At 0-3, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have yet to find the winning formula for this year's NFL. On Sunday, they dropped another game, 24-0, to the New York Giants. And the field wasn't the only mess.
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In a game that started in sunshine and turned to heavy rain in the second quarter just after the Giants took a 14-0 lead, nothing seemed to work on offense for the Bucs. The Bucs gained just 86 yards and produced just five first downs, four on their final drive.
Buccaneer runners combined for 28 on 10 carries and QB Byron Leftwich completed seven of 16 passes for 22 yards, no touchdowns and one interception.
In the fourth quarter, second-year man Josh Johnson took over as QB. Johnson got the Bucs' second first down of the game on a 15-yard scramble that jumpstarted their only sustained drive of the game. Johnson got the Bucs down to the Giants five but New York preserved the shutout by denying four passing plays from there.
The Buccaneers' longest pass play of the game was a 15-yard catch by WR Sammie Stroughter on the team's final drive. The longest run was a 15-yard scramble by Johnson, which also made him the team's leading rusher on the day.
The defense barely showed up, and Giants' QB Peyton Manning never felt the impact of a Bucs defender driving him into the mud. The Giants let backup QB David Carr take over early in the fourth quarter after Manning threw a TD pass.
The Giants' rushing attack dominated the Buccaneers, and the failure to stop Manning's passing game hurt, too.
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