The Cold Truth
Roy Cummings, The Tampa Tribune, published 18 December 2005

Maybe the Bucs will meet the Patriots again this season. It would have to be in the Super Bowl, of course, but Saturday's result notwithstanding, there is still a possibility that could happen. Here's why: Though the 28-0 loss they suffered Saturday at Gillette Stadium stung more than a prickly winter wind, it really didn't do much damage to the Bucs' playoff hopes.

It was to a nonconference opponent, and with two home games left - against Atlanta and New Orleans - the Bucs (9-5) still can win the NFC South title and earn the right to open the playoffs at home. As for the Patriots, there's no denying they're back in Super Bowl form. The victory improved their record to 9-5 and clinched their third consecutive AFC East title.

Not only that, but also in mauling the Bucs on a clear but cold afternoon they convincingly exhibited the same defensive pressure, offensive poise and big-play ability that characterized their play the past two years. "They've got the best quarterback in the league [Tom Brady]; a veteran-laden defense and the best coach in the league [Bill Belichick]," Jon Gruden said. "They're a handful; we just didn't play well enough to win. They did a much more complete job of playing football than we did. They went out there and beat us soundly."

The total yardage figures show just how soundly. While the Patriots had 336 yards, the Bucs were held to 138 - the fewest in Gruden's four Bucs seasons. And those are just the generalities. The details reveal how truly complete the beating was. After recording just 20 sacks their first 13 games, the Patriots had seven Saturday - six by linebackers and one by a cornerback. "They came at us hard, and we did have a lot of seven-man protections, so we had the right numbers there," Gruden said. "But somewhere along the line somebody just got whipped."

What those whippings did was curtail the Bucs' passing attack. Slowed not only by the blitz but also by their own penchant for dropping catchable passes, the Bucs failed to take advantage of the Patriots' injury-depleted secondary. "You have to take some shots, and we did have a few of those plays called," Gruden said of throwing deep. "But the couple we did have called we never really got launched. ... But New England doesn't really give you a lot of single coverage."

They didn't give the Bucs a lot of running room, either. Against a defense that has been rather forgiving against the run, the Bucs got just 23 yards out of Cadillac Williams and averaged just 1.7 yards per carry. On the other hand, the Patriots drove 76 yards for a touchdown on 12 plays on their opening possession, immediately putting the Bucs in a hole they're not used to being in.

Before Saturday, Tampa Bay had allowed just two field goals on opening drives, and they were coming off a game at Carolina in which they turned the tide early by stopping the Panthers after a lengthy initial push downfield. "That didn't help matters at all," Gruden said of the Patriots' game-opening march. "To allow the crowd to get into the game and fall behind is not something you can do and have success on the road."

You can't have an 81-yard punt return for a touchdown called back because of a penalty and expect to win, either. Nor can you expect to win when you're called for roughing the punter on a fourth-and-13 at your opponent's 47-yard line. The Bucs were guilty on both accounts, with the roughing penalty leading to the Patriots' second score, which came on a 3-yard Corey Dillon run with 2:08 left in the first half.

Had the Bucs settled down there they might have made a game of it in the second half. As it turned out, though, a fumble by quarterback Chris Simms led almost immediately to another score. Linebacker Mike Vrabel's sack of Simms caused the fumble, which was picked up by Willie McGinest and advanced 19 yards. The Patriots scored again three plays later to put the game out of reach. "That was huge," Simms said of the Patriots taking a 21-0 halftime edge. "I mean, you don't want to be down 14-0 either, but it's OK. Being down 21-0 at halftime against a defense like that - we knew we had an uphill climb."

The climb the Bucs have to reach the playoffs is not nearly as steep. Though they fell a half-game behind Carolina in the NFC South, they remain one of the leaders for a wild-card berth. And it's not like this team hasn't faced adversity of this nature before. The Bucs bounced back after a loss to the Jets early in the year and again after suffering back-to-back losses to San Francisco and Carolina.

"That's one thing I'll say about this team is that we do bounce back well after losses," linebacker Derrick Brooks said. "We do have some mental toughness, and we have two games left. We're still very much in the thick of things."