Thomas draws flags, criticism Don Banks, The St.Petersburg Times, published 9 September 1991 Playing his own brand of emotional football has carried Broderick Thomas a long way. But all too often Sunday, the demonstrative third-year Bucs linebacker let those emotions slip away from him. In Thomas' eyes, the game went with them. "I screwed us out of the game," said Thomas, his head bowed and eyes filled with tears as he battled a different emotion in Sunday's losing locker room. "I've got to find a way to get one back." Thomas' sins of overexuberance were glaring in Tampa Bay's 21-20 loss to the Bears. In each of the first two quarters, his 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalties were the centerpieces of Chicago touchdown drives. Furthermore, the miscues seemed to set the tone for a Bucs defense that endured another long, frustrating near-miss. "Broderick is overly aggressive at times, and he carries it too far," said exasperated Bucs defensive coordinator Floyd Peters. "He's got to learn how to control himself. We've got to address that thing directly. Those are penalties that should never happen. If Broderick wants to be a pro, and if he wants to be All-Pro, then he can't do things like that. The guy's got the talent to play in this league, but he's got to learn how to handle himself. Those are the kind of penalties that beat teams. It's why some teams are winners and some teams are losers." Sunday's lesson was particularly painful for Thomas, whose day began in such fine fashion. With Thomas causing and recovering a Neal Anderson fumble on the Bears' first drive, Tampa Bay seized the early momentum and a 3-0 lead. Neither would last. On Chicago's next possession, Thomas - beaten on an end-around run by Bears receiver Anthony Morgan - wound up mauling tackle Stan Thomas well after the whistle. The penalty, which moved Chicago to the Bucs' 23, turned into points three plays later when Anderson sliced up the middle for 12 yards and a 7-3 Bears lead. Thomas' second fit of temper gave Chicago a first down at the Bucs' 21 and setting up Anderson's 8-yard scoring reception early in the second quarter. "It's an aggressive game, and that's the way I play," Thomas said. "I guess I might have overreacted, but I'm not the judge. All I can say is I have to come back and clean it up for next week, see if I can't help my team. I just want to show people that I think I'm one of the best in the league. But I guess I didn't do that today." With Thomas' emotions boiling over, it was the rest of the Bucs that got burned. "We just killed our own selves out there," defensive tackle Reuben Davis said. "A lot of the guys were hyped early on. But we wanted to win so bad we just didn't control our emotions on either end. That one point will linger." Attempts to help channel Thomas' emotion into more constructive means did not meet with success, Davis said. "I can't control my teammate's actions and emotions," he said. "All I can do is play with him. I'm not pointing no fingers, but we've just got to learn to keep our poise. Look here, we're grown men. We each are getting a damn check on Monday. I ain't grabbing nobody. All I can say is, `Hey, man, you got a job. Get your job done and do it the right way.' That stuff comes up in high school, fighting each other. We're not going to have it on this team. It's not a matter of a vet having to go out and grab a rookie because, hell, a couple plays out there it was vets and rookies losing their poise. We just need to grow up." Indeed, Thomas was not alone in making rookie mistakes. Veteran defensive end Dexter Manley joined the parade of miscues with a fourth-quarter unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Overall, the Bucs were penalized 11 times for 131 yards - seven of which gave Chicago first downs. And just as they did in last week's three-point loss to the Jets, Bucs defenders again were woeful on third downs. The Bears finished 6-of-11 (55 percent) in third-down efficiency but began the game by converting six of their first seven tries. "Third down is when you've got to compete one-on-one," said Peters, whose unit did manage to force three of the Bears' four turnovers. "That's when sacks have got to come and DBs have got to knock the ball down. There was one third-down situation where we couldn't even get lined up right. But pressure mounts in those situations, and you've got to learn how to play in pressure situations. That's the loser way of doing it, and we've got to change it."