Dilfer is playing to win Hubert Mizell, The St.Petersburg Times, published 15 September 1997 Three minutes of Sunday's third quarter defined the new, low-risk, high-success Trent Dilfer. Tampa Bay led 14-3, but it was a loud, challenging Metrodome moment when the old-fashioned, double-ugly Bucs would've imploded. Old-time Dilfer would've sputter-pitched his way to NFL infamy. But now, a 3-for-3 work of art. When it still was in doubt, Dilfer faced a second-and-8. He smoked a pass toward an empty swatch of turf. Horace Copeland was nearby, still executing his cut. Timing was adroit. Nine yards. First down. Only the beginning of three-minute, boom-boom-boom Dilfer heroism. Next play, Minnesota puts on a heated rush. Orlando Thomas seems about to bury Dilfer. Vikings safety comes flying at the quarterback, but Trent ducks. Thomas whiffs. David Copperfield stuff. Meanwhile, downfield, rookie receiver Reidel Anthony was jockeying to get open. For a pro football generation, we have seen John Elway making such scramble-sweet plays, completing a miracle pass to Shannon Sharpe. Steve Young has done it a thousand times with Jerry Rice. Troy Aikman has made a career of such throws to Michael Irvin. But this was Dilfer to Anthony. Fresh act. Looking like a highlight film. Reidel outjumped and outfought Vikings defender Dewayne Washington to reach Trent's throw. Spectacular 28-yard gain. More to come. Two plays later, it was third-and-4. Instead of some low-budget swing pass, Dilfer lofted a grenade toward the goal line. Fade route. Something the Tampa Bay arm has so needed to pull off. Copeland beat cornerback Corey Fuller and inhaled the football for a 27-yard touchdown. Dilfer newly defined. It was 21-3. Minnesota was being mangled. About then, America must've begun to take Pewter Power seriously. "We can still play better," Tony Dungy said. Fifty-three Bucs are buying into their head coach's sermons. Even if Sunday was domination far more emphatic than a 28-14 bottom line. Bucs go to three-and-ohhhhhhhh! Hasn't been like this since 1979, when Tampa Bay fell one knockout shy of the Super Bowl. Next up, the Miami Dolphins in a sold-out Big Sombrero, playing to a national TNT cable audience. Are we talking scalpers? Tampa Bay is the NFC's only unbeaten team. Last time the Bucs were 3-0, Jimmy Carter was president. Lady Diana had yet to wed Prince Charles. John McKay was coaching Tampa Bay. Doug Williams was quarterbacking the Bucs. Dilfer has been, as he says, "maturing a little more every week." Still, a suspicious world continued to figure the quarterback was Tampa Bay's drawback. Anybody who says that this morning has to be mentally blind to what's going on. Dilfer was solid in wins over San Francisco and Detroit. Then, against the Vikes, the work of No. 12 became more extraordinary. He is the NFL's new third-down wizard. Forty-one times, the Bucs have faced third-and-somethings. Twenty times, Dilfer has triggered first downs, a dazzling .487 percentage. "There were some ghosts in this place for me," he said of the Metrodome. "This is very satisfying. Last season, we came to Minnesota and blew an opportunity, and I deserved the blame. A horrible low point. Watching films of that mess, I literally became sick to my stomach." Dilfer said he came to Minnesota this time with one goal: "To be as poised as I could be." He surely did that, most notably on third downs. Especially during that dazzling third-quarter possession. "When you play better, you also get luckier. That was pure luck to duck away from Orlando Thomas, but then Reidel Anthony is there to turn it into a marvelous play. Two things stand out in my mind, in assessing the upgrade in our offense. First, the line is playing so well. Giving me time to throw. Opening holes for Mike Alstott and Warrick Dunn. A huge, huge difference is having playmakers. Guys who turn good plays into great ones." Alstott ran 36 inches for a touchdown. Doesn't look like much, buried in today's newspaper agate, unless you know how it happened. It was maybe the best, most punishing, most relentless 1-yard touchdown run in NFL history. Then there's Dunn. Tampa Bay runs a draw play. Protecting the football. Sitting on a 21-6 lead. Planning to punt the Vikes deep. Instead, Dunn feints, makes a quick cut and breaks outside, and Minnesota's defense folds like a well-battered accordion. Fifty-two yards. Touchdown. Warrick is lightning that escapes the bottle. As the Bucs strolled happily to their locker room, there were no showoff outbursts. Just like in Detroit, it was prodigiously professional. "Leadership is by example," Dilfer said, referring to Dungy, "and we have the perfect example."