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Roy Cummings, The Tampa Tribune, published 29 December 2003
A year ago, it ended in triumph, with confetti falling down around them. On Sunday, it ended in defeat, with tears threatening to fall down their cheeks. A year ago, Warren Sapp talked well into the night and his teammates refused to leave the locker room. On Sunday, Sapp talked in civil tones to no one and Simeon Rice called immediately for the bus to the airport. ``Let's move on,'' Rice said.
Derrick Brooks is ready. He thought after winning a Super Bowl last year that the tough times were gone forever. Now, he's not so sure. ``I don't think a lot of guys understand it right now,'' Brooks said of the feeling associated with being 7-9. ``They say they hurt and that they're disappointed, but I don't know. All I know is that for me, [the hurt] goes deep. So for me, next year is going to be personal. That's what I did after our last 7-9 season [in Brooks' 1995 rookie year]. I made it personal. And I'm making it personal right now to take this team back to the Super Bowl.''
Based on what went down Sunday, when a quarterback who had not played since last season led the Tennessee Titans (12-4) to a 33-13 victory at the Coliseum, the journey could be a long one. Facing one of the AFC's top teams, the Bucs' season finale offered them a chance to avoid their first losing season since 1996 and prove they are still playoff timber. By the third quarter, however, the Bucs had proved otherwise. Unable to move the ball, hold on to it or adequately protect starting quarterback Brad Johnson, the Bucs turned the offense over to reserve quarterback Shaun King. King immediately engineered a pair of scoring drives, the first resulting in a 33-yard field goal and the second ending with King tossing 14 yards to Aaron Stecker for a touchdown, but it wasn't enough.
An already depleted defense that was hurt further by the loss of safety John Lynch (shoulder stinger) and nose tackle Anthony McFarland (ankle sprain) just couldn't stop the Neil O'Donnell-led Titans. Building on a 16-3 halftime lead that was built mostly on field goals, the Titans added three scoring drives in the second half, the last touchdown coming when tight end Erron Kinney recovered a Chris Brown fumble in the end zone. ``I don't know if you can say that typified our season or not,'' cornerback Ronde Barber said of the Titans' final touchdown. ``We have had some bad breaks. But other teams have had bad breaks, too.''
The Bucs went into Sunday's game with six key contributors on the injured reserve list, then lost two more players to injury during the game. It left you wondering just how competitive the Bucs would have been in the playoffs had they somehow found a way to squeeze into them. The Bucs, though, believe they would have done well. ``If we had found a way to get in,'' Lynch said, ``I think we would have done some damage.''
Lynch nearly did some damage to the Titans' playoff hopes Sunday. When he delivered a helmet-to-helmet hit to receiver Justin McCareins at the end of Tennessee's first drive, McCareins was left wobbling and woozy. The hit sparked a series of scuffles, but it didn't quite spark the Bucs the way Lynch thought it would. Though they came back to tie the game at 3 on their first series, the Bucs failed to build any momentum. ``It's a shame we couldn't sustain it,'' said Lynch, who left the game in the first half after aggravating a shoulder stinger that might require offseason surgery.
Lynch is not the only player who might be facing surgery. Right tackle Kenyatta Walker (torn right knee meniscus) and defensive end Greg Spires (torn left rotator cuff) also might require it. That won't make returning to the playoffs next season any easier. But many Bucs believe they still have a strong nucleus and that a return to the postseason is possible.
``We have some tremendous players here,'' quarterback Brad Johnson said. ``There is still a lot intact. Going into next year, this year won't help us and it won't hurt us. I said that last year after we won the Super Bowl, too, because it will be a whole new beginning. Believe me, we'll have a great offseason and come back energized for next year.''
It's been about next year for a while now, but that didn't ease the painful reality of a lost season for some Bucs. ``It's a bad deal for us right now, no doubt about it,'' Barber said. ``We go from being the talk of the town to where we are now. And any time you don't win the Super Bowl it's a losing season. But when your record is 7-9, well, that's just embarrassing. We are way too talented to be 7-9.''
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