again.

The Buccaneers offensive line took a few hits in the game:  Offensive tackle Jeremy Zuttah and Center Jeff Faine got injured.  Faine is expected to be out for a few weeks.

To improve the depth of the line, the Buccaneers just signed center/guard Sean Mahan. This will be Mahan's third tour with the Buccaneers and one could say he is in Tampa merely until Faine recovers from his injury and is able to start.

Although Mahan is not exactly physically built to play center, he is able to play various positions on the o-line and has the awareness required for the position.

Kicker Mike Nugent's 38-yard field goal was blocked and recovered by the Cowboys, taken back close to mid-field.  The successive drive led to a field goal increasing the Cowboys lead, 6-0.  And with two seconds left in the second quarter, Nugent attempted a 46-yard field goal which went wide to the right.

The Buccaneers secondary allowed three long pass plays which allowed the Cowboys to take the large lead:  a 42-yard pass to Miles Austin in the 2nd quarter, a 66-yard pass to Roy Williams in the 3rd quarter and an 80-yard pass to Patrick Crayton in the 4th quarter.  

It should be noted that Safety Tanard Jackson was absent from the game because on week one his four-week suspension commenced.  Starting week five, the secondary should get stronger but Jackson is just one man.

If the Buccaneers can continue to have this renewed success with the running game and Leftwich becomes more accurate, the Buccaneers could have a strong offense that could bring them back into playoff contention.