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At first, yards scarce

The Bucs get 1 yard in the first quarter, then rally but fall short on a Hail Mary at the end.

[Times photo: Joseph Garnett Jr.] Bucs and Dolphins battle for a Hail Mary pass to the endzone with little time remaining in the game. Dolphins wide receiver Robert Baker caught the ball for the winning touchdown.

By RICK STROUD

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 14, 2001

TAMPA -- Look, it's awfully early.

But in its first preseason game, the Brad Johnson-led, Clyde Christensen-bred Bucs offense conjured up an unflattering image.

Three feet and a cloud of dust.

With Johnson making his debut under center Monday, Tampa Bay's first unit offense was outgained 145-1 in net yards in the first quarter.

That's right, 1 yard.

Johnson finished 2-of-4 for 18 yards, was sacked three times and had one first down in three possessions in the first quarter. He also committed a fumble that led to the Dolphins' touchdown.

The ending was nearly as bitter as the beginning for the Bucs.

[Times photo: Joseph Garnett Jr.] Quarterback Brad Johnson directs the offensive during the first quarter.

Dolphins receiver Robert Baker made a falling-down catch of a 43-yard Hail Mary pass from Mike Quinn as time expired to give Miami a 17-14 victory.

The touchdown, which was deflected by Bucs safety Eric Vance, ruined a fourth quarter comeback attempt by Bucs fourth-string quarterback Joe Hamilton.

"The ball's up in the air, the defense goes to make a play on it, knock it down, intercept it if you have a chance," Vance said. "The offense kind of hangs around and waits on the ricochet. They got the ricochet today."

With the starters for both teams on the sideline, Hamilton threaded a 6-yard touchdown to running back Aaron Stecker between two defenders to give the Bucs a 14-10 lead with 1:09 left.

Of course, the spotlight was on Johnson the Bucs offense.

"You take it with a grain of salt and move on," Johnson said. "Obviously, we think we can move the ball better than we did tonight."

On Johnson's final play, Miami Pro Bowl defensive end Jason Taylor beat rookie tackle Kenyatta Walker, stripping the 10-year pro of the ball. Jermaine Haley returned the fumble 5 yards to the Tampa Bay 1. Three plays later, Ray Lucas scored on a quarterback sneak to give the Dolphins a 10-0 lead.

"He didn't have that much of an opportunity," Bucs coach Tony Dungy said of Johnson. "I think he got sacked three times in eight or nine plays. When he completed passes, we were in motion, that type of thing. It wasn't so much him. We've got to play better around him or it's going to be tough for him."

The Bucs' only score came on an 8-yard pass from Shaun King to Karl Williams.

Not that the Bucs' normally stingy defense showed up.

With nine starters returning from the unit that ranked ninth in the NFL a year ago, the Bucs allowed quarterback Jay Fiedler to burn them with big plays.

Fiedler, intercepted four times in the Bucs' 16-13 win over Miami last season, went 4-of-6 for 75 yards, including a 49-yard screen pass to Autry Denson.

"One hundred forty-five yards? Man, that's a lot of yards," Bucs defensive end Marcus Jones said. "You can't win too many ballgames by giving up 145 yards in the first quarter. I don't care how great you are on defense."

[Times photo: Jim Damaske] Brian Gruber, left, Joe Hamilton, center, and Aaron Stecker celebrate after Hamilton's 6-yard pass to Stecker put the Bucs ahead 14-10.

Fumbles by receiver Oronde Gadsden and Denson, both caused by Bucs linebacker Jeff Gooch, kept the score close. "I think the difference in the first half was we made a couple of big plays on offense," Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt said. "Obviously, the screen to Autry Denson was a big play."

If there is truly open competition at quarterback, the first preseason game went to King.

"Shaun did well," Dungy said. "I thought our second group went in there, they were sharp and ran the ball well. Shaun threw to the right guy, we made some good catches for him. I thought he played well along with a lot of guys in the second group."

[Times photo: Jim Damaske] Shaun King was the standout at quarterback for the Bucs.

Since learning the Bucs had signed Johnson as a free agent, King vowed to reclaim his job after going 15-9 as a starter. He didn't disappoint, throwing the score on his second series to Williams to cut the Dolphins' lead to 10-7.

"It was a routine play," Williams said. "I knew if I got inside the defender on the slant that I would have a chance to catch the ball for a score. I baited the defender to the outside and Shaun threw a perfect pass."

But the best completion of the drive was King's 24-yarder to Reidel Anthony, who collected the ball near the Bucs sideline. Anthony took a wallop to the helmet from safety Trent Gamble but hung on.

King finished 9-of-17 for 105 yards and a touchdown for a respectable 91.5 rating.

In a brief appearance in the third quarter, Ryan Leaf went 1-for-4 for 4 yards and had a deflected pass intercepted by rookie Jamar Fletcher.

"The positive was really our second unit," Dungy said. "We had a number of penalties and turnovers with our first unit. We weren't very sharp on offense or defense. The second unit was better. They did things we like to see. They executed really well and played good football."

There were some bright moments for the Bucs.

Gooch, whose trade to St. Louis was rescinded in the offseason when he failed to pass a physical, was very physical against the Dolphins. His forced fumbles were recovered by Brian Kelly and Chartric Darby, respectively.

Among the rookies, receiver Robert Kilow returned a punt 41 yards and linebacker Marq Cerqua had two second-half sacks.

And the 5-foot-9 Hamilton worked his fourth quarter magic.

Miami linebacker Zach Thomas wasn't impressed. "We dominated them tonight, and even in practice," he said. "The final score didn't matter because we outplayed their first unit. They always talk Super Bowl, but maybe they should take it one game at a time. ... They've been getting publicity all week and I wish we could play them during the season. All their talking is ignorant."

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