Bumbling Bucs sent packing again Rick Stroud, The St.Petersburg Times, published 28 October 1996 Now that we've reached the halfway point of the season, it's time to review what in tarnation is going on with the Buccaneers. At times, their efforts have looked half-hearted, their schemes half-baked and their answers filled with half-truths. But at 1-7, it's getting harder to believe that one day they won't be half bad. The Green Bay Packers completed their season sweep of the Bucs by kicking them in the dairy air 13-7 Sunday at Lambeau Field. After the game, the Bucs were delayed 90 minutes leaving Green Bay because their charter had blown an engine (make your own joke here). It was totally symbolic for a team that hasn't exactly gotten off the ground under new coach Tony Dungy. "I think we're making progress, but we haven't gotten the wins and eventually that's what it all comes down to," Dungy said. "You've got to put yourself in a situation to win games and then you've got to win them. Obviously, we played these guys a lot better than we did the first game of the year, so we're getting better. But if you don't win, it's kind of a moot point." The mechanical failure forced the Bucs to spend more than an extra hour in their locker room in the bowels of Lambeau. If they used their time wisely, they could almost have recounted all the mistakes that prevented them from upsetting the 17-point favorite Packers: The cheesehead fans are considered a huge home-field advantage for the Packers, but the Bucs had another version of the 12th man. After forcing a punt in the second quarter, Tampa Bay was called for too many men on the field. Instead of owning the ball after a touchback, the Bucs were penalized 5 yards, putting placekicker Chris Jacke in range. He converted a 48-yard field goal. "It's really something that shouldn't happen," Dungy said. "We had someone in that wasn't supposed to be in there. It was probably my fault. I saw it and should've taken a timeout there. I didn't take it and it cost us three points." Safety John Lynch would be wise to avoid making eye contact with special-teams coach Joe Marciano. It was Lynch who thought he read Marciano's eyes correctly and ordered a fake punt on fourth and 1 at the Packers' 43 in the first quarter. But the Packers smelled it and prevented Mike Alstott from sneaking out for a pass, leaving punter Tommy Barnhardt to try to abort the fake. That's when Pro Bowl defensive end Reggie White recorded the first blocked punt of his storied career, setting up Jacke's first field goal. "It was a miscommunication," Lynch said. "When we put those guys in this week, it was to run the fake. But you've got to have assurance and I thought it was on. I thought I made eye contact with Joe on the sideline. I thought they called it. Put that one on my shoulders." Bucs placekicker Michael Husted might wonder who keeps moving the goal posts. He missed a 27-yarder wide left, the fourth miss in his past six attempts. "Stuff happens, but it kills you when it happens," Husted said. "I'm mad at myself but I'm not worried about myself as a kicker. I'll get it fixed next week." There are a few other things the Bucs need to get fixed. They can start with figuring out how to make Alvin Harper part of their offense instead of a $2.65-million decoy. Harper had only one ball thrown his direction in 58 plays and he caught it for a 9-yard gain. With one timeout, 1:55 remaining and the Bucs needing to go 69 yards for a game-winning TD, Harper stood on the sideline for four straight plays that failed to produce a first down. "He's a valuable asset and we can't get him in the rhythm or the flow," quarterback Trent Dilfer said. Harper was so angry that he respectfully declined to answer questions for fear he might say something truthful. The Bucs say only that a veteran they claimed off waivers (Robb Thomas) and a rookie college free agent from Texas A&M Kingsville (Karl Williams) are playing better. "Some games it's tougher to get the ball to some guys. In the first half, they were doubling Hawkins, and they were doubling Alvin or Robbie," Dungy said. "A lot of it depends on the defense and a lot of it depends on being able to practice, too." Maybe the Packers could use Harper. Having lost Robert Brooks to a season-ending knee injury two weeks ago, the Packers saw Antonio Freeman break his left forearm after colliding with Melvin Johnson in the the first quarter. He will have surgery and will miss 4-6 weeks. Without receivers, quarterback Brett Favre looked mortal. He did not throw a TD - the first time that has happened since Nov. 5 at Minnesota. The Bucs defense did well in holding the league's No. 1 scoring offense to 298 total yards. But it was unable to stuff the run, allowing Edgar Bennett to rush for 93 yards on 20 carries. The Packers gained 9 yards per carry in the first quarter. Favre completed only two passes and Green Bay led 10-0. "You don't normally catch Green Bay like this, but when you do, you're supposed to win," said Bucs running back Errict Rhett, who had a less-than-triumphant return with 29 yards on 12 carries. "You're supposed to capitalize on 13 points. I think they totally took us lightly. There's no doubt about it. They beat us 34-3 at home, so they took us kind of lightly. We should've won that game." Dungy saw a silver lining in the play of his defense. The offense rallied for a touchdown pass from Dilfer to tight end Dave Moore to put the Bucs in position for a fourth-quarter comeback. But for seven out of eight Sundays, the Bucs failed to do the job for which they're being paid. "We didn't want come up here for a moral victory. That wasn't going to be acceptable. We thought we could come up here and win. We had a chance to do it and didn't get it done," Dungy said. Somebody asked tackle Warren Sapp whether it helped that the Bucs played the Packers close. "It doesn't mean anything," Sapp said. "If we were out there lobbing hand grenades, maybe close would've counted."