The beat goes on: That's 4 Michelle Kaufman, The St.Petersburg Times, published 6 November 1989 Faces looked tired as familiar explanations echoed from stall to stall late Sunday afternoon in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers locker room. Too many mistakes. Some bad breaks. A tough opponent. No need to panic. The team will bounce back next week. The Bucs' reactions following a 42-31 loss to the Cleveland Browns sounded rehearsed, as well they should. Players recited the same lines the previous three Sundays after losses to Detroit, Washington and Cincinnati. But, in spite of the distressing truth - a 3-6 record, upcoming games against Minnesota and Chicago, and an average of 43 points given up the past three weeks - Tampa Bay players refuse to believe they are anything less than a good football team. “I know we keep saying we'll get back on the winning track next week, but I still believe that,” said quarterback Vinny Testaverde, whose 27 completions and 370 passing yards were clouded by four costly interceptions. “I know we're a good team.” It was the third consecutive week that Testaverde threw for more than 300 yards in a losing effort. Said wide receiver Bruce Hill: “I don't feel like we're a losing team, even though that's what our record indicates. We all believe we're good, and I know we're going to be all right. I don't think we'll go 3-13, that's for sure.” Some of the Bucs searched through the rubble of this four-game losing streak and found good in Sunday's loss. For example, the offense put together touchdown drives of 80, 75, 50 and 80 yards against the AFC's top-ranked defense. James Wilder shone with eight catches for 107 yards, two touchdowns, and six rushes for 23 yards. Tampa Bay's 31 points were the most scored against 6-3 Cleveland this year. Defensively, the Bucs held the Browns to seven points in the second half and to five drives of 10 yards or less. But Bucs coach Ray Perkins prefered to ignore those consolations. “The two best things I saw out there were the crowd (69,162) and Eric Metcalf,” Perkins said. Metcalf, a rookie and the son of former NFL great Terry Metcalf, slithered through the Tampa Bay defense for 233 total yards - 87 on the ground, 52 receiving, and 94 on kick returns. He scored two touchdowns as well, including a 43-yard run that left Bucs defenders looking like statues. “I missed a tackle on that run,” said Bucs safety Sherman Cocroft. “He's so hard to get one-on-one. You need a lot of people around to tackle him, and we just didn't get the job done.” Tampa Bay's worst adversary, however, was a triple dose of Testaverde interceptions-turned-touchdowns. “We can't spot a team three touchdowns and have a chance to win,” Perkins said. The first, intended for tight end Ron Hall, was picked off by Frank Minnifield at the Bucs' 48-yard line and returned 25 yards to the 22. Three minutes later, Cleveland went ahead 14-7 on a 7-yard pass to Lawyer Tillman. Tampa Bay had taken an early 7-0 lead on an 80-yard drive that ended in a 1-yard Lars Tate run. The Browns marched right back 80 yards and tied the game on a 24-yard reception and run by Metcalf. Testaverde's second interception of the day went to Felix Wright, who returned it 27 yards for a touchdown. The ball reached Wright's hands after being tipped by linebacker Mike Johnson. Nineteen seconds later, on the first play of the Bucs' next drive, a third Testaverde pass unintentionally landed in the palms of Thane Gash, who ran it back 15 yards for a touchdown. When Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar stepped back on the field, his team was ahead 28-7. Kosar, who completed 18 of 22 passes for 164 yards and three touchdowns, said he felt for Testaverde, his former college teammate. “That's tough for a quarterback, and I know what he was going through,” Kosar said. “I went through the same exact thing three weeks ago (four interceptions against Pittsburgh).” A 9-yard touchdown catch by Wilder and a 53-yard field goal by Donald Igwebuike gave the Bucs 17 first-half points, and a 4-yard catch by the Browns' Derek Tennell accounted for the fifth Cleveland touchdown of the half. “We just gave up too many points early,” said tight end William Harris. “That's what killed us.” The Bucs fought back in the second half on touchdowns by Wilder and Tate, but it wasn't sufficient. Browns coach Bud Carson was impressed with the Bucs' second-half rally. “When you get ahead like we did at halftime, the game should be over,” he said. “We were lucky to come out with a win.” Curt Jarvis, the Bucs' nose tackle, saw it differently: “I don't know that we're a good enough team to get that far behind and come back. We just committed suicide out there the first half, and we couldn't do enough to come back.” Linebacker Ervin Randle: “We won the second half of that game, but they already had too many points on the board and there wasn't enough time to rally. It's disappointing because I felt this was the week we'd finally put things back together.”