Tampa, Florida					Monday, September 06, 2010

Where Did The Proud Buccaneer Defense Go?
Sunday, November 9, 2003
TAMPA—Only weeks ago the buzz in the Tampa Bay area was speculation where this Super Bowl defending champion Buccaneer team stands among the greatest defensive teams in NFL history. And, trying to find a nickname for this Buc defense. No more. Nobody bothers. It is no longer pertinent. The question a few weeks back was where these Buc defenders stood with the great ones, like the Steel Curtain of Pittsburgh, like the Doomsday Defense of Dallas, like the Purple People Eaters of Minnesota. And why not? This quick, menacing, prideful Buccaneer defense people like All-Pros Warren Sapp, John Lynch, Derrick Brooks and Ronde Barber was surely the strongest segment, certainly the most decorated of the Buc team that played better and better until beating Oakland in the 2003 Super Bowl. Speed and gap protection were their hallmarks. Indeed, the goal of the Bucs in recent years was to take a late lead, then hand the margin over the Tampa Bay defense to protect. I wrote about that often, and the members of the defense loved it. Sure, they said, get the lead and we’ll protect it. Tampa has never really been a scoring machine. But, by golly, give these defensive guys a chance to be heroic as defenders, and they’ll handle that. “Yeah, we love it,’’ Lynch said once. ”We want the offensive guys to turn it over to us to protect.’’ “We knew we could do it,’’ said Sapp, several times, And the Buc defense proved it repeatedly. The speculation on that subject continued early this season, too. No more. Not after this Sunday, indeed, after recent Sundays, but surely after this Sunday. The Bucs came alive to score 17 straight late points at Charlotte, the Bucs took a 21-20 lead on a one-handed, 36-yard circus touchdown catch of a Brad Johnson pass for a 21-20 lead. Only 4:44 was left and Charlotte quarterback Jake Dulhomme had not been that effective in the late going. Well, then, by George, the Bucs held, got the ball back and Tampa place-kicker Martin Gramatica hit a 39-yard field goal for the 24-21 lead with less than three minutes to play. Surely, this was safe, with this Buc defense of solid reputation. Heck, Charlotte had to score a touchdown to win, not just a field goal. And, these were the Bucs, champs, although, all must admit, the Buc defenders of late, had not been up to their old reputation. Indeed, they had led in two other games late, but not won. Not only that, the Bucs had to win to stay in the NFC Southern Division title championship to make the playoffs. The Charlottes had beaten already the Bucs once this year, in Tampa, on a blocked extra point try. Surely knowing all that was at stake would arouse the best in the old Buc defenders of great reputation.	Surely it would Sunday and prod then into forcing a punt, anything to stop the Carolinians and cause the Bucs to win one big, by defense. It did not. It did not. It aroused the North Carolinian s more. With the Bucs employing the fan hated prevent defense so much—three, or four rushers, Tampa simply could perform, could not stop the desperation passing of Dalhomme. No one got to him. He got all of his passes off. He completed four, the last of five yards for the 27-24 win—or the 24-27 loss. Oh, the Bucs got the ball back, but their heroics were all out. The Bucs lost again. The Bucs lost again because their once proud defense could not protect a late lead, three out of four they’d lost this way. It was surely an embarrassment to them all. It certainly has been for their fans. Most simply do not understand what has happened. Where did this great team of Lynch, Barber, Sapp and Brooks, the NFL’s defensive player of 2002-03 go? Are they showing age? In that loss to Charlotte Sunday, Lynch and Barber had their worst days in a while. The Brooks team of linebackers and the Sapp segment of defensive linemen, hardly threatened Dulhomme in that last drive to victory, through and over them. It’s been that way most of this season of the champs. Some were lost from the title team to free agency, many have been injured. Coach Jon Gruden said recently his roster had 20 on it who were not rostered during the championship year. A starting linebacker and starting safety left for free agency. As an example, starting fullback Mike Alstott is gone for the season. And yet, only one loss was decisive. The key has been the inability of the defense to protect leads, penalties and mistakes. This Sunday in the loss to Charlotte, the team was undisciplined, frequently penalized, seemed to play without life until the final quarter and a half, then failed in the defensive clutch. An irony is that Carolina is strictly a running team that won this biggie with the pass and without their star running back, Stephen Davis. Gruden said what all saw: “Obviously we let it slip away at the end.’’ Obviously, and more will likely go the same way. The champs will be hard pressed now to make the playoffs for any attempt at defending their proud title they brought to Tampa Bay, the pride and the glory. A fascination about this collapse of the Buccaneers is that it has been because of the defense. The offense of quarterback Brad Johnson, no Brett Farve, has kept the Bucs alive and indeed his passing and the great receiving of Keyshawn Johnson and Keenan McCardell have been in the starring roles, as they were Sunday. This time, it was the offense of the Bucs that deserved better—the offense, and FG man Gramatica, and of course, the fans. ##
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