Calls or no calls, Bucs should have won Hubert Mizell, The St.Petersburg Times, published 4 November 1996 Thirty-nine times John Elway, after his Broncos trailed in the fourth quarter, has rallied Denver to victories. Tampa Bay, after 20 1/2 NFL seasons and 317 games, with Spurrier and Williams and Young and DeBerg and Testaverde and Chandler and Dilfer and all the other Bucs quarterbacks, has a franchise total of 38 come-from-behind wins. Sunday, they shot another blank. Any excuses? Huh-uh. Bucs luck with officiating fluctuated between sour and putrid. Was there a phantom zebra whistle when Errict Rhett fumbled, a turnaround that would deliver Chicago its winning touchdown? They still should've won. "Everybody heard a whistle," Rhett said. "I was down." Bucs tight end Dave Moore was semi-certain, claiming that "at least half our offense heard a whistle. Everybody stopped, including Bears." Ian Beckles was in the non-hearing half. "Rules say the ground can't cause a fumble," said the offensive guard, "but this time it must've. Although I did not hear a whistle, I began furiously pointing to the ground, hoping refs would get the idea and make a no-fumble call." They still should've won. Raw deal? Maybe. In the NFL, there is no court of appeals. No instant replay. Tampa Bay, in another Sunday officiating judgment, appeared to get hosed by back judge Jim Daopoulos. He came from 20 yards away and well behind the play to call fourth-down interference on Bucs defender Charles Dimry, allowing the Bears to retain the football and wind up kicking a field goal, which would be the eventual margin. Tampa Bay had openings to whine, but didn't overdo. Rhett was asked if the Bucs, being among NFL have-nots, take subconscious floggings from officials while powers like Green Bay and Dallas have better luck with flags. "Some might say that," suggested the Tampa Bay tailback who is just back from a seven-game holdout. "It shouldn't. We work hard. Fairness should be the No. 1 thing. We deserve correct calls as much as a 10-0 team." Tony Dungy, a head coach anything but prone to loud harsh reaction, would not take an oral slap at zebras regarding the Rhett fumble. "If there was no whistle," said Tampa Bay's quiet man, "you've got to hold on to the football." He did, however, brand the flagging of Dimry as "ridiculous!" They still should've won. Good teams, competent offensive operations and solid quarterbacks, when presented as many chances as Tampa Bay experienced in Sunday's final 15 minutes, are prone to overcome. For a fourth straight Sunday, the Bucs allowed an opponent just 13 points. But after beating Minnesota, they've lost three in a row to Arizona, Green Bay and Chicago. Tampa Bay's defense keeps holding it down. Thirteen should get you three triumphs in four, not three flops. Weather was no factor, except for a frisky wind. Everybody knows about the old "42-Degree Bucs Jinx," but it was a delicious afternoon for football alongside Lake Michigan. An NFL postcard. Forty November degrees at Soldier Field. Some fans wore short sleeves. Even so, in all Bucs history, they still are winless when the thermometer dips below 42. But, frankly, it's part of a far bigger, far uglier picture; Tampa Bay (1976-96) has had only slightly less-crummy fortune with 43-and-up mercury readings. Trent Dilfer he's no Elway. In the fourth quarter, with the Bears holding a 13-10 lead that should've been terribly fragile, the Bucs would have three successive solid opportunities to put the bite on Chicago. Tampa Bay achieved first downs at its 43, then at Chicago's 49-yard line on the next possession, then at the Bears' 46. Zip for three! Just one piddling, Elway-like touchdown and the Bucs would've won. But Dilfer and his co-conspirators could not even once get close enough to seek a tying field goal. Always, they find a way. Penalty. Missed block. Dropped pass. Missed assignment. Dilfer, compared with his rotten 1996 beginning, has played more acceptably the past four Sundays. Nonetheless, his Tampa Bay offense continues to be deadly. Still unable to do Elway stuff. Averaging barely 10 points, a losing number to which the Bucs stumbled against Chicago. For a 14th consecutive season, the Bucs will not have a winning record. It's far more than zebras.