Veterans Give Offense Diversity

JOEY KNIGHT

Published: Oct 3, 2005

TAMPA When the restlessness could no longer be suppressed, his role of bystander no longer bearable, Michael Pittman lobbied Bucs defensive backs coach Mike Tomlin for the chance to join the secondary.

As you might have guessed by now, the idea wasn't worth a plugged nickelback to Jon Gruden.

"I wanted to hit and tackle somebody," Pittman said recently. "But he wasn't for that."

Who can blame Pittman for wanting to unleash any pent-up frustration on the resident slot receiver? The starting running back in the year 2004 B.C. -- Before Cadillac -- feared he was making a gradual segue from inconspicuous to insignificant.

"When you see your team making plays and Cadillac running the ball 37 times," Pittman said, "you want a piece of that."

Indeed, he wanted back on a field, back on a radar screen. But Gruden wasn't about to let that occur with Pittman at safety. Not when he someday would need him as a safety valve.

Sunday was that day.

With Cadillac nursing a strained hamstring and reduced to a three-carry cameo in the second half, Pittman was thrown to the Detroit Lions.

He responded with 126 total yards and a touchdown on a pass play he essentially called in the Bucs' 17-13 victory.

"I was very happy for him," Cadillac said. Talk about splendor in the grass stains. Entering the contest, Pittman had totaled 69 yards all season.

"Cadillac's been doing good, and why change that when a man's doing good?" Pittman said. "I just wanted an opportunity to play and Coach gave me that opportunity today."

Turned out, opportunities were as prolific as turnovers in this, the most paradoxical of the Bucs' four triumphs.

In the ugliest of victories, the Bucs' offensive depth further revealed itself.

Fully Loaded Offense?

Note to Hall of Fame: Cadillac's cleats and gloves aren't the only accessories in Gruden's offense.

Pittman saw the Lions going to man-to-man coverage on seemingly every third down, and told Gruden he could exploit it. Next thing you know, he was streaking past mismatched linebacker Teddy Lehman down the right sideline for a 41-yard TD.

Eight plays earlier, he had come up big on third-and-10, with a 16-yard pass play.

"Michael Pittman, his ability as a pass receiver, was a significant, significant part of the victory today," Gruden said.

So was Joey Galloway. Statistically, Sunday was his best day as a pro (seven catches, a career-best 166 yards), highlighted by an 80-yard scoring pass -- the franchise's longest in 13 years -- from Brian Griese, in which he went right to left faster than an Augusta green.

"There were some opportunities; I was able to make plays," he understated.

Galloway now has nine TDs in his last nine games, a stat that perhaps didn't previously resonate while a certain 2005 model was being showcased on the lot.

"This guy is very fast and very good," Gruden said. "He can still run fast."

No Games, Nor Opportunities, Lost

With some brutal stretches looming on the schedule, the Bucs need all the wins -- and offensive dimensions -- they can get now.

And they're getting them, in varying degrees of beauty -- or lack thereof. Imagine how ugly it could have been for Detroit had it not been for three turnovers that led directly to Lions points. Suddenly, Gruden's options on offense seem as boundless as the future.

Pittman. Galloway. Fullbacks. Tight ends.

Oh yeah, No. 24, too.

"Cadillac has been having a great season ... but other weapons, we stepped up," Pittman said. "We have so many weapons on this offense that the sky's the limit with all the talent we've got."

Today, at 4-0, the sky doesn't seem like such a reach.