Feeling at home on the road, Oilers spoil Tampa Bay party
Hubert Mizell, The St.Petersburg Times, published 9 November 1998

Just when we were figuring that Tampa Bay's pro football torment had been left next door, historically crammed into the cold concrete of the Big Sombrero's remains, along with those creepy bats. Splat went the roaring perfection of Raymond James Stadium. On a high-profile Sunday night, Ray-J became a seat of Bucs defeat. But not without admirable fight.

In 1976-79, beginning Bucs needed 23 home games to amass five wins in the Big Sombrero. Today's Bucs, in joyous contrast, seemed on a 5- for-5 fling. Especially when erecting a 16-3 lead on Tennessee. Oilers . . . a little too slick.

Sunday night on ESPN would not sufficiently ease Tampa Bay's pain from an early-season ABC calamity on Monday Night Football from Detroit. It is wrong for even the sourest critic to suggest it was a repeat of indecent national television exposure. Tampa Bay gained large offensive yardage, but there was the big mistake of a Trent Dilfer pass being intercepted by Oilers linebacker Joe Bowden just 36 inches from the goal line. That was the hammer.

Still, there was no quit. Not by Dilfer, who stirred the Bucs to a touchdown, coming within a missed two-point conversion of catching Tennessee. No surrender either from a Tampa Bay defense playing without three-quarters of its regular secondary. Unless you count the final, funereal nail. When the Tennessee quarterback, Steve "Air" McNair joined George as an assassin on the ground. Bucs were scrapping, but Tyoka Jackson whiffed a third-down tackle attempt on McNair, opening the death gate for a 71-yard touchdown scramble.

It will now be extremely difficult. If the Bucs, with a 4-5 record, are to rise again and challenge for the NFL playoffs, it will take road magic. They must reach 9-7, which means must wins at Washington, Chicago and Cincinnati for a team that is 0-4 away from Tampa. Just when it seemed the Bucs might flourish, with a Ray-J upset of undefeated Minnesota, the chase went sour in the second half against the Oilers. They now need a lightning bolt, something truly unpredictable, like an upset next Sunday in Jacksonville. Which at this hour seems terribly unlikely.

Sunday night could've been so perfect. So 5-0 at Ray-J. Against a backdrop of a blacker than black Florida sky, the new ballpark glistened like an expensive jewel, which it is. Sixty-eight degrees. Just enough breeze for comfort. There for America to see. To envy. Flying into our state had become a nasty working vacation for NFL outsiders. With a success on Sunday, the Dolphins went to 5-0 at Pro Player Stadium. In Jacksonville, the Jaguars became 4-0 in their new Alltell.

But the 5-0 in Tampa was too much for the Bucs to handle. First of all, because they couldn't handle Eddie George. Then, in the end, because they didn't handle McNair. Tennessee (nee Houston) Oilers are remarkable, unique story. They deserve the Elmer's Glue Trophy for NFL sticktoitiveness. For two seasons, coach Jeff Fisher's team has lived out of a franchise suitcase. Longing for a real home.

When they left Texas, the Oilers were booed out of Harris County by a seemingly non-caring constituency. Texans were fed up with team owner Bud Adams, who had arrogantly demanded a stadium like Ray-J to replace the Astrodome. Ironically, a fancy new NFL facility has become a Houston promise. It'll be built if the league's 30 owners will be generous enough to allow Houston to invest $500-million-plus for an expansion franchise. Ah, modern sports.

Meanwhile, on their way to Nashville, the Oilers made an absurd turn to Memphis. Fisher did fabulous evangelist-like work, keeping his players from a mutiny. Memphis loathed them. Crowds at the Liberty Bowl were minuscule. A good Sunday head count for a home game was hardly better than a bad Thursday gathering at Graceland. Still, the Oilers did not fray. A giant about road warriors, Tennessee is 1-4 on enemy fields. With starting cornerbacks Donnie Abraham and Anthony Parker plus Pro Bowl safety John Lynch medically unavailable, a proud Bucs defense became vulnerable. But it was Tennessee running that buried the Bucs, mostly by George and finally by McNair.