What's Up?
While they were playing the 1-5 Seattle Seahawks on Sunday Night Football, the Buccaneers' 20-10 victory was nonetheless impressive. Pro Bowl quarterback Jeff Garcia completed 75 percent of his passes and threw for 310 yards and one touchdown. On the defensive side of the ball, the Monte Kiffen-led "Tampa 2" held the Seahawks offense to just 176 total yards. Garcia, who lost his starting job to Brian Griese earlier this season, has been nothing short of efficient since regaining the starting role two weeks ago. The team is now 10-6 all-time with Garcia under center.
Chalk Talk
If the Cowboys offensive line had trouble blocking Arizona Cardinals defensive end Bertrand Berry and St. Louis Rams defensive end Leonard Little, then expect more of the same when Cowboys tackles Flozell Adams and Marc Colombo take on Buccaneers pass rusher Gaines Adams. While Adams has recorded just two sacks this season, he is by far Tampa Bay's most athletic pass rusher. The second-year defensive end out of Clemson consistently ran around Seahawks All-Pro left tackle Walter Jones on Sunday, and has even tallied two interceptions this season, including one returned for a touchdown. The Cowboys have allowed seven of their 10 sacks this year in the past three games, a troubling trend no matter who is at quarterback.
Connections
It's hard to imagine that just four years ago (2004) Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett was one of the backup quarterbacks for the Buccaneers . . . Speaking of backup quarterbacks, Brad Johnson won a Super Bowl with Tampa Bay in 2002 . . . Buccaneers wide receiver Antonio Bryant caught 99 passes for the Cowboys from 2002-2004 . . . Tampa Bay wideout Joey Galloway had a successful, yet oft-injured, stint with the Cowboys from 2000-2003.
Miscellaneous
Since beating the Green Bay Packers last November, the Cowboys are just 6-6 including the playoff loss to the New York Giants . . . The Cowboys only have two teams left on their schedule with losing records . . . Tampa Bay head coach Jon Gruden is 3-1 all-time when facing the Cowboys, but is just 1-2 against Wade Phillips coached teams . . . Gruden and Phillips are the only active head coaches in the league to have coached three Pro Bowl quarterbacks. Gruden has found success with Rich Gannon, Brad Johnson and Jeff Garcia, while Phillips has coached John Elway, Doug Flutie and now Tony Romo . . . The Bucs are one of the few teams with the distinction of having a top 10 offense and defense in the NFL. They currently rank eighth in offense and ninth in defense. The Cowboys recently lost that distinction, falling to 11th in defense while the offense ranks third.
