Time to find an identity

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By GARY SHELTON

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 7, 2001

TAMPA -- Among the things the movies teach us is this: The tougher the guy, the less often he has to introduce himself.

For the tough guy, the really tough guy, reputation is plenty. He walks into the joint and people step aside. Occasionally, there is murmuring. Townfolk know who the tough guy is and what he does.

All of which leads us to the Bucs, and the question before us. Only later do you need to ask where the Bucs are going, and what they must change to get there. First, you have to figure out who they are.

It begins as basic, as blunt as this: Who is that team in the mirror? And what happened to the one that was here, oh, five minutes ago?

It is October, and if you feel you still need to ask the Bucs for identification, you are not alone. In some ways, they don't even recognize themselves.

The identity problems began a week ago, in a 20-16 loss to the Vikings in Minnesota. Oh, the offense was easy enough to pick out, what with the third down problems and the red zone troubles and low score you have come to expect for the past quarter of a century. But the defense? Who were those guys?

Against the Vikings, the sack and pillage bullies of past Bucs defenses were nowhere to be found. Instead, they were passive, patient, careful. Frankly, it looked very much like a personality disorder, one that Bucs should seek treatment for without hesitation.

"Most weeks, when we have it going, we're like Dracula," said defensive tackle Warren Sapp. "Nothing can kill Dracula."

And last week?

"We were Wonder Woman," he said.

Oh, in concept, you can understand the plan. The Vikings had been a one-dimensional team, able to throw the ball but not much else. With Randy Moss and Cris Carter carping at quarterback Daunte Culpepper, it figured that he would try as hard as he could to force the ball into them. Aha, thought the Bucs. They would rush with four and play as much cover-two as possible. Then they would do it again. And again. They would control Moss and Carter, they would force Culpepper underneath and they would outwait the Vikings.

"Most of the time, we're like Ray Leonard," Bucs coach Tony Dungy said. "Last week, we were more like Alexis Arguello. Usually, we're a little more daring, we go for the knockout. But Arguello is more patient. He's confident he can wait for you to make a mistake and take advantage."

Dungy pauses.

"Or you could say we're usually like James West, and last week, we were like Matlock."

Matlock? You mean you looked old and slow?

"No," Dungy said. "Matlock is calculating, and he usually wins in the end."

Not this time. This time, Matlock lacked the 40-time to chase Byron Chamberlain down the sideline.

For the Bucs, the defeat should be a lesson learned. You figure out who you are. You figure out what you do. And you go with it. The Yankees ask Roger Clemens to be a Rocket, not a Rockette. You do not ask Hell's Angels to ride bicycles.

"When we're playing well," Sapp said, "the other team doesn't know where we're coming from, or who's coming, or at what rate we're coming. It's tough when you're asked to do something different. We still led them, though, and we let them go 96 yards on us."

When you are the Bucs, should there be such a drastic change of personalities? True, it would be insanity not to give extra help on Moss and Carter. But shouldn't the Bucs have mixed it up a little? Shouldn't they have forced mistakes instead of just waiting for them? Shouldn't they make the opposition worry about them as much as vice versa?

"If I had it to do over again, I'd do some things differently," said defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin. "Not a lot. But I don't like to deviate too far from what we do."

Dungy disagreed.

"I don't know that I would change anything," he said. "If we make one play, we win. It's about winning. If George Foreman lands one punch, what would they have said about Muhammad Ali and the rope-a-dope?"

Perhaps they would have said this. Hey, Muhammad, wouldn't it have felt better to hit someone? Wouldn't it have been better to go down doing what you do best?

"If we were going to lose, I'd rather it be by doing what we do best and absorbing an a-- whipping," Sapp said. "I can live with that."

What the Bucs' defense does best, if you remember, is hound quarterbacks and outrun backs to the sideline and, in general, make life miserable for the other team. Which, in today's case, is Green Bay. Of course it is.

Throughout their history, whenever the Bucs have faced a key moment in a season, it has been Green Bay on the other sideline. It was Green Bay who handed John McKay his last loss, who handed Sam Wyche his last win. It was Green Bay who beat Dungy, 34-3, in his first regular season game and again, 21-7, in his first playoff game. No wonder Sapp remembers what Dungy said upon his arrival: Mission One, catch Green Bay.

Now, as the Bucs seek to avoid a dreadful beginning to their season, it is Green Bay, again. And Brett Favre, the best player the Central Division has seen since Walter Payton, again.

For the Bucs to win, they once again have to chase Favre all over the field. They have to mix it up enough to confound the Packers. They have to control the running game and harass the quarterback.

No, they don't have to bite the Packers on the neck. But hey, in a high-stakes game such as this one, it's what Dracula would do.

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