Running game up and running Don Banks, The St.Petersburg Times, published 4 October 1993 A successful off-season diet helped flatten his stomach and lighten his step. But it took until Sunday for the load to be lifted from Bob Wylie's shoulders. Sauntering from the Tampa Stadium turf after the game's final gun, Wylie weighed less with every stride. After planting a congratulatory kiss on an obliging Swash-buc-ler, Wylie got really crazy and tossed his cap to one of the team's dancing-pirate mascots. A smile never left Wylie's lips. Has there been a tougher job anywhere these past four weeks than being the Tampa Bay Bucs' offensive line coach? "Well, I can be smart for another week," Wylie said. "Know what I mean? That's what today proves. That I can be intelligent for a whole week. Then we'll line up next Sunday and see what happens." For a change, something happened when the Bucs tried to run. Blockers blocked and runners ran - an old concept that looked new in Tampa Bay's 27-10 upset of Detroit. Entering play, the Bucs' were averaging 35.3 yards rushing and ranked last in the NFL. No fewer than 32 players totaled more than the team's 106 yards rushing. Against the Lions, the Bucs finally busted through: 128 yards on 31 carries, a 4.1 average gain, more than double their season average (1.9), and their first rushing touchdown. No Buc yearned to breathe free more than tailback Reggie Cobb. A 1,171-yard rusher in 1992, Cobb gained only 68 yards on 45 carries (1.5 per run) in the first three games. Starting slowly Sunday, Cobb picked up yards and confidence with each carry. He finished with his seventh 100-yard game (113 yards on 25 attempts) and had renewed faith in his fellow man. "They were playing with so much confidence up front, it was unbelievable," said Cobb, who gained at least 8 yards seven times, including two season-best 16-yard runs. "I think everybody wanted me to run behind them. It was just one of those days. These are the ones you hope you have a lot of instead of the ones we've been having. I think one time I didn't know what to do (in the open field). I messed up because I came through so clean I was surprised." Besides paving the way for Tampa Bay's first win, the resurgent running game scored a victory for consistency. Unlike the past two games, in which Tampa Bay has tinkered with its offensive front, the Bucs went with the same five players from start to finish against the Lions. Simply put, Tampa Bay simplified things. "Sam (Wyche) said earlier in the week that we're not going to make this complicated. We're not going to make you think," veteran right tackle Rob Taylor said. "Once we got some good runs and had some momemtum, we went off the field and it was like, `See, we can do it. We know we can do it.' As a running game, we've been under a lot of pressure. We've been slammed by a lot of people. To finally get it done is a great feeling." And nobody was feeling greater than Wylie. "This line just needed a little kick in the butt," he said. "I think it helped, keeping those five guys together all week. And we made things really simple. We said, `Hey, we're going to go with this, and we're going to live with it. Either it's going to work, or it's not going to work.' It finally worked."