|
|
 |
Rick Stroud, The St.Petersburg Times, published 5 January 1998
Their breath was still turning to thick steam as Trent Dilfer and Hardy Nickerson met at the goal line and fell into each other's arms, holding the embrace until they reached the tunnel and disappeared into the bowels of Lambeau Field. At the moment, it didn't feel as if they had accomplished much. Another layer peeled off the onion. They had lost to the Packers for the third straight time this season, falling 21-7 in Sunday's NFC divisional playoff.
Nickerson's eyes filled with tears and Dilfer tried harder to hide his pain, sharp as cheddar.
In that instant, you knew it was all over, but darned if it didn't feel like just the start of something.
"I think that's the way you have to look at it. It's not the end of the season, it's the beginning of some really special stuff that's going to happen in Tampa," Dilfer said.
Despite having the ball five times at the Green Bay 30-yard line or closer, the Bucs produced points just once and ended their season two steps shy of the Super Bowl.
The Bucs weren't given much of a chance to upset the defending Super Bowl champs Sunday. Not at Lambeau Field, where the Packers have now won 27 straight and never lost in the playoffs. Not on a typically c-c-c-cold and gray January afternoon with the temperature at kickoff at 29 degrees and a wind-chill factor in the single digits.
The Bucs were 14-point underdogs and that spread proved perfect. But they hung tough.
The problem was their game plan might have been authored by e.e. cummings, because they failed to capitalize.
In the first half alone, the Bucs had a field goal blocked, turned the ball over on downs when a fake field-goal attempt was snuffed and saw another field-goal try aborted by a Dave Moore snap that sailed over the head of holder Steve Walsh.
You can't say coach Tony Dungy didn't use the whole playbook.
Knowing his offense had trouble scoring against the Packers, he ordered a reverse on the opening kickoff and tried to surprise Green Bay with the fake field goal. But nothing worked.
"That seems to be the way it goes when we play Green Bay," Dungy said. "We play fairly well on defense; offensively we've just got to figure out a way to score points against them. We had three chances and didn't get any points out of it where you'd like to get at least nine, and that was kind of the story of our day. We knew we weren't going to come up here and probably weren't going to win a game 10-7 or something like that. So we needed to take some shots and try to score."
The Bucs' swarming defense kept them alive. Defensive tackle Warren Sapp harassed Packers quarterback Brett Favre all day, recording three sacks, forcing two fumbles and recovering one. He did everything but score, and that was unfortunate for Tampa Bay. Donnie Abraham, who led the Bucs with five interceptions during the regular season, picked Favre off twice.
The Bucs made it to the fourth quarter trailing just 13-7 thanks to a seasonlong 94-yard touchdown drive ignited by Reidel Anthony's 52-yard reception and capped by Mike Alstott's 6-yard run. Then the Bucs let Green Bay wriggle off the hook. Running back Dorsey Levens, who was held to 44 and 54 yards in their other meetings this season, went over the century rushing mark Sunday and broke free of Nickerson on third and 6 at midfield for a 13-yard reception.
Sapp got most of that back with his 8-yard sack of Favre on the next play. But facing third and 18, the three-time MVP climbed on his white horse and rescued the Packers.
With the Bucs failing to apply any pressure, Favre had 5 or 6 seconds to survey the field and deliver a 23-yard pass to Derrick Mayes, who bobbled the ball before rolling and gathering it off the crook of his leg. That play set up the Packers' knockout touchdown, a 2-yard run by Levens, who finished with 112 yards on 25 carries. "We had a chance," Dungy said. "We were down six points and had a chance to stop them for third and 18, and they made a great play to get out of the hole and kind of put the game out of reach."
Dilfer did not play particularly well against the Packers, but he had plenty of company. His receivers struggled to get open against bump-and-run coverage. His running backs averaged just 3.3 yards. Dilfer completed just 11 of 36 passes for 200 yards and was intercepted twice. At least four balls were dropped, including one that deflected off the arm of Robb Thomas and was intercepted by Tyrone Williams to set up Ryan Longwell's second field goal with 6 seconds left in the first half.
"We've caught the Packers on defense and we've caught them on special teams. We just haven't caught them offensively," Dilfer said. "And the reason is we haven't been able to pass the ball against them. Ultimately that falls on my shoulders, and I'm going to use this off-season and this game as motivation to get better."
There were some signs the battle of the bays is developing into a pretty good rivalry.
There was plenty of jawing between teams after nearly every play, especially between Favre and Sapp, who was in the face of the Packers quarterback like a mouthpiece.
It grew nasty when ex-Buc Santana Dotson dove at the knees of rookie guard Frank Middleton long after placekicker Michael Husted had fallen on Moore's high snap on the botched field-goal attempt.
Dotson, penalized 15 yards on the play, indicated he was seeking revenge for what the Packers have alleged is dirty blocking techniques by Middleton. After the game, Dotson challenged Middleton to meet him in the Lambeau parking lot. "Basically, he was acting like a punk," Middleton said. "I mean, I don't respect him and I hope he doesn't respect me so the next time we play each other, it'll probably be the same thing but a little harder."
Of course, one element is missing to make the Bucs-Packers a true rivalry - a different outcome.
"I think to have a great rivalry, it's got to be pretty even," Dungy said. "So if we can start winning a couple of these, I think it would be a great rivalry. But probably right now, they'd like to see us every week. This is five wins in a row."
To Green Bay, the Bucs' futility against the Packers is similar to what they suffered against the Dallas Cowboys before breaking through as NFC champion last season.
"Who could've thought the battle of the bays would have been what it was today?" Favre said. "They're a good football team. They're well coached. I told their players at the end of the game that they had nothing to be ashamed of. They're as good as they think they are, as good as people think they are. They deserved to be here today and they easily could have gone to the championship game."
Instead, the Packers are headed to San Francisco and the Bucs returned to Tampa to begin an off-season aimed at beating one team - the Packers.
"It gives us a standard," Chidi Ahanotu said. "They've set the bar. We know what we have to do to get over it, win the division and go all the way to the Super Bowl. "Tony said not to be satisfied. We had a great season. We accomplished some historical things for the franchise. He told us to keep our heads high but not be satisfied coming here and playing two games in the playoffs and have a letdown in the off-season. He said to keep hungry and use Green Bay as a standard and catch up to them."
So what will it take? How can they get the Pack back? What do you do when the biggest bully in the neighborhood lives in the same house?
"When you get an opportunity against the champs, you've got take it," safety John Lynch said. "You've got to seize the moment. They still have the upper hand, when they need a big play, they make it. I think there will soon be a time - next year, whenever it is - we're going to finally get these guys. We're going to have a game when presented with opportunities, we're going to take advantage of them. Once we do that, there will be a big monkey off our back."
Lynch paused. He thought for a moment how magical the Bucs' season had been. A winning season for the first time in 15 years. A return to the post-season. A playoff victory in Tampa. It came flooding back. "I don't want this season to end," Lynch said. "That's the way it is in the playoffs and it's something new for us. You lose and you're out. That's a tough deal. We've had so a fun time playing this year. It's been such a great season for us. It's just sad it has to end right now."
|
|
|
| |
| |
|