Sports: Bucs get 'A' for effort but wind up with an 'L'

Bucs get 'A' for effort but wind up with an 'L'

By ERNEST HOOPER

The football flew into a crowd of Bucs receivers and Vikings defenders. It bounced off a chest, a hip and a knee. Then, just before receiver Jacquez Green latched on to it, the ball kissed the end zone turf in the Metrodome.

Shaun King's last-second pass narrowly missed giving Tampa Bay an improbable shot at sending Monday night's engaging battle against Minnesota into overtime. It also typified the handful of close calls that have helped erode the Bucs' status as Super Bowl contenders.

The 30-23 loss to Minnesota was Tampa Bay's third defeat in a row and dropped the team to 3-3. In each loss, the Bucs can point to a small collection of plays that easily could have made them 5-1 or 6-0.

There was Mike Alstott's fumble in the closing minutes of the Jets game and Deion Sanders' punt return in the Washington game. Monday, there was a deep pass the Bucs insisted they wouldn't give up and a halfback pass they were sure they would complete.

"We do a lot of good things, play with a lot of effort," coach Tony Dungy said Tuesday, "but in the final analysis, when you play against good teams, you have some critical plays you have to make, and we're just falling short."

The first key play Monday went Tampa Bay's way and seemed to provide the momentum needed to produce an upset. With the Vikings holding a 20-16 lead, Minnesota kicker Gary Anderson lined up for a 51-yard field-goal attempt.

But tackle Warren Sapp blocked the attempt, and cornerback Donnie Abraham picked up the ball and returned it 53 yards for a touchdown to give Tampa Bay its first lead.

But Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper responded with a 42-yard touchdown pass to Randy Moss. Cornerback Brian Kelly narrowly missed sacking Culpepper, and Abraham came excruciatingly close to breaking up the pass.

"We had a corner blitz; we hit it just a little bit late," Dungy said. "He had time to get it off and basically throw up a jump ball. Up there, Moss seems to come down with all the jump balls."

On the ensuing drive, King guided the Bucs to the Vikings 47-yard line. On fourth and 1, Alstott swept right and then threw back to his left to Todd Yoder, who was open. But the pass sailed long, and Yoder, turning and twisting to catch up to the ball, tripped and fell with 5:05 left.

"It's kind of a tough break," Yoder said. "If I had it back, I would have turned the other way. It's one of those where I have to make an athletic play. You have to come up with those. If it worked, I was going to score a touchdown."