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Dungy and McKay say things line up favorably, including a Saturday night home game Dec. 29.
By RICK STROUD
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 13, 2001
TAMPA -- When the past two Super Bowl champions loom on your schedule, and you are perceived as a contender (yes, again) to play for the whole enchilada, you can expect those games to appear on Monday Night Football.
Such is the case for the Bucs, who play a Monday night game Nov. 26 at St. Louis and a special Saturday night game against Super Bowl XXXV champion Baltimore on Dec. 29 at Raymond James Stadium.
The game against the Ravens will take the place of ABC's Monday night game to avoid conflicting with New Year's Eve.
Those were just two highlights greeting the Bucs when the NFL schedule was released Thursday.
For the third time in four years, Tampa Bay will open its regular season on the road -- Sept. 9 at Dallas. It will mark the first time since 1990 that the Bucs have played the Cowboys at Texas Stadium.
The Bucs will play seven games against teams that qualified for the playoffs last season. That list begins with the Bucs' chance to avenge their playoff loss of last year in the home opener, when the Eagles visit RJS on Sept. 16.
"I think it's good for us," coach Tony Dungy said. "We've really got just two weeks where the schedule is any different -- the Monday night game late in November and the Saturday game at the end of the year. The bye week (Sept. 23) is a little earlier than we've had in the past. If you had a choice, you'd like it in the middle of the year. But I think, overall, it's very good. We get to finish with three out of the last four games at home when generally we are playing our best football."
The schedule is not as kind to the Bucs in November, when they play just one game at home, Nov. 18 against Chicago.
As every Tampa Bay fan knows, the Bucs get the shivers when they contemplate a game in the cold. But the Bucs should have a least a few opportunities to break their streak of 20 straight losses in games in which the kickoff temperature is under 40 degrees. Tampa Bay visits Chicago Dec. 16 and might have to bundle up at Cincinnati Dec. 2, or possibly, at Green Bay on Nov. 4.
"The important element of a schedule is its balance between home and away games, with the hope of avoiding the three-consecutive-road-game situation," general manager Rich McKay said. "This is a very balanced schedule. It sets up nicely for us and allows us to end our season with two home games, the last being a nationally televised event."
Tampa Bay's game at Chicago will be the last regular-season game for the Bears for a while at Soldier Field, which will be shut down for renovations scheduled to be completed in 2003.
Thirteen Bucs regular-season games begin at 1 p.m., which is good news for Tampa Bay fans. The Bucs were 2-4 in all games starting later last season.
The Bucs are 4-4 on Monday Night Football and will have a chance to improve on that with their first return to St. Louis since their 11-6 loss in the NFC Championship Game on Jan. 23, 2000.
"When you looked at it, you know you've got (six) playoff teams and if you're going to be on Monday night, it's going to be against a playoff team," Dungy said. "And we're a safe pick to put on late in the year because of the weather."
Here's some more good news for Dungy. In each of the past two seasons, the Bucs have defeated the defending Super Bowl champion. The Bucs beat the Super Bowl XXXIII champion Broncos 13-10 in '99. Last season, Tampa Bay rallied to a dramatic win over the Super Bowl XXXIV champions Rams 38-35 on Monday Night Football.
-- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.