NFL Teams & Scores - Monday Night Football Week 10: Buccaneers Earn First Win of Season vs. Controversy-Plagued Dolphins
The Jacksonville Jaguars showed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday that it was indeed possible to win a game this year. On Monday, the winless Bucs followed suit by beating the Miami Dolphins on the primetime stage to collect their first win of the year.
"The guys, like Lavonte (David) and a bunch of us just said we're tired of it," linebacker Adam Hayward said, according to the Associated Press. "We can't do it again, and everybody just started stepping up and making plays."
The Bucs have been known for blowing leads this year, but with a 10-point edge in the second quarter, the Tampa Bay defense stuffed Miami's rushing game in the endzone for a safety. With a 12-0 lead, things were looking great for Tampa.
Soon enough, however, the Dolphins had the lead. Miami scored 19 of the game's next 22 points. After Tampa Bay regained the lead in the fourth quarter, it was the defense that stepped up and held the Dolphins scoreless for the rest of the game.
The Dolphins couldn't believe that they lost to a team that went through the entire first half of the season without winning a game.
"We have good guys on this team who understand adversity and understand how to handle it," Tannehill said. "This is a good test. I'm not saying it's easy. I'm not saying it's fun to deal with. But I have faith in these guys."
Perhaps it was the cloud of controversies swirling over the Dolhpins' entire team or maybe they were just shaking off the rust leftover from the bye week. One thing for sure, however, is that we suddenly went from having two winless teams to none.
The Bucs will be home yet again next week when the team faces the Atlanta Falcons. The Dolphins will return to Miami to host the Chargers next week.