Blades' route takes Bucs to 0-4 Sharon Ginn, The St.Petersburg Times, published 23 September 1996 For three quarters against Seattle on Sunday, the defense had the game well in hand. So even when the Seahawks were driving, and looking as if they finally might score, the Bucs were certain somebody would stop them. But all of a sudden, Rick Mirer was looking like a All-Pro quarterback after being off-balance all day. The same play, a simple out route pass to Brian Blades, kept working again and again. The Seahawks were converting on fourth down, then third, and chewing up both yardage and the clock. And the Bucs defenders - about the only players to earn praise the first two games of the season - could do nothing, really, but watch. After the 17-13 collapse was complete, the Bucs couldn't explain it. But they did agree on one thing: No one came up with a big play at the right time. And what should have been the Bucs' first victory simply slipped away. "I'm still trying to find some answers," said defensive end Chidi Ahanotu, who played for the first time in seven weeks after sustaining a broken hand. "Maybe we played them too soft, trying not to give up the big one." Instead, they kept giving up the little ones, mostly short passes to Blades. Eight of his nine receptions, for 78 of his 92 yards, came on the last two drives. Blades did not even touch the ball until the second half. "In the beginning of the game, they were trying to throw downfield to (Joey) Galloway," cornerback Martin Mayhew said. "Then they just decided to go to the three-step drop and just pop the ball to (Blades)." It worked. And then it kept working. "They had a pattern there and we couldn't get the adjustment made," coach Tony Dungy said. Eight minutes later, the Bucs were 0-4. The collapse essentially started at the Bucs' 37-yard line. The Bucs, ahead 13-3, needed to stop the Seahawks on fourth and 3. Instead, a pass from Mirer to Blades went for 9 yards. From there, the Seahawks just kept marching. At the end, with the Bucs' lead cut to 13-10 and Blades on the sideline with a sore hamstring, Seattle third-string running back Lamar Smith ran 14 yards on a draw play for the winning touchdown. "They draw played us," Warren Sapp said. "Oh my gosh. I'm about to go crazy that it scored." For a defensive unit that earned most of the team's accolades while the offense struggled to score, it was a jarring wakeup call. More than one player suggested the Bucs simply were too conservative in the final minutes. "We were playing to not lose the game instead of trying to win the game," Mayhew said. "They've got talent. You've got to keep playing to win the whole game. (The loss) is going to be a good indication of what kind of guys we've got - how we respond to this."