Game is teaser to promising season

By GARY SHELTO

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 5, 2000

TAMPA -- After a while, it was not the plays themselves that were important. It was the idea that what you were watching, really, were previews.

They came at you quickly, full of action and color and sound, one after the other, until they began to look something like the shape of things to come. This is the way coming attractions are. They tease you and tempt you with their promises of thrills ahead, until you cannot wait for the full-length show to arrive.

And so it was that new Bucs offensive coordinator Les Steckel said hello to Tampa Bay Friday night. As part of the introduction, Steckel gave Tampa Bay a glimpse of his offense, just a peek, and the first reaction was this: Hey, there are points in that playbook.

Did you see how accurate Shaun King was?

Did you see how tough Keyshawn Johnson was?

Did you see an offense that looked, dare we say, coordinated?

There is hope here. More than the 13-12 victory over Washington, that was what the Bucs got out of Friday's game. There was a little flair, a little fire, a little promise. Maybe, just maybe, this offense won't be an anchor this year. Maybe King continues to be a surgeon and Johnson continues to be an impact and the offense continues to move toward the goal.

I know, I know. This was merely a preseason game, and the Bucs' first-team offense scored only seven points. It is hardly a time to pronounce all problems solved or a coordinator satisfied.

"We still have a long way to go," Steckel said. "I said this week that we had 200,000 miles to go. Now it's 190,000. It's a step, but not as much as we'll need."

Around here, however, you do not gauge progress by the number of extra-point attempts. Around here, you have to call in the guys with the first-down markers for a measurement. And lookee here! For the first time in memory, the Bucs' offense is making the chain gang break into a sweat.

This is what Steckel, the tough old Marine, was brought in to do. To bring a sense of purpose, and identity, and efficiency, to the offense. Not to mention a few additional extra-point attempts.

If this was Steckel's coming-out party, you have to say the results were promising. Just like that, the offense has gone from musty to must-see. The Bucs looked crisp, cohesive, creative. Even comfortable.

This is part of the plan, too. Before the game, Steckel asked each quarterback for his favorite six pass plays, and his favorite third-down plays. That's part of growing at ease with the scheme. From the looks of things, it's working.

It was an impressive start. Given the newness of the offense, the Bucs could have been forgiven for having a few silly little penalties, an offsides here or there, a delay of game (which would have looked very much like mid-season form a year ago). But they didn't.

As Steckel says, there is still a long way to go before games count for real. This wasn't even the first chapter. Already, however, you can feel better about some early questions.

King, for instance. Yes, King fumbled on the team's second possession, which will launch a weeklong discussion of just how teeny his hands must be. But when it came to throwing the ball, King was deadly, completing 10 of 11 passes on his three drives. He ran 25 snaps, and nine resulted in first downs.

Johnson, for instance. Johnson looked every bit as tough as advertised, catching three balls for 33 yards, including a leaping catch over Deion Sanders on the team's first drive.

Oh, other questions remain. The left tackle position is still in flux. With Mike Alstott missing the game, no one knows how he will perform in his time at H-back (although if the position emphasizes blocking over running, it sounds like a shaky idea). The running game was spotty.

But all in all, the Bucs looked more proficient, more dangerous, than for most of last season. The key to most offenses is adapting a scheme to the players' strengths, not the other way around. For the past several seasons, the Bucs seemed to forget about that, and the result was painful to see.

It always has been, really. For most of its history, Tampa Bay has been an offense driving forever uphill. Not since 1984 have the Bucs even been in the top half of NFL offenses. Only once in the '90s were the Bucs ranked higher than 20th in the league.

The thing is, the Bucs don't have to have the Rams' offense or, for that matter, the Redskins. The Bucs are still going to be conservative.

But the whole key to the Bucs' offense is this. Say Tampa Bay is behind by two points with three minutes to play and the ball at its own 20. How much confidence do you have that it can salvage the game.

If you watched this team over the past few years, or over the past quarter-century, the answer is not a comfortable one.

With this director, with this cast of stars, there is a thought that maybe, just maybe, things will be different. Friday night was enough, at least, to make you hope.

And, perhaps, to stay tuned.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.

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