Curtis Painter’s first NFL start was a roller coaster ride. He had a few spectacular highlights, mixed in with several moments he’d rather forget. And although he almost pulled out the victory, at the end of the night the Tampa Bay Buccaneers held off Indianapolis to advance their record to 3-1, while the Colts remain winless and fall to 0-4.
With Peyton Manning looking on from the coach’s box, and backup Kerry Collins pacing the sidelines recovering from “concussion-like symptoms,” Painter got his first start after three years with the Colts as an understudy to Manning.
Unfortunately, he was playing behind the same banged up offensive line that gave up 6 QB hits and 1 sack last week to Pittsburgh. The Buccaneers brought extra pressure all night as they threw a variety of blitzes at Painter. Painter was sacked 4 times and hit 6 times on the night, and he was hurried much more often.
On the positive side when he got time to throw, he made some spectacular completions, including two touchdown passes to Pierre Garcon, one from 87 yards and one from 59 yards. Although he only completed 13 of 30 passes, he accumulated 281 yards and the 2 TDs, with no interceptions for a QB efficiency rating of 99.4. Collins QB efficiency through three games is 65.9.
The second TD pass to Garcon gave the Colts the lead 17-10 with 7:22 left to play in the third quarter, and it seemed like the winless streak could be over.
Josh Freeman and the Bucs rushing attack ultimately had the answer, as they scored two TDs down the stretch to pull out the victory. Freeman ended the game with 287 yards passing and 1 TD.
Bucs running back LeGarrette Blount had his best game of the year, with 127 yards on 25 carries, including the game winning TD on a 35-yard run with 3:26 left in the game. The Bucs had a total of 192 yards rushing on the game.
Tampa Bay goes to San Francisco next week to face the 3-1 49ers, while the winless Colts host the 1-3 Kansas City Chiefs.
