The Tampa Bay Buccaneers may have found their starting running back in a win over the Arizona Cardinals today. Arizona quarterback Max Hall tried to hand the game over to the Bucs with two interception returns for touchdowns in the first half. Head coach Ken Wisenhunt made the wise decision to insert Derek Anderson shortly thereafter, but it was too little, too late for the Cardinals.
LeGarrette Blount, an undrafted free agent, made the most of an ever-increasing workload, carrying the ball 22 times for 120 yards and two touchdowns. Blount has worked his way up the depth chart and appears to be firmly planted as the feature back in Tampa Bay. Quarterback Josh Freeman added 278 yards and a score, finding Mike Williams four times for 105 yards and a touchdown.
Anderson fared better than Hall in the yardage department, but still threw two costly interceptions. After replacing Hall, Anderson completed 16 of 24 passes for 278 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Hall was 8 of 16 for 71 yards, with a touchdown and those two pick-sixes. Beanie Wells added 16 carries for 50 yards and a touchdown for the Cardinals. Steven Breaston led all receivers with 148 yards on the day. Larry Fitzgerald added 72 yards and two touchdowns.
The Cardinals failed to capitalize on the Seattle Seahawks’ misstep today, falling to 3-4 and into a tie with the St. Louis Rams for second place in the NFC West. The Buccaneers improved to 5-2. Arizona travels to Minnesota next week to take on the Vikings while Tampa Bay heads to Atlanta to meet the Falcons.