Defense puts Pats in the pits Gary Shelton, The St.Petersburg Times, published 17 November 1997 The clock was ticking down, the Patriots were moving, and for the first time all day, there was a frantic feeling on the Bucs sideline. Tony Dungy kept looking at the field, not at the players around him. The chains were moving. Tackles were being missed. Still, Dungy would not relent. As the opponent neared the end zone, the players were almost pleading for him to do something. Warren Sapp, his helmet on the bench, a jacket over his jersey, moved in front of his coach and grabbed him. "Are you sure you don't want to put us back in?" Dungy kept his arms folded and cut Sapp a sideways look, stern and silent. He didn't have to say anything. The look told Sapp, and Brad Culpepper and Hardy Nickerson and Chidi Ahanotu and the rest of the anxious defensive players of the Bucs all they needed to know. For the only time all day, they weren't going to get their way. So it was the front-line players who stood around Dungy as the Patriots crossed the goal line Sunday afternoon. Eight seconds were left in the game when Scott Zolak threw a 6-yard pass to Lovett Purnell, capping a fast, furious rally that brought the defending AFC champs within 20 points of Tampa Bay. Turns out, the Bucs didn't shut out the Patriots. They only shut them down. This was not merely a victory. In the words of defensive end Ahanotu, "This was a regular old Southern a-- whipping." The Bucs chewed up the Patriots 27-7, leaving them looking meek, weak and seeking any opportunity to welcome back Bill Parcells any time he wants to come. This was a team that was in the Super Bowl just 12 games ago? You're kidding me. The Bucs left the Patriots looking like those teams with Rod Rust at coach and Tommy Hodson at quarterback. Put it this way: The Packers didn't beat the Patriots as badly in Super Bowl XXXI as the Bucs beat them Sunday. The Super Bowl loss was by 14 (35-21). This one could have been by 42. How could you foresee this? The Patriots came in averaging 25.4 points, third in the league. They had the fourth-best offense. They had a $6-million quarterback in Drew Bledsoe, a $1.5-million tight end in Ben Coates, a Pro Bowl back in Curtis Martin. And they got shoved around like a practice squad. Or, at least, like a squad that needs practice. The Bucs had five sacks against a team that had given up only 18 in 10 games. They held Martin, averaging 98.8 yards, to 26. If the original Patriots had treated red-shirted opponents like this, one can assume Sapp would be a cricket player today. The Patriots did not have a first down in the first half. Not counting the 75-yard drive against the Bucs' junior varsity in the final minutes, the Patriots had 97 yards the entire day. "A hornet's nest," is the way Dungy put it. This was what the Bucs defense was supposed to look like this season. It hasn't been bad, but it hasn't been relentless, either. It was ranked 16th in the league coming in, 19th against the pass. To win, Dungy was thinking about holding the Patriots to fewer than 23 points. The players, however, were thinking about something else. They were thinking about dominating a team they didn't think was as physical as they were. "On Monday, when we were watching films of the Atlanta game, the coaches were all worried and talking about all of New England's weapons," Culpepper said. "But by Wednesday, they were licking their chops at what we were going to be able to do to. They aren't the kind of team that wants to get into a slugfest." They aren't as hard as we are," Ahanotu said. "They couldn't go 60 minutes with us." You want to talk about mosh pits? Turns out, the news reports were wrong. Bledsoe wasn't one of three Patriots jumping off a concert stage, after all. "He didn't jump," Nickerson said. "I pushed him." "Maybe Bledsoe hit his head when he was stage-diving," Culpepper said. "He seemed a little rattled. Maybe they had a bumpy ride down here." Five times the Patriots touched the ball in the first half. Five times they went three-and-out. Martin carried the ball only twice. His biggest gain was a loss of a yard. Against the Bucs, the Pats were in one hell of a mosh. "After the first series, it seemed like they were stepping back and saying `We've got our hands full,' " Ahanotu said. "This is the most dominating game we've played since I've been here." It was good enough, frankly, to deserve a zero. The Patriots can't be fooled by the late touchdown. They were disassembled. By the end, the key Buc defenders were turned into cheerleaders, no matter how much they argued to go back into the game. "I was mad about losing the shutout," Sapp said. "I've already choked Steve White a couple of times, and I've slapped Regan (Upshaw) around. I'll get to the rest of them Monday." He may not want to slap too hard. He wouldn't want to leave his teammates feeling Patriotic.