"You have to give them credit, but I felt that this was one we should have won. The big plays saved them and killed us. We had to play from a panic standpoint. We are going to hear we can't do it and our backs are against the wall. We put ourselves in this position, and it is a position we have to fight our way out (of)."

* * *

Safety John Lynch, on facing St. Louis next Monday:

"Not a lot of people are going to give us a chance against St. Louis. I think we have a tough opponent, but it is one we battled before. And we feel like we can hang with them. We have to go to a tough place and get one."

* * *

Quarterback Brad Johnson, on the offense:

"We didn't score touchdowns in the red zone, but I thought we did a great job of fighting. The offensive line did a great job of picking up the blitzes. I thought the offensive line played tremendous, but we just can't afford to let down like we did."

* * *

Linebacker Derrick Brooks, on saving the season:

"We can't climb unless we take one step at a time. Right now, it's seven steps; St. Louis being the next one. We're as down as we're going to get at this point. It's time to look up and take it personally."

* * *

Lynch, on the breaking point:

"Often times, when you're outplaying a team but the score does not necessarily dictate how well you're outplaying them, it can come back to bite you. But it comes down to the third quarter with some big plays in the passing game."

Back to Sports

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright

From the Times sports desk

Bucs

Bounced

Coach, players share blame for botched fake

Rushing, red zone offense almost nonexistent in loss

Deep passes catch secondary off guard

Bear beats Bucs for big plays

Game balls

Bucs quotebook

Bears quotebook

Gimme five

Sound bites

Gramatica can't save day

Colleges

Bulls begin by facing old wound

Not too high, not too low

Graham accuses Seminole of purposely causing injury

UF blanks Georgia in soccer tourney

Bowden wants to make good use of final games

Hurricanes are convinced -- so are the Orangemen

Sports Etc.

Last lap one too many for Nadeau

A fourth title gives Gordon elite status

2-0 Bulls halfway to 2000 total

Dudley on the future, guarantees, Lecavalier

Daily fishing report

From the wire

From the state sports wire Jacksonville's Spicer placed on IR after leg surgery
FIU-Western Kentucky game postponed because of Jeanne
Brown anxious to face old team for first time
Dolphins' desperate defense readies for Roethlisberger
Former Sarasota lineman sheds tough-guy image with Michigan
Rothstein rejoins Heat as assistant
No. 16 Florida has history on its side against Kentucky
FSU and Clemson QBs both off to slow starts