Bucs defense rests its case

Tampa Bay showed it was a unit for the ages

SAN DIEGO -- The day before the 2003 NFC Championship Game in Philadelphia, Warren Sapp and I met on the third floor of the Buccaneers' team hotel, the Loews. Sapp was stoked. We sat at a table near the Bucs' meeting rooms, and it was hard for Sapp to stay in his chair.

"For us," he said in his Sappian, veins-bulging-in-the-neck, speed-dial sort of staccato talk, "it's only about winning a championship. It's about global domination. We're a damn good defense, obviously. But look at the Purple People Eaters from those Vikings teams of the '70s. Look at the Fearsome Foursome from those old Rams teams. Did those guys go down in history? Individually, maybe. But not as a defense. Not as a team. The Purple People Eaters are never talked about like the Steel Curtain. Like it or not, the story of the Tampa Bay Bucs is a great defense that couldn't get it done in the big time."

1. Tampa Bay (15-4). No ifs, ands, buts or excuses. They da man.  2. Oakland (13-6). This hurts. It will hurt for a long time. It will hurt even more to get under the salary cap. Capmaster Bruce Allen tells me he may look to restructure the team's top 20 contracts.  3. Philadelphia (13-5). I don't think the Niners are going to give the coaching job to offensive coordinator Brad Childress.  4. Tennessee (12-6). I would say that if you polled the 2,300 or so media folks here, and asked who is the NFL player they most admire for toughness and grit and ability under pressure, the most popular answer would be Steve McNair.  5. New York Jets (10-8). I'm sure every Jets fan was rooting hard for Keyshawn this weekend. Yeah, right.  6. Atlanta (10-7-1). Mike Vick had toe surgery the other day. He didn't come to the Super Bowl.  7. San Francisco (10-8). If the Niners were honest about it, they'd tell you Dennis Green never had a chance in San Fran.  8. Pittsburgh (11-6-1). I don't like Jerome Bettis' chances of coming back.  9. New York Giants (10-7). Saw Jim Fassel on a cell phone on Sixth Street Saturday night. Said hello.  10. Cleveland (9-8). So long, Dwayne Rudd.  11. Miami (9-7). Talked to many Dolfans this week.  12. Minnesota (6-10). I wonder if Randy Moss watched the Super Bowl.

He took a breath. Concluded Sapp: "History only smiles on a champion."

Fast-forward to Sunday night in the Bucs' locker room at Qualcomm Stadium, 40 minutes after the 48-21 Tampa Bay win. Warren Sapp is a champion. And this champion was dressed in a jockstrap and long football socks. Nothing else. He pirouetted around the crowded locker room to some rap song in his mind, oblivious to the total strangers around him.

That is what euphoria looks like.

And this is what happens when dreams come true.

I have to tell you a story to illustrate, to me, what a great job this defense did. On Friday, in my job as pool reporter assigned to cover the Raiders during Super Bowl, I watched Oakland practice. Friday is the day the Raiders use to bone up on their red-zone offense. In two allegedly high-tempo, unpadded practice periods, Gannon hit everything. End zone fade to Jerry Porter. End zone cross to Doug Jolley. Sideline routes to Tim Brown and Jerry Rice. Everything. In all, Gannon was 18 of 18. I marveled at it after the practice, and Oakland head coach Bill Callahan told me Gannon does this every Friday, after digesting the gameplan. As he feels more comfortable with a gameplan, he lets his natural ability flow. I thought Gannon would play an outstanding game Sunday.

Gannon was hot going into the Super Bowl. Reigning MVP. Great run in the playoffs. And the way he was abused by the Bucs defense showed just how special the Tampa Bay unit was, and is. Gannon's first 10 drives:

1. Seven plays, 14 yards, field goal.

2. Three plays, one yard, punt.

3. Three plays, six yards, punt.

4. Three plays, eight yards, interception.

5. Three plays, 11 yards, interception.

6. Three plays, minus-one yard, punt.

7. Six plays, 19 yards, punt.

8. Three plays, four yards, halftime.

9. Three plays, eight yards, punt.

10. Two plays, eight yards, interception.

Score after 10 Oakland possessions: Tampa Bay 34, Oakland 3.

