The Tampa Bay Buccaneers opened up the fourth and final preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on offense, and with Ryan Griffin under center. Griffin led the offense near midfield before almost being intercepted on a 3rd-and-8 and punting the ball to Jacksonville.
The Jaguars first drive was similar to Tampa Bay’s, as it stalled around midfield, and ended in a punt to the Bucs. After the Bucs second drive went nowhere but backwards, a punt that originated inside the Bucs 10-yard-line left the Jags with good field position. The Jags offense would drive into Bucs territory, and finish with a 51-yard field goal from Josh Lambo.
The first quarter would end, mercifully at 3-0 Jaguars.
The Buccaneers would move their next drive into Jaguars territory early in the second quarter. After Ronald Jones converted a short yardage first down on a third down, Bobo Wilson would take a reverse inside the Jags red zone to the 16-yard-line. It wasn’t long before Griffin was finding rookie wide out Justin Watson for a two-yard touchdown to put the Bucs ahead 7-3 after a Chandler Catanzaro extra point with just under 10 minutes to play in the first half.
After the Bucs forced another Jacksonville punt, Griffin once again got the Bucs offense moving, and after the drive stalled at the 14-yard-line, Catanzaro came in to stretch the lead to 10-3 with a 31-yard field goal with just under four minutes to play in the first half.
The Jags final drive would stall in Bucs territory once again, and another good punt from Logan Cooke forced the Bucs to start at their own 7-yard-line. A few moments later the teams would head into the half with the Bucs ahead 10-3 after Griffin tossed a Hail Mary from the Bucs 49-yard-line that fell to the ground in the end zone.
The Jaguars would take the opening drive of the second half and march right down the field for a 75-yard touchdown drive, and then Doug Marrone, like a true gentleman, sent his team out for a 2-point conversion to insure the game would not be tied. After the failed attempt, the Bucs lead 10-9.
The Bucs next drive wouldn’t last long, as Austin Allen was sacked by Blair Brown who forced a fumble which was recovered by Carroll Phillips who returned it all the way for the touchdown and a 15-10 Jags lead.
The Bucs did absolutely nothing in the third quarter, and the quarter was capped by another Jags touchdown when Tim Cook punched it in from a yard out to push the score to 22-10 heading into the final god forsaken quarter of preseason football.
After more unimpressive football from the Bucs offense in the fourth, the Jaguars were able to tack on another field goal to extend the lead to 25-10 in front of the fans who were still in the building, which, could have been counted, if we had the patience.