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Bucs find October unsettling

Tampa Bay's trend of playing poorly in the season's second month continues.

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By RICK STROUD

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 11, 2000

TAMPA -- Right on schedule with the fall classic, the Bucs have begun their classic fall.

Welcome to Oct-uh-oh-ber, a month Tampa Bay would like to tear from the calender.

Since Tony Dungy arrived as the coach in 1996, his team is 4-11 during the second month of the NFL season. Take away '98, when Tampa Bay posted its only winning record during that stretch, and it is 2-10.

Following Monday night's 30-23 loss at Minnesota -- the Bucs' third defeat in a row -- Dungy said there still is time for the Bucs to break their pattern of mistakes.

"It just seems like we're going through our history here in the last four years," Dungy said. "Every October it seems like it's been this way, and (then) we start playing a little bit better. We can't wait until November to do that. But I think the guys who have been with us three or four years know (that) when we play well and we don't self-destruct, we have a good opportunity to win.

"I think we're just going to have to keep working and try to find our identity, to get that back, of what exactly we're going to be and what it's going to take to win games. ... I think we have to get back to the understanding that we can't have a lot of penalties, we can't have turnovers and missed assignments and things like that. We're not going to be able to overcome them against good teams."

At least the Bucs have experience in righting the ship. A year ago they were 3-4 but won eight of their last nine games before beating the Redskins in the divisional playoff and advancing to the NFC Championship Game.

"They were 3-4 and still made it to the NFC Championship Game before I got here," receiver Keyshawn Johnson said. "So, I'm ready to still get it going. Every game is a must-win. Obviously, we can't put ourselves any deeper in the hole."

Johnson has contributed by losing fumbles in the past two games, including on the first play Monday, an error that led to Minnesota's first touchdown.

"We've got to keep working, that's what we have to do," Johnson said. "We know that. We'll keep doing it and pull ourselves out of it. (Personally), I just can't fumble the football. Those things happen, and hopefully, they won't continue to happen."

Johnson wasn't the only culprit. Special teams errors have plagued the Bucs all season. Aaron Stecker lost a fumble on a kickoff return, and veteran Andre Hastings, making his first appearance for Tampa Bay, lost a fumble on a punt return.

The defense, which sacked Vikings starter Duante Culpepper six times and intercepted him once, allowed three big plays for touchdowns. The first was Culpepper's 27-yard touchdown run one play after Johnson's fumble.

"The first play was one of the times they caught us in man-to-man, and the routes kind of break down, everybody is scrambling around and no one has their eye on him," Dungy said. "We had one guy, Shelton Quarles, who has a chance. But it's a spread-out field, and that's how (Culpepper) has been making a lot of plays."

For the second time in three weeks, the defense failed to hold a lead in the fourth quarter.

Defensive tackle Warren Sapp blocked a 51-yard field-goal attempt, and cornerback Donnie Abraham returned the ball 53 yards for a go-ahead touchdwn. But Culpepper answered with a 42-yard bomb to Randy Moss over the outstretched arms of Abraham for the winning touchdown.

"We had a corner blitz. We hit it just a little bit late, and (Culpepper) basically throws up a jump ball," Dungy said of the winning play. "And up there, Moss seems to come down with all the jump balls. Donnie went up early and ... didn't get a hand on it."

Meanwhile, Tampa Bay's futility on short-yardage situations forced it to settle for field goals. Trailing 17-7 in the third quarter, the Bucs had third and goal at the Minnesota 3-yard line when Alstott took a handoff and lost a yard.

Trailing 20-13 in the third quarter, Alstott lost three yards on first and goal from the 2.

Finally, Alstott's failure to pick up a first down on third and 1 from the Vikings 47 set up a play in which he threw errantly to rookie tight end Todd Yoder.

"We thought he'd be wide open. You have a guy with nobody within 30 yards of him, you'd think you'd have a pretty good chance to complete the pass," Dungy said.

Yoder turned inside and tripped trying to catch the halfback pass from Alstott. But the rookie from Vanderbilt was never intended to be catching that pass 30-yard downfield.

"Mike was trying to make a perfect throw and lead him," Dungy said. "We'd practiced it a few times during the week, and we felt (Yoder would) be wide open. Probably the better thing to do was just throw it right to him. But that's what happens when you have a play like that. They're either feast or famine, and that was famine."

The Bucs are starving for a victory. But they can't wait until the calender changes to start playing well again.

"We've just got to convince the whole team that that's the way we're going do things and get everybody to buy into it," Dungy said. "It's easier said than done sometimes. You know and understand in your mind, but to really believe that all we have to do is play our game and not self-destruct ... most of the time people feel like there's got to be something more. Usually there isn't. You just have to play."

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