I found it laughable listening to the Raiders after the game passing off the incredible dominance of the Bucs defense as their own deficiency. "It wasn't their speed," said Callahan. "It was us not executing."

"I'm not going to pay their defense any lip service," said Porter, the Raiders wideout. "It wasn't their defense. It was us not executing."

Attention Raiders: You didn't execute because that defense kicked your rear ends. It's a pretty simple thing. And now, it's a defense for the ages.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

(tie) Tampa Bay LT Roman Oben, LG Kerry Jenkins, C Jeff Christy, RG Cosey Coleman, RT Kenyatta Walker. Oakland's defense had devoured a couple of playoff foes, the Jets and Titans, before Supe 37. These five men kept Brad Johnson clean (i.e. sackless for the second straight week) and paved the way for a formerly weak running game to gash the Raiders for 150 yards. "We had to be everything everyone said we weren't," Walker told me after the game. "They said we were weak, they said we couldn't hold against the Raider blitz, they said we were the weak link. I told coach Gruden on the sidelines tonight, 'Just run the ball. We can do it.'" They did.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

• King: Bucs' defense rests its case • Banks: Bucs' Johnson validated • Banks: No. 1 D the difference • Donovan: Raiders too slow • Donovan: Controversy burns Raiders • Statitudes: Havenots can have faith • Statitudes: By The Numbers • Mandel: Broadcast took its time • George: Super Bowl ads fun again

(tie) Tampa Bay DEs Greg Spires and Simeon Rice, who keyed the first-quarter defensive stand that began the frustrating snowball of a night for Gannon and the misfiring Raiders offense. Spires and Rice each got half-a-vote from me in the postgame MVP balloting. (More about that later.) They stunted the Raiders' first drive of the day with a Spires tackle, a Spires tackle and a Rice sack; the second drive with a Spires sack; the third drive with Spires chasing Gannon out of the pocket and forcing him into an incompletion; and the fourth drive with Rice stoning Charlie Garner and Spires tackling Gannon as he forced a pass that was intercepted by Dexter Jackson ... I mean, do you get the point? Their play up front, and their friends' play, caused this game to get out of hand early.

SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Oakland LB Tim Johnson, whose early-fourth-quarter block of a Tom Tupa punt actually gave the Raiders a little bit of life. The block was recovered by safety Eric Johnson and returned for a touchdown, making the score 34-15 with 14:16 left.

COACH OF THE WEEK

Tampa Bay head coach Jon Gruden. When he boarded the team plane after the NFC Championship Game last Sunday night, he turned to defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin and told him: "You've got to find a way to stop Garner." Garner's numbers Sunday: seven rushes for a total of 10 yards; seven catches for 51 yards. No touchdowns. No impact. Last week, against a very good defense in an impossible setting, the Gruden offense put up 20 points in a 27-10 win. In this game, against a hot Oakland defense, the Gruden offense put up 27 points in a 48-21 win. I've watched Gruden coach two weeks in a row now, and I'm hard-pressed to remember a hot streak like the one he's on. His immobile quarterback didn't get sacked. His subpar running game went for 150 on the Raiders. If there's enough time, Gruden's weak points always seem to become strengths. He's faster than other coaches at turning those things around.

GOAT OF THE WEEK

Oakland QB Rich Gannon, for coming up so small in such a big game. "We were absolutely terrible," he said, and it's true. He had a lot of help, but the MVP can't come out and float five picks in the Super Bowl. He just can't.

MEDIA QUESTION OF THE WEEK

A NEW CATEGORY! ONE WEEK ONLY!

Anyway, here's the best of the weird questions asked of the players during the week, from a young woman representing a television show called, That's So Raven, to Ronde Barber:

"I moisturize and use bubble bath. What do you do in the game?"

Got to hand it to Ronde. He took 2.3 seconds, then said, "I run around a lot. And I pull grass out of my cleats."

