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A season after finishing next-to-last, Tampa Bay's 73 yards a game ties for 24th among 32 teams.
By RICK STROUD, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 17, 2002
TAMPA -- Of all the images from the Bucs' shutout at Baltimore on Sunday, remember the sight of Michael Pittman being carted off the field with leg cramps.
It was the longest carry Pittman has had this season.
A year ago, the Bucs finished a franchise-low 30th among 31 teams in rushing. After two games this season, they are 24th among 32 teams, tied with the Giants at 73 yards a game.
Despite having the ball about 11 more minutes than the Ravens in a 25-0 victory, the Bucs had just 2.5 yards per rush. And that's a disturbing trend said coach Jon Gruden, whose teams in Oakland tried to balance the run and pass.
"We won 25-0 on the road, which is a great accomplishment. And I don't want to diminish it," Gruden said Monday. "Part of my job is not to be satisfied with every single thing that happens, not to get too giddy or overly excited. But we have to run the ball better and get ourselves into better down and distance situations.
"We had two personal foul penalties that hurt us also, one on defense and one on the kicking team. That really inhibits you from an offensive standpoint when you get bad field position."
Shutouts in the NFL are rare. But nearly as unusual is not scoring an offensive touchdown like the Bucs did Sunday.
As inept as the Bucs were on offense a season ago, they did not score an offensive touchdown only three times, including the 31-9 playoff loss to the Eagles.
The Bucs reached the Ravens 20 three times but came away with three field goals by Martin Gramatica.
"We need to be more physical. We need to improve on running the football," Gruden said. "We had numerous opportunities to make strides, but I don't think we made any huge steps forward. I thought Brad (Johnson) was outstanding, tremendous at times. When he's given an opportunity to spread the ball, get good looks and get good throws, he's going to make good decisions.
"We had three or four beautiful drives, double-digit (play) drives, that we didn't finish off. But we had 21 minutes of possession in the first half, and the field position (six of nine possessions started inside the Bucs 25) was an obstacle for us. That's a tough sled against their defense. I thought we did make some strides in pass protection and got some timely plays in the passing game."
If there is hope for the Bucs' rushing attack, it's the return of right guard Cosey Coleman and the development of right tackle Kenyatta Walker. But Gruden said it's unfair to lay all of the blame on the line.
"The line gets so much credit for the good and the bad, but it's everyone," Gruden said. "It's the tight ends. It's the kick-out block by the fullback. It's the lead block on Ray Lewis. It's the ball carrier that moves the pile 1 yard or 2 yards here or there. Those are yards that add up and take their toll at the end of the day.
"Collectively, it's the perimeter blocking. It's the lead back, the double-team. Jeff Christy had a solid game, but we're capable of being much better. And our team will tell you that. We need to keep raising the bar and raising the standard."
Johnson said the Bucs' rushing numbers were diluted toward the end of the game, when they were more concerned with taking time off the clock than gaining yards. Leading 18-0, Gruden called five third-down plays, all runs.
"I don't think you can go by that in the fourth quarter," Johnson said. "And what kind of hurt us in the running game with the Saints was when you get behind, you can't stay with the running game.
"The big thing is just having a mixture, hopefully, 30-35 pass plays and hopefully get 30 runs."
Despite the running game, Johnson has played two error-free games. But field position continues to be a problem. With the high-powered Rams coming to town Monday, the Bucs can't afford to trade field goals for touchdowns.
"A week ago, we were 2-for-2 in the red zone," Johnson said. "We came up with some good plays in there, and everyone thinks we've got it figured out. (Sunday), we went 0-for-3.
"But we don't settle for anything. We take our chances. If it's not there, then we're not going to throw crazy picks in the red zone and play crazy football just to try and make people happy."
When will Gruden be happy?
"It's a journey, and I just look at it that way," he said.
"It's not where you line up, but where you wind up. And I like our team."