Moral victory is no victory for heartbroken Buccaneers Don Banks, The St.Petersburg Times ,published 1987 It was almost a score settled. Instead, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had to settle for less. To a man, the Bucs sat in the aftershock of the Chicago Bears' dramatic 27-26 comeback victory Sunday and took no solace in coming close. Moral victories, they agreed, could take a hike. ``The only victory that counts is in the Ws and Ls,`` said Bucs veteran linebacker Scot Brantley. ``That's the way you've got to look at it. It's hard to find the right words `` ``It's disheartening as hell to lose this game,`` added defensive end John Cannon. ``We just came up short. In my eyes, I don't believe (moral victories) are of consequence if you lose. But we played our hearts out, I'll guarantee that. The effort was there.`` None among the sold-out Tampa Stadium throng of 70,747 had the right to quibble over the Bucs' all-or-nothing effort to end their five-year, 10-game losing streak to the Bears. But desire wasn't the bottom line in this 3-hour, 16-minute melodrama; performance was. And when it counted most, the Bears and their rehabilitated spiritual leader of a quarterback named Jim McMahon got it done. With Chicago trailing 26-14 and the fourth quarter growing old, it was McMahon who put the Bucs' defense on the defensive for virtually the first time all afternoon. Despite playing just a half, MaMahon's numbers - 17-for-24, 195 yards and touchdown drives of 85 and 71 yards - produced raves of respect from the conquered Bucs. ``My hat's off to Jim McMahon,`` Brantley said. ``There's no one quarterback I admire more, and I've played against some great ones. There's never been a better competitor that played the game in my opinion. He made all the difference in the world.`` ``He's more or less a commander out there,`` added Bucs rookie linebacker Winston Moss. ``I have to give him a lot of credit. But this one was ours and we let it slip away. He didn't do it by himself out there. We just came apart in the end. That's what we're going to remember.`` And the rebuilding Bucs will definitely remember this one. As head coach Ray Perkins readily admitted, all losses are not created equal. ``If it don't (hurt), something's bad wrong,`` he said. Bent but not broken by the sudden late-game turn of events, a few of the Bucs struggled to begin the healing process only minutes after the initial wound. ``When you're up 23-14 at the half, you can only look one way at this,`` said third-year Bucs defensive end Ron Holmes. ``We had the opportunity to win. I can only blame one person, myself. I was out there and I didn't make the big play when we needed it. But that's football. You learn from that. It's too bad when you learn, it hurts sometimes.``