Breaking Point
Marty Strasen, The Tampa Tribune, published 10 November 2003

The breaks. Define them however you wish, but there haven't been many of them going the Bucs' way this football season. Injuries, penalties, blocked kicks, ill-timed breakdowns, a missed onside kick penalty and - have we mentioned injuries? - have prevented Tampa Bay from looking much like a defending Super Bowl champion. Only some of that has been the Bucs' fault.

Then along came a brisk and breezy Sunday in Charlotte, N.C., when it looked like the gods of football might finally be smiling on the Bucs. No such luck. A back-footed Jake Delhomme prayer was answered in the closing minutes of Sunday's game. And with it, the Carolina Panthers pinned a 27-24 loss on Tampa Bay in a game that has to leave Bucs fans wondering when something ... anything ... will go right for their football team.

Sunday sure looked to be the day. Carolina running back Stephen Davis, the NFL's No. 2 rusher and a powerful thorn in the Bucs' side, was placed on the inactive list because of a lingering ankle injury. It was the first of several twists of fate that appeared to have the Bucs in position to stay in the hunt for the NFC South title. A questionable illegal hands to the face penalty cost the Panthers a first-and-goal from the 6-yard line in the first half and forced them to kick a field goal instead of possibly taking a 14-0 lead. Delhomme, with a 10-point lead, later threw an ill-advised pass from his own end zone that Tim Wansley intercepted and ran back for a TD that made it a 10-7 game. Carolina also had a kickoff return for an apparent touchdown nullified by a penalty that had no bearing on the play.

So as poorly as the Bucs played early on, they managed to stay in it, and then came the topper of all toppers - Keenan McCardell's acrobatic, one-handed catch of a Brad Johnson pass for a late touchdown. It put the Bucs on top for the first time all day. It should have been enough. Of course, it was not. Delhomme drove the Panthers 78 yards in six plays for the winning touchdown with 65 seconds on the clock. The big play was something from the sky, quite literally. Delhomme threw the ball blindly on the winning drive, hoping only to avoid a sack. Last year, you would have expected a Bucs defender to intercept such a pass and perhaps score a touchdown to boot.

This year, what you expect is precisely what happened. Panthers receiver Muhsin Muhammad somehow made the catch, setting up the winning score. ``Those are plays we made last year,'' Gruden said. ``Those are plays we're lacking this year. ... That's the one thing we're lacking right now is finishing football games.''

Actually, the Bucs are lacking more than that. They are lacking an offense that comes to play from the start of the game instead of waiting until the second half. They are lacking the fire, whether they admit it or not, that won a Super Bowl a year ago. Until Roman Oben returns, they are lacking a left tackle who can keep pass-rushers out of the offensive backfield without grabbing their facemasks or tackling them.

And at 4-5, they are lacking a realistic chance to catch 7-2 Carolina for a division title. The Bucs are reduced to chasing five or six clubs for one of two NFC wild-card playoff berths. It was all there for the taking Sunday, and the Bucs managed to leave empty-handed.