Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie: I didn't come all this way to lose

TAMPA

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie didn't come a thousand miles to lose -- not in his backyard, and not with a huge gathering of hometown folks at Raymond James Stadium.

And most of all, not after last week, when his New York Giants were embarrassed by Drew Brees in a 52-49 loss to New Orleans.

"It always feels good to be home and see familiar faces in the stands cheering for you. I had over 100 tickets that I bought for them, and they all came," Rodgers-Cromartie said after the Giants' 32-18 victory Sunday.

The Lakewood Ranch product who has turned himself into one of premier cornerbacks in the league has an interesting resume at RayJay. He lost the Super Bowl there with the Cardinals, but since is 2-0, beating the Bucs with Philadelphia and now the Giants.

"I like this field. It's been good to me. But we really came here with a purpose after last week," Rodgers-Cromartie said. "We had to

get a win after what happened. It gives you a better feeling and you sense that you're on the right path."

After the Giants got burned by Brees, Rodgers-Cromartie didn't feel things would be easier with Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston -- rookie or not.

"The key today was to get after Winston. You know he's definitely a quarterback with arm strength, and we wanted to force him to scramble around and make him uncomfortable," Rodgers-Cromartie said. "I like him. He makes the right checks and gets the ball to the guys that he needs to get the ball to. He has that big body, is hard to bring down and makes a lot of throws. Winston is definitely a guy who will be around for a long time."

After facing Brees last week then Winston, Rodgers-Cromartie and his Giants take on New England, who has a pretty good quarterback named Tom Brady.

It's what Rodgers-Cromartie thrives on. He's always enjoyed playing against the best.

"We will study this game film and then move on to New England. We're improving, and it's going to be fun," he said.

The 29-year-old had three tackles and played a role in several of the Bucs' three fumbles. He also contributed to the nightmare game Mike Evans suffered, jarring the ball lose several times from Tampa Bay's leading receiver, who had five drops to nullify an otherwise strong day (eight receptions for 152 yards).

Some of the drops came in critical third down situations and, according to ESPN Stats and Info, is the most in the league over the last decade.

"I don't know what it is. I have to work on wet balls or something. The Giants receivers were catching balls in the rain and I wasn't," Evans said. "I could have had a huge day and I could've helped us get a win, but I didn't do that. I cost my team big time."

You could argue this loss is one of the least painful during the Bucs' two years under head coach Lovie Smith. After beating Atlanta last week, the team stuck with the Giants, but just couldn't finish.

Winston played his fourth game without committing a turnover and continues to show growth. The ironic thing is that others on the team are not matching his maturation.

The Bucs were flagged for nine penalties for 79 yards and are on pace to set a single-season NFL record for penalties.

Winston completed 19 of 36 passes for 249 yards with no touchdowns, but was the victim of at least eight drops -- which would've put him close 400 yards.

He refuses to blame anyone but himself, and dazzled the crowd with his 10-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, when he leaped about five yards in the air over a bunch of frustrated defenders who could only look in amazement,

"No one is perfect. The guy (Evans) is playing his tail off and it's raining and all eyes are on him and it's a lot of pressure," Winston said. "Nine times out of 10, he's going to come through. We have to take advantage of our opportunities, especially in the red zone, and it's my fault every single time. But what you have to focus on is how hard we are playing. Eventually we are going to break through, eventually it's going to happen."

This story was originally published November 8, 2015 at 10:41 PM with the headline "Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie: I didn't come all this way to lose ."