Third-year QB Josh Johnson directed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' first-team offense for most of the first half Saturday night at Raymond James Stadium as the home team took a 10-10 tie with the Kansas City Chiefs into the intermission.
Johnson came in after just one series by starting QB Josh Freeman, who suffered an injury to his right thumb on the last play of the Buccaneers' opening drive. Freeman completed two of four passes for 21 yards on the possession to lead the Bucs to a Connor Barth 31-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead.
It was Johnson, however, who regained the lead for the Buccaneers in the second quarter after Kansas City's Matt Cassel had hit WR Jeremy Horne with a six-yard scoring pass. Johnson led a six-play, 88-yard drive capped by WR Micheal Spurlock's 53-yard touchdown catch. Spurlock slipped out of a tackle on the right sideline to break free for most of the play's yardage.
The two teams played the first half quite evenly, with the Bucs gaining 177 yards to the Chiefs' 170. The Chiefs had the only turnover of the first half, a Thomas Jones fumble on the opening possession that set up Freeman's scoring drive. The Bucs had the only penalty of the half, a five-yard defensive holding. Each team converted four of their seven field goal tries and punted twice.
RB Kareem Huggins followed up his strong preseason debut in Miami with another nice outing, this time getting snaps with the first-team offense. Huggins carried three times for 22 yards on the drive that produced Spurlock's score.
The Chiefs tied the game on the final play of the first half, a 28-yard field goal by Ryan Succop that capped a 14-play, 77-yard drive. The Bucs brought in their defensive reserves for that possession, though Cassel and the Chiefs' starting offense stayed on through the half.
The Chiefs won the toss and elected to receive but Barth hit the opening kickoff deep enough to force a touchback. The first play of the game was a quick-hitter that worked, a 13-yard slant from Cassel to Chris Chambers but CB Aqib Talib had tight coverage on WR Dwayne Bowe on second down to force an incompletion. The third play of the game was even better for the home team, as S Tanard Jackson forced Jones to fumble the ball and LB Geno Hayes recovered at the Kansas City 41.
The Bucs quickly found themselves in a third-and-three at the 34 and they had to burn a timeout before the play-clock expired. The Bucs came out of the break with a great call, a fake draw and a bubble screen to WR Mike Williams that gained 16 yards and a first down at the 18. The drive stalled at the 13 but Barth came on to nail a 31-yard field goal and give the Bucs a 3-0 lead just four minutes into the game.
Rookie CB Javier Arenas turned in the game's next big play, breaking several tackles on a 54-yard kickoff return to the Bucs' 47. Bowe caught a 12-yard pass three plays later to give the Chiefs a first down at the Bucs' 24 and a well-developed screen to Jamaal Charles got eight more yards to the Bucs' 12 two plays later. The Bucs forced a third down at the six but Cassel converted and gave Kansas City the lead with a sharp TD pass to WR Jeremy Horne.
With Freeman out due to his thumb injury, Johnson came in to start the next drive after Huggins was stopped at the Bucs' 18 on the kickoff return. Williams nearly made a fantastic catch on the sideline on second down but couldn't get two feet down in time. No matter, on third-and-eight Johnson threaded the needle over the middle and Williams double-clutched it for a 13-yard gain to the 33. The Bucs couldn't get another first down, though, as Freeman had the ball knocked from his hand on a third-down pass attempt.
Brent Bowden's punt rolled down to the Kansas City 17 but Charles ripped off runs of nine and five yards to start the next Chiefs drive. CB E.J. Biggers picked up a defensive holding flag on the next play to make it first-and-10 at the KC 36. The Bucs appeared to have Jones bottled up on a third-and-one moments later but the Chiefs back found an opening to get past the sticks for a first down at the 46. The Bucs' defense stiffened at that point, forcing a third-down scramble by Cassel that gained only one yard on third-and-three. Sammie Stroughter fair caught the ensuing punt at the Tampa Bay 12.
Johnson threw a fade-stop to Williams to start the next drive, picking up 15 yards on another impressive catch. Johnson scrambled for four yards two plays later to set up third-and-five and Stroughter broke a tackle on his third-down catch to pick up 11 yards and a first down at the Bucs' 43. Two plays later, Spurlock slipped out of the grasp of CB Brandon Flowers on an out to the sideline and ran the rest of the way to the end zone for a 53-yard touchdown.
The Bucs' defense kept the momentum on Tampa Bay's sideline with a three-and-out on the next possession. Kansas City faced a third-and-two at the their own 33 when LB Quincy Black shot the A-gap perfectly between DTs Gerald McCoy and Brian Price and sacked Cassel for a loss of 10.
First-year back Kareem Huggins got some time with the first team and ripped off a six-yard run on his first carry. Johnson then found Stroughter on a deep out for a gain of 16 to the Bucs' 44. LB Adam Hayward came in to play fullback on the next snap and his perfect seal-off block helped Huggins slice up the middle for a gain of 13 into KC territory. Three plays later, the Bucs faced a third-and-two at the Chiefs' 35 but had to punt after CB Brandon Carr broke up a short pass to Stroughter.
After Brent Bowden's punt was downed at the 13, the Chiefs quickly moved over midfield with a 17-yard screen pass to rookie RB Dexter McCluster and a 13-yard out by Bowe against a team of mostly defensive reserves. An incompletion and a run for no gain by Charles set up third-and-10 as the two-minute warning arrived.
After the break, Charles picked up a 16 yards on a swing pass to gain a new set of downs at the Bucs' 30. A lob to Jones three plays later converted another third down at the Bucs' 19 with 55 seconds left, as Kansas City used its second timeout. The Chiefs picked up a big blitz on the next play and got off a seven-yard pass to Chambers. After a spike to kill the clock at 38 seconds, the Bucs stopped a draw play and refused to take the bait when Cassel tried to get them to jump offsides on fourth-and-one. The Chiefs eventually used their last timeout and brought out Succop to tie the game with a 28-yard field goal.
