Though shy on cachet, the Bucs and Panthers are emerging as bitter foes.
By RICK STROUD
Published November 9, 2003
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - It certainly has the ingredients of a big-time NFL rivalry.
You have gum-flapping, bulletin-board-stuffing exchanges between competitors. Physical encounters that extend beyond the whistle. A classic clash of similar styles. And electric tension humming through games that could decide a division title.
It has everything but history.
The Bucs-Panthers rivalry dates all the way to September.
That's when the Panthers used blocks of two field goals and the winning extra point to upset the world champions 12-9 in overtime.
But if the Bucs (4-4) hope to defend their title - at least in the NFC South - they will need a victory today at Ericsson Stadium.
"Rarely do you find a game, at this point in the year, to me, that has this much significance," Fox NFL Sunday studio co-host Howie Long said. "So much is riding on it."
Especially for the Bucs.
A loss would give Tampa Bay a losing record for the first time since 2001 and leave it three games behind the Panthers, who would own the tiebreaker by virtue of their series sweep.
"To be a rivalry, the games have to mean a lot and this one does," safety John Lynch said. "They can distance themselves. We can draw closer. It's tough to go and get division games on the road. They stole one from us here. We've got to go steal one back. So I think this has all the makings of a rivalry. Rivalries are usually predicated by playoff implications and I think this one does."
It has that and more. Much more.
In the offseason, the Panthers boasted they had a better defensive line than the Bucs. In the first meeting this season, tackle Kenyatta Walker spent more time under the face mask of Julius Peppers than his mouthpiece. Even kicker Martin Gramatica and punter Todd Sauerbrun can't stand each other.
Bucs coach Jon Gruden, who participated in Raiders-Chiefs and Eagles-Cowboys dustups, said the Bucs-Panthers rivalry has a birth certificate.
"I think so," Gruden said. "It's the second year for us in the NFC South, all of us. The Falcons, Carolina, New Orleans. ... I think we're starting to get a feel for each other in terms of rivals. Certainly, this game has a lot of juice to it, a lot of behind-the-scene excitement.
"It's big. We're tired of losing, especially the way we've lost. We don't like the feeling at all. Sour stomachs. We've got a lot to prove and we've got to prove it now. We can't cry in our soups for very long. Not a lot of people feel sorry for us. Again, all the problems we have are right in the mirror and we've got to address those problems quickly."
Even in sweeping the Panthers last season, the Bucs knew Carolina was closing the gap. They needed four field goals from Gramatica to win in Charlotte a year ago.
"You could see they were a physical team from the start," Lynch said. "(Coach) John Fox came in, you could see his mentality was going to be to play physical football. You can see it just by the makeup of their team. They're big, strong guys, and I've got a lot of respect for the way they play. You can count on it being a physical game whenever you play the Panthers. I like that."
Lynch, who has missed two games with a damaged nerve in his shoulder, will return to the lineup just in time to slow running back Stephen Davis, who rushed 33 times for 142 yards when the teams played Sept. 14. Davis did not practice last week because of an ankle sprain and is a game-time decision.
"It's like styles make fights in boxing," Long said. "And when you look at the game earlier in the year, it was as physical a game as you're going to find, and for it to have ended the way it did was pretty extraordinary. I don't think it's ever happened the way it did.
"You've got two defensive lines. You've got the premier group, and you've got the heir apparent. They're not there yet, Carolina, but they're certainly en route. Their defensive line is very big and very physical. This group is quick and explosive. It's going to be interesting."
Davis played down the rivalry angle last week, insisting that the Bucs just have a target on their chests.
"I think (that because) Tampa won the Super Bowl, they're going to have a rivalry with everybody," Davis said. "Everybody is going to be trying to aim at them. What makes this a rivalry that is growing is that this is a division game and you have good defenses playing against each other and offenses that are ball-controlling and are getting opportunities to make plays down the field. You have similar teams, but in a different sense in that they've been doing it for a long time as far as making the playoffs and doing things that it takes to win a championship. They've been there; we're trying to get there."
The Panthers' confidence is in crisis. Carolina has lost two in a row and was fortunate to defeat Indianapolis in overtime. Its defense, ranked second in the NFL last year, has dropped to 21st, allowing 327.1 yards per game. It has only 10 takeaways in eight games, next to last in the NFC. Its turnover ratio is minus-3.
"I pretty much don't like any of our opponents," Bucs linebacker Derrick Brooks said. "But it's fun. I just take it as good competition."
It's hard to believe, but nine months after winning Super Bowl XXXVII, the Bucs are in danger of not making the playoffs for the first time since 1998. It all began so promisingly, with Tampa Bay shutting out Philadelphia in the season opener. But since then, the Bucs have managed to win every odd game. Odder still is the predicament the Bucs find themselves in today.
"We thought we'd go 16-0," Lynch said. "We really did. We felt somewhat invincible. I think we've realized a lot of things. You're going to get everyone's best shot. That's going to continue to happen, and we've got to be ready for it. That's part of being a champ if you want to be able to do that again. The challenge is tough. But I think we're up to that challenge."
