It was the battle for bragging rights in the state of Florida. It always is when these two teams meet. Neither team had been having a stellar season going into the game, with the Buccaneers at 1-7 and the Dolphins at 3-5. That said, those records can be deceiving. The Buccaneers recently got their first win of the season and are in a rebuilding stage. They were feeling good and always seem to put up a fight. The Dolphins are primarily a wildcat team on offense, which gives them a smash-mouth, in-your-face style. It was heart versus nasty on Sunday, and the close scored showed it.
The Buccaneers drew first blood with a 51-yard field goal early in the first quarter. It didn’t take long for the Dolphins to counter with a Ronnie Brown touchdown. A similar trend continued throughout the remainder of the first half, with the Dolphins having led 19-6 at halftime. Nobody knows if they felt comfortable with that lead, but if they truly knew the Buccaneers, they would have known they were in for a brutal fight to the end.
Josh Freeman, the rookie quarterback who led the team to their first win last week over the Green Bay Packers, once again led his team back into a game that seemed out of reach. The Buccaneers scored a field goal in the second half, then a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. They scored another touchdown late in the fourth quarter when Carnell (Cadillac) Williams rushed to the right for a one yard touchdown.
With a two point lead and about a minute to go, it was looking like the Buccaneers were going to win their second game in a row behind their rookie quarterback. But the Dolphins had plans of their own. A two minute drive led by Chad Henne got them all the way down to the Buccaneers 10-yard-line with only ten seconds left. Place Kicker Dan Carpenter split the uprights on his 25-yard attempt, dashing the hopes of the Buccaneers and giving the Dolphins new hope for the season.
Ricky Williams led all rushers with 102 yards on 20 carries. However, he did not find the end zone. Kellen Winslow led all receivers with 102 yards on 7 catches, although he didn’t find the end zone, either.
It’s hopeful that this rivalry will continue to be as entertaining as it was today.
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