Holmes, Bucs defense deliver on a promise Jack Sheppard, The St.Petersburg Times, published 1988 Two weeks ago, minutes after a late Phoenix touchdown led to a 30-24 Tampa Bay defeat, defensive end Ron Holmes made a bold prediction. He prophesied that, before the 1988 season was over, the defense again would be summoned to rescue a game with time running out. Only this time, Holmes guaranteed, the young Tampa Bay defense would deliver. Sunday afternoon, the Bucs made good on Holmes' promise, setting the stage for Tampa Bay's 27-24 triumph with a dramatic fourth-quarter stand. Actually, there were defensive heroics much earlier. The Bucs had allowed Green Bay to realize minimal benefit from four Vinny Testaverde interceptions. They had kept constant pressure on Packers quarterback Randy Wright, helping engineer two interceptions and a fumble recovery. And they had even taken scoring into their own hands when linebacker Kevin Murphy returned an interception 35 yards for a second-quarter touchdown. Yet with 1:45 remaining in a game loaded with offensive mistakes, the defense again was being asked to save the day. Tied 24-24, ball on the Green Bay 29, the pressure was on. Literally. “When we walked onto the field for that final drive,” said defensive end John Cannon, “we knew we had to get in (Wright's) face and put him on his back.” “It was pressure, pressure, pressure,” echoed nose tackle Curt Jarvis. “We were coming on every play. We talked on the sideline about having them in a corner. The time had come to just lay it on. It was like we lost our minds out there.” Pressure by Jarvis and Rueben Davis forced Wright into back-to-back incompletions before he connected with Perry Kemp on a 12-yard pass. A strong rush from Robert “Pig” Goff forced another incompletion, setting up John Cannon's play of the day. Rushing from his left end position, Cannon swatted the ball out of Wright's hands, earning credit for a sack, a fumble and a 13-yard Green Bay loss. Two plays later, the Pack was forced to punt. And three plays after that - one of them a 25-yard pass from Testaverde to Bruce Hill - Donald Igwebuike nailed a 44-yard field goal for Tampa Bay's second win of the season. “There's no better feeling for a defense (than having the game on the line),” admitted Holmes. “The offensive is standing there watching on the sidelines. The coaches are watching. Everyone is holding their breath and saying, `Please don't let anything happen.' We were so confident that we felt even if (Green Bay) had gotten in field goal range, we'd block the field goal. We knew there would be no points on that drive.” That had not been the case just minutes earlier. With the game tied at 17, the Bucs' defense gave up a six-play, 64-yard drive that appeared to bury Tampa Bay. The key play was a 34-yard pass from Wright to Sterling Sharpe, setting up Wright's 1-yard touchdown dive with 4:37 to play. “We had let ourselves down,” Holmes said of that score. “But we knew if we had another opportunity we'd come back strong.” Fortunately for the defense, Testaverde (for a change) took them off the hook. Engineering one of his most impressive streaks of the season, Testaverde completed four of five passes for 75 yards - including a 19-yard game-tying touchdown to Bruce Hill. But that was the exception Sunday, not the rule. Time after time, the Tampa Bay offense either backed its own defense into a corner with turnovers (Green Bay started three drives inside the Buccaneers' 50, scoring twice), or they failed to put points on the board despite excellent field position. “For the first three quarters we weren't moving the ball, and that can be very frustrating for the defense,” admitted coach Ray Perkins. “Sometimes a defense won't play quite as hard as the game goes along if they don't have confidence the offense is going to put points on the board.” “It does get a little frustrating,” said Holmes, “but this is a team sport. We can't play offense, but we can always go out there and make things happen. I'll even make another prediction,” Holmes added. “Sometime before the season is over, the defense will have an off day and the offense will have to carry us.” Perkins can only hope that Holmes will be right again.