Game plan not cause of loss, Perkins says Michelle Kaufman, The St.Petersburg Times, published 2 October 1989 If the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were to play the Minnesota Vikings again this weekend, coach Ray Perkins would use the same game plan he did in Sunday's 17-3 loss. “Well, we might throw 13 fewer passes, but basically, I'd call the same plays,” he said. That may come as a surprise, considering only three of the Bucs' 12 drives went more than six yards, and quarterback Vinny Testaverde completed just six of 23 passes for 82 yards. Some outsiders may have wondered why Testaverde didn't roll out more to avoid daylong pressure. Or why he only threw on five of 19 first downs. Or why the Bucs (2-2) were doing the same thing offensively in the fourth quarter that they did through three unproductive quarters. Perkins explained that lack of execution, not creativity, was to blame for the loss. “Every team's going to do what their players do best,” he said. “Just about every play that Minnesota ran are the same plays that Minnesota ran the last three of four years. Every team's got their bread-and-butter plays. From week to week you may throw in a little wrinkle here or there, but it's pretty much the same things. You try to do what gives you the least chance for mistakes and the best chance to win. We went into the game with the idea of running the ball. We know we can run the ball. "But at some point, you can't run on every down, so you start mixing things in. We mixed in our simplest things, but we couldn't get them done. Me and four other coaches spend a lot of time formulating a game plan. We keep a running chart of what we've done from different formations, because that's what our opponents are studying, too. I'm not married to something if it doesn't work, but I do believe in certain things.” Perkins said a safe game plan is better than one with lots of trick plays and downfield passes. “What if we go out there zinging it? It might have been 40-6. That's not the way you give yourself a chance against the Vikings.” Remember, Testaverde threw six interceptions against the Vikings in Tampa Stadium last season and the Bucs lost 49-20. He threw no interceptions Sunday, despite being pressured on 13 of 23 pass attempts. Much of the pressure came up the middle instead of to one side, Perkins said, so rolling out wouldn't have helped much. Testaverde had been quoted after the game as saying he'd enjoy opening up the offense more if he had a chance, but “the boss calls the plays and I just run them.” He clarified his statements Monday and said he wasn't being critical of the coach. “It seems like everybody is misinterpreting what I said,” he said. “By no means did I want to come across saying the coach overrules or overrides everything I have to say about what goes into the offense, because he doesn't. I was just saying that in crucial situations, he calls the plays and I listen to what he says, unless the defense dictates something different.” Testaverde also cleared up comments he made concerning his desire to be alone on the sidelines for a few moments after unsuccessful drives rather than immediately talk to the coach. “The papers had it like I just walk by the coach when he calls me over and made it seem like I don't listen to him and do what I want,” he said. “That's not true. I just like to stand on one end of the bench for a few minutes to clear my thoughts. By no means is there a problem with me and Coach Perkins. He is one of my best friends off the field. I don't want my teammates to think, `God, is there a problem with our quarterback and our head coach?' “ He went on to back Perkins' assessment of the loss. “The mistakes we made were mental, and they had nothing to do with the plays we were running,” Testaverde said. Backup quarterback Joe Ferguson, who scrutinized the game from the sideline, agreed that the play-calling was not the problem. “Sure, we could have used some different types of protection, or more play-action type stuff, but Sunday's game plan would have worked fine if we had executed,” said Ferguson, a 17-year veteran. “We didn't. There was pressure on Vinny (Testaverde) all day, and then there were a few passes he could've hit and didn't.” Perkins said he isn't worried going into Sunday's home game against the Chicago Bears. “These are the same guys that played those first three games,” he said. “I still like them a lot.”