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Biggest plus was the disciplined play. Few penalties, and few mistakes. Brunell's underthrown pass to Cooley early on was an exception, as was the botched handoff that led to TB's only touchdown. Brunell should have fallen on the ball and taken the loss. Our defense has shown their ability to hold, so there is really no cause to force plays on offense.
Speaking of the defense, that has to be the second biggest bright spot of the game. They only allowed a single field goal, and even that should be blamed more on the poor special teams play leading to great field position for TB.
Portis also had a great game. It seemed to me that this was often in spite of the OL's play, not because of it. The bigger plays were the result of Portis' improvisation, cutting back against the grain instead of running into holes that should have been there, but were not. In the OL's defense, they did not give up any sacks. That has to be worth something. But I just can't get over the picture of Randy Thomas getting sat on his can, and the resulting penetration stopping Portis for a loss in the backfield. That kind of thing needs to be fixed, and I've no doubt that Bugel will be taking them to task.
In some respects, I'm glad the game wasn't the blowout that it could have (should have?) been. There are things that the team obviously still needs to learn and to work on, and squeaking one out this way gives Gibbs and co. a teaching opportunity without having to pay for it with a loss.
Go Skins!
--Phin
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