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Roy Cummings, The Tampa Tribune, published 25 September 2006
Sure, it's a marathon. But don't you dare stumble out of the blocks. Not in this league. Playing catch-up is just too hard. Ask the Bucs. They know.
They've been here before. Nine times they've been here. Only once did they bounce back up and make the playoffs. That was during the strike-shortened nine-game season of 1982.
Every other 0-3 start resulted in a season that ended in disaster and disappointment. This one will be no different. That much became guaranteed late Sunday, long after the Bucs had dropped a 26-24 decision to the Panthers.
Chris Simms, the Bucs' young quarterback who looked as if he was just beginning to find his rhythm, is probably through for the season, the result of a spleen injury that required surgical removal of the organ after the game. Bucs officials would only confirm the removal of Simms' spleen and say they expect him to fully recover. How long that recovery will take, though, and who replaces Simms in the lineup remains uncertain.
The good news is the Bucs have two weeks to come up with some answers. They're off next week, and after another disappointing outcome they could use a break - badly.
"It's a long two weeks when you lose," Bucs defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin said. "But this was a game we could have thrown the towel in on and we didn't. We fought back, and that was [important]."
Simms was the reason they had to fight back. Like the Bucs' season and his own finish, this game started off horribly for him. He was intercepted on the second play of the game, and the Panthers immediately turned that pick into a 7-0 lead. The Panthers increased their lead to 10-0 by the end of the first quarter, and by the 12:41 mark of the second quarter they had made it 17-0. But this was one stumble out of the gate the Bucs would correct.
With Simms throwing for one touchdown and running 2 yards for another, the Bucs took advantage of two fumble recoveries to score touchdowns on three of their next four possessions.
That gave them their first lead of the season; then, after briefly losing that lead, they took another when a third fumble recovery resulted in Matt Bryant kicking a 28-yard field goal that made it 24-23.
In the game's waning moments, though, Jake Delhomme ran 12 yards up the gut on a fourth-and-7 play from the Bucs 42 to set up a 46-yard field goal try that John Kasay kicked through the uprights for the win with two seconds left in the game. "It was the play of the game, certainly," Coach Jon Gruden said of Delhomme's run. "He saw that the middle of the field was vulnerable and he made a play that you would expect a veteran quarterback of his caliber to make at that time."
Interesting words. The Bucs have some veterans of distinguishable caliber themselves. You're left to wonder, at this time, what kind of play they'll make now and if it will be enough to correct their fall. "We're professional football players, so of course we think we can get out of this," linebacker Shelton Quarles said. "I mean, we definitely have a lot of character on this football team."
Character alone won't get the Bucs out of this hole. To climb out of that hole and get back into the playoff race the Bucs will need to start playing better in every facet of the game, including defensively. Though they forced three fumbles Sunday, the Bucs defense played below its usual standards yet again. The problem this time, at least in part, was missed tackles.
"We did miss some tackles, there's no question about that," Gruden said. "This guy [wide receiver Steve Smith] can make you miss. And [running backs DeShaun] Foster and [DeAngelo] Williams got us a couple of times. We allowed them to turn some short gains into bigger ones. They're a very talented team and that's a credit to their skill level. But it is uncharacteristic of our defense."
Something else that's uncharacteristic of the Bucs is a lack of discipline. But that was evident as well Sunday, especially during a crucial third-and-10 play midway through the second quarter.
After Delhomme misfired on a deep throw for Smith, Bucs safety Will Allen earned a 15-yard taunting penalty by jumping into Smith's face. That gave the Panthers new life at their own 38-yard line.
The Bucs stopped the drive, but another penalty on the resulting punt forced the Bucs to start their next drive at their own 7. When that drive ended with a poor punt, the Panthers were in position to score again, which they did. "What we're doing right now is learning about ourselves," Bucs defensive end Simeon Rice said. "This is all part of the learning curve, and it's a difficult process, but that's what it is. But we're not in this game to learn. Our overall objective is to win games. That's what the emphasis has to be on, and that's something that we have to fix."
One way to fix it is to start running the ball better. The Bucs struggled in that area for the third time in as many games Sunday, gaining an average of just 2.6 yards on 25 carries.
Cadillac Williams got the majority of those carries, but his 19 runs produced only 48 yards, 11 of which came on one run. Williams has now run 52 times for 107 yards, or 2.1 yards per carry.
"We need to be able to get some successive runs," Gruden said. "And we need to start getting some longer runs. When you're lining up second-and-8, second-and-7 all the time it's tough sledding."
Interesting words again. At 0-3, it's going to be tough sledding getting back into the playoff race. But the Bucs have been here before. Some of these Bucs have been here before. One on Sunday saw some good signs. "We saw enough to build on, to come out of this hole with," linebacker Derrick Brooks said. "After that first quarter, we saw a football team that knows how to play - getting turnovers, scoring, excitement. Now we just have to finish."
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