Tampa Bay Buccaneers Stop the Run, Talib Exhales and Other Post-Miami Tidbits

There was some good news, some more good news, some not-so-good news and some revelations Saturday night in the Buccaneers third preseason game, a 17-13 win over the Miami Dolphins.

First, cornerback Aqib Talib has dodge a bullet, so to speak. Before the game he got to exhale after he learned his visit to the principal's office last week went pretty good and that he has dodged what some predicted could have been a four-game suspension.

Talib got a no-game suspension and he'll be available for Detroit in Week 1 at Ray-Jay.

Item two on the "good news" front is that against the Dolphins, these Buccaneers actually, get this: stopped the run. We need to repeat that just for the record: The Tampa Bay Buccaneer defense stopped the running game of the Miami Dolphins.

Miami managed to squeeze out 22 yards on 17 carries but its assortment of ball carriers. Good stars all around for Frank Mount Kilimanjaro Okam and the rest of the run stoppers. How about Reggie Bush racking up a minus one-yard on five carries. Raise your hand if you wanted the Bucs to pick up Bush in free agency.

Other good news? How about sacks, did we mention there were sacks? Yes, sacks, those plays where our defensive players nail the other team's quarterback behind the line of scrimmage. There were five, count 'em five Saturday night. Mouseketeer roll call, sound off now: Michael Bennett, Da'Quan Bowers, Tim Crowder, Dakoda Watson, George Johnson, all present and accounted for with yes, sacks!

More good news? LeGarrette Blount has been working his receiving skills. How did you like that 52-yard pitch and catch from Josh Freeman that was mostly Blount, not so much Freeman. Yes, big guy Blount is now a double-threat.

A little more good news: Arrelious Benn appears to be just fine.

A tad more good news: Michael Koenen is the most consistent Buccaneer with his kick-off and punting performances through three games.

One last good-news item: Kellen Winslow's injury was minor, just an ankle ding.

Okay, now for the not-so-good news.

Josh Freeman and the offense were, well, let's be charitable -- not so great.

What it boiled down to is that the Buccaneer first unit and the Dolphin first unit fought to a 10-10 halftime tie.

Freeman needed to look sharp in this game and he wasn't. There were mistakes, some good passes, some bad, an interception negated by a penalty, and generally enough of an iffy performance to cause concern.

If Freeman looks like that this year, performs like he did in the first 30 minutes, well, this could be a long season.  

Take away the pass play to Blount and Freeman went 11-of-22 for 97 yards, and that kind of performance, folks, will not cut it against anyone on this Buccaneer schedule.

Then this bad news: Straight out of How To Lose Football Games 101, the Bucs racked up 15 penalties for 135 yards. That's not going to cut it anytime, anywhere. Even Raheem Morris got flagged for throwing his review flag on a touchdown that wasn't reviewable. Note to Raheem: you had all offseason to read up on the new rule, dammit!

More bad news:  Offensive tackle James Lee would have had to get better to be horrible.

More bad news: Overall, the first team offensive line was stinky, no room for the running game.

More bad news: E.J. Biggars cannot cover a big, physical receiver. Can you say Brandon Marshall made you his (a word that rhymes with witch?).

That should just about cover it.

But wait, here's the worst news of all:

About 1,179 miles away, the Detroit Lions were beating the Beejeebers out of the New England Patriots,  34-10.

In case you missed it, the Detroit defense was all over Tom Brady. They pressured him, sacked him and generally made life miserable for good ole No. 12 and the rest of the Patriot offense.

And Matt Stafford looked the way you hoped Josh Freeman would look. Stafford was sharp and moved the ball consistently on the Patriot defense.

If you watch those Lions, they make you think of last year's Buccaneers.

Suddenly that home opener is looking a lot more difficult.