Statement Game: Defense Speaks Loudly Joe Henderson, The Tampa Tribune, published 13 October 2008 About midway through Sunday's game at Raymond James Stadium, you had the impression the Bucs could pick their offense from a hat and it wouldn't have made any difference. They could have let the fans call the plays, or pulled a fan from an end zone seat and put him at quarterback. There would have been nothing to worry about. For a while it seemed someone took the resumption of security pat-downs at the stadium a little too far and confiscated Jake Delhomme, but what really happened was the defense put on a show. Carolina's offense is supposed to be good, but the 27-3 score shows how one-sided this battle with the Carolina wanna-bes really was. The Panthers simply weren't going to score. It's all about defense here. That's why the Bucs are 4-2 and tied for first in the NFC South. "I think we goofed up a couple of blitzes I'd like to have back," defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin grumbled, before allowing, "I think overall we did a pretty good job." Pretty good job? Carolina spent Sunday going down faster and harder than General Motors. The Bucs intercepted three passes and could have had two more. They held the Panthers to just 282 total yards. They were averaging 23 points a game coming here but they would have needed a week to score that many this time. "We put an emphasis on turnovers," rookie corner Aqib Talib said. "We were just flying out there." Talib got one interception and created another for teammate Jermaine Phillips when he knocked the ball away from Muhsin Muhammad in the end zone. On Carolina's five second-half possessions, the Panthers punted twice, had an interception, and lost the ball on downs twice. Carolina could have taken a two-game lead in the division with a win, but it didn't take long to tell that wasn't going to happen. This was a statement game and the defense spoke loudly. "I think the thing we were most excited about was that you could feel the hitting out there," Kiffin said. "Even when they caught the ball they were getting hit pretty good." For all the fun we have around here with Jon Gruden's weekly game of "Guess That Quarterback," there is a reason why the Bucs win so often and it was on display, just like always, for everyone to see.