Bucs are figuring next time they will know what to do
Michelle Kaufman, The St.Petersburg Times, published 1988

By the time Monday afternoon film sessions rolled around, most of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had probably already seen more than they wanted of the chaotic final 17 seconds of Sunday's 14-13 loss to Minnesota. But they were forced to cringe through the tape one more time. Vinny Testaverde watched himself run frantically downfield after Stephen Starring caught his 53-yard Hail Mary pass, only to realize the field goal unit was already on its way.

Placekicker Donald Igwebuike watched himself hesitantly follow his teammates onto the field while he tried to figure out what was going on. Center Randy Grimes watched himself get intentionally nailed from behind by a Viking player, and then saw himself line up as a wingback for lack of anywhere better to be.

A day after muffing a shot at beating the Vikings, the Bucs had just a few more answers than they did Sunday. No, Starring couldn't have scooted out of bounds to stop the clock without the help of a higher power. Cornerback Carl Lee was all over him when he came down with the ball. Two steps, and Starring was smelling astroturf.

Yes, the kicking team players (minus Igwebuike) on the sideline knew they were supposed to set up a kick in the waning seconds. “I want to let the game end with my kicker kicking the ball, not with my quarterback taking the ball from the center as the last second ticks off the clock,” Perkins said. No, Testaverde and the rest of the offense didn't know a field goal was in the minds of those on the sideline.

But the Bucs weren't kicking themselves for being confused. They weren't second-guessing themselves. They admitted, plain and simple, that they weren't prepared for such an ending. “It was such a crazy thing,” Grimes said, “There's no use wondering anymore. There was nothing we could have done. Now we know for next time.”

“It was just something nobody ever prepared for,” Testaverde said. “It's just a matter of talking things over and getting the word out. When I got to about the 40, I saw the field goal team come on, and I knew we had lost the game. We had guys lined up everywhere. There was even someone in the end zone.”

The Bucs have had three painful losses the past five weeks, but this time it wasn't the opponent they couldn't beat, it was the clock. Had the Bucs all been on the same page, they would have known exactly what to do when Starring reached into the Metrodome air and clasped his hands around Tampa Bay's upset hopes with 17 seconds remaining. Instead, the 53-yard bomb was useless. By the time the Bucs figured out Perkins had called for a last-second field goal, the last second was up. “You would think that if guys on the field see guys from the field goal unit running out there, they'd run off, but it just doesn't work that way,” Perkins said. “You have to plan for those things and talk about them. That's why I say that I, as the head coach, have to take the blame for not preparing the team properly.”

Perkins said the Bucs do have a no-huddle field goal play they've discussed, but the Bucs' offense didn't know that's what the coaches had in mind after Starring's reception. Neither, apparently, did Igwebuike, who said he didn't hear anyone tell him to run onto the field. Perkins' response: “I understand Iggy didn't know, well, he better find out. That's his only job. That's what he gets paid for.”

Perkins went on, “It was not, as some people thought, a miscommunication between me and Vinny. I told Vinny at 32 seconds (remaining), before the first Hail Mary pass (which failed), that I wanted him to complete the pass, and then throw the ball to the ground to stop the clock, we kick the field goal and go home.” But the first pass didn't work, and it ate up seven seconds. When Testaverde got off the second Hail Mary, there were only 25 seconds left to play.

Perkins said by the time Starring caught the pass, it would've been nearly impossible to get off anything but a field goal attempt. Problem is, Testaverde and his troops were too anxious to figure out their math. “It takes an average offense about 17 to 23 seconds to get from there (deep in their own territory) to there (the 21, where Starring caught the pass),” Perkins explained. “The field goal unit should take only about 15 seconds to get there.”

Of course it didn't help matters that two separate clock-operator miscues robbed the Bucs of six seconds, but Perkins said the coaching staff's complaining usually does no good. “It's something you just have to work with,” he said. Nor did it help that Vikings defensive lineman Henry Thomas admittedly said to himself, “The hell with it, I'm going through their line,” when both teams were running downfield to set up. “I came from about five yards away and hit their center (Grimes) and tried to make it look like I was trying to get to my position,” Thomas said. “Then I sort of kicked at the ball with my foot and went into my act like it was an accident. The center started complaining to the referee, but the ref said I was just trying to get into my place. It depends what kind of an actor you are.”

Perkins said he would like to see such intentional delays of game penalized, but there is little he can do about that, either. “The bottom line is, we lost,” he said. “But I'm not sure how many other teams have played as hard as we have for five straight weeks. I'd have to say either the New Orleans game or this one was the best we've played. The winning will come.”