Bucs fans no doubt held their collective breath, and didn’t exhale, while Jeff Garcia remained out of the Bucs lineup with a back injury.

The Bucs built a 16-0 lead, largely thanks to four Redskins turnovers in the first half, but Washington crept back into the game while Garcia watched on the sidelines.

As the offense stalled under Bruce Gradkowski, the Redskins threatened in the second half and nearly pulled off the comeback victory until Brian Kelly intercepted a Jason Campbell pass in the end zone to preserve the win.

The Bucs moved to 7-4 and the defense came up with enough big plays to help them keep control of the NFC South. And while Garcia’s return in the second half could provide some relief going forward, it has become apparent that this is a completely different team without Garcia in the lineup.

How far could the Bucs go if Garcia was out for an extended period?

I see Bruce has not improved at all since last year!!! Same Rookie mistakes. I sure hope Jeff Garcia heals fast.

But it was GREAT seeing the “D” shine by creating turnovers. Great Job !!!

As I stated when you asked an earlier question, “Have the Bucs locked up a playoff spot” my story still stands - if Garcia goes down the season is virtually over for Tampa.  Gradkowski still looks awful in the backfield, and since Luke McCown is not showing any signs of life, the backup situation is weak if Garcia goes down.  The team may get a win or two thanks to fantastic play by the defense, but teams do not normally win with zero third down conversions in the second half, zero points, and 16 yards of offense. 

Congradulations to the defense for a fantastic win, and just pray that Garcia is back at full strength soon to keep the team in contention for perhaps more than just a division win.

Why is Gradkowski still on the Bucs roster? This guy is horrible and it boggles my mind why they have not been able to secure a competent backup QB. It’s obvious that the Bucs are just one injury away (to Garcia) to a lost season.

It’s all about Garcia ANNNNNNNNND our defense playing LIGHTS OUT!!!!! this past weekend. Jiminy Christmas we were flying to the ball and Ronde, Brooks, and BK all made game changing plays! It was awesome. What was HORRENDOUS was Buccaneer Bruce Gradcrappy overthrowing Galloway, under throwing Galloway, taking more hits than a Snoop Dogg blunt, and overall playing like *#^@. God help us if Garcia does go down or is hurt for an extended period of time. It was fun however, seeing Garcia pacing the sidelines, just DYING to get back into the game. Props to the defense though for holding this one together. McCown? Maybe he should get the nod next time. BTW, the playoff lock lies in the Saints game. Beat them, take three games up in the division, all but locking it up and allowing us another week or two for a healthy Garcia. We need to find a good nickname for this guy. BTW, no matter what we do, how we do it, COLT BRENNAN.

I don’t know ,but I just watched the day after PC of Gruden and I think even he is questioning what to do with Bruce.

I believe that Gradkowski is one of those players that practices much better than he plays on game day. Gruden thinks alot of this kid,for whatever reason .

You know they used to say Rattay played better than he practiced. And we never got to see his play until the end of the year , when it was all for nothing! Gruden did not like him at all.

I think Luke at least deserves a chance, I not sure but could he do any worse than Bruce. I dont think so!

I guess this all just goes back to Please let Garcia Play!!!!

To be fair, there is a little worse than Grakowski - interceptions.  He has seemed (at least in one game) to lick that problem, and take the sack instead.  Not great, but it is better (looking for any positives at all to Gradkowski’s play).

I think the reason why many fans are so discouraged is that you see improvements after 11 starts (and 12 full games) in most QBs that turn into something.  Remember Doug Williams?  Played in 10 games in 1978 and threw for more TDs than INTs, winning the franchise’s first games.  Then in 1979 led the team to the NFC Championship game with above average play.  How many see Gradkowski taking over now that he has played more than Doug Wililams in his first year and going to the NFC Championship game?  Note that Gradkowski has a big advantage in that this defense is better than the one Wiliams had, although his defense was good as well.

I think that is the crux of the problem - after a similar number of games when Doug Williams played well for a number of years, the fans are not seeing much of any improvement from Gradkowski.  He just does not seem to have the arm to threaten any defense over 10 yards, which will not do it in the NFL today.  Is Luke McCown the answer?  No one knows since he played about one half against a Seattle team when the Bucs had nothing going at all.