disINTegration
Rick Stroud, The St.Petersburg Times, published 23 November 1998

There's no use kidding yourself any longer. It's simply not the Bucs' year. Any hope the Bucs had of finishing the season with a miracle was just a mirage. They have put the genie back in the bottle. Lost their rabbit's foot. Left the winning lottery ticket in the wash. Lady luck has switched sidelines, and that became abundantly clear Sunday against the Lions. With a little more than two minutes left and the Bucs at the Detroit 11 with a chance to send the game into overtime with a field goal, Trent Dilfer's third-down pass to open rookie Jacquez Green was tipped at the line of scrimmage by the Lions' Mike Chalenski. The ball deflected off the receiver and into the hands of diving safety Ron Rice in the end zone.

Instead of a dramatic come-from-behind victory with 2:12 remaining, the Bucs, who twice fought back from 14 points down, were left to fight back tears after a 28-25 loss at Raymond James Stadium. "It was tipped," Dilfer said. "It's frustrating to go from seven points and up by four, because that's what it's going to be. He's going to walk in the end zone, and it's going to be right to him. It's nobody's fault. We have a touchdown. I'll go to my grave saying it's going to be a perfect throw. Their guy makes a great play."

It was the third straight heartbreaking loss for the Bucs - matching their longest losing streak in two years - and realistically ended any playoff hopes by dropping them into a third-place tie in the NFC Central with the Lions at 4-7. "When you're talking about running the table, you have to drop the 8-ball, and the 8-ball banked around in the pocket and didn't go down for us," defensive tackle Warren Sapp said.

After the game, the Bucs were left to sort through all the deflections and dejection that made for a strange afternoon. The Bucs entered the game in a somber mood. Saturday they learned that linebacker Hardy Nickerson was hospitalized with pericarditis, a virus-caused inflammation of the sac around the heart. Later that evening, receiver Karl Williams learned that his father had lost a long battle with cancer and left the team to return to Dallas. In the first quarter, starting cornerback Donnie Abraham aggravated a left knee sprain.

Even so, those things were no excuse for allowing touchdowns to no-names such as rookie Germane Crowell, tight end Walter Rasby and running back Ron Rivers. They scored for the Lions to put the Bucs in a 21-7 hole in the first half. The Bucs wasted another big day offensively, getting a season-high 428 yards.

Dilfer brought the Bucs back by throwing touchdowns to Green and tight end Dave Moore. And he appeared to have tied the score at 21 on a 12-yard pass to Reidel Anthony to start the third quarter. But the play was negated by a holding call on guard Jorge Diaz. Diaz leads the NFL with seven holding penalties. "It was awful," said Diaz of the call. "I let (the official) know that, too. I don't know what he called. The (defender) fell straight to the ground, and all I was doing was just putting my hand on him so I wouldn't fall over him, and (the official) called me for holding. We get that touchdown, we're up. We win."

On third down, Dilfer scrambled out of the pocket but fired low to an open Green in the back of the end zone. That forced the Bucs to settle for a Michael Husted 33-yard field goal. "I was going to run, and Jacquez flashed, and I just made a bad throw," Dilfer said. "I got a little nervous. I wasn't sure if I was crossing the line (of scrimmage) or not. I think I tried to make too hard of a throw instead of putting some air under it and letting him go get it."

Then the ball started bouncing funny for the Bucs. Tight end Patrick Hape had a catchable pass deflect off his hands to linebacker Richard Jordan. The Bucs appeared to have forced the Lions to settle for a field goal, but a holding penalty on rookie Brian Kelly gave Detroit new life. Fullback Tommy Vardell scored on a 1-yard run to give it a 28-17 lead one play into the fourth quarter. The Bucs closed to within a field goal on Mike Alstott's 5-yard TD run and a two-point conversion pass from Dilfer to Anthony.

For a moment, it looked as if the Bucs' pluck would be rewarded. A pass to Warrick Dunn was deflected into Alstott's arms. Alstott rumbled for a 17-yard gain to the Lions 15. "I was just laughing," said Dunn, who combined with Alstott for 141 rushing yards. "I know the game was intense, but when something bizarre happens like that and you're driving down to score a touchdown or tie the game up, it makes you laugh."

But nothing was funny about the next pair of deflections. It appeared Dilfer threw behind Green, causing the interception. But video replays corroborated claims by Dilfer and Green that the ball's direction was altered by Chalenski. "It's a roller-coaster ride emotionally in this league," Dilfer said. "You go from a great high there - getting a little lucky - to get the yards we did. To a few plays later getting about as bad a break as you could possibly get. We haven't played good football all year long. That's obvious. You don't just get bad breaks and be 4-7. There's some bad football, too."

So what's left for the Bucs? One year after making the playoffs for the first time since 1982, they will have to win four of their remaining five games to avoid a losing record. "It's doubtful we can make the playoffs at this point," coach Tony Dungy said. "We've got to try and win the last five. As I told the team, we've got to try and do some things we haven't done. Go up to Chicago and win, beat Green Bay. We still have some goals we can accomplish. And if the playoffs come, we look at it as a bonus. But right now, we just have to finish up strong the last five weeks."

Anthony summed up the prevailing sentiment after being swept by the Lions: "It's just not our year. Things haven't gone our way like last year," he said. "We've had injuries and this and that. It's weird. I've never been on this side of the totem pole with nothing going our way. We haven't been getting the breaks. Everything has been going against us. I don't know if it's El Nino or what. Blame it on El Nino."