 |
Buccaneers WR
Keyshawn Johnson
|
ST. LOUIS — The never dull, never predictable, roller-coaster Tampa Bay Buccaneers
had just kept their season on life support by beating the high-flying St. Louis Rams in
Week 11.
Doctor, we have a pulse. Perhaps a playoff pulse, although only if the patient lays off
the losses the rest of the way.
As Buccaneers DT Warren Sapp, a man whose pulse always seems to be racing, ran toward
the locker room, he loudly sang, "Shake them haters off. Shake them haters off."
Soon thereafter, Sapp was sitting on a chair in front of his locker, spitting chewing
tobacco juice on a towel on the floor, when a reporter asked him to explain what he had
meant by the song.
As though possessed by the thought, Sapp clicked into a sing-song mantra. "Shake
them haters off. Shake them haters off. Shake them haters off."
He laughed and continued. "It’s simple. Self-explanatory. Shake them haters
off. Shake them haters off. Would that apply to you?"
After Sapp had finished holding court with the print media, after he had done the
television interviews, he surveyed a locker room that was growing increasingly empty and
saw the reporter who had asked for further explanation about "shake them haters
off." Sapp playfully walked up behind the reporter and said in a quiet voice, as
though sharing a secret, "We’ve got a lot of haters in Tampa. A lot of them.
That’s what I’m saying."
The haters — see critics, naysayers, dissatisfied observers — have bristled
at the thought that a supremely talented Buccaneers team that was many people’s
preseason club of choice to reach the Super Bowl had only a 4-5 record heading into the
prime-time matchup against the Rams. Obviously, the Buccaneers’ ears have been
burning from the naysayers’ comments.
Even so, many Bucs players say they can’t argue with the criticism.
"We’ve been taking a lot of hits, and probably rightfully so, I think, with
the expectations there," Buccaneers QB Brad Johnson said after Tampa Bay improved to
5-5 with the win over the Rams. "We’d love to be 8-2, but we’re not."
Said WR Keyshawn Johnson, when the Buccaneers’ record stood at 4-4:
"Unfortunately, we put ourselves in this situation. Now we just have to figure out a
way to get us out of it."
So how does an elite team that has not been crushed by injuries put itself in position
to have to fight for its life just to make the playoffs? Erratic play.
"What’s been disappointing about this year is, we have not played very well
on a consistent basis in any phase, and the hope is that down the stretch we will,"
Buccaneers GM Rich McKay said.
In 1999, the Buccaneers got off to a mediocre start to the season before catching fire
in the second half and making the playoffs.
In 2000, ditto. Slow start. Fast finish. Playoff appearance.
In 2001, the Bucs’ record was once again mediocre halfway through the season. Give
them this: They have experience dealing with their current situation. When it happens
once, it is unique. When it happens twice, it might be a trend, it might be coincidence.
When it happens a third straight time, though, it almost looks like a way of life.
"You don’t want it by design," McKay said. "I don’t think
it’s been the same every year. I think it’s been different. This has been the
year we’ve probably been more inconsistent in all phases. But we’ve lost a bunch
of close games. It’s very hard. We don’t want it. We don’t want to become
the Detroit Lions of whenever it was, those mid-’90s, when every year they did this
(slow starts, fast finishes), because it’s too hard."
Yet, that is exactly the uphill battle the Buccaneers face once again, thanks to their
inconsistent play. How have they been inconsistent? Let us count the ways.
Warren Sapp
No one makes more noise than Sapp.
"He talks and has a lot of fun," Bears C Olin Kreutz said.
Buccaneers RB Mike Alstott said, "He’s a vocal guy. He gets us going."
He talks loud. He talks a big game.
Of a big hit he made on Rams star RB Marshall Faulk in Week 11, Sapp said,
"Sometimes you’ve just got to lay the smack down."
The problem is, he is not laying the smack down as much this year as in the past.
Before the Buccaneers-Rams game, an NFL scout said, "The guy that hasn’t
played that well is Sapp. He talks more than he plays now. Sapp is a good player.
He’s strong. But he’s not playing like he did a year ago.
"I don’t know whether he’s wearing out or something. I don’t know
what his problem is. He’s strong. He still uses leverage and all that kind of stuff.
I write him up pretty good.
"But sometimes he’s not playing as hard as he used to. He used to go every
play. He’s not making a lot of big plays now. He was a big-play maker. He’s just
not doing the things that he did before. His techniques are off a little."
Heading into the Tampa Bay-St. Louis game, Sapp had a mere three sacks on the season.
That’s a far cry from the dominating numbers he’s posted in recent seasons.
When a player talks the talk, he’s going to hear the criticism when the perception
is that he isn’t walking the walk.
"I’m an easy target," Sapp said, laughing.
Against the Rams, Sapp showed that he can still be a dominating force. He had two
sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and seemed unblockable at times, although it
does bear mentioning that he was going up against overmatched Frank Garcia and injured Tom
Nütten.
"Warren is just a beast, but he’s been a beast all year," Buccaneers DE
Steve White said. "He might not have had the stats that you can see in the paper, but
this guy has been disruptive all year. But today, he had some sacks, a forced fumble, a
fumble recovery. He had a monster game on national TV. My hat’s off to the guy. One
of the game balls definitely has to go to him."
It should be said that Sapp’s performance overall this season is disappointing by
the immense standards he has set in the past. There are a lot of defensive tackles who
would love to play the way Sapp has this season.
"Warren’s been playing pretty well," Buccaneers head coach Tony Dungy
said. "Just hasn’t gotten the sacks, but he’s played the run well and
he’s rushed pretty well over the course of the year."
