The Good, The Bad & The Ugly! Falcons

***As in the past, sometimes the outcome of the game, and the performances on the field don't allow me to follow the traditional format of TGB&U

The Great

Ernest Graham - Graham has been a huge surprise since Carnell and Pittman went out of the lineup due to injury. Formerly nicknamed Mr. August because of his good performances against 3rd string defenses in pre season games, Graham has graduated to Mr. Graham. Mr. Graham may not have received the respect he deserved from fans in the past, but he's certainly getting the respect he deserves from his opponents as he runs over and around them. Graham gashed the Falcons defense for 102 yards and a TD on 17 carries at 6 yards per carry. With a full workload, Graham could have easily eclipsed the 150 yard mark. Enough can't be said about the job Ernest Graham has done as the starting tailback.

Greg White - Sometimes a player falls through the cracks. Terrell Davis was a 6th round pick. Tom Brady was a 5th round pick. Kurt Warner went from AFL QB/grocery store stock boy to SuperBowl MVP. No one knows what the future holds for DE Greg White, but no one can dispute the fact that he belongs in the NFL. White put in another blue collar effort Sunday harassing Byron Leftwich all day long. If he wasn't sacking the QB, he was in his face and disrupting his timing. White racked up 2 solo tackles, 2 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. The former Orlando Predator has found a home in the NFL.

The Good

Cato June - Happy birthday Cato. Thanks for giving us Buccs fans a birthday present on your birthday. June put a nice red bow on his performance Sunday flying around the field wreaking havoc, and hitting anything within reach. June amassed 9 team leading solo tackles, and a forced fumble. June has been a great addition to our defense, and it's hard to believe June hung around on the free agent market as long as he did.

Gaines Adams - Adams is progressing nicely evidenced by his latest performance. After starting out extremely slow, Gaines had some detractors wanting to pin the "bust" label on him already. Adams had flashes two weeks ago before the bye week against the Cardinals, and he followed that up Sunday nicely. While his totals were modest at 2 solo tackles and 1 sack, it was his effort that was impressive. Gaines was all over the field and showed nice pursuit to the opposite field. When he wasn't sacking the QB, he was in his face like his fellow DE White. Adams just needs to build off of each start, put in quality effort from week to week, and he'll have a nice career in Tampa.
***EDIT:11/21/07 "That strange bit of news arrived at One Buccaneer Place on Wednesday, courtesy of a statistical review of the game by the Elias Sports Bureau, the official stat compilers for the NFL. As it turns out, a play that was originally interpreted as an interception has now been ruled a fumble recovery, and the result is an additional sack for Adams."

Ronde Barber - Ronde had a nice day Sunday finding the endzone again as he has done so many times throughout his career when he picked up a Byron Leftwich fumble caused by Greg White and raced 41 yards untouched. Barber's tackling was suspect at the beginning of '07 but has looked like the Barber of old lately. He notched 4 tackles(3 solo) and was very good in coverage allowing the defensive line to do their thing.
...JJC/ABuccsFan