Three of the last five game the Bucs have played at the Georgia Dome have been decided by no more than a FG, including the last two games in a row; 2009 and 2008, the latter of which was decided in overtime. It’s been a history of Michael Vick and Simeon Rice, Ronde Barber and Byron Leftwich. It’s a place where a whole stadium was cheering FOR Joey Harrington, where the Bucs gave up 300 yards of rushing offense. It’s where Cadillac Williams came back from his injury. It’s so much, it has to get broken down piece by piece. Follow along, if you can; 2008- Win one game to get into the playoffs, take two- The Bucs had come off an embarrassing performance against the Carolina Panthers where they gave up 300 yards of offense on the Ground. Jeff Garcia was a last minute scratch, but everyone expected Luke McCown to get the start. In what may have been a pivotal decision regarding his employment, Gruden went with Brian Griese instead, who was lackluster at best. The Game went into overtime, where the Falcons took the win with a FG and set the Bucs back in their playoff search. 2007-Ahead Byron Leftwich speed- The Bobby Petrino led Falcons were still under the current Razorback HC’s lead. He made a crazy call on QBs himself going for Byron Leftwich 3 weeks after ankle surgery instead of Joey Harrington who won two games in a row. The Bucs played at a different speed than Leftwich, and dominated him. It was the Biggest margin of victory of Atlanta IN Atlanta ever in Bucs history.
2006- The Chris Simms redemption game? um…no: Chris Simms had a terrible opening game against the Ravens, and needed to show some more of that 2005 stuff. Instead, we saw more chew out, Cuss sessions from Jon Gruden than we ever want to see again. The next week Simms would lose his spleen, and never start in the NFL again.
2005- Following up the Redskin Classic, with a Cadillac Comeback: The Bucs were fresh of one of the Best Wins since the 2000 Rams game on MNF. A dramatic win over the Redskins full of 2 point conversions, Mike Alstott dives over the top for Touchdowns, and just an overall classic win with 70 points scored by both teams. But the Bucs wanted to play offense with a ground game, not rely on Simm’s arm all day. The first play of the game, Cadillac Williams takes the handoff and goes 30 yards. He would have his first 100 yard game since the 3rd week of the season, and re-established himself as the Bucs main rushing threat. In a game that went back and forth, the Bucs who were down 27-20, scored 10 points in the final 1:55 after Derrick Brooks made a monster takeaway.
2004- The frantic comeback, then the stall- The first 20 minutes of this game, Atlanta took a 17-0 lead! The Bucs recovered and with 10 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter, brought the game to within 17-14. But then Both teams decided to play defense. Possession after Possession, neither team was able to do anything. You cant let a team stay around like that though, because Atlanta ended up scoring on a 49 yard play to Alge Crumpler, and a 24 to 14 win. 2003-An easy win fools Bucs fans into thinking everything was alright- Fresh off a disastrous loss to the Carolina Panthers where the Bucs could not complete a point after conversion to win, the Bucs blew out the Falcons who were without the services of one Michael Vick. It made everyone think things were just fine in Bucland. The next week, the Bucs would take on the Colts on Monday Night Football. So much for thinking everything was all fine! 2002- Super Bowl Champs look anything but Super, …except on the final period where Mr. Derrick Brooks scored yet ANOTHER Bucs defensive TD, this time with the help of Warren Sapp.
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