Bucs-Giants Quasi Live Blog, First Quarter

And we're back! On the first 3rd and 8 of the game, Fredo drops back, looks scared, and short hops a ball to the outlet back. Troy Aikman then throws him under the bus for having an open receiver. Are you feeling confident yet, Giants Fans?

Damn, Tampa looks sunny and warm. I miss being in a place that actually has nice weather. A lot.

The Bucs start with a quick pace and a couple of reasonable looking runs by Earnest Graham. If you can get reasonable runs in the first quarter, I think that's a good sign for all day.

On his first third down, Jeff Garcia bounces around like a Mario character and hits Galloway for the conversion. He's got to be just maddening for a defense. I know when he was an Eagle, I was scared every play. And making video game sounds in my head.

Wow, a Mark Clayton sighting! A quick screen goes well and recovers from a reverse to Galloway that tanked. On the 3rd and 1, Askew launches himself for an easy conversion, while Garcia fakes the toss sweep to Graham. Smart all over. You always know a Gruden offense; they put in those little touches that are just, well, cute.

At the 9:40 mark, Aikman is making excuses for Big Blue as being spent from the Patriots game. Joe Buck, of course, thinks it was a good idea. Meanwhile, the Bucs sputter and fail on incompletions and a delay penalty. Bidwill's punt dies inside the 15, and we're staring down the barrel of a Field Position Game.

The Giants counter with Brandon Jacobs, who despite size and speed does little to earn my trust, and a short pass to Steve Smith, who seems to be getting a lot of looks today. On the third and 1, Jacobs gets snowed under, and Big Blue is still looking for a first down today. Bucs should get decent field position, and is it racist of me to note that white guys celebrating defensive plays always look dorkier than black guys doing it? A short punt and immediate coverage gives the Bucs the ball at their own 45.

A miss to Galloway starts making me wonder if the Bucs will squander the field position... but then Graham breaks a tackle on a run and gets a first, followed by a a slant to Clayton for another, and then another solid gain for Graham to put them in field goal position. Graham's already at 4 for 24, and the Bucs are controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.

On a 2nd and 9. Garcia makes another Mario play by pump-faking to Graham, then throwing to him anyway, to get the Bucs to the 5. Graham stumbles to the 1 on first down, and Fox runs a graphic that shows the yards in this game as 80 to 10. Graham makes it 81, and more importantly, 7-0. Cannons fire, flags wave, and Fredo's nuts have just moved a few more inches up into his body.

Fredo walking all over the place, and as Joe Buck starts talking about how they have to be able to run the ball.. Jacobs goes sideways and down for a five yard loss. It's Fredo Time, and I'm smelling a pick. Nope, take a very scared looking time out first... good grief. You know, anyone that ever wanted to talk about Peyton Manning's playoff problems, well, Fredo dwarfs those. Big time.

On 2nd and 14, the Bucs give Blue a five yard gift from the saliva throwing a DL offside. Maybe that brings Jacobs back into things; nope. Fredo uses a clean pocket and throws his best ball of the day, but Smith misses it. When did Smith become their only WR? On 3rd and 9, it's Sack City, and if this was a nature documentary, the Bucs D would be sharks and the Giants offense would be a bleeding sea cow. Hilliard takes the fair catch after the Giants third three and out at the Bucs 31... and if the Bucs can drive and score here, you might not be getting a whole lot of Entertaining Quasi Live Blog from this game. (Yeah, yeah, yeah, the entertaining is a reach.) 7-0 Bucs and we're into the commercial melee.