Brian Griese has one more bad memory of Denver to digest, while
Jeff Garcia may have his starting job back.
DENVER – Brian Griese has one more bad memory of Denver to digest, while Jeff Garcia may have his starting job back.
Tampa Bay’s Griese was knocked out of the game against the Broncos with a swollen right elbow on a blind-side blitz in the third quarter Sunday, and he watched helplessly as Jay Cutler guided a patient Denver offense to a 16-13 win over the Buccaneers.
Making his first visit to Invesco Field since his five frustrating years in Denver as John Elway’s successor, Griese never looked at cornerback Champ Bailey barreling in on him from his right side and was smothered at the goal line just as he released the ball late in the third quarter.
He was replaced by the more mobile Jeff Garcia, the man he supplanted after a loss to New Orleans in the opener, but the Gilroy native had only slightly more success against the Broncos.
“I don’t care too much about quarterbacks, really,” Broncos pass-rusher Elvis Dumervil said. “I wish he would’ve stayed in the game, though. Garcia runs around too much.”
Garcia shook off several hard hits himself to lead the Buccaneers on a 13-play, 90-yard drive, hitting Ike Hilliard from 7 yards to cut Denver’s lead to 16-13 with 2:02 left.
The Broncos, who scored their only touchdown late in the third quarter on Jay Cutler’s 10-yard pass to Brandon Stokley, iced it thanks to running back Michael Pittman, who spent the past six seasons in Tampa Bay.
Pittman, who had a couple of key third-down runs that helped the Broncos break away from a 6-6 halftime tie, put this one away with a 6-yard rumble for a first down with 1:38 left, and Denver ran out the clock and took a two-game lead over San Diego in the AFC West.
“He was fired up about this one for obvious reasons,” Cutler said. “Pitt’s been there all year for us, third down, goal line, short yardage. He’s very valuable for us.”
The Bucs decided not to onside kick after their late score.
Tampa (3-2) blunted the Broncos’ league-best offense, which came in averaging 33 points, but Denver’s defense – which had been allowing 29.5 points a game – suddenly found traction after a miserable first month.
“We’ve been in some high-scoring ballgames, back and forth, and our defense has caught a little heat,” Cutler said. “We had some trouble stopping some people, but we knew they were a lot better than that. We’ve got too much talent, too much character over there. It’s good to see them lock it down this week.”
The game’s first touchdown came with 5:41 left in the third quarter, when Stokley hauled in Cutler’s pass in the right flat and followed Brandon Marshall’s big block into the end zone to put Denver ahead 13-7.
Both teams had to dink and dunk their way down the field. Tampa Bay didn’t have a pass play longer than 17 yards and Denver had just one reception longer than 15 yards.
Griese finished 13-for-19 for 88 yards and Garcia was 13-of-17 for 93 yards, one TD and one interception.
Tampa coach Jon Gruden said Monday he had not decided who will start next week at quarterback against Carolina.
In the first half, Matt Prater kicked field goals of 55 and 40 yards for Denver, and his counterpart, Matt Bryant, was good from 33 and 31 yards, the latter as the first half expired.
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Dispatch staff contributed to this report.
