With victory sealed, Bucs steam it open Gary Shelton, The St.Petersburg Times, published 21 November 1994 When the time for memories is at hand - and it might not be long now - this is the one to count first. Forget the first 19 years. Forget the 203 losses. Forget the soon-to-be 12 straight years of double-digit losses. If prospective owners want to know about the Tampa Bay Bucs, this is all they need to know: Fourth and 12, Seattle at the Bucs' 36-yard line. The Seahawks, sort of a West Coast version of the Bucs, are behind 21-15 and without their best player, Chris Warren. Seattle has just had a killing holding penalty, and there are only 77 seconds left on the clock. And so what happens? Illegal contact, that's what. First and 10, that's what. New hope for Seattle, that's what. Same old stuff for Tampa Bay, that's what. If you have watched this team for any time at all, you could have predicted it from your seat. (I did. I have witnesses.) An offside would not have given Seattle enough yardage. A blown coverage and the Bucs would have had more time for a comeback of their own. Illegal contact. Perfect. Suddenly, it is moot that Brian Blades caught the ball for 11 yards and was short of the stick. Suddenly, it does not matter that he fumbled and Marty Carter recovered. All that matters is that Michael McGruder, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, is called for an illegal chuck against Blades. Illegal chuck. Of course. Plays like this are why the Bucs are the Bucs. More than that, plays like this are why the Bucs are for sale. Had they won a few of these games along the way, had they made a few comebacks stick, then fans would spin the turnstiles, and any thought of this team leaving town would be foreign. Instead, they lose with mental rocks. This was not a matter of losing to a fine athlete leading a fine opponent from behind. This was a wacky, creatively blown play. This was finding a way to lose. Following the game, the Bucs railed against the call against McGruder. And perhaps it could have been ignored. A lot of jostling goes on in the secondary. But referee Don Hakes said Blades was "way past" the 5-yard zone when he was "blasted" by the defense. Either way, why risk such a penalty on such a key down? But consider this, too: Once the Bucs took their first lead in 23 quarters, the Warren-less Seahawks drove the ball 77 yards on 12 plays to score the winning points. Make a play on any one of those, and McGruder's play means nothing. In the twilight outside the Kingdome, defensive coordinator Floyd Peters tried to make some sense of it all. He talked about what a shame it was that the key play of the game was decided by officials instead of players. But then Peters made the most astute comment of the day. "We had an opportunity to make some plays," he said. "We had an opportunity to make an interception, a sack, a tackle. We have to make more plays." Aha. The point. Tell me, please, what in blue blazes has happened to the defense of this football team? Once, not so long ago, this was supposed to be a defense that could carry an offense. Give it a little help from the offense, the thinking was, and it could win some games for you. Instead, this is a team that cannot hold a 6-point lead against a team arguably as weak as the Bucs. This is a defense that cannot rush the passer (one sack in a month), cannot tackle the runner (Warren averaged 7.3 yards and roughly three broken tackles per carry) and only occasionally covers the receiver. On their winning drive, the Seahawks picked up a third and 4 and a third and 10 besides the fourth-down play. Mayhew dropped an interception and was guilty of pass interference. Mirer roamed the pocket as if protected by the palace guard. Again, it needs to be pointed out just how bad the Seahawks have been. They have the 21st-best offense in the league, despite Warren, and still drove the field to win without him. They had lost six straight. And they won. How? By hanging around until the key play in the final period when the Bucs turn into the Bucs. Illegal chuck. And another game chucked away. How fitting.