Sports: Shut up and play

Shut up and play

By RICK STROUD

TAMPA -- Five times in the past 18 regular-season games, Tony Dungy has watched his team lose after leading in the fourth quarter or forcing overtime.

The Bucs' once mighty defense, which used to know how to slam the door on opponents, now politely holds it open for them.

Suddenly, any lead seems about as safe as a snowball in the Tampa Bay area.

Last Sunday, leading 16-13 in the fourth quarter, the Bucs allowed Minnesota to drive 96 yards for the winning touchdown -- an 8-yard run by quarterback Daunte Culpepper with 1:03 left in the game.

Sure, the defense might boast four No. 1 picks on the defensive line and five players that have been to the Pro Bowl, but nobody believes they're special anymore.

Not even Dungy.

"We're an average defense," he said. "In the first game, we were okay. In the second game we were okay. Nothing special. We expect more.

"Our positive in the past was we had a lot of guys who played well. That used to be enough. We're not that kind of society anymore. We're not that kind of media. Everything is driven by this guy has a radio show, this guy said that, this guy did this touchdown dance. The teams that win are the ones that have a lot of guys playing well. And that's what we've got to get to."

If Dungy seems annoyed by all the talking the Bucs defense has done, he's not alone.

Linebacker Derrick Brooks, who recorded a team record 23 tackles and an interception -- then spent the rest of the week answering questions about the play he didn't make against the Vikings -- wishes his teammates would keep their mouthpieces in.

"We've been everywhere together except to the "Big Dance.' It's time to shut up and play," Brooks said.

Other than Brooks, who along with fellow Pro Bowl players John Lynch and Donnie Abraham, failed to make a critical play on a 37-yard pass to tight end Byron Chamberlain during the Vikings' winning drive, Bucs defenders don't have much to squawk about.

Defensive tackle Warren Sapp, who predicted he would break the NFL sack record held by Mark Gastineau this season, has not put a quarterback on the ground when it counted since Christmas Eve.

To be fair, the Bucs didn't get many chances in the season opener against Cowboys rookie Quincy Carter, who attempted 10 passes before the fourth quarter.

Despite 16 pressures, Culpepper was about as hard to bring down as Mt. Rushmore last week.

"You've got to take your last performance and that's what you're judged on," Sapp said. "I think that's how (Dungy) lives and that's how we live. I told you guys we're beatable. I mean that's pretty much the same thing as saying we're an average defense. We're beatable. That's what it is. Look at the last two weeks we've played. We're beatable. But that's the challenge."

Sapp has been outspoken and criticized teammates publicly and privately for mistakes. But with only four tackles to show for the 2001 season, some teammates believe his remarks are wearing thin.

Last week, he raised eyebrows by suggesting in a Sports Illustrated interview that "the jury's still out," on receiver Keyshawn Johnson.

Johnson refuses to be dragged into a war of words. "I've never been on jury duty," Johnson said.

But Sapp says he knows who he can ride and who he has to leave alone.

"I know who I can push and who I can't," Sapp said. "Like Jacquez (Green), you wouldn't want to attack Jacquez. You want to pat him on the back and say, "C'mon.' Like Keyshawn, you wouldn't want to attack him, either, because he'd go in his shell. Outspoken as he is, he's a sensitive guy about certain things. You've just got to know. And I've been around long enough to get a feel for this team, I've always had a pulse of this team. I can tell you who I can attack and who I can't attack.

"Sometimes I've been wrong. Like Chidi (Ahanotu). You'd have to baby him. But Rod (Marinelli) babied him enough and I figured that was enough, so sh--, I've got to attack him like I attack every other d-lineman. Like I attack Mac (Anthony McFarland) when Mac ain't performing. Like I attack (Marcus) Jones. Like I'd want to be attacked if I don't have my sh-- together. We live by a tribal in there. We get it done or your ass is grass. That's ours. We get in there and we attack each other."

Arguably, the Bucs defense hasn't been the same since the 1999 NFC Championship game.

The Bucs decision not to re-sign Hardy Nickerson, who has been beset by injuries since joining Jacksonville, nonetheless meant the defense would have to respond to a new voice in the huddle.

"There's no democracy in the huddle. I make the calls," Brooks said. "And it's like I'm stepping up with encouragement. When I'm giving them encouraging words, it's being backed up and it's something everybody believes in. It's not a butting of the heads or a leadership thing out there. When we're in the huddle, it's one guy talking. When they get the call, Warren and the line discuss their communication. And John talks to the secondary."

So what isn't happening on defense when the game is on the line? Simply put, the Bucs aren't making the big play.

Last year, they allowed the Jets, Redskins, Vikings and Packers to rally for wins in the fourth quarter or in overtime.

"Last week, I think we were all disappointed and agreed that we let one player dictate our style," Lynch said. "Our style is to challenge people.

"I think it's just making plays. Last week, we had our opportunities and you have to find a way to get off the field."

For the Bucs, it's no longer the chatter about their defense that matters. As Dungy suggests, being average isn't much to boast about.

"Whether you talk or don't talk, you have to play well," Dungy said. "If we get more people playing well, even if we have 22 people talk, we'll still be all right.

"It's a different world. When I played, we had seven Hall of Fame guys and none of them had a radio show. What makes you good and gets you a reputation as a player is how you play."

Lately, the Bucs reputation on defense has taken a beating.