Plop-plop, fizz-fizz ... Bucs need hangover fix

Injuries, distractions and rough scheduling dim aspirations of a rare Super Bowl repeat.

TAMPA - Some Bucs players and executives swear what the world champs are experiencing is not a Super Bowl hangover.

Headlines about Warren Sapp's running through warmups, bumping officials, kicking over pylons and making slavery analogies are not a distraction.

The schedule - with its Tokyo trip, four out of six games on the road and no 1 p.m. starts at home since Dec.8 - is not as tough as calculus.

The injuries - enough to fill an ER episode with a herniated disc, torn pectoral muscle and multiple bone fractures - are not excuses.

Then there is John Lynch.

After listening to his teammates tell enough white lies to chalk a football field, Lynch admits the Bucs might have gotten too full of themselves.

"There's no mistake, there have been some distractions that aren't good for a football team," Lynch said. "I think you can do the things off the field. That's great. You've had the success and earned the right to do those things. More power to you, it's fun and you do them. But you can't ever let that distract you from what your goal is. You can't ever think you're bigger than the game. And when that starts happening, it's trouble."

Lynch, who will miss today's game against the 5-1 Cowboys because of a damaged nerve in his right shoulder, said the defense has been as outhustled as outmuscled.

"People all over the league are trying to do what we're doing," Lynch said. "(Defensive coordinator) Monte (Kiffin) showed us film last week of San Francisco running to the football. That kind of opens your eyes to this is what we're about. You can't ever forget what you're about.

"Some of the ways we've practiced, because injuries have forced us to, we've been doing some walk-throughs and maybe you get away from what you're all about. You can't. You can talk about doing it all you want, but unless you do it on a regular basis, when it becomes habit, sometimes it starts fading away."

Since the Steelers repeated after the '79 season, 24 Super Bowls have been played with only three repeat winners. Defending the NFL title is like walking through a minefield where complacency, expectations, distractions certainly injuries conspire to ruin a season.

But general manager Rich McKay says the bull's-eye on the Bucs is not any bigger.

"I don't feel like this is different from any other year in the sense that for about the last six years, we've been a pretty targeted team," McKay said. "We've got a lot of guys on our team that, I don't know if you've noticed, but they like to talk. They can show up on bulletin boards of other teams. Accordingly, we've always been a team that's been very high profile and very much talked about regardless of who we were going to play and when we were going to play them."

But Lynch said opponents have dialed up their intensity another notch this season.

In fact, Kiffin played a tape of the 49ers defense from last weekend's game to demonstrate how the Bucs had been outhustled.

"In terms of getting people's best shot, that was evidenced firsthand last week and people talk about that," Lynch said. "We watched film of that San Francisco game, and the 49ers played that like it was their Super Bowl game. Hats off to them, but I think it kind of opened our eyes. We've always had the edge in terms of intensity and running to the football and things of that nature and we got outplayed in that aspect.

"One thing we've always talked about is, we're a real prideful group and when we get shown up like that, we usually respond. And I'm looking forward to seeing guys do that."

Of course, without players like Lynch it will be difficult. Safety Brian Kelly joined fullback Mike Alstott on injured reserve last week. Receiver Joe Jurevicius has missed four games with a torn knee ligament. Linebacker Shelton Quarles missed the first six with a fractured forearm. Tight end Ken Dilger is playing with an injured foot. Roman Oben fractured his right hand in practice Thursday and will try playing with a cast.

"There's selfishness among all of us at some point in our lives," coach Jon Gruden said. "We've got a lot of guys injured. I'm not using that as an excuse. The lineup is not the same lineup that maybe we'd anticipated playing with.

"You're playing a tough schedule, and every week somebody wants you now. We've had four out of six games to start the season on the road. At Philly, at San Francisco, at Washington. It's not an easy schedule. We lost some heartbreak games at home. I've been really impressed with the resolve of the football team, overcoming injuries and overcoming adversity and winning after a difficult loss. ... We've got to lean on each other. That's all we have."

Cornerback Ronde Barber said he does not believe any of his teammates are content with one championship.

"The Super Bowl trophy in our house means absolutely nothing," Barber said. "It means we won a Super Bowl last year. It's good to talk about, but nobody wants to rest on that laurel. I definitely don't. I couldn't care less if they parade the trophy around anymore. I don't wear the ring. I'm playing the 2003 football season."

So go ahead, call it a Super Bowl hangover if you'd like. Lynch may not disagree too much. He prefers to call it a challenge.

"Sure, there are challenges, but you embrace those challenges," Lynch said. "You can look at them and make excuses that this is what happens to Super Bowl teams. Or you can embrace the challenge. And I think that's what we're going to choose to do."

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