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Marty Strasen, The Tampa Tribune, published 20 October 2003
Does Jan. 26, 2003 seem like three or four years ago? Tampa Bay played in California on Sunday for the first time since winning Super Bowl XXXVII in San Diego on that date. And if you think California has changed in that time - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger comes to mind - consider the transformation of the Bucs between then and now.
Six meaningful games since that Super Bowl rout of Oakland, the defending champs flew home from San Francisco a .500 team. Their 24-7 loss to the sub-.500 49ers left the Bucs in the unfathomable position of being the best 3-3 team in the NFL. Incidentally, that record would be good enough for a first-place tie with Baltimore in the AFC North.
But the Bucs play in the NFC South, and their fortunes have gone in that very direction of late. By the end of Sunday's game, CB Brian Kelly, DE Simeon Rice, WR Keyshawn Johnson and S John Lynch were among the notable additions to the list of Bucs injury concerns. Of course, some of those names have been regulars on the medical report early this season.
There's no denying the role of injuries in Tampa Bay's slow start. The No. 1 defense in football over the past few years does not allow 458 yards to a sub-.500 San Francisco team without an extenuating circumstance or two.
Still, wasn't that Rice, Warren Sapp, Anthony McFarland, Derrick Brooks and Shelton Quarles on the front seven getting trampled by 49ers RBs Garrison Hearst and Kevan Barlow all afternoon? If health (or lack of it) is the explanation, why was a San Francisco team playing without both starting left-side offensive linemen because of ankle injuries pounding out 212 rushing yards against a defense that makes stopping the run its top priority? Tampa Bay's troubles run deeper than its bruises.
Big, physical backs have traditionally given the Bucs' defense problems (though apparently no one has told Atlanta, which still refuses to make T.J. Duckett a big part of the game plan, but that's a column for another day). Carolina's Stephen Davis had a big day in Tampa a month ago, and Hearst and Barlow made it look easy Sunday. Next up are Bill Parcells' Dallas Cowboys, with 233-pound RB Troy Hambrick and one of the top six rushing offenses in the NFL.
Pending this week's official injury report, you have to like the Bucs' chances. They have yet to lose two straight games under Coach Jon Gruden, and after consecutive home losses in overtime, the law of averages eventually figures to be on their side. It will take more than a bounce-back win against Dallas to right the Bucs' ship, though. It's well-documented that no Super Bowl winner since the 1998-99 Denver Broncos has successfully defended its title.
Of more concern to the Bucs is that no champion in the history of any sport has pulled off a repeat without stringing together a few wins at some point. The 2003 Bucs have yet to win back-to-back games. There will be great grumbling among fans in letters to the editor and on local sports talk radio this week. Sunday's loss provided loads of fodder to pick up where last week's Sapp controversy left off. It's premature, of course, but panic buttons are being pushed. Yes, a great deal has happened since Jan. 26, 2003. Much of it, the Bucs would just as soon forget.
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