Tony, time to get a little wild

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© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 2, 2001

TAMPA -- There is a word to describe what we expect of the Bucs. It's a tantalizing word, one that sums up where the franchise has been and where it should be heading. A word with which we can all agree.

The word is more. Perhaps you have heard of it.

Tampa Bay has a darned fine football team. Has had it going on five years now. Wins more than it loses, entertains most of the time.

The problem is we want more. And, at this point, deserve more.

At the start of training camp, expectations are the first items unpacked because they are larger than anything in the room. Yet, somewhere along the line, the Bucs always seem to settle for less.

When dramatics are needed, the Bucs provide normality. When the moment calls for the grandiose, the Bucs offer dependability.

They strive to be perfect but they do not dare to be great. That is the legacy this team seems to be crafting.

Let's assume they want to be great. And, based on the amount of Pro Bowl souvenirs they have collected, let's assume they are capable of being great.

Why do they so rarely play great?

Speak to them individually and they tell you about mistakes and lack of execution and missed chances. Valid explanations, one and all.

But there is a larger issue. One that takes philosophies, attitudes and personalities and blends them all into a singular mind-set.

And that is the mind-set of a team afraid to take chances. The Bucs spend more time avoiding losses than grabbing victories.

Consider what went on at Minnesota on Sunday.

The defense, for the most part, did what it is asked to do. It contained Minnesota's greatest threats and forced the Vikings to sustain long drives.

The offense, to a great degree, did what it is asked to do. It minimized turnovers and mixed the run and the pass effectively.

And still the Bucs lost.

To an inferior team.

This is what happens when you are not willing to attack. When you play at half-throttle in a league of daredevils. When your defense waits for the other team to make a mistake and your offense is petrified of goofing up.

You can argue that if the defense tackled better and the offense executed better, the Bucs would have won. You also can argue that it should not have even mattered.

The Bucs have a knack for playing down to the level of their opponents. Were they not tackling well enough or executing crisply enough when they nearly lost to a horrid Dallas team in the opener?

It is worth noting that this is merely the season's first loss and it arrived long before losses can be considered critical.

But the concern is that it follows a similar path of familiar frustrations. Too often the Bucs find themselves in fourth-quarter jams because they have spent the previous three quarters in a defensive mode. Of their past 14 losses, 10 have been by a touchdown or less. That suggests a team that is not being outclassed by its opponents. Just beaten.

There are, of course, worse football fates than this. This community knows that as well as any other.

Three times in their first 20 seasons the Bucs had a winning team. They have done it four times in Tony Dungy's five seasons.

He has taken a horrible franchise and helped make it respectable. He brought sanity to an insane situation. He projected calm in a coach's office that was too long in the control of zealous egos.

His soothing demeanor has been successfully incorporated into the team. When the Bucs lost four straight last season and were in danger of collapsing, they did not panic. They won seven of eight and returned to the playoffs.

If Tampa Bay is considered a good franchise today, it is because of Dungy's talent and will. But if Tampa Bay wants to be considered a great franchise tomorrow, it may require some changes on Dungy's part.

That does not mean throwing halfback passes and blitzing on every down. It just suggests that timid is not the way to go through an NFL season.

Perhaps it is time to give bold a chance. Take some risks. Act a little wild and, maybe, a little nutty.

Heaven knows, they're driving us crazy anyway.

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