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Rick Stroud, The St.Petersburg Times, published 30 September 1991
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' season wasn't declared dead Sunday at the Pontiac Silverdome, but start looking for a tag to slip over their big toe. The drive for five consecutive losses was a very short ride as the Bucs started badly and ended worse in a 31-3 loss to the Detroit Lions. But that doesn't begin to tell the lowdown in Motown for the Bucs.
Chris Chandler, the quarterback who was supposed to give Tampa Bay's offense new life, had to have his vital signs checked after leaving the game in the third quarter because of a concussion. "I felt totally dead," Chandler said.
Richard Williamson, who has lost seven consecutive games, broke the news gently to Chandler that he was switching quarterbacks again. "Chris really didn't know what he was doing," Williamson said. "He got hit over there on the sideline, and things went berserk at that point in time. Everything went to hell in a handbasket."
Indeed, nothing went right for the Bucs on Sunday, who slumped to their worst start since 1985. Four other times Tampa Bay has begun a season 0-5, and, in each instance, they have never won more than two games. "The way things are going," Testaverde said, "we might not win that many."
Judging by Sunday's loss to Detroit, he might be right. The Bucs had their worst day of the season on offense, recording just 187 total yards. Despite the scrambling of Chandler (56 yards), Tampa Bay's running backs accounted for just 25 yards on the ground. Detroit running back Barry Sanders proved much better than that, rushing for 160 yards and three touchdowns - including a career-best 69-yarder in the fourth quarter.
That performance helped the Lions build a 21-0 lead from which the Bucs never recovered. "For me, a loss is a loss. But I don't like to be embarrassed, and we got embarrassed today," said Bucs running back Reggie Cobb. "This is not the time to start finger-pointing, but pretty soon it's going to get to that point."
This may be news to Cobb, but the fingers were being pointed in all directions in the Bucs' locker room Sunday. Williamson pointed to Chandler's injury and said his starting quarterback gave out. Defensive coordinator Floyd Peters launched into a tirade in the locker room and gave a few players hell. Even the refs gave up on Tampa Bay, ruling the game was over with 15 seconds left on the clock when the Bucs committed a defensive foul inside the final half-minute. "There's obviously a lot of evaluation that's got to be done and it's got to start with me," Williamson said. "On offense, we obviously got nothing done. We couldn't run the ball from me to you."
The Bucs didn't throw it much better. Chandler and Testaverde combined to complete 17 of 39 passes for 118 yards. Each threw an interception. Testaverde was only 7-of-13 for 54 yards and an interception. So unprepared was Testaverde that he forgot his mouthpiece in the locker room at halftime. After the game, he was the Bucs' mouthpiece.
Testaverde said he had lost the confidence of his teammates.
"It's been a long week for me," he said. "Everybody saying Chris gave us a spark last week and all that noise. Hey, nobody stood up and said it ain't Vinny's fault. There's not one player. It gets us nowhere. It gets us 0-5. If they don't like it? Hey, too bad. We're 0-5, and nothing's worked up till this point. I'm tired of it, to tell you the truth. I'm tired of being everybody's scapegoat."
Here's one thing the Bucs can't pin on Testaverde: special teams. Tampa Bay was penalized seven times Sunday on punts and kickoffs. The Bucs allowed Mel Gray to return the opening kickoff 55 yards and bring a punt back 47 yards. Bucs tailback Gary Anderson caught two kickoffs that were going out of bounds. And linebacker Broderick Thomas ran into the punter to set up another touchdown.
When the Bucs' first possession stalled inside their 10, Mark Royals twice punted the football 45 yards or better, but each kick was negated by a penalty. Royals' third kick went 27 yards. The Lions, with that gift of field position, scored in six plays. "I wish I could explain it," said special teams coach Alan Lowrey. "That's the third time this year we've had multiple punts."
If there was a silver lining for the Bucs Sunday, it was Thomas. The flamboyant linebacker led the team in tackles with 10, forced two fumbles, recovered one and had two sacks.
But that wasn't enough to pacify Peters. "There are very few of these guys fighting when it gets tough," Peters said. "I'm not going to stop fighting. I don't think Broderick is, either."
Said Bucs defensive end Dexter Manley: "Floyd has a way of motivating a team. Sometimes you have to blow off like that. But I appreciate that. Floyd is emotional, but he's not like some of the coaches in this league who bull---- you. He lets you know how he feels."
The Bucs didn't feel too good Sunday. They played even worse. "You've got to make believers out of them," Williamson said. "It's the same group of guys that believed in themselves three or four weeks ago. We took a step further today away in the other direction."
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