WP In Tampa, a Roll Reversal

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20855-2003Oct26.html

In Tampa, a Roll Reversal

Defense Halts Dallas's Momentum : Buccaneers 16, Cowboys 0

By Mark Maske

Washington Post Staff Writer

Monday, October 27, 2003; Page D01

TAMPA, Oct. 26 -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers looked like the defending Super Bowl champions and made the Dallas Cowboys resemble a marginally talented team struggling to live up to the expectations of their notoriously demanding coach.

That was the way it was supposed to be all along, but neither club had been performing its scripted role heading into Sunday's game at Raymond James Stadium, with the Buccaneers battling to stay above .500 and the Cowboys overachieving under the masterful coaching of Bill Parcells. The Buccaneers, though, made things right in the football universe again, at least for a day, by bottling up the Dallas offense and coasting to a 16-0 triumph.

"We were beaten very soundly today," said Parcells, whose NFC East-leading club is 5-2 entering Sunday's game with the Washington Redskins at Dallas. "We didn't really have a chance to win, with the things we did. . . . I was pretty disappointed with the way we played, particularly offensively."

The Buccaneers (4-3) got their second shutout of the season and avoided their first two-game losing streak under Coach Jon Gruden. The Cowboys entered the game with the NFL's top-ranked defense and fourth-ranked offense. The Tampa Bay defense has been plagued by injuries and wildly inconsistent play since leading the team to its Super Bowl victory in January.

"We had to get ourselves back on track," Buccaneers defensive tackle Warren Sapp said. "I tell people all the time, 'Don't feel sorry for the world champions.' We just didn't play well. We had to right that today. We got the message it was going to be a tough-guy fight. We're tough guys. It's 60 minutes from the penthouse to the outhouse, and vice versa."

The Tampa Bay defense was depleted in the secondary, with cornerback Brian Kelly on the injured reserve list and safety John Lynch on the inactive list. Defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin told his players at midweek that the defensive linemen and linebackers would get little or no help from the safeties in stopping the Cowboys' running game. The fill-in starters in the secondary had enough to worry about just trying to slow down the passing game.

So the Buccaneers' front seven, led by linebacker Derrick Brooks, buckled down and limited the Cowboys to 60 rushing yards (of the team's 178 total yards). The Tampa Bay defense sacked previously unflappable Cowboys quarterback Quincy Carter four times. Sapp got one sack even after having his helmet pulled off by Cowboys guard Larry Allen. Carter threw interceptions to safety Jermaine Phillips and cornerback Ronde Barber that set up Buccaneers field goals. The Cowboys also lost a fourth-quarter fumble by reserve tailback Aveion Cason and did not run a play inside Tampa Bay's 20-yard line. Place kicker Billy Cundiff pushed a 41-yard field goal attempt wide right late in the first quarter and Dallas only crossed midfield once after that.

"We went out and played the game we know we can play," Barber said. "They deserved the attention they got. They were a 5-1 football team. We were 3-3. [but] the end of the year will speak for itself." Tampa Bay wasn't overwhelming on offense, but got the job done. Left tackle Roman Oben played with a broken right hand. Tailback Michael Pittman ran for 113 yards on 30 carries and place kicker Martin Gramatica connected on field goals of 24, 26 and 50 yards. Gruden took another Gramatica field goal off the board in the second quarter when Cowboys rookie cornerback Terence Newman was called for running into Gramatica as he dove to try to block the kick. "That hurt bad," Parcells said.

The five-yard penalty -- the Cowboys' only official penalty of the game, since another was offset by a Tampa penalty and others were declined -- gave the Buccaneers a first down at the Dallas 9-yard line. On second down from the 7, quarterback Brad Johnson rolled to his right and slipped a pass to wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson -- whose agent had criticized Gruden last week for his client's lack of involvement in the offense -- along the sideline for a touchdown and a 10-0 lead.

Earlier in that drive, Brad Johnson hit tight end Ken Dilger for a 48-yard completion on a flea-flicker. But mostly, the Bucs were content to play turnover-free offense and make way for the defense.

Not everyone was impressed. Cowboys tailback Troy Hambrick said after his 11-carry, 25-yard rushing performance: "You think they've got a pretty good defense? I think we made enough mistakes to make them look good. . . . They're front-runners. I didn't hear anything from Sapp until they got the lead. I've seen a better pass rush. But we have a couple banged-up linemen, and they outplayed us."

Replied Sapp: "Troy Hambrick talked Emmitt Smith out of Dallas. Please. Troy Hambrick was behind the greatest running back in the history of the game and he was talking trash. So you expect that from him."

Parcells wasn't as combative, saying that if the Bucs were out to prove a point, they did it.

"I think they did, without question, and we couldn't do much about it," said Parcells, who was facing the team he agreed to coach twice before backing out of agreements. "That was a pretty good beating. The score wasn't as bad, I thought, as it really was."

The Cowboys left with their five-game winning streak ended and with Allen having been yanked by Parcells because of a bad leg. But as Sapp said: "A 5-2 team leaving here -- that ain't too bad itself."

© 2003 The Washington Post Company