First the Bucs bent, then they broke Don Banks, The St.Petersburg Times, published 27 November 1995 For most of 11 games this season, Tampa Bay's bend-but-don't-break defense did just that. On Sunday, breakdowns were all Bucs defensive coordinator Rusty Tillman saw when he reviewed Tampa Bay's 35-13 loss to Green Bay. Especially in the Bucs' secondary, which surrendered three touchdown passes for just the second time this year. "I'm very disappointed in the way we played," Tillman said. "A guy's playing man coverage, with help to the post (inside), and he jumps the damn post route. It doesn't make any sense. I don't understand why these things happen." The play in question was the centerpiece of the secondary's struggles against the Packers. Receiver Robert Brooks, guarded by cornerback Martin Mayhew, faked an inside move, then went straight down the left sideline to haul in a 54-yard Brett Favre touchdown in the second quarter. The play gave Green Bay a 14-10 lead it never would relinquish, and came just 1:17 after Tampa Bay had taken its first and only lead, 10-7, on a 19-yard Michael Husted field goal. "He just ran a corner and I thought he was going to bend it back in like he did the first time," Mayhew said. "He just took it vertical on me and went right up the field." Favre's standout day - 16-of-24 for 267 yards - included two touchdowns to Brooks (the other for 3 yards) and a first-quarter 9-yard scoring pass to Mark Ingram. Combined with a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs by Packers fullback Dorsey Levens, it represented the first time Tampa Bay's defense had allowed more than three touchdowns in any game this season. The Bucs' defense previous season high in points allowed had been 27, to Detroit two weeks ago. Tampa Bay was trying to match the accomplishment of its 1981 team and become one of just two Bucs squads not to allow 30 points in a game. Buffalo, San Francisco, and Oakland were the only other teams that had not allowed 30 entering Sunday's games. "They had a good day today," cornerback Charles Dimry said. "They had some big plays and we weren't able to stop the big plays. And we didn't make any big plays ourselves." Favre, who was 48-of-62 for 546 yards and eight touchdowns in the past two weeks, showed the Bucs firsthand why he's the league's hottest passer. "Those were great plays (Favre made)," Bucs coach Sam Wyche said. "It wasn't all bad plays on our part. They made great plays. They outplayed us, but they didn't outplay us in every area." Favre rushed for just 18 yards on two carries, but the threat of his leaving the pocket was enough to cause havoc in the Bucs' secondary. "When you let that quarterback move around, it's dangerous," said strong safety Kenny Gant. "Sometimes you see the guys scrambling and you tend to let coverage go. On their first touchdown (to Ingram), I was out of position."