By Joseph Cairoli
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-3) took on the New York Giants (3-7) in an NFC matchup on Monday Night Football. The Buccaneers who are sitting atop the NFC South came in fresh off a disappointing loss to the Washington Football Team. The Giants who are currently last in NFC East won against a sputtering Las Vegas Raiders team last week.
The Buccaneers received the opening kickoff and got to work immediately, an eight play opening drive capped off by a touchdown by Chris Godwin on a 14 yard screen pass from Tom Brady. The Buccaneers came out with a steady pace, getting the ball to Godwin early and often on the first drive. Leonard Fournette only recorded one rush attempt for 7 yards on the opening drive.
The Giants looked to answer back with a lengthy 15 play drive that ultimately resulted in a field goal. Saquon Barkley had three rushes for 10 yards in his first drive back from an ankle injury that has kept him sidelined for the Giants last 4 games. Daniel Jones spread the ball around with a number of short passes.
The Buccaneers followed up with slow methodical eighteen play drive that resulted in a Ryan Succop field goal. The longest drive of the game went from Tampa Bay’s own 14 yard line all the way to the New York 7 where they shut the door to keep the game within a score. The highlight of their second drive coming when 44 year old Tom Brady scampered for a 10 yard gain on a third down.
After a Giants three and out, Tom Brady and the Bucs got the ball on their own 15 yard line and promptly threw an interception to Adoree’ Jackson. Jackson got to the 5 yard line and set up a prime scoring opportunity for his team. First Jones tried his luck up the middle, got three yards and set up a second and goal on the Bucs two yard line. Daniel Jones took a snap under centre and floated it up for the 6’5 315lb tackle Andrew Thomas! His first career touchdown, he reported as an eligible receiver and slipped in behind the Buccaneers front for the easy score.
The Buccaneers with one more opportunity to put points on the board before half went down the field, eight plays seventy-one yards capped off by a Ronald Jones touchdown running off the left tackle. Rojo and Leonard Fournette saw similar workloads on the ground with Fournette rushing 10 times for 35 yards, Jones getting 8 attempts for 33 yards and the touchdown. Fournette however did add 6 receptions and 39 yards through the air. Buccaneers went into the half leading by seven.
The Giants struggled throughout the second half, getting shut out as Tampa Bay cruised to the victory. Tom Brady threw a five yard touchdown pass to Mike Evans, then Ryan Succop nailed a pair of field goals to make it 30-10, and that was the final score.
Tom Brady finished with 307 yards passing, 2 passing touchdowns and 1interception. Daniel Jones finished with 167 yards passing, 1 touchdown and 2 picks. The Buccaneers will be in Indianapolis to take on the Colts next Sunday, and the Giants will be at home to welcome their NFC East rivals the Philadelphia Eagles. Both games take place at 1 o’clock PM EST.
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