Culpepper still has a slick look Rick Stroud, The St.Petersburg Times, published 10 November 1997 So now there is another team that would really like to wash its hands of Brad Culpepper. For a week, the Bucs nose tackle had to listen to claims by the Indianapolis Colts that he had an illegal substance on his jersey until the matter was found to be meritless by the NFL. Then on Sunday, Culpepper cleaned up against the Falcons, recording three of the Bucs' five sacks of quarterback Chris Chandler in a 31-10 victory. It was vindication for Culpepper, who for a week was more associated with silicone than Pamela Anderson. In fact, Culpepper has two of only eight triple-sack performances in Tampa Bay history with both coming this season. He had the sack trick against Arizona in Week 5. Culpepper is tied for second on the team in sacks with 7.5, just a half-sack behind Chidi Ahanotu. "Allegedly, there was no grease on me this week," Culpepper said. "Maybe those guys were nervous that there was and were afraid to touch me. Maybe they were like, `Well, we don't want to get it on our hands.' Hopefully, their coach won't blame it all on me." All week long, members of the Bucs defensive line had talked about taking control of the game. They were disappointed in their effort against Indianapolis rookie quarterback Kelly Holcomb, who picked them apart and was never really hurried. The Falcons defense entered the game with 36 sacks, most of any team in the NFL and seven more than Tampa Bay. But it was shut out Sunday and Tampa Bay's pass rush closed the gap. "I didn't play very well up here in the preseason, so I was definitely intense all week and ready to play a good game," Culpepper said. "I was just fortunate to be at the right place at the right time. It's pretty funny timing. You get all this national publicity about what somebody says about my jersey and blaming the game on that. The next week, I come back with three sacks. The timing was just right. I'm living right right now I guess. The league comes back and says there was nothing wrong with my jersey. It's been a good weekend." Not all of the Bucs' sacks were as effective as Culpepper's. Ahanotu tackled Chandler for a 5-yard loss to start the second half. But he was penalized 15 yards for taunting when he stood over the fallen quarterback and danced. "It's retired," Ahanotu said of his choreography. "Next time I get a sack, I'll shake someone's hand or something. I was embarrassed. My grandmother was in the stands and she didn't raise me like that. I already apologized to Chris, and I'll do it again. Sorry, Chris. It's the Men In Black dance. I was trying to back out, but they pushed me back into him trying to get the flag on me. It was pretty sneaky on their part. I've never been warned about it. I guess I was hovering over him. Well, I was hovering over (Arizona quarterback Kent) Graham, too." Ahanotu was the subject of some serious ribbing from teammates. "They didn't call you for taunting," Culpepper said. "They called you for bad dancing."