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Rick Stroud, The St.Petersburg Times, published 1 December 1997
It finally is safe to say there is something wonderfully different this season about the Buccanneers.
It may have started with pewter, but now there is nothing more valuable than their mettle.
This is a team that can overcome turnovers, penalties, bad officiating and maybe even the thermometer.
The Bucs took an eraser to all of it Sunday in a critical game played in the playoff atmosphere at the Meadowlands. But what they really wiped away was their past.
All it took was the smallest man on the field, a Lilliputian running among Giants, to come up big when they really needed him.
Here's what is really different about the Bucs this season: They will finish with more wins than losses.
Rookie Warrick Dunn rushed for 120 yards and set up both touchdowns - the first with his 53-yard reception - to lead the Bucs to a 20-8 win over the New York Giants.
The victory improved the Bucs to 9-4 and guaranteed them their first winning record in 15 seasons. More important, it left them needing just one victory in their final three games to clinch a playoff spot. The Bucs will have the luxury of sitting home and watching tonight's game between NFC Central rivals Green Bay and Minnesota at the Metrodome knowing they will prosper from the outcome.
If the Vikings win, the Bucs will be back in a three-way tie for the division lead with Minnesota and Green Bay. If the Packers prevail, Tampa Bay will be in position as the first wild-card team with a chance to host a playoff game. "This is huge," defensive end Chidi Ahanotu said. "It guarantees a winning season. We're on our way to the playoffs, almost. It's huge. It's huge for this organization and a great measuring stick to show how far we've come."
If there was a player who never wins a tale of the tape, it's the diminutive Dunn.
Before Sunday, the 5-foot-8 rookie had been held to 40 yards or less rushing in five of his past six games. In fact, his last 100-yard rushing effort came Oct. 5 at Green Bay.
But the Bucs offensive line managed to open some gaps for him and he finally broke out of his recent slump against a defense that was ranked fourth in the NFL against the run.
"It's been a long, long time," Dunn said. "I guess over the last two weeks, there's been a lot of criticism that maybe Warrick Dunn is worn out or this guy can't do this or that. But that's not been it at all. I just haven't had the opportunities. Today I got a few opportunities."
The Bucs and Dunn had a lot of help from the Giants on Sunday.
If you were deciding on the NFC Coach of the Year between the Bucs Tony Dungy and the Giants' Jim Fassel, the ballot was filled out early.
Fassel took a delay of game penalty trying to draw the Bucs offsides on fourth down, costing his team 5 yards moments before Brad Daluiso missed 47-yard field goal.
But that decision looked smart compared with the one that turned the game around.
Trailing 14-8 with 12:02 left in the game at the Bucs' 47, Fassel elected to go for it on fourth and 1 and Tyrone Wheatley was stuffed for no gain by safety John Lynch.
The Bucs used the field position and a pass interference penalty on Giants defensive back Phillippi Sparks to set up Errict Rhett's 1-yard TD run to put the game away.
"It was disrespectful," Bucs defensive tackle Warren Sapp said. "That's the way we always look at it. The play (of the series) we hit them in the backfield and stop them for a 3-yard loss. Then they come back and go for it on fourth and 1. That's disrespect."
The Bucs did not play a perfect game. They committed 10 penalties 93 yards. And they continued to torpedo themselves with turnovers in the first half.
Trent Dilfer, who had gone 152 straight attempts without a pick, was intercepted three times, but history will show at least one of them was the result of a blown call.
Even so, all the Giants got out of those giveaways was a field goal.
"Our defense put us in so many good situations today and saved our butts so many times, it was phenomenal," Dilfer said.
The Bucs were leading 7-0 and driving for another apparent score with two minutes remaining before halftime and the ball on the Giants 27-yard line. Dilfer's pass to Rob Thomas was broken up by Jason Sehorn and actually landed on the turf incomplete. But safety Tito Wooten alertly scooped the ball up and returned it 53 yards before he was pushed out of bounds at the Bucs' 28.
Even though field judge Jeff Triplette appeared to have signaled the play either dead or incomplete, the return stood. That led to Daluiso's 45-yard field goal with 4 seconds left before halftime.
Dilfer and Dungy argued vehemently after the play, and replays clearly showed the pass fell incomplete. Their protests did no good.
"I couldn't believe I didn't hear a whistle," Dilfer said. "I saw the ball on the ground."
Dilfer's other interceptions cost the Bucs points. After driving his team all the way to the Giants 7, Alstott lost 2 yards on first down. On the next play, Dilfer's pass bounced through the hands of receiver Karl Williams and was intercepted by Sparks, who ran 68 yards down the sideline to the Bucs 27.
The Giants managed a first down from there. But the threat ended when Derrick Brooks stepped in front of a pass by Danny Kanell intended for Tiki Barber.
The Bucs entered the game with seven interceptions; only Dallas and Miami had fewer. But they harassed Kanell into throwing two interceptions and held him to 14-of-31 passing for 117 yards. Ahanotu also recorded two sacks, giving him 10 for the season, on consecutive plays in the third quarter.
Time and again, the defense bailed out the Bucs and Dilfer. But his biggest blunder came early in the fourth quarter when he tried to avoid a sack in the end zone by throwing the ball away and was called for intentional grounding, resulting in a safety.
The play cut the Bucs' lead to 14-8 and gave the Giants momentum and the ball at midfield after the free kick.
"It surprised me, really. I had no idea I was in the end zone," Dilfer said.
But that's when Fassel and the Giants seemed to panic, going for it on fourth and 1 rather than pin the Bucs deep again with a punt.
"I thought it was very disrespectful on their part," Ahanotu said. "I don't know, I guess drastic times call for drastic measures."
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