Lost spark is immeasurable difference Gary Shelton, The St.Petersburg Times, published 13 October 1997 Something was missing. Something had been lost, and it was bigger than a ballgame. More valuable, too. Warren Sapp sat alone at his locker, covered by a towel, and he looked at the floor, as if perhaps someone had dropped it there. His eyes were hollow, his voice was a whisper. He shook his head slowly, side to side. Usually, Sapp's locker is a good place to go for answers. Not this time. This time, Sapp didn't have a clue where it had all gone. The spark had disappeared, and he could not find a reason for it. "I don't know," he said hoarsely. "I don't know the difference. We're the same 53 guys. We're the same team we were. It's just hard to put your finger on what has changed." Well, the results, for one thing. The performance, for another. On Sunday, the Tampa Bay Bucs were a bad football team that was embarrassed by a mediocre Detroit team. It was 27-9, and it was even worse than it sounds. This was inexcusable. The Bucs have lost games before, but never has this much talent played this poorly all at the same time. The team could not throw, could not catch, could not run, could not block, could not tackle, could not cover, could not kick. And it could not explain why. Because of what a victory would have meant, because they have proven themselves to be better than any Bucs team in years, you can argue this may have been the most disappointing defeat the Bucs have suffered since they stopped going to the playoffs in the early '80s. They were at home with an eight-game winning streak, playing against a team that was 22nd in the NFL against the run, a team they had waxed on the road a month earlier, with a chance to go 6-1 and keep hold of first place in the NFC. Instead, to use Sapp's description, they were "manhandled." This was not a noble defeat in Lambeau Field. This was not a loss to a great team in a great effort. This was not a time to be comforted by five-dash-two and a share of the division lead. This was one of those whippings that leaves a team angry and embarrassed, and with darn good reason. Last week's loss to Green Bay was no reason for concern. This week's loss to Detroit was. "I think we've taken a backward step the last three weeks," Trent Dilfer said. "Something is missing in our preparation." Sunday, everything was missing. Dilfer didn't have time in the pocket, and when he did, he did not throw the ball well, and when he did, the receivers could not catch it. The last 16 times the Bucs ran the ball, they gained only 18 yards. More than anything, however, what was missing from the Bucs was the spark with which they had played their first four games. Remember those weeks? The Bucs were an underdog each week, and there was an air of near desperation in their play. Every game they were as focused as a high-wire performer, intense and hungry and aware of what a slip might mean. They did not play those games as much as they attacked them. It hasn't been quite the same for the last three weeks. There was the narrow escape against Arizona, the defeat at Green Bay, now the dreadful performance against Detroit. For good teams, the fear of losing often is as much a motivator as the joy of winning. Maybe that's the problem here. Maybe this team has lost its fear. And its focus. "I think we may have gotten a little complacent," Dilfer said. "But if that was the case, I'm sure it won't be anymore." Every team wants to win going into its bye week. It lightens the mood, and it makes the week off seem like a vacation. For this team, the defeat will serve to remind it of how ugly the feeling is walking off a field after such a savage beating. It needs to regain a healthy apprehension of what might happen if it is less than itself. "I was a little embarrassed we didn't match their intensity," center Tony Mayberry said. "That's been our trademark. When teams came in here, they knew what kind of effort we were going to play with. Today, we weren't there." So you ask yourself. Which are the real Bucs? Is it the team that was unbeaten after a 5-0 start? Or the team that has struggled for three straight weeks? The team that spent the first month of the season getting better, or the last three weeks getting worse? "I'd like to think we're the team that was 5-0," safety John Lynch said. So would everyone else, John. So would everyone else. But until it finds its spark again, it isn't.