Forgotten in the Buccaneers’ four-game winning streak followed by a one-point loss that happened with Tampa in possession of the ball is the fact that the Bucs have a habit under coach Greg Schiano of contesting victory formation late in one-score games.
They did it on Denver on Monday, trailing the Broncos by eight.
Yes, the Broncos. As in Peyton Manning’s Broncos.
Mike Silver of Yahoo! Sports writes that it was “disconcerting” to watch Eli’s less mobile brother move away from the scrum. Silver also decries the practice. “Quick, let’s take a poll,” Silver writes. “Voting yes, Greg Schiano and a few thousand blindly loyal Bucs fans. Voting no, everyone else on earth. The nays have it.”
While the nays may have it, it’s not unanimous. I’m not a Bucs fan, blindly loyal or otherwise. But I think that every game should be played until every game is over. In fact, it’s far less problematic that the Bucs did it on Sunday because the fact that they did it back in Week Two against Eli’s team made it obvious to any future opponents of the Buccaneers that they needed to be ready to -- God forbid -- play football for one more play.