Buc defense of old returns Gary Shelton, The St.Petersburg Times, published 30 December 2001 On the night the stars returned to Raymond James, the first snapshot you may want to frame was this. Somewhere, at the bottom of the pile, beneath all the humanity, lay Elvis Grbac. It was early in the third, and the Ravens had third and 5 at the Bucs 47. Grbac had dropped back to pass, and suddenly there was nothing but darkness. Then the refs peeled Steve White off him. Then John Lynch. Then Booger McFarland. Then Warren Sapp. By the time the officials reached Grbac, he was wedged into the turf, outlined like Wile E. Coyote at the bottom of a cliff. The only things underneath him were a football and, well, China. From the look of things, the Bucs are going back to the playoffs. From the look of this defense, they are going to be dangerous when they get there. Well, hello, strangers. This is the way these guys used to play defense, hungry and fearsome. Once more, they marauded. Once more, they pillaged. Once more, they punished. By their standards, it has not been a great season. They have suffered injury and mortality. There have been lapses, breakdowns and collapses. Even in the keeper games, you could quibble at the amount of yardage or the length of drives allowed. They have faded in and out of focus on an up and down season, and the turbulence darned near got the best of us all. Yet, on the biggest night of the year, here they were. The way they used to be. This was like winning a pitching duel against Randy Johnson. It was obvious from the start that if the Bucs were going to win, it was going to be up to the defense to make the Ravens' offense look as homely as the home team's. Baltimore may not be the defensive force it was a year ago when it won the Super Bowl, but it's still the standard defenses are measured against. On this night, the Bucs were not only Ravenous, they were better. "We didn't want to leave a doubt in anyone's mind who had the TV on or who had a ticket who the better defense was," defensive tackle Warren Sapp said. They played like wolves on the hunt. Derrick Brooks was everywhere, and Ronde Barber kept coming out of nowhere. No one could slow down Simeon Rice, which is why he was able to beat Sapp in the race to Elvis. McFarland and Dirty Dexter Jackson spent so much time in the Ravens' backfield you thought they were asking Grbac to rate their nicknames. Five sacks. Two interceptions. A goal-line stand. Twenty-four percent conversion on third downs. It was the year's best performance by the Bucs. You can't quibble about the yardage. You can't quibble about the second half-points. This time, the fire burned until the final snap. At the time it mattered most, this was the Bucs defense at its best. As the playoffs approach, and the teeth of the Bucs' defenders grow sharper, it allows for the most optimism possible since the team won at Dallas. Ask yourself: Do you think anyone wants some of the Bucs defense when it plays this way? Anyone? This was a defense fully aware that it -- along with kicker Doug Brien, anointed Gramatica For a Day -- was responsible for winning. Maybe that's why Brooks flew toward the goal line. Maybe that's why the pass rush was relentless. Maybe that's why the run defense was merciless. Oh, it is true that Grbac plays for the Ravens, which is sort of like the Ravens tying one arm behind their back. Still, it was impressive. Why has it taken the Bucs defense so long to get to this point? Who knows? Go back to the Tennessee game, when Lynch stood at his locker, a sour look on his face. Yes, he admitted that day, the defense was average. Then he looked ahead and said this: "But we won't be average by the end of the year, I promise you." Stubborn guy, Lynch. Prophetic, too. That was the best part of the defensive performance. For the first time in a very, very long time, you could believe in it. By the end of the game, all the doubts were gone. What did you think in the final three minutes, as the Ravens were moving the ball with only six points separating the teams? Did you flash back to the blown game at Minnesota or the one at Green Bay? Did you remember the way the Steelers moved the ball or the Bears? Or did you get the feeling that somehow someone on this defense was going to make a play and shut down the Ravens? It was a familiar, almost forgotten feeling. But darned if it wasn't there. On third and 5, Jackson sliced between blockers and dumped Grbac for a loss of 5. On fourth down, Brooks stopped Qadry Ismail cold short of a first down. Say what you want about the offense. Boo whenever you get the notion, even if the home team is ahead of the world champions by nine points at the time. Drop Bill Parcells' name to your favorite realtor. But think about this. The Bucs are 9-6, and they've won five of their past six. And no one, absolutely no one, is using the word average anymore to describe the defense. Someday you may try to explain how this team followed this path, with all the wrong turns, with all the twists and detours and missed directions along the way, and made it to the playoffs. Remember one word: Defense. And if the Bucs travel any further than the first round, you can say it again.