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Bucs' scoring drives stalling in red zone

Tampa has scored only two touchdowns, and Brad Johnson has yet to throw one.

By RICK STROUD

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 4, 2001

TAMPA -- He has thrown screen passes and seam passes. Passes with sizzle and passes with a tight spiral. Passes that have been batted down and passes that have been tipped up. Passes that have been intercepted and passes he threw away to avoid the sack.

He has thrown short passes, deep passes and intermediate passes.

But after two games, the most important pass is one Brad Johnson is still waiting to throw.

"It's probably the longest I've ever gone without a touchdown pass," Johnson said. "And we've had chances.

"I think that's where the quarterback rating is lost. You don't get credit for a win. You don't get credit for a throwaway instead of a sack. That's the way you get judged. It's fair because we're all the same way. But it hurts when we don't get touchdowns, regardless of how that's supposed to come." Johnson is one of only five starting quarterbacks in the NFL not to have thrown a touchdown. Among the others is Jeff George, who was released by Johnson's former team, the Redskins.

In six possessions inside the opponent's 20-yard line, the Bucs have scored just two touchdowns and kicked three field goals.

"The first game, you get away with a win," Johnson said. "If we win last week, I feel great about the game."

Instead, in Sunday's 20-16 loss at Minnesota, Johnson missed on his first four attempts in the red zone and finished 2-for-9 with an interception and was sacked once.

"That hurts," Bucs coach Tony Dungy said. "We did not function well in the red zone. We had some chances and didn't get the ball in.

"We should be better, and we've got to be better. But you can look back and say, 'What did we do?' We did what we thought Minnesota would give us. We got those coverages, and we didn't execute."

Keyshawn Johnson, who is Brad Johnson's primary target near the end zone, said the connection between receiver and quarterback should be improved Sunday against the Packers.

"He'll be zipping it in there," he said. "I think that starts this week because we have an extra game of film to look at. One time, I ran the crossing route (at Minnesota). I was 8 yards deep and was only supposed to be 2 to 4. "And another time, we ran a crossing route with Jacquez (Green). I was supposed to be in front of Jacquez, and I was too deep. When Brad was looking for me to come underneath, I showed up over the top, and he held it. So it's all the little things."

One problem Sunday was the Bucs had only three possessions in the first half. Another possession started with no timeouts and 59 seconds remaining in the game. He drove the Bucs to the Minnesota 18 with the help of three completions and a penalty.

"The week before, we were 8-for-8 in the red zone," Johnson said. "Last week, I threw two balls away. I threw two kinds of desperation plays at the end of the game. It all depends on when you have the ball in the red zone and what it dictates. I feel we made great calls down there, and they just made some good plays."

Twice, the Bucs believe Keyshawn Johnson was interfered with.

On another play, Brad Johnson was late delivering the ball.

Another time, he sailed one into the seats rather than risk an interception.

"In the red zone, everything shortens up," Brad Johnson said. "You see a lot of teams in the red zone are going to do two things. They're going to blitz or run a four across defense that's really hard to get passes in there.

"It's an area where things happen quick in the red zone. We have to make big plays. A lot of teams go through that phase, and unfortunately, it cost us one ballgame." Dungy said the struggles in the red zone have been a lack of execution and, probably, concentration.

"In those situations, inside the 20, two-minute situations, you've got to be able to concentrate and not have anxiety and think this is a big play," Dungy said.

"The thing about the Minnesota game that was tough was we didn't have the ball enough to get anything going. It's a simplistic way to me to say all you need to do is to start doing something different. We just have to play better."

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