|
|
 |
Roy Cummings, The Tampa Tribune, published 25 November 2002
It was this time a year ago that the New England Patriots made their move. It was this time two years ago that the Baltimore Ravens made theirs.
On their way to Super Bowl championships, both began to separate themselves from the pack in late November, and it appears the Bucs are doing the same. Leaving scores of doubters and one legitimate title contender in their wake, the Bucs pulled away from the Packers on Sunday, posting a 21-7 victory that left little doubt the NFL is a league they can own.
At 9-2, the Bucs stand alone atop the NFL standings, one game ahead of 8-3 Green Bay. And after taking the pole position in the race for homefield advantage throughout the playoffs, the Bucs find California dreaming fast becoming a reality. ``We have one eye on the prize now,'' Bucs cornerback Ronde Barber said in reference to the Jan. 26 Super Bowl in San Diego. ``We have one eye on New Orleans, who we play next week. But the other eye is definitely on the prize.''
How could it not be? For two weeks now, Bucs coach Jon Gruden has reminded his players that the past three Super Bowl champions began pulling away from the rest of the pack in mid- November. He has been urging the Bucs to do likewise, and Sunday's victory, their fourth in a row, provided solid evidence that the players are hearing their coach. The players on defense most certainly are. While limiting the Packers' eighth- ranked offense to 267 total yards - 105 off their average - the Bucs picked off quarterback Brett Favre four times and sacked him three.
Cornerback Brian Kelly had two interceptions, and Barber and safety Dexter Jackson each had one, bringing the Bucs' league-leading total to 25. More importantly, they set up two critical scores. After Kelly's first pick set up the Bucs at the Green Bay 18-yard line, Brad Johnson passed 4 yards to receiver Joe Jurevicius for the lead. A 2- point conversion pass from Johnson to Keyshawn Johnson made it 14-7 with five minutes to play in the third quarter. After Jackson intercepted Favre at the 37 and returned 58 yards to the Packers' 5, Johnson's 3-yard pass to tight end Ken Dilger pushed the advantage to 21-7 with 7:24 to play.
The scores highlighted an offensive effort in which the Bucs accumulated just 246 yards and converted only two of 11 third-down tries. One reason for that was the play of the receivers, who caught 18 balls but had four drops from Keyshawn and tight ends Dilger and Rickey Dudley. ``We still have a lot of improving to do in some key areas,'' Gruden said. ``We dropped too many balls tonight, and we had too many penalties in the kicking game that hurt our field position. I mean, we're playing extremely well on defense, but we have to try and catch up on offense.''
The offense did appear to make strides Sunday. The running attack gained 93 yards in 25 carries for a 3.7 average. The Bucs also capitalized on half of the turnovers they created, and did so with a quarterback, Brad Johnson, who played most of the game with a scratched right eye that briefly sidelined him with double vision. ``That was a new one on me - a quarterback with double vision,'' Gruden said. `` But I just can't say enough about the guy. He still has vision problems. There is some irritation in there. But what he's doing for this team ...''
What Johnson did Sunday, besides complete 15 of 25 passes for 134 yards and no interceptions, was inadvertently spark the defense. For when it appeared he would not return, the defense took up the challenge. ``I went back to my dogs and told them it was on us; he wasn't coming back,'' said defensive tackle Warren Sapp, who sat in on the brief sideline meeting that initially determined Johnson would not return to the game. ``I told them we got to lock tight right now. I told 'em we can't let 'em have another score.''
Sapp said the defense got a ``boost'' when Johnson returned but that it continued to play as if the outcome depended on its efforts. The offense clearly got a boost, too. During the three series with Rob Johnson filling in at quarterback, the Bucs gained just 51 yards in 15 plays, suffered two sacks and turning the ball over on an interception by Na'il Diggs that came off Keyshawn's hands. ``I think we're getting familiar with each other,'' Brad Johnson said. ``I feel very comfortable in the pocket. I think a lot of credit has to go to the offensive line and the way they've improved.''
The play of the line is not the only thing that has improved in recent weeks. Hopes of reaching the Super Bowl have improved as well, and the Bucs no longer are hiding that fact. ``We felt like we were [leading the race for homefield advantage in the playoffs before today] and what we did today was put the pedal to the metal and lap Green Bay,'' Sapp said. ``Now we'll go to New Orleans an
|
|
|
| |
| |
|