Chilling Ramifications To This Disgusting Defeat Joey Johnston, The Tampa Tribune, published 24 December 2002 Unfortunately, the Bucs won't get a chance to celebrate their NFC South title. The opportunity was there Monday night. Party hats were packed nearby. Millions of nationwide viewers gathered by the fireplace to watch Tampa Bay's flying sparks. And then? Up in smoke. The champagne was on ice. Now it's on to Champaign - and even more ice - for a ridiculously scheduled Sunday night finale against the Chicago Bears in expected sub-freezing, sub-human conditions. Is somebody at NFL headquarters playing a cruel joke here? Better pack those Long-Jon's, Mr. Gruden. Only a few hours removed from the travesty we witnessed at Raymond James Stadium - Steelers 17, Bucs 7 and it wasn't nearly that close - it's almost hard to believe Tampa Bay was in a neck-and-neck- and-neck race for homefield advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. That's gone. It now appears the Bucs can say bye-bye to the bye week, which made all those Super Bowl XXXVII dreams seem so do-able. Sure, there's a home playoff game on Jan. 4 or 5, maybe even another meeting with the Falcons or Saints. But that only leads to the scenario so dreaded by every Bucs fan. Now they've opened Pandora's Box. Or is it Pandora's Icebox? The Philadelphia Eagles (12-3), even with their third-string quarterback, now have a greater stranglehold on homefield advantage. If they lose Saturday against the New York Giants, the NFC's Road to San Diego still gets chillier. Green Bay (also 12-3) could sneak into the No. 1 seed, if they beat the New York Jets and the Eagles lose. Either way, this is not a scenario the Bucs could have imagined only a few weeks ago. A season-ending trip to Champaign. Then a home playoff game, which probably means a one-way ticket to Green Bay, then Philadelphia. Or perhaps Philadelphia, then Green Bay. It really seems like nitpicking to quibble with potentially the best regular-season finish in franchise history. After all, the Bucs would be 12-4 if they beat the Bears. Before this season, who wouldn't have embraced that? Now it just seems like another passageway into the abyss. The Bucs did this to themselves. They unraveled at New Orleans on Dec. 1, losing their hard-earned advantage. Monday night, they weren't at all ready to play in the season's biggest game. Last week, Jon Gruden was asked about the NFC's potentially wild finish. He just shrugged. ``Just because you're a favorite, just because you're playing at home ... just because, just because ... [it] really doesn't mean anything,'' he said. ``You've got to come out and find ways to win in this league.'' The Bucs have been able to fight through adversity most of this season. They answered a season-opening home disintegration against New Orleans. They pulled it together after another loss to the Eagles at Veterans Stadium. And they came off a second defeat to the Saints with a resounding victory against the Falcons. Now what? The Bucs are backed into a corner. There's still a glimmer of hope for that No. 2 seed - the formula is this: Bucs win, Packers lose next Sunday - but that might be a long shot. More likely, the Bucs have lost their much-coveted week off. It looks like they're headed back to the cold. Nobody needs to be reminded of this statistic: Tampa Bay is 0-20 all-time in games where the temperature has dipped below 40 degrees. ``I've been told we've never won a game when it's below 32 - it could be below 32,'' Gruden said Monday night. Actually, coach, the line of demarcation is 40 degrees. ``Is that what it is?'' Gruden said, smirking. Last week, Gruden dismissed the fear of a road playoff game as ``hogwash.'' Maybe so. But the Bucs are fighting more than adversity now. They're battling frigid history. ``You never want to let down at the end of the year,'' Bucs center Jeff Christy said before the game. ``If you clinch a playoff spot, you don't want to go into the playoffs flat.'' Unfortunately, that's precisely what happened against the Steelers. The Bucs still have time to alter their direction. But even more unfortunately, they're now pointed squarely at Green Bay or Philadelphia. Precisely what they didn't want to happen. Right now, there's nothing to celebrate. Gruden likes to say you get what you deserve. For the Bucs, that was true again Monday night.