Daily Loaf

Welcome to the post-Rays, almost-all-Bucs version of the sports roundup.

The Bucs 30-27 overtime victory over the Kansas City Chiefs — the first time they had played in K.C. since 1986 — was the most nerve-racking, entertaining Bucs game I’ve seen in a good long while. A gyroscope-inside-a-cement-mixer-on-a-rollercoaster type game. Much weirdness:

The 21-point comeback (from 24-3) was, according to local radio announcers, the biggest in Bucs history.

Steady Earnest Graham fumbled twice, at very inopportune times. Funny enough, it was after his second fumble, with 3:28 left in the game, when the Bucs were about to score a TD to pull within two points, that I said to my deflated group of fellow watchers: Plenty of time left. The Bucs’ll score, get the two-point conversion and win it in overtime. That, of course, is what happened. How’s that for pigskin prognosticating?

Rookie Clifton Smith, just put on the active roster last week to return kicks, provided the big momentum shift with a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, closing the gap to 24-10. It was the second kickoff return for a touchdown in Bucs franchise history. Smith later fumbled in a key spot (as he did last week). Even though he’s a terrific upgrade at returner (over deactivated Dexter Jackson), he doesn’t want to be the kind of player who, when carrying the ball, has fans yelling, “Hold on to it. Just hold on to it!”

In the first half, Fox play-by-play guy Ron Pitts, speaking of receiver Michael Clayton, said, “Clayton’s starting to get some balls.” What he meant was: Clayton’s starting to make some catches. Pitts’ comment must’ve been a good omen. Clayton’s 35-yard catch-and-run in overtime was the key play in the final drive.

Jeremy Trueblood’s false start penalty before Matt Bryant’s 38-yard field goal try in OT turned out to be a good thing. Bryant missed the kick (whether it was because the whistle blew, we’ll never know); the Bucs backed up five yards, but because the attempt was on third down, they went back on offense, Gracia threw a nine-yard pass to fullback Jameel Cook, which set up Bryant’s 34-yard try, which he knocked straight through.

Referee Ed Hochuli (my ‘roid-ar just went off again) is usually like Darth Vader and the Grim Reaper combined when he handles Bucs games. And for most of the contest it looked like it was going to be another typical Bucs day with Hochuli at the officiating helm. But then his crew called the offensive interference penalty against Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez — which I thought could’ve been a no-call — and the Hochuli hex took a hiatus.

One last thought on the Bucs: What a tough team to get a bead on. They’re 6-3 and in the playoff mix, but the offense is not consistently in rhythm. The defense is the heart of the club, but looked dreadful in the first half of the K.C. game. Chiefs QB Tyler Thigpen looked like an All-Pro.

It was a gutty comeback by the Tampa Bay club, but it should’ve never to come to that. The Bucs started the contest as if they thought they could just check it off in the win column. Cliche time: This is a team without an identity, other than that it has a good record for no apparent reason. We’ll call ‘em gritty survivors for now. But as the season progresses, their identity had better become more well defined.

On to some non-Bucs stuff:

Is it me, or is the Christie Brinkley/Chevy Chase (”are you gonna go for it?”) commercial for Direct TV completely insufferable? And, gee, do you think they run it enough? I’m not exaggerating when I say that I probably have seen that spot 60 times in the last two weeks. I’ve taken to grabbing the remote and pushing the first button I can.

After arriving home, I turned on the Giants/Cowboys game, and even though New York was drubbing Dallas — any Cowboys drubbing makes me feel warm ‘n’ fuzzy all over — I had this strange, vaguely sick feeling. Then I realized: Joe Buck was calling the game, the same voice that presided over the Rays shellacking by the Phillies.

And a final thought: Why do the Rays, from the front office to the coaching staff to the players, seem so happy? They just LOST the fucking WORLD SERIES!

Links:

The Kansas City Star nailed it when it said the Chiefs self-destructed against the Bucs.

The local Bucs mag, the Pewter Report, grades the different units. Here’s its take on the offense. The wide receivers topped the O with an A-.

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