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© St. Petersburg Times, published October 8, 2001
TAMPA -- Packers defensive end John Thierry is in Green Bay today, but his mind is still wandering around here, replaying over and over one play.
It's the Mike Alstott touchdown run, the one that turned a solid defensive day into a 14-10 loss.
Bucs fans won't soon forget that winning fourth-quarter run, and neither will the Packers.
"For most of the day, we played well, but that one play ... ," Thierry said, his voice trailing off.
"I keep looking back to that one play. That's the one that hurts. I'm probably going to be thinking about that play tonight and tomorrow until I get it out of my system."
In the Green Bay locker room, Alstott's run was all the players talked about because it was their only defensive breakdown. Entering the game as the league's top defense, surrendering only 13 points in three games, the Packers smothered the Bucs for the most part just as they had Detroit, Washington and Carolina.
Minus Alstott's 39-yard run, Green Bay held Tampa Bay to only 214 yards, 60 on the ground. Alstott's longest run before the touchdown was 9 yards.
The Packers were in Brad Johnson's face all afternoon.
They sacked him five times for 30 yards, stripped him once and repeatedly forced him to hurry throws.
Besides Alstott's run, only third downs gave the Packers trouble. Tampa Bay converted three consecutive third downs on its opening drive and was 6-for-14 on the day.
"We played well but not well enough," defensive tackle Santana Dotson said. "We knew coming in it would be a big defensive contest.
"We played well, but of course, there's always one or two (key) plays. We feel like if we had that (touchdown run) back, we'd be sitting in the locker room happier and prettier right now."
The Packers said they were well prepared for everything the Bucs threw at them. They said they came in believing the Bucs weren't going to force them to defend a lot of deep passes.
They focused on stopping the run and preventing any short passes from turning into big plays.
Green Bay had everything covered until that fateful drive, which started on the Bucs 5-yard line. Although the heat and intensity of the game wore down several players -- Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre said he had never felt more tired after a game -- the Packers said the conditions didn't wilt their defense.
Tampa Bay did.
Keyshawn Johnson beat cornerback Tyrone Williams and strong safety LeRoy Butler on an out route for 22 yards and a first down at the Bucs 28.
Three plays later, on third and 6 from the Bucs 32, Reidel Anthony caught a 16-yard crossing pass in front of Williams for another first down.
Safety LeRoy Butler got sealed inside on the next play, allowing Brad Johnson to scramble outside for 11 yards to the Packers 39, setting up Alstott's run.
"I think the biggest play was that third and 6 before that touchdown," Dotson said. "We had created some pressure before. And (Johnson) moved around a little bit in the pocket and was able to convert that first down."
The Packers said Alstott's touchdown was nothing fancy, just a routine draw play. But they said missed tackles and hard running by Alstott turned it into a game-breaker.
"When you miss tackles like that on a guy that big and that strong, you have to give them a lot of credit on the run," Butler said. "I never thought a guy could run the ball the way he did on that long run and get into the end zone.
"I thought we did a good job on him, for what it's worth. But the one time it counted, we didn't."