Bucs defense takes a stand Rick Stroud, The St.Petersburg Times, published 1 December 1997 As with most fourth-down stands, it was time for a measurement. This was the yardstick by which the Bucs defense would be judged this season. Trailing 14-8 with 12:02 left and the ball on the Tampa Bay 47-yard line, the Giants gambled on fourth and 1 rather than pin the Bucs deep with a punt. "It was a little bit of an insult," John Lynch said. "That's the way we took it. Of course, they had to do what they had to do." Giants running back Tyrone Wheatley was stopped for no gain by Lynch and Hardy Nickerson and the Bucs took over on downs. The play granted Tampa Bay's offense great field position and led to its game-clinching touchdown drive capped by Errict Rhett's 1-yard run in Sunday's 20-8 victory over the Giants. "We were embarrassed a little bit last week because Chicago won the physical battle and that doesn't happen much with this team," Lynch said. "We knew we had to mash them, that it was going to be a slugfest, especially with the Giants, who are a big, physical team. Every time we were faced with adversity today, we stepped up. That's the mark of a championship team and that's what we have." Bucs defensive end Chidi Ahanotu sacked quarterback Danny Kanell on consecutive plays in the third quarter, giving him 10 for the season to lead the team. It is the first time since Santana Dotson recorded 10 sacks as a rookie in 1992 that a Bucs player has reached double digits in that category. Ahanotu is three sacks shy of the franchise record held by Hall of Famer Lee Roy Selmon since 1977. "Before I wasn't bragging, but I guess now I can start," Ahanotu said. "Sapp and them were talking a lot of mess. I'm going to go home and rub it in to them a little bit. The first one we had a great coverage and I just popped out and got him. The second one, Sapp and I and (Brad) Culpepper pushed back and he fell right into me. It's always a team effort." The Bucs also intercepted Kanell twice - one each by linebacker Derrick Brooks and Donnie Abraham. When the Giants picked off Bucs quarterback Trent Dilfer three times, Tampa Bay's defense yielded just a field goal off those turnovers. "We can go tit for tat with you," Sapp said. "If that's the way we're going to play it, that's the way it's going to be. We threw away a couple of scoring opportunities early in the ballgame, but we also stopped a couple. That's the way the game is played sometimes." What also irked the Bucs is the Giants defense had been touted all week and was featured on one of the network pregame shows. "It kind of amps you up," Sapp said. "You're sitting there watching NFL Countdown and they're saying this is the best defense since sliced bread. We're looking around like, `What are we? The scraps?' We play pretty good defense ourselves." Tony Dungy lauded his team's defensive effort, particularly against the NFC East leaders in a playoff atmosphere. "Late November-December games, two very good defenses, a crowd that was into it - that's what playoff football is all about, and I'm glad we got a taste of it," Dungy said.