The Buccaneers may have lost 25-23 to the Dolphins, but QB Josh Freeman keeps winning praise from his teammates.
Buccaneers LB Quincy Black had a key interception in the fourth quarter to cap an overall fine day’s work.
Buccaneers coach Raheem Morris said the loss was “solely on me” because of the penalty he picked up just before halftime.
Buccaneers K Connor Barth kicked three field goals of 50 or more yards, tying a league record and setting a franchise mark.
John Romano of the St. Petersburg Times doesn’t think much of the job the Buccaneers defensive line did on the winning Dolphins drive.
Said Dolphins LB Jason Taylor, “We made a lot of mistakes and gave them too many chances to hang
around. Coach always preaches, `You
can’t ignore the signs.’ And there were a lot of signs in this game.
It’s always great to win, but I do realize there’s a lot of things we
need to get to work on.”
Dolphins TE Kory Sperry had three catches for 31 yards and a touchdown in his NFL debut.
The absence of LB Joey Porter didn’t do much to slow down the Dolphins pass rush.
Dave George of the Palm Beach Post writes that Dolphins QB Chad Henne more than made up for his big mistake on the game’s final drive.
Although Barth had a terrific day kicking for the Bucs, Dolphins K Dan Carpenter, who beat Barth out in training camp, had the last laugh with the game-winning field goal.
For more on the Buccaneers and Dolphins, Michael David Smith has the full Morning Aftermath right here.
