DENVER (AP)—Brian Griese has one more bad memory of Denver to digest.
Tampa Bay’s quarterback was knocked out of the game with a swollen right elbow on a blind-side blitz in the third quarter Sunday, and he watched helplessly as Jay Cutler guided a patient Denver offense to a 16-13 win over the Buccaneers.
Cutler, who piled up nearly 1,300 yards passing in winning the AFC’s Offensive Player of the Month award in September, threw for a season-low 227 yards with a workmanlike 23-for-37 performance as he worked almost strictly the underneath routes to avoid Tampa Bay’s dominant downfield defenders.
“It’s really not my thing. We’re used to throwing the ball down the field, getting big chunks and really couldn’t do it against this defense,” said Cutler, who has led Denver to a 4-1 start.