Buccaneers struggle in their hour of need Hubert Mizell, The St.Petersburg Times, published 20 October 2000 It's the most heat the Bucs have ever faced. Ever! A major sweat, even in the October cool. In sports, the term "pressure" is overused, but it unquestionably applied Thursday night. Painful pangs worse than 1976-77, when Tampa Bay's original NFL players stumbled to 26 consecutive defeats. Going against Detroit, need was more acute for the Bucs than in January 2000, when they met St. Louis for the NFC championship. This time, if Tampa Bay were to botch a midseason opportunity against the Lions, storm clouds were sure to all but swallow coach Tony Dungy and his reeling players. We're talking a talented Tampa Bay team with well-documented Super Bowl XXXV expectations. After the happy dynamics of a W-W-W start to this season, the Bucs had gone into an L-L-L dive. Thus the immense need. Dungy's guys aren't dumb. They deeply comprehended that a fourth consecutive L would be devastating, plus triggering unprecedented, blistering wrath of media and public. Oh, sure, the Bucs of a year ago had a 3-4 beginning, then rallied beautifully to go 11-5, eventually pushing within a Missouri step of the Super Bowl. To lean on that, well, you're depending on a quite splintered crutch. To be flailing at 3-4 again, the Bucs would be in a hotter, nastier hole. All but eliminated from the NFC Central race, badly trailing not only unbeaten Minnesota but also these Lions, whom Tampa Bay had punished 31-10 a few weeks earlier in the Silverdome. Before the season is half over, the Bucs would all but cease being defending division champs. A mountain of need. Immediately, the Bucs began to covert extreme need into extreme domination. Tampa Bay got just two field goals from touchdown chances, but a 6-0 lead had the feel of much more. The offense moved at times, and the defense appeared to be regaining its characteristic smothering style. On third down, cornerback Ronde Barber blitzed, goading Detroit quarterback Charlie Batch into a no-chance fling to the left side. Next defensive series, Marcus Jones squashed Batch for a sack. Raymond James Stadium revved with delight. Soon, it was Lions with third and 16. Again, the Bucs poured through, Anthony McFarland getting a sack. Tampa Bay was about to create a whopper of a deal. Nate Webster, a rookie playmaker from Miami, blocked a Lions punt. But that man Barber this time did something very wrong. After the Webster smack, it was a gimme touchdown. An easy six points for Bucs special teams with a big hunger of their own. The football bounced along. Lions were nowhere near it. But count no chickens. . . Barber saw he had plenty of open spaces. Instead of aggressively pursuing the bouncing ball, Ronde nonchalanced it, eventually mutilating the pickup chance. Barber blew a touchdown. Lions players finally arrived. They were allowed to give the Bucs a safety. They were behind 8-0 when the deficit should've been far more. Should've been 17-0, even 21-0. As vigorously as they played, the Bucs were generating far from adequate points from their rash of possibilities. Detroit found itself a march, but it came to third and long. Batch scrambled and threw a pass that should've been the most elementary of interceptions. Tampa Bay defensive back Brian Kelly muffed it. You felt need surging again. With so much shortfall, even senselessly so, you just knew Tampa Bay might have to pay. Detroit was allowed to hang around. Just before halftime, the Lions did something the Bucs hadn't been able to; they scored a touchdown. With a two-point conversion, the score was 11-11. Pains of missed opportunities intensified. The Bucs were daring fate. Amassing more need. Shaun King threw an interception, but Bucs defense tried to fight off the threat. There were sacks of Batch. Still, the Lions got a field goal. Remarkably, they led 14-11. Need was now boiling. By then, Ray J was not a happy place. It would take fourth- quarter excellence to bail out the game. It might even take Tampa Bay offensive touchdowns, which had become all but nonexistent. Detroit had been allowed to keep breathing, with goof-ups like those of Barber and Kelly, plus the weekly Mike Alstott fumble. We were about to see just how severe need could become. Just how the Bucs would fight, trying to shed their L-L-L habit. They retained a chance with defensive bluster, especially the Batch-battering work of the front four. Those fellows clearly understood the need.