No matter what, these Bucs are winners again Martin Fennelly, The Tampa Tribune, published 27 December 2010 They're winners. For a moment this morning, forget the opponent, those miserable Seahawks. With Sunday's 38-15 steamroll, the Bucs finished tied with Atlanta atop the NFC West with a 4-0 record. Seattle can make the playoffs with a win Sunday over equally awful St. Louis. The Bucs will need to win at New Orleans and then still need help. Sigh. Where were we? For a moment, forget that dreadful loss to Detroit. And forget yet another incredibly small house at chilly Raymond James Stadium, that there were more people in the Bucs' training room. Sunday's additions: Arrelious Benn (knee), Earnest Graham (noggin). Get this in your heads, playoffs or no: These guys are winners again. They have their ninth victory in 2010. However small it seems, it still matters. Yes, there's the Race to 10. But these young Bucs, the youngest bunch in the NFL, in fact, already have won the race to respectability. "They can't take that away," linebacker Geno Hayes said. A season after 3-13, the Bucs are winners again. It is already tied for the greatest Bucs turnaround from one season to the next. They went from 5-11 in 2004 to 11-5 in 2005 under Jon Gruden. But Gruden already had won a Super Bowl. Raheem Morris hadn't done anything as a head coach. Now he has a winner. So does Bucs general manager Mark Dominik. And there's reason to think 9-7 or 10-6 might be just the start if the right pieces fall into place. Some big ones already have. One of them, Josh Freeman, tied a franchise record with five touchdown passes Sunday. One of them, Mike Williams, caught his ninth and 10 touchdowns of his rookie season. One of them, undrafted free agent LeGarrette Blount, ran and ran and, yes, hurdled 15-year veteran Lawyer Milloy (ho-hum) on his way to a career-best 164 yards. Throw in two touchdowns for Kellen Winslow and, oh, a 98-yard scoring drive, and a defense helped by Hayes (two sacks), who didn't even need a jump-start for this one. Morris' men made a stand Sunday, out of pride and talent and maybe a little heart. Hey, there have been only 12 winning seasons in 35 seasons of Bucs football, so win No.?9 is never anything to sneeze at. Yes, the schedule was favorable, so much so that it might haunt the Bucs from missed opportunities, especially against the Falcons and, of course, now and forever, the Lions. But think of where they came from. Think of 3-13, the fired coordinators, the kid quarterback, the young head coach at loose ends, or so it seemed. Remember, this team is still under construction. That was what Morris set out to do. Now look. "I don't know if it's a big meaning behind going from three to nine," Morris said. "I just think it's about steady improvement every week and that's what we've been trying to do since I was fortunate enough to get this job. When I got this job, it was rough seas. We had to part with a lot of veterans, we had to start over, build a team that was built for longevity and winning." Consider what they've already managed. "We built chemistry last season, guys learned on the fly and it paid off this year," Hayes said. "The guys on this team, they're focused, especially for a young team." "There are a lot of really good young players," Bucs linebacker Barrett Ruud said. "There are a lot of guys a lot of people didn't take a chance on, but we did." Guys like Williams and Blount. And remember when Josh Freeman in the first round was a leap of faith? Did you see Leap of Faith play Sunday? Speaking of leaps, here's Blount, the undrafted one, on leaping the crouching Milloy in the third quarter. "... The first thing I thought was to give my all, by any means, and I jumped over his head." ... And I jumped over his head. That's this Bucs season, really. They go for 10 wins on Sunday. Winning that race might not mean the playoffs. "We can only control what you can control," Morris said. They've controlled nine games so far. Yes, the Bucs have jumped over their share of heads. Look up. They're winners.