SIDE SALAD - Everything crunchy is good.

RETURN OF CHUCKY

So the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took a big step today in returning to their former glory (brief, though it was).

The Bucs beat the Minnesota Vikings 24 to 14 today in Minneapolis in a game that was marred by sloppy play and lots of penalties.

All of which made Bucs head coach Jon Gruden his usual grumpy self:

I hereby present the first "Chucky face" of the 2005 regular season.

The Bucs did better in the second quarter than in the first, but the first was bloody awful, so that wasn't saying much.

One of my favorite moments came after Fox showed this dreadful statistic.

Ugh. It was that dreadful.

Which of course inspired Chucky Face No. 2:



Gruden kinda looks like he has scurvy or something.

Anyway, the game got better, the Bucs' play improved and the score bumped up to 17 points, while the Vikings trailed the entire game.

Things looked good most of the game. Up until the point we let them crawl back into it, getting within three points before the defense made an interception and then Carnell Williams ran a 71-yard touchdown run with 1:23 remaining that sealed it.

One of my favorite plays took place in the second quarter:



Simeon Rice, No. 97, ran around the left offensive tackle and went after Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper. Culpepper was about four steps ahead of Rice. Then it was three. Then two. Then Rice dove at him.



Rice landed on Culpepper's back and then stripped the ball from the quarterback as Rice fell on top of him. The ball popped out near the Buccaneers' sideline.



Chris Hovan, a former Viking now playing on the Bucs' defensive line, recovered the ball. All of which sent the Bucs players and coaches into full-blown hysterics.

Hovan accepted congratulatory pats from his teammates and then looked around to see Gruden running up at him.

At which point, Gruden gets up on his tip-toes and...



...proceeds to give Hovan - all 6-foot-2, 298 pounds of him - a full-contact chest bump.

It was all quite hilarious.



I mean, come on. If Hovan wanted to, he could have sent Gruden flying.

It's the happiest I've seen Chucky since he ran down the sidelines in Super Bowl XXXVII whirling a white towl helicopter-like as Derek Brooks returned an interception for a touchdown.

Perhaps this is a return to glory? Maybe? Possibly?

Let a guy dream a little, for crying out loud.

Posted by Jeff at September 11, 2005 10:33 PM | TrackBack