Bucs should fly with engine overhaul in '97 Hubert Mizell, The St.Petersburg Times, published 28 October 1996 This mess is fixable. All it takes is a little brains and lots of money. Even as the Bucs stumble toward a 14th consecutive losing season, they can become winners in 1997. Please, don't call me psycho. When you track the Bucs, there is a craving for even the semi-positive. This year's Tampa Bay flounderers (1-7) are, I believe, making miniscule improvements. Still, they are trapped in a shoulda, coulda, woulda mode. Shoulda beaten Seattle. Coulda knocked off Denver, Arizona and maybe even Detroit the first time around. Woulda put a shocker on 17-point favorite Green Bay with a few more splashes of Sunday offense. When you're "Halloween's Team," those seemingly cursed Tampa Bay orange pumpkins, there's almost always a way to find failure. Against the Pack, an NFL juggernaut (7-1) that was well shy of impressive plus being entirely beatable, the fatal Bucs elements would be offensive shortfall and mental meltdowns. There was brain-lock involving a Tampa Bay fourth down. John Lynch thought he saw special-teams coach Joe Marciano signal a fake punt. Bucs kind of faked and surely flubbed. Reggie White came blustering in as Tommy Barnhardt eventually attempted a kick. Reggie blocked the first punt of his Hall of Fame career. Tampa Bay soon cuckcooed again, giving Green Bay a field goal. Bucs stopped the Packers but then put 12 men on the field for a punt return. Tony Dungy said he saw it but didn't call timeout. Why not? So many things are hard to figure with a franchise that hasn't had a victorious season since Tiger Woods was in first grade (1982). Michael Husted suddenly can't make field goals. Offensively, Tampa Bay absolutely does not have the manpower to succeed. Even in the Halloween season, the Bucs scare nobody. Alvin Harper has been an all-world disappointment. But does that mean that Tampa Bay, now looking to Robb Thomas and Karl Williams, should be ignoring Harper? Is there a boycott that somebody's not telling us about? Harper was the target of exactly one Trent Dilfer throw all afternoon. He caught it. But when Tampa Bay got one last offensive crack in the final two minutes, Harper was on the bench. Shouldn't offensive coordinator Mike Shula be searching for new ways to get a $2.65-million-a-year athlete into the flow? "A lot depends on the defense," Dungy said. Sure, but would Dallas write Michael Irvin out of the script or would San Francisco exclude Jerry Rice just because an enemy wasn't making it easy? Harper is supposed to be Tampa Bay's go-to receiver. Is he just not getting open? Can it be that the Bucs have decided Thomas and Williams are more gifted? Did general manager Rich McKay horribly misjudge Alvin in paying him such a fortune? I'm more confused than usual. Can we talk 1997? But first, why was I not surprised at the difficulty Tampa Bay's coulda, shoulda, woulda troupe had even in trying to flee Wisconsin after a 13-7 loss? For the squeezed oranges, it seemed an extension of flabbergasting fate. It's funny, in a sad way, that the term "Bucs offense" flashed to mind when word came late Sunday that Tampa Bay's chartered airplane had a busted engine and could not escape Green Bay. Instead of high-tailing it for home, the defeated Bucs would be forced to hang around Lambeau Field an extra 90 minutes, scarfing down pizza while watching an old TV episode of Star Trek. Beam 'em up, Scotty! At least for Sunday's broken aircraft, there was a cure. New equipment was brought in. Finally the Bucs would take off. Any chance that can be an omen? Like its sputtering 727, I see the Tampa Bay team as needing only a bit of effective overhaul, almost exclusively on offense, to make 1997 a happier time. Oh, I was going to get to 1997. Frankly, it'll take only a paragraph. Above all, the Bucs must use some of their now-promised high finances for free agents, plus a wealth of upcoming college draft picks, to bring in at least three offensive linemen and create a wide-receiver corps that can be respected, feared and even successful. Maybe then, they can fly.