33-7: No ifs, ands, or Bucs Michelle Kaufman, The St.Petersburg Times, published 18 December 1989 This time, coach Ray Perkins turned the finger on himself. The clock didn't run out. No official made a controversial late-game call. Vinny Testaverde missed nearly three quarters of the game with a sprained ankle, but even that didn't seem a factor at 4:10 p.m. EST Sunday. This time, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers bent over and received a collective whipping in front of 40,362 witnesses at the Pontiac Silverdome. Detroit's Lions, winners of four straight, sent the Bucs home ashamed of themselves after a 33-7 loss. The defeat was Tampa Bay's eighth in the past 10 weeks, and it dropped the Bucs' record to 5-10, last in the NFC Central. This also was the first time in six years the Lions (6-9) won both regular-season games against the Bucs. “We could have saved a lot of time and money if we hadn't shown up,” said Bucs coach Ray Perkins. “There's one guy in charge of getting the team ready to play and that's me. I did a very poor job getting this team ready.” The coach said he lightened up on players this week, allowing them to practice without pads Thursday and Friday. “I thought I knew my people, but quite obviously I didn't,” Perkins said. “This team needs to scrimmage Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. If they don't like that, they can find another team. It might help them.” For the most part, the players didn't subscribe to Perkins' reasoning. In their minds, the loss had little to do with preparation and everything to do with lack of execution. “If we had won, we'd probably go out there without pads this week,” said tackle Paul Gruber. “I felt I was prepared, personally. Maybe some guys can't prepare that way, and that's why coach Perkins is saying what he's saying, but I don't think that was the reason we lost.” Linebacker Kevin Murphy said: “I felt we were as prepared as we've been all year. When things go wrong, it's easy to say we did this or that different and that's the reason. The real reason is we just played terrible in all three phases. It was, by far, our worst loss of the year.” The Bucs' offense managed only six first downs. Eleven of Tampa Bay's 15 drives went 10 yards or less. The Bucs invaded Lions territory only three times all afternoon, and two of those marches ended with interceptions. Take away the 69-yard final-second touchdown pass from Joe Ferguson to Mark Carrier and the Bucs had just 94 yards passing. They rushed for only 63 yards. Ferguson, forced to play against Detroit for the second time this season, completed 7 of 18 passes for 161 yards with three interceptions. He chose not to comment after the game. Danny Peebles, who didn't have a single catch, said: “I've never felt as helpless during a football game in my entire life. It was bad out there. Real bad. It ruined my season.” And this from Mark Carrier, who had four catches for 131 yards: “I'm fed up. I'm tired of losing. It's nobody's fault but our own. People are sitting around complaining about Coach and Vinny it's us. We're the ones making silly mistakes. Coach doesn't have a magic wand that can make us win games.” Carrier, normally reserved, was so upset he interrupted a reporter's interview with tight end William Harris, who was saying the Lions wanted the win more than the Bucs. Carrier blurted: “Not more than me. I wanted that win bad. Real bad.” The Bucs' defense was as much to blame as the offense. It did little to stop rookie Barry Sanders from breaking Billy Sims' record for most yards rushing by a Lions rookie. Sanders averaged 4.9 yards per carry, had 104 yards by the end of the afternoon, and pushed his season total to 1,312 yards. “Barry Sanders was definitely a factor,” said Murphy. “He was the only guy missing last time we played them (a 17-16 Bucs loss). Put two and two together. He makes a difference.” More surprising, though, was the kindness the Bucs showed quarterback Bob Gagliano and rookie receiver Jason Phillips.Gagliano, a journeyman who made a one-week stop in Tampa Bay last training camp, completed 19 of 33 passes for 192 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. He also rushed five times for 37 yards. Phillips, a 10th-round draft choice, had more yards Sunday (10 catches for 115 yards) than he had all season.“They (the Bucs) were trying so hard to stop Barry that we put other guys in motion and they never even covered it,” said Lions coach Wayne Fontes. “That opened up our passing game.” Detroit scored its points on a 2-yard pass to Richard Johnson, a 55-yard pass to Phillips, a 4-yard run by Sanders, and Eddie Murray field goals of 33, 43, 35, and 36 yards. The Lions were ahead 24-0 by halftime, and just before intermission fumbled away a scoring chance near the Bucs' goal line. After 30 minutes, the Lions had outgained the Bucs 250 to 59 yards. “It was like they took a big lead and then the rest of the game was in slow motion,” said Carrier. “We didn't move the ball at all. We were stuck in the mud.” Center Randy Grimes said he never quit trying, although there was a point he realized he was fighting a losing battle. “There's always hope, but there came a time toward the end when it would have taken a miracle,” he said. The question now is whether the Bucs have enough emotion left to carry them through Sunday's game against Pittsburgh (8-7), still a longshot for the playoffs. Tampa Bay can clinch last place in the division - for the fifth time this decade - with another defeat. “I hope each guy on this team is as desperate for a win as I am,” said Grimes. Peebles said: “Sure, we're all going home for Christmas, but I don't think we were looking ahead two weeks to the holidays. Losing isn't going to make it come any quicker. It makes it longer. All I know is, we better win next week because I'd hate to end the year like this. I'd really hate it.”