Bucs

I questioned, they answered -- emphatically

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© St. Petersburg Times
published January 10, 2003

TAMPA -- I questioned.

I doubted.

Let's face it. I scoffed.

You can imagine, then, the way the guilt has been gnawing at me. And so I have come to One Buc Place for the strangest of rituals. I have come to confess.

It was me. Yes, I was the one who wondered about the Bucs secondary.

Just me.

Oh, let's be honest. I didn't just wonder. I warned. I pointed. I panned. I ran around dodging giant chunks of sky. Silly me. I thought Brian Kelly was going to make a great many tackles, but I thought most of them after 17-yard completions. I was sure Dexter Jackson was going to chase a lot of receivers across goal lines. I was certain Dwight Smith was going to be overvalued as the nickel back.

You, on the other hand, knew better. You and everybody else. You had a hunch Kelly would turn out to be the most improved player in the NFL. Sources told you Jackson would leave dents in wide receivers. You had faith that Smith was going to be just fine. You knew that if there were an NFL position coach of the year, Mike Tomlin was going to earn it.

That's the thing about being a critic. A few things change, a player blossoms, and suddenly, you're the only guy who was ever in the room. That must be why they build confessionals so small.

Yep, when it comes to questioning the Bucs secondary, I was the lone gunman.

And, um, one other guy.

"I was right there with you," safety John Lynch says. "The secondary was the question to me, really. I don't think anyone can say with total clarity and conscience they knew it would turn out this way.

"I thought when we let Donnie Abraham go, we had made a mistake. Not that I questioned the way Brian Kelly played, but Donnie had made so many big plays for us. But Brian stepped up and answered."

By the end of the season, there were few questions remaining. The secondary led the NFL in pass defense, allowing the fewest yards, getting the most interceptions. Quarterbacks, including Brett Favre, Donovan McNabb, Kurt Warner, Daunte Culpepper, Tommy Maddox and two games against Michael Vick, had a combined quarterback rating of 48.4.

What began the season as the defense's hidden weakness finished as its underrated strength.

Speaking for the skeptics, allow me to say this:

Well, oops.

All of this is important, of course, because the 49ers come to town Sunday, and rumor has it that Terrell Owens has an entire set of stationery in his socks. The 49ers are fresh off a comeback victory over the Giants in which Jeff Garcia and Owens spent most of the afternoon doing a Steve Young-Jerry Rice impression.

Remember all those questions the secondary spent a season answering?

They're back.

That's the price of the profession. The questions come faster than the receivers. With the prospect of Garcia and Owens, suddenly the secondary is getting worried glances all over again.

Gee, one school of thought says: Did you notice the Bucs only played four games against teams ranked in the top 12 in passing?

Golly, another line of thinking goes: Is Ronde Barber tall enough to contend against a group of 49ers receivers that looks like a frontcourt?

Shucks, do you remember how open the Steelers receivers were?

Sheesh, is this secondary good enough?

Ask the question around the locker room, and you get different reactions. Kelly looks at you and shrugs. Barber laughs. Smith gets annoyed.

"Why would you question me?" he said. "You had never seen me play."

Bingo, you say.

"I didn't question me," Smith said. "I love me."

Told the questions were hovering around the secondary again, Barber, on the other hand, chuckles softly.

"That's where the questions ought to be," Barber said. "I've got so much respect for Owens. It's a tremendous challenge for us."

Barber says this with the hope of a man who might finally get to play this weekend. For much of the season, teams have tiptoed around Barber, throwing at Kelly. The result has been that Barber has spent much of the season annoyed that teams weren't throwing at him, and Kelly has been annoyed that teams were.

Neither made the Pro Bowl. Both should have. Still, Barber believes he and Kelly have become the NFL's preeminent cornerback tandem. Yes, better than Bobby Taylor and Troy Vincent of the Eagles. Yes, better than Rod Woodson and Tory James of the Raiders. Yes, better than Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain of the Dolphins.

"I'd put them up there against anyone," Lynch said. "Honest to God, I wouldn't trade them for anyone. You can talk about your prototypes like Champ Bailey, but when I turn on the film, they're all over the field making plays.

"Maybe I'm biased, but what we ask our corners to do is unparalleled in the league. Look at Ronde. He's going to have around 100 tackles a year, and 3-5 sacks. They're asked to do a lot of things, not just be cover corners."

As such, there are other things on the minds of the Bucs corners this week. The 49ers have this spread-the-field, fling-it-at-will reputation that doesn't quite mesh with the facts. San Francisco led the league in rushing last season, and it was sixth this season. Add an offensive line that has allowed only 10 sacks, and you have an offense that seems to be recognized by everyone but Bill Walsh and Terry Donahue, who are too busy playing pingpong with Steve Mariucci's career to notice.

Yesterday's news? The Bucs secondary was better than anyone else in the NFL.

Sunday's question? Is it good enough to stop the 49ers?

Rats. There I go, questioning again. For a moment, I doubted. Hey, but I didn't scoff.

If a man doesn't show growth, what good is he?