LANDOVER, Md. - For years, it has been the modus operandi, and Sunday the Bucs defense was guilty of it again.
On the one hand, Tampa Bay's defense looked like it would struggle against one of the league's top-flight backs. After all, Clinton Portis had 64 yards and a touchdown on the third play from scrimmage. That's a 64-yard average, for those scoring at home.
On the other hand, the Bucs made a strong argument that they are, in fact, very decent against the run (13th overall last season), and that minus Portis' first explosion, the third-year back managed 84 yards on 28 carries.
But here's the problem, that early blow, the one that sent the crowd into a frenzy and staggered the Bucs, couldn't be taken back.
"We can't erase that from the game," safety Dwight Smith said. "We have to get back into the lab and find out what we did wrong."
One thing the Bucs did wrong was overpursue Portis, whose cutback ability explains how he averaged 5.5 yards through his first two seasons. Portis suckered the defense into going left, cut back to the right and no one was able to recover.
"They caught us in a blitz and he was able to cut back and make a good play, and that's what a good back does," linebacker Shelton Quarles said. "The whole day he was looking to cut it back and get back outside and that was what he did on that play."
The early strike woke up the Bucs, whose defensive intensity increased and whose pride wouldn't let the Redskins make a mockery of things.
"After that, we knew what was going on and why he made that long run, so basically, we changed things a little bit and that helped us," defensive end Greg Spires said.
For the rest of the game, the defense was downright stingy. At one point, it held the Redskins without a first down in three of four possessions.
"You look at our effort and the fact that we didn't play at all to the best of our ability and still had a chance to win, that says something about this team," cornerback Ronde Barber said. "Obviously, we didn't play well enough to win because if we did, we would have won. But you can't fault our effort. We should be encouraged by the way some of the guys played considering some of the bad things that happened."
Guys like Quarles, who led the team with 13 tackles. Like defensive end Ellis Wyms, who seemed extremely active on the inside. Like safety Jermaine Phillips and all three cornerbacks - Barber, Brian Kelly and Mario Edwards - who seemed determined not to give up a big play downfield.
And, of course, the game seemed typical for the defense because it was able to put the ball in the end zone, thanks to a 9-yard fumble return by Barber.
"We play defense that way," he said. "We expect to score. Expect to create turnovers, expect to be the driving force of this team. It's always been that way. Whether or not it changes, who knows. But for now, we do what we do. We recovered, we played strong, we buckled up. "We can't get frustrated with ourselves. It's easy to have doubts and start pointing fingers, but it's the first game of the year. We have to stay together. The year we went to the Super Bowl we got embarrassed at home by New Orleans."
Ever the optimist, defensive end Simeon Rice, who said he sometimes faced triple teams, said the defense actually took a positive step Sunday.
"You can't erase the game," Rice said. "But it's a character builder. I've been in this league nine years, what do you want me to tell you? I'm scared of one game? It's over with. They executed, we didn't and they took advantage of that. Still, I'm proud of what I saw. I saw some men grow up and some young players come up and show that they are ballers. Now, we just have to do it week in and week out. And then we're going to be right where we want to be."
