Defense silences Seahawks Anwar Richardson, The Tampa Tribune, published 21 December 2009 The Bucs' defense received nearly every negative label imaginable the first half of the season. Tampa Bay was criticized for its inability to stop big plays. It showed little ability to stop the run. Players failed to thrive in former coordinator Jim Bates' system. Now the Bucs are working toward new labels. Tampa Bay's defense stepped up to shut down Seattle's offense during a 24-7 victory. It was the fewest points allowed by Tampa Bay this season. "It's great to play a complete game," Bucs linebacker Barrett Ruud said. "Even with our win against the Packers, I didn't honestly feel good about that because the defense gave up 28 points and we did a great job rallying at the end, but this is the first time all year we worked together to play 60 minutes of complete football in all three phases." Tampa Bay's defense had been stuck in a phase of futility since last year. From the moment former Bucs coordinator Monte Kiffin announced he was leaving to coach with his son at the University of Tennessee last December, Tampa Bay's defense began to struggle. The Bucs had close games against Atlanta and Carolina recently, but their defense seemingly took a step back during a 26-3 loss to the New York Jets last week. Against Seattle, Tampa Bay held Seahawks running back Julius Jones to 65 yards on 12 attempts. In addition, quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was intercepted four times and finished with a passer rating of 45.2. Hasselbeck completed 27 of 46 passes for 256 yards and one touchdown. "We can still get better," Bucs defensive end Stylez G. White said. "I still think they had 300 yards of offense (339). We're still getting better. Right now, it's a progression. People were throwing us under the bus because we didn't perform right out of the gate, but you can see constant improvement." The Bucs' major point of emphasis during the week was to play within themselves. Instead of trying to make the splash play, or big hit, Bucs cornerback Ronde Barber said players were encouraged to make Seattle catch the ball in front of tacklers. Then, whenever the Seahawks decided to throw deep, they wanted to make Hasselbeck pay. As a result, Bucs cornerback Elbert Mack grabbed two interceptions, while safety Tanard Jackson and linebacker Geno Hayes also had picks. "Ronde was making a good play, forcing him to overthrow it," Jackson said. "We had a little pressure and made (Hasselbeck) get rid of the ball quick, faster than he wanted to, and we just made good plays on the ball." Tampa Bay's defense also made progress. The defense received many negative labels this season. They hope their performance against Seattle will result in new labels. "It feels good to put it all together for the whole game," Ruud said. "We did have some breakout runs, but the good thing was there was no panic. It was kind of like when it happened everyone was like 'That's my fault' or somebody said 'Hey, I didn't get to that guy.' There was no panic at all. They were in a spread formation and had some runs, but after that, we locked it up."