By: John Mamola
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers drop their second game in a row to fall to 3-3 on the road this season with a 31-23 loss to the Denver Broncos. With the win, the Broncos clinch the AFC West as Peyton Manning shines again passing for 242 yards and three touchdowns.
The Buccaneers were behind the eight ball right from the start of the game as the Buccaneers defense simply had no answers against Peyton Manning and the Broncos offense. Manning leading a ten play drive on their opening possession concluding with a one yard touchdown pass to Mitch Unrein, putting Denver up 7-0. The catch was Unrien’s first of his career.
The Buccaneers offense came back with back to back scoring drives to end the first quarter. A Connor Barth 31 yard field goal followed by a Dallas Clark 11 yard touchdown catch on the next possession put the Buccaneers ahead 10-7.
The Buccaneers took that lead into the half, but like much of his hall of fame career Peyton Manning woke up after the break. The Broncos scored 21 unanswered points on back to back Demaryius Thomas touchdown catches and a Von Miller 26 yard interception return for a touchdown. The Broncos led 28-10 after three quarters.
The Buccaneers did not stop fighting. The Bucs added a couple of Connor Barth field goals, including a season long 55 yarder in the fourth quarter. The Bucs also pulled within eight on a Mike Williams five yard touchdown catch with just under two minutes to play. However it was too little too late for the Buccaneers as they fall for the second straight week.
Josh Freeman finished the game 18-39 for 242 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Doug Martin finished with 56 yards rushing and 98 all purpose yards.
The Buccaneers move to 6-6 on the season but still are out of a current NFC playoff spot as the Seahawks were winners in Chicago on Sunday. They will host the Philadelphia Eagles next Sunday as the organization honors the tenth anniversary of the 2002 Super Bowl Champion Buccaneers. You can catch all the action on 620am WDAE beginning at 10:30am with the pre-game, and a 1:00pm kickoff.
