|
|
 |
Roy Cummings, The Tampa Tribune, published 16 December 2002
Any given Sunday, right? That's what the NFL keeps preaching. If you still don't believe the doctrine, you probably were out Christmas shopping when the Bucs stumbled into the playoffs Sunday. With top running back James Stewart among four offensive starters out for Detroit (3-11) and quarterback Joey Harrington forced to exit in the first quarter with an irregular heartbeat, it was as if the Lions were carrying plastic forks into a knife fight. Even local theologians sensed impending doom. A church one block from Ford Field hung a sign on its outer wall: ``Pray Here for the Lions.''
Turns out the NFL often works in mysterious ways, too. Despite facing running backs that their coach said he'd never heard of and a second-team quarterback for all but the first series, the Bucs needed a fourth-quarter rally to beat the Lions 23-20 and clinch a playoff berth. Martin Gramatica's 38-yard field goal with 3:04 remaining was the difference. ``We were not flat today,'' Jon Gruden said. ``And I know that's going to be the word on the street, but the truth is, this is the NFL and you can get your block knocked off here if you don't make some plays. I mean, I look around today and I see where New Orleans [lost] at home [to Minnesota] and where the Jets [lost to the Bears] and where Atlanta [lost at home to] Seattle. That's the way it is in this league. It's tough to win.''
The Bucs (11-3) have a two- game lead on New Orleans (9-5), and the only way Tampa Bay will not win the NFC South title is if it loses twice while the Saints finish with two wins. Both would be 11-5 and New Orleans would win as a result of sweeping the Bucs. Division winners are assured either a first-round bye or home game.
Tampa Bay is tied with Philadelphia and Green Bay for the NFC's best record. If those three win out and all finish 13-3, Philadelphia gets the No. 1 seed by virtue of what would be a 12-0 mark in NFC games. The Bucs and Packers both would be 9-3 in the NFC, and Tampa Bay would get the other first-round bye because it beat Green Bay, 21-7, on Nov. 4.
Beating Pittsburgh on Dec. 23 and Chicago on Dec. 29 will be difficult if the Bucs play as they did Sunday, when reserve backs Aveion Cason and Rafael Cooper led a Lions effort that ran over and around the Bucs for 144 yards. ``We just had some breakdowns,'' defensive tackle Warren Sapp said. ``We had guys not turning back the right way, guys not staying in their proper gaps or being where they're supposed to be. When you're not where you're supposed to be in this league, you can look real bad. And [144] yards rushing by two guys you've never heard of is real bad.''
The only thing worse may be allowing 15.8 yards per pass completion while facing a backup quarterback. Though he completed less than half his passes, backup Mike McMahon connected on just enough big plays to keep the Lions on the Bucs' heels until the very end. McMahon threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Bill Schroeder and ran for a touchdown. McMahon's 2-yard scoring run came on the first play after the Bucs allowed kickoff returner Eddie Drummond to run 91 yards just seconds after taking a 20-13 lead early in the fourth quarter. ``In every way that you can let a team get back into a game, we let them get back in today,'' Sapp said. ``I mean, we almost beat ourselves today.''
Were it not for their offense, the Bucs might have lost. But a unit that struggled for most of the season showed more signs of improvement Sunday and actually bailed out the defense. Surpassing the 100-yard plateau for the second consecutive week, the Bucs rushed for 123 yards and touchdowns by Michael Pittman and Mike Alstott. Pittman and Alstott also played critical roles in a passing attack that produced 253 yards despite struggling with Lions pass rushers as well as some basic football rules. Bucs linemen were whistled for six penalties, including three in a row at one stage. Half of those were false starts and the other half were holding calls.
``I probably threw the ball away eight to 10 times today,'' said quarterback Brad Johnson, who completed 24 of 41 passes for 253 yards. ``I felt like I just had to do that.''
When Johnson wasn't throwing the ball away, he often was throwing off his back foot with little zip while under pressure. That made life dangerous for his receivers, one of whom nearly paid a significant price. While leaping for one of his six catches, Keyshawn Johnson was hit in the groin and forced out of the game early in the fourth quarter. He later returned, but wouldn't make a bigger catch. ``That was a momentum play for us,'' Brad Johnson said of Keyshawn's daring 30-yard catch at the Lions' 20. ``We had good field position, but we needed to move the field and that's what we did with that. It was probably the key play for us today.''
Johnson's catch was followed by a 16-yard throw to tight end Rickey Dudley. One play later, Pittman rumbled in from 4 yards out for his first score of the season and a 20-13 Bucs lead. Johnson's key play might not have been made, though, were it not for middle linebacker Shelton Quarles making what Gruden said was the key play of the day. That came with the score 13-13 and the Lions on the move after a 32-yard McMahon to Cason pass play put them at the Bucs' 39.
On the next play, Quarles tipped a McMahon pass high into the air and caught it, robbing the Lions of their momentum and sparking the rally that produced Pittman's touchdown. ``People don't want to believe it, but when you go on the road in the NFL you got to be prepared for a war,'' Sapp said later. ``This was a war t oday. And we aided them in it. But you know what? We're 11-3 and that's all that matters.''
|
|
|
| |
| |
|