In 1999, Sapp was the NFL MVP. In 2000, he had a whopping 16½ sacks. For the
Buccaneers to be a Super Bowl contender, they need the best player on their roster to play
to that level.
The defense as a whole
The overall defense of the Buccaneers has been much like Sapp — better than many,
but not up to its enormous reputation.
"I think what’s been at the root of it is, we have not made plays like we did
tonight," McKay said after Tampa Bay forced the Rams’ offense into five
turnovers. "We haven’t made the big plays on defense. We’ve played pretty
well, but we haven’t made the plays that we traditionally make — turnovers,
tackles for loss, sacks."
Keyshawn Johnson has said, "I think they played up and down this year. … I
don’t think they played up to their expectations of where they wanted to be at the
beginning of the year."
Pro Bowl LB Derrick Brooks is posting solid numbers, but he wasn’t performing at
his past level much of the season because of injury.
"That hurts us, but in this league, a lot of people have worse injury situations
than we do," McKay said. "It hurt us a little bit. I can’t put my finger on
it, but we just didn’t have — I don’t want to say motivation because we
were motivated — but we just didn’t have that special edge that we’ve had
in years past that you saw (against the Rams)."
According to one NFL scout, the Buccaneers have been hurt by the fact that Chidi
Ahanotu went from Tampa Bay to St. Louis in the offseason: "They miss Ahanotu’s
leadership and other intangibles he brought to the line, the unselfishness, a lot more
than they thought they would."
The offense
Buccaneers football has not been known for offensive explosiveness in recent seasons,
and this year has been no different.
Like so many areas of the team, Keyshawn Johnson has described the OL play as
inconsistent.
"It’s been an up-and-down year," Johnson said. "They’re
getting hit a lot, haven’t probably played up to their expectations."
One NFL scout says the unit has not jelled yet because of the differing styles of the
starters. According to the scout, there are "bulls" like OG Cosey Coleman and OT
Jerry Wunsch, whereas the rest of the starters are "finesse guys."
That might help explain why the running game is ranked only No. 28, despite the
presence of Pro Bowl RBs Warrick Dunn and Mike Alstott.
Another explanation might be the lack of a go-to guy. Dunn has rushed for 338 yards,
while Alstott has 399 yards.
"Their running game has been sporadic," an NFL scout said. "They really
haven’t decided whether they want to run a Warrick Dunn or a Mike Alstott running
game or if they want to run them in combination."
When asked if the running game is where the team wanted it, Keyshawn Johnson has said,
"No, I don’t think it is. I think it’s a little disappointing."
As for Keyshawn Johnson himself, he is posting big numbers in the reception department
(83), but he has yet to score a touchdown. On an offense that lacks explosiveness and a
highly productive No. 2 wide receiver, it’s a problem when its best receiver
can’t score touchdowns.
"If defenses can take him out of the game in the red zone, who are they going to
throw to?" asked an NFL scout.
Brad Johnson was brought in this year to solve some of the offensive woes, and while
that hasn’t happened, he has played reasonably well. "I think he’s gotten
better, and he hasn’t been the problem. I think he’s been the scapegoat,"
said an NFL scout.
Crunch time
When push comes to shove, sometimes the best explanation is the most obvious. When all
is said and done, a team just has to make plays. The Buccaneers haven’t done that
enough in crunch time.
Every game Tampa Bay has lost this season has been by seven points or fewer. Four of
the losses have been by three points or fewer.
The defense and special teams have allowed the winning points in the fourth quarter or
overtime in several losses, and those units have had problems protecting some double-digit
leads.
"We’ve got to start slamming the door on people," Dungy said. "When
we’re up 10 points, we’ve got to be able to hold those leads."
Even Martin "Automatica" Gramatica missed a 48-yard field goal — it hit
the upright as time expired — that would have sent the Week 10 game against the Bears
into overtime.
Can the Bucs rebound?
For all of the inconsistent play, however, the big Monday-night win over the Rams gave
the Buccaneers new life.
Still, it was just one win. A team doesn’t go from 4-5 to 10-5 in one outing, no
matter how impressive it is.
"We’ve got to start playing well and put some back-to-back weeks
together," Dungy said.
Said Sapp: "This game will go all for naught if we go to Cincinnati next week and
piss it away."
The Bucs almost did just that, letting a 10-point lead slip away before winning in
overtime. While short on style points, the win gave Tampa Bay its first two-game winning
streak of the season.
With a 6-5 record, what is the Buccaneers’ margin for error the rest of the way?
"Zero," White said. "That’s how it’s got to be. Zero. Every
game has got to be a Monday night for the rest of the year. If we approach it that way, we
will come out in the end, and I think we will be in the playoffs."
Treat every week like it’s a high-profile Monday-night game. That’s a pretty
tall order for a club as inconsistent as Tampa Bay. On the other hand, late-season surges
are part of its recent history.
"We’re good at facing adversity," Alstott said. "Somehow, some way,
we always manage to do it."
Once again, the Buccaneers are trying this risky, get-hot-late approach. Once again,
they are trying to shake them haters off.
For more on the Buccaneers, see Ron Pollack's column entitled "Keep
the status quo: Fire Dungy? No way! Buccaneers need stability, not change" in the
current print edition (Vol. XVI, No. 22) of Pro Football Weekly, dated Dec. 10, 2001, on
sale at newsstands and bookstores across the country. Or you can subscribe online to PFW's print
edition, or subscribe by calling 1-800-FOOTBALL (366-8225) and charging your subscription
to a major credit card. |
