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© St. Petersburg Times, published September 4, 2000
Joe Marciano's mindless marauders, masquerading as special-team players, almost managed to mar a magnificent effort by the Bucs defense. His marshmallow units burned two timeouts to get organized and got toasted for long gains on several returns. Tony Dungy needs to jolt Joe and his troops to play at the same level as the other units if we really are Super Bowl-bound.
-- Randy Auryansen, Indian Shores
Tony Dungy almost let another one get away. Everyone (especially the sports media) is confusing "nice guy" with "great coach." His Mr. Nice-Guy-Don't-Show-the-Other-Coach-Up conservatism with an 11-point lead almost cost us the game.
With the players he has the Bucs could be a more dominant team. They say defense wins games, but not utilizing a potentially great offense more effectively is wasteful. ... It's like pulling the reins back on a winning race horse so the other horses don't look bad.
-- Keith Yeisley, Clearwater
I thought Les Steckel was supposed to be a breath of fresh air. Well, after this first game, I sure haven't seen it. Looks like the same old Bucs offense (except for the touchdown pass when Shaun King faked grounding the ball, the old Dan Marino rope-a-dope play).
-- Steve Miskin, St. Petersburg