Mounting injuries and three losses do little to soothe a reeling defense that is 11th in the league in yards allowed.
By TOM JONES
Published October 21, 2003
TAMPA - They use fancy phrases like "gap control" and "run fits" and they talk about this type of coverage and that type of scheme.
They talk about being better prepared and executing properly and focusing more. They can unfurl an injury list that reads longer than a mortgage application. They can chalk it up to, hey, just one of those days.
But after all the lingo and jargon, all the scratched heads and shrugged shoulders, it boils down to one thing:
The Bucs defense looks broken.
At least that's the way it seemed in Sunday's 24-7 loss at San Francisco when the 49ers ran through and around and passed over and under the Bucs to the medley of 458 yards, the most the Bucs have allowed since Richard Williamson was coach.
The Bucs defense, usually the subject of nightmares for NFL offenses, wasn't built in a day, but it took about three hours to crumble Sunday.
Or should Sunday come as no real surprise? There were signs in recent weeks that the screws were starting to loosen. Take the gut-wrenching loss to Carolina when the Panthers ran over the Bucs in the first half. Or the implausible loss to Indianapolis when the Colts threw over the Bucs in the second half.
Add up the first half of the Carolina game and the second half of the Colts game and what do you have? One full San Francisco game.
"We've lost three games and we've given up big plays in two of those three games," coach Jon Gruden said. "That's been the area that our defense has flourished over the years. ... (But Sunday) was poor. It was not good. It wasn't a good performance by us."
And you can bet the Cowboys, who come to town Sunday, will wear out a few VCRs poring over tape of the three Bucs losses.
"It's a copycat league," defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin said. "If one team has success doing something, someone else is going to try it. When you look at the film, you're not going to watch what didn't work. You're going to watch what did work."
Pretty much everything the 49ers tried worked, particularly the running game. The hows and whys can't be explained properly without a chalkboard, but while Gruden gave the 49ers credit, he admitted the Bucs needed to take blame. At times they were too aggressive. At other times, not aggressive enough. Assignments were missed. Reads were off. And the tackling was poor.
After allowing a league-fewest 252.8 yards a game last season, the Bucs are 11th, giving up 304.5 yards, including 112.5 on the ground. That did not all happen on Sunday.
"We're concerned any time someone has that kind of success against us," Gruden said. "But at the same time, we've been good, very good (this season). We've just got to - somehow, some way - get back to the defensive standards that have been established here. We're confident we can do that. We've got to overcome a lot right now."
Starting with injuries. Cornerback Brian Kelly's season looks more iffy by the down. He tried to play with a torn left pectoral tendon, but had to shut it down after the first half and is doubtful for Sunday. Recurring shoulder and neck problems for safety John Lynch have put his season in question, and he also is doubtful. If both do not play, the only starter in the defensive backfield who started in the Super Bowl will be Ronde Barber.
Pro Bowl linebacker Shelton Quarles returned Sunday after missing the first five games with a fractured forearm, but Gruden admitted Quarles' strength in the arm has not fully returned.
Toss in the usual assortment of bumps and bruises and it's a mess.
"You have to have worked on a contingency plan for the last couple of weeks and now you're working on a contingency of contingency plans." Gruden said. "It's not easy."
Injuries hurt for two reasons. Not only are the Bucs missing key players, but with so many out, they cannot do what they want in practice.
"If you want to go out and improve your tackling, you need to go out and tackle," Gruden said. "You need to have some physical periods. But with 12 or 14 players not practicing, it's hard to do."
Kiffin, the architect of this defense since 1996, has seen all of this before. He remembers Oakland and a coach named Gruden rolling up 45 points in a shutout against the Bucs in 1999 and everyone predicting doom and gloom. The Bucs then went out and gave up 16 points total in two victories against Green Bay and Chicago before beating Washington 14-13 in the playoffs and holding high-powered St. Louis to one touchdown in an 11-6 loss in the NFC Championship Game. "I'm not going to panic," Kiffin said. "We just need to get back to what we do, and everything will be fine. I just hate waiting. I wish it were 1 o'clock on Sunday already."
