Bucs make mistakes on offense, defense in their first loss in eight months.
By RICK STROUD
Published August 19, 2003
[Times photo: Toni L. Sandys]
Rams safety Kim Herring picks up the ball after the Bucs' Keyshawn Johnson fumbled in the second quarter.
ST. LOUIS - Among the lessons the Buccaneers learned Monday night might be this: The longer you hold the Lombardi Trophy, the heavier it gets.
At some point, it's time to stop picking confetti off your uniform, put all the Super Bowl rings in the safe deposit box and move on.
Playing in the Show-Me state, the world champions acted as if all they had to do was show up.
Not so.
Tampa Bay's 26-16 loss to the Rams was a bumbling, fumbling, humbling experience.
Rams quarterbacks Kurt Warner and Marc Bulger completed all 13 passes in the first half for 137 yards. Bucs receiver Keyshawn Johnson lost a fumble that was returned 59 yards for a touchdown by safety Kim Herring. Tampa Bay's No.1 defense backpedaled for 8:15 on the opening drive. And the Bucs were penalized 12 times for 124 yards.
"I don't think you ever learn from losing. But I think maybe one good thing that came out of this game is you're going to get everybody's best shot," defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin said. " ... It doesn't matter if it's preseason or Philadelphia because you are the world champs. I think our defense has to realize that."
Tampa Bay got a wakeup call against the best team it will face in the preseason.
Warner, who went 7-for-7 for 55 yards, said the Rams couldn't wait to measure themselves against the Bucs.
"I felt good," Warner said. "I think everybody was excited with the world champs coming in here."
Bulger must have felt the same. He was 9-of-15 for 110 yards, completing his first six.
"It's not very good on our part. I mean, 13-for-13 is hard to do in pregame warmups," Bucs coach Jon Gruden said. "You can't throw the ball much quicker than they did. A lot of those were no-step drops, so you're not going to get pressure on them.
"I credit Kurt Warner. He's got an incredibly quick release and he sees things very well. Some of those were sight adjustments at the line of scrimmage, he beat the blitz a couple of times, he was exceptional. He was sharp. He was the MVP I remembered."
If the Bucs needed a reminder of how fleeting success can be, it was right in front of them.
A year ago, the Rams were coming off their second Super Bowl appearance in three seasons. They still had the Greatest Show on Turf, an offensive genius in coach Mike Martz and an improved defense under Lovie Smith. What the Rams didn't notice was the bull's-eye on their chests.
Injuries, ineffectiveness and inspired opponents caused the Rams to finish 7-9 and miss the playoffs.
"We got away from our fundamentals," Bucs safety John Lynch said. "It's a good lesson. You can't ever get away from those things. That's what made this team what it is - the tackling and all those things, not playing penalty-free ball - we were bad at them tonight."
Tampa Bay's No. 1 defense had not been on the field when points were scored in the preseason before Monday. Despite a 14-play drive, linebacker Derrick Brooks tackled running back Lamar Gordon for a 5-yard loss on third and 1 from the 9 to force a field goal.
"In this league, if you don't come out early with your A game, you can get exposed," defensive tackle Anthony McFarland said. "We got exposed. The positive is they went 14 plays and didn't score (a touchdown)."
Meanwhile, the Bucs offense moved the chains but made costly mistakes. In the first half, Tampa Bay's offensive line committed two holding penalties (on guard Kerry Jenkins and tackle Roman Oben) and had two false starts (on Jenkins and guard Cosey Coleman).
Johnson's fumble occurred after his 9-yard reception for a first down at the Rams 39, when he was hit by safety Adam Archuleta.
"I didn't know where he came from," Johnson said. "My focus was down the field and he came from the inside. When I caught it, I turned and he hit the ball. I was trying to dive down and get what I can, but I'm so damn tall, it's like a tree, it takes forever to get down."
The silver lining for the Bucs was the play of rookie Chris Simms, who threw touchdowns to Charles Lee and Fabian Davis in the second half and two-point conversions to Lee and Will Heller. The second touchdown came after he dislocated the ring finger on his left throwing hand and had it popped back into place.
The Bucs may have been overconfident. They had beaten the Rams the past three times on Monday Night Football since losing the 1999 NFC Championship Game here. They were 2-0 in the preseason and had not lost in eight months. And ABC was running nice, retrospective halftime pieces on their Super Bowl victory.
But if the Bucs want to live in the past, maybe they need to party like it's 1999.
"You've got to accept responsibility when you don't come out and play well," Lynch said. "We didn't play well tonight from the start. That bothers you, but fortunately it's preseason. We've got time to go back and rectify that."
