Domination From Start To Finish Joe Henderson, The Tampa Tribune, published 1 October 2007 OK, let me have it. The Bucs are 3-1 after demolishing Carolina on Sunday and they looked totally the part of a playoff team. Before the season started, I thought they'd be 1-3 at this point. This was one I automatically wrote off as a loss. I was wrong. Let me have it. To assist, I'll offer some suggestions. Feel free to choose any and/or all the descriptions you feel apply. I throw myself on your mercy: "Hey, you (no-talent hack; jerk; idiot), why do you still have a job?" "You are (stupid; a waste of space; a moron). You should be working in (Mayberry; Hooterville; Anywhere in West Virginia)." "You are always so (negative; completely wrong; full of it)." You get the idea. I finally see the light. The Bucs look like the class of their division. They are playing with purpose, unity, and complete confidence. The game Sunday was a blowout from the opening drive, when they drove 71 yards in 11 plays and took 6:17 to do so. On defense, they dominated Panthers quarterback David Carr. They controlled the game. They even turned the only "negative" of the afternoon into as much of a positive as possible. Cadillac Williams was having a good day - 6 carries, 41 yards - when he went down with 3:13 left in the first quarter. The stadium went quiet as everyone could plainly see the injury was serious. And then, as they did in the exhibition game when receiver Paris Warren got hurt, the Bucs came off the sidelines and surrounded Williams as one. We'll find out after the game how bad the injury is, but it clearly doesn't look good. What does look good is how close this team seems to be. And what happened after Caddy was carted off shows that there may be enough depth to sustain this loss. Michael Pittman and Earnest Graham run HARD and straight ahead. The Bucs are definitely playing with a little attitude on offense, kind of the way they have always played defense. Later, left tackle Luke Petitgout went out, also with a knee injury. Petitgout walked off, avoiding a ride on the cart, but didn't return. The Bucs also played without cornerback Brian Kelly (groin), but Phillip Buchanon stepped up and played like a beast. It was domination from start to finish. Bank of America Stadium was four-fifths empty with 10 minutes still to play. The Bucs so took the Panthers out of their game, fans hardly even worked up enough interest to boo. And that was on the road against a division opponent that had beaten them seven of the last eight times they played. Next week is the biggest challenge of the season - at defending Super Bowl champion Indianapolis. But even if the Bucs lose there, they're still better off than most people - including your friendly (idiot; moron; no-talent hack) would have guessed. The injuries could be a big problem in the long run, but I'm saying nothing negative today. Let the cynics argue that their three victims - New Orleans (0-3), St. Louis (0-4) and Carolina (2-2) are a combined 2-9. All I know is, the Bucs beat all three of those teams the way a good team should dominate an out-matched one. They have chemistry. They have unity. And they are playing at a high level now, the injuries notwithstanding. So, yeah, I didn't see it coming. Let me have it.