Sports: Immovable forces go to battle

Immovable forces go to battle

The Bucs feel their defense is best. The Dolphins beg to differ, and they have an argument.

By RICK STROUD

TAMPA -- It matters none if the Bucs defense is the best in the NFL. On Sunday against the Miami Dolphins, it just wants to be the best defense on the field.

Miami has a better record (10-3) and a better defensive ranking (sixth in the NFL to Tampa Bay's ninth) and has put its team in a better position for the playoffs.

But is it really better?

"Our defense is better, hands down," Bucs defensive end Chidi Ahanotu said. "You've got to look at who we're playing week in, week out. You just take the Miami Dolphins defense and they'd never be able to do what we did against the Rams in the championship game on the road. They've got talent. They've definitely got talent. But as a whole unit working together, our defense is better."

Defenses are expected to dominate the intrastate battle, and for good reason.

The game will feature four of the top pass rushers in the NFL. The Dolphins' Trace Armstrong (15.5 sacks) and Jason Taylor (13 sacks) are top sack tandem in the NFL with 28.5. But the Bucs' Warren Sapp (13.5) and Marcus Jones (13) are nipping at their heels.

All four of the game's cornerbacks (the Dolphins' Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain and the Bucs' Ronde Barber and Donnie Abraham) could be reunited at the Pro Bowl in February.

And neither offense exactly strikes fear into the scoreboard operator.

The Bucs are 23rd in total offense, the Dolphins 26th. Both teams feature strong running attacks and quarterbacks who protect the football.

In their preseason matchup Aug. 21, the Dolphins relied on five field goals by Olindo Mare to beat the Bucs 15-13. Tampa Bay's Martin Gramatica figures to be just as important Sunday.

Talk about teams going toe-to-toe.

"Whatever defense outplays the other defense is going to be the team that wins," Barber said.

"I think we go into the game thinking we're not going to try and outplay their offense, we're going to try and outplay their defense. Try to make more big plays."

The Bucs have been thriving on that formula this season. Tampa Bay has scored 103 points off turnovers.

"I think the defense that plays their game and creates the turnovers is probably going to win the game," Bucs coach Tony Dungy said. "Miami's offense hasn't given up a lot of turnovers all year, so our work is going to be cut out for us."

Although they win with defense, the Bucs and Dolphins deploy different styles.

The Bucs are a predominantly zone team that will use an array of blitzes on passing downs.

The Dolphins use the superior man-to-man coverage skills of Madison and Surtain to buy time for their pass rush and rarely blitz.

"Their defense is more exotic," Dolphins defensive tackle Daryl Gardener said. "They do a lot of twisting. They do all the stuff you want to watch when you turn on the TV. Our defense is simple. We just perfect the simple stuff. They do a lot of moving around. They try to keep you guessing the whole game. We're just going to line up and try to maul you.

"When everything gets settled down, when this defense gets 100 percent, we're going to be sick."

With the inevitable comparisons between the Bucs and Dolphins defenses, linebacker Derrick Brooks says it's easy to forget which unit you're playing.

"We've got to guard ourselves against that. We don't want to turn this into us out there playing against their defense," Brooks said. "We've got to face Miami's offense and we've got to keep our focus on that particular part of the team. We can't be thinking about their defense. All we can do is go out there and play against Miami's offense. That's the competition right there.

"But I feel real good about our defense. We like to show that we're the best on the field every week. If you're a player and you don't feel that way about your team, I don't think you need to be playing. This is going to be a heavyweight fight and I'm glad I'm going to be one of the guys in it and get an opportunity to throw punches."

Ahanotu might have landed the first blow on Wednesday.

"I'm looking at their schedule today, and man, if we had that schedule, we'd be undefeated," he said. "That's just my opinion."

Madison summed up Sunday's game this way: "They think they're the best defense in the league, we think we're the best defense in the league. We'll see on Sunday."