Broncos rock Bucs

DENVER - The Buccaneers lost a game, a quarterback and their share of first place Sunday when a sequel of the soap opera starring Jeff Garcia and Jon Gruden reappeared front and center in Tampa Bay's 16-13 loss to the Broncos.

Quarterback Brian Griese suffered what he labeled a bruised elbow -- originally reported as a throwing shoulder injury -- on a crushing hit by blitzing cornerback Champ Bailey in the third quarter.

"Thankfully it's not a structural thing, it's just kind of a bruise that I can work with," Griese said. "We have a big game next week and I'd love to be out there."

Gruden said it was an injury to Griese's throwing shoulder, which was also the initial report from the bench.

"I don't know the severity of it," Gruden said.

A change may be in order at quarterback for Sunday's NFC South showdown against Carolina after Garcia, active as the No. 2 quarterback for the first time in three weeks, directed a 90-yard, 13-play touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter, throwing a seven-yard touchdown pass to Ike Hilliard.

Griese could lead the Buccaneers (3-2) to only two field goals in six possessions against the league's 30th-ranked defense.

Griese was 13-of-19 for 88 yards and was sacked three times. Garcia was 13-of-17 for 93 yards, one touchdown and one interception. His first four full series all resulted in three-and-outs before the touchdown drive.

At that point, Gruden warmed back up to Garcia, who he had benched after the season opener.

"Jon just called me over and said, 'You need to get back to being you, not worry about what has happened, not try to score two touchdowns in one series. ... Be yourself. Scramble. Make things happen.' " Garcia said.

He also revealed he thought he might never take a snap for the Buccaneers again after the loss to the Saints.

"Whether I would finish the season off here or somewhere else, those were the thoughts going through my mind," Garcia said. "Because of the volatility of the quarterback position, the opportunity is going to present itself again."

"We'll get all the information and go from there," Gruden said. "All things considered, I thought Brian did a pretty good job in the first half. Hopefully he feels good about what he did."

Garcia may have climbed out of Gruden's doghouse on a day they scored a season-low 13 points against a Denver defense that had been giving up 29 points per game.

"I thought Jeff at the end of the game made some nice plays and he got us out of some tough situations," Gruden said. "Jeff is getting healthy again. We like the way he is throwing the football. He's had a calf (muscle strain), a pinkie (finger), an ankle (sprain). He's been sore."

Meanwhile, the Buccaneers defense did not produce any takeaways or sacks for the first time this season, an indication that Tampa Bay cannot win without forcing turnovers.

Defensive tackle Kevin Carter dropped an interception at midfield that could have been pivotal in the third quarter.

"We've been living off turnovers the first four weeks of the season," said cornerback Ronde Barber. "To not get any and hold them to 16 points is definitely different."

"We definitely thrive off them taking the ball, but you can't live or die by that," said wide receiver Michael Clayton. "It was on us."

The defense also let the team down after the touchdown, when Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler completed a 12-yard pass to tight end Tony Scheffler and then former Buc Michael Pittman did the honors of putting away the game with a pair of six-yard runs after a failed squib kick.

"That's a very good onside kick against that deployment, if you get the ricochet," Gruden said. "Unfortunately, the ricochet ricocheted down the field. Their decision to come out throwing there was surprising to everybody. We still had three timeouts, a chance to cancel them, get the ball back with a minute left and all we need is a field goal."

Gruden showed how little faith he has in his passing offense by not even letting Griese take a shot at the end zone on first down from the Denver 17 with 18 seconds remaining and one timeout left in the half. Warrick Dunn ran four yards and Gruden was happy to send in Matt Bryant, who connected on a 31-yard field goal.

"As a quarterback, you want to be aggressive. At the same time you have to take the whole game into account," Griese said. "So you don't second-guess those things."

It was a perplexing move that Gruden would be happy to play for a tie at halftime, rather than try to take the lead, knowing Denver has the league's second-ranked scoring offense, averaging 33 points a game.

"We played the situation to get the field goal in that situation," Gruden said.

A touchdown would have come in handy because the offense continues to be unreliable, with three false start penalties, all of them coming in the second half after the Bucs were behind.

Denver kicker Matt Prater boomed a 55-yard field goal in the first quarter, which was the difference in the game.

"Have you ever seen a kicker kick a 55-yard field goal and make it by 25 yards?" Gruden said. "That guy was unbelievable."

The Bucs were also handicapped by poor field position.

"We were backed up most of the day inside the 12, 15, 20-yard line area," Gruden said. "It's hard to start at the 20 and score."

They started from their own 20 three times in the first half. Their best starting field position at their own 41 produced a three-and-out after a holding penalty against Jeremy Trueblood.

The Bucs ran for 139 yards,with Dunn picking up 74 yards on 11 carries. Earnest Graham rushed for 59 yards on 10 carries.

"You put the negative penalties, the sacks and the fact that they're playing their butt off here at home (six straight home wins), that's a tough spot for us," Gruden said.

"They have been victimized by 10 big plays this year prior to this game," Gruden said. "They've been playing an aggressive, bump-and-run, man-to-man style. We didn't see much of that today. They played two-deep (coverage), mixed some zone blitzes in there, three-deep coverages. It wasn't going to be a game of big plays."