The runner-up in this category was a question put to backup Bucs tight end Todd Yoder: "Todd, at Vanderbilt your team lost a lot of games. Is it better to be here at the Super Bowl?"

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"It's going to be like The Tonight Show, only with comedy."
-- Jimmy Kimmel, on his new late-night show

Qualcomm Stadium smelled heavily of garlic fries. The Associated Press reporter Bernie Wilson informed me he thinks the Rally's Hamburgers stands were the source of said garlicky smell. Not that there's anything wrong with it .... It was just very different.

Wow. A Louisville columnist I've always admired greatly checks in -- we used to cover Dicky Beal and Melvin Turpin together -- plus missives from around the globe during this Super week.

YOU MISSED THE PARCELLS-TO-KENTUCKY STORY, APPARENTLY. From Billy Reed of Louisville (a darned good columnist there, I might add): "Hello from a former colleague, Peter. The athletic director at Kentucky, Mitch Barnhart, is telling people that Bill Parcells was on the brink of taking the Kentucky job until Jerry Jones stepped in. I can't find anything to substantiate that. And if it's true, how come Sports Illustrated or the New York media apparently didn't report it? Best wishes, and keep up the great work."

Great to hear from you, Billy. Interesting. Maybe the UK folks were among those who flew to North Jersey to meet with Parcells before Jones did. Parcells did tell me that he'd met with three or four people on various business ventures in the weeks before he met with Jones. I've never asked Parcells about UK specifically -- I couldn't get to him this week -- but will the next time I talk to him. When I do, I'll report it here.

I THINK YOU MISS THE POINT. From Mark Korber of Glastonbury, Conn.: "You do a great job, and your comments about Will McDonough were warm, heartfelt and moving. But your complaint that ESPN spent only a few seconds on him during a half-hour broadcast missed the point that so many modern sports journalists seem to miss: For us, the average fan, it's about the games and the players, not about the announcers and writers. ESPN covers sports, not journalists."

Mark, on a show called The Sports Reporters, with 30 minutes of talk by three sportswriters, on a show that discusses everything under the sporting sun, I think it's ridiculous that they spent two percent of the show on the death of probably the greatest sports reporter who ever covered pro football. I think that's just plain stupid.

HELP! THERE'S NO FOOTBALL LEFT, AND WE NEED TO KNOW HOW TO HELP OUR BIRDS. From Demetrius, of Atlanta: "Since my team (Atlanta Falcons) was put out two weeks ago, I'm already looking toward next year. Who are the top 10 free agents for 2003? Also, is Peerless Price that impressive or is he overrated?"

I think Price is spectacular, and I highly recommend you signing him. Well, not you. But the Birds. My top 10:

YOU SLIGHT N'AWLINS. From Ernie of Baton Rouge, La.: "You call San Diego 'my favorite Super Bowl site, and no other city's close for second.' No love for the Big Easy? This city has hosted the most Super Bowls, including one of the most exciting: Patriots vs. Rams. The best thing about New Orleans is the temptation. All these millionaire athletes, and the only question is who will get in trouble first."

My personal preference is a warm, sunny place, with an outdoor game. All the other stuff, to me, doesn't matter much. San Diego's the best American city in late January. I just wish it would have the Super Bowl every year, crumbling Qualcomm and all.

SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GIVE ME A 12-WEEK HEAD START? From Mike Gilmore, of Houston: "Congrats on your Nov. 25 prediction of an all-Pirate Super Bowl."

Yeah, I really know how to pick 'em. You conveniently forgot it was I who picked Rams-Pats in September.

ANOTHER SPIKE LEE FAN CLUB MEMBER CHECKS IN. From Philip Haskins, of the Bronx: "To put this 'joint' definition to bed. A joint is an object or thing. It can be a car, record, or a jacket. If you or I were walking down the street and a nice car drove by, I would say 'look at that joint over there, it's nice.' Or, say, if a song came on the radio that I liked, I would say 'I like this joint,' and turn up the sound. In Spike Lee's case a joint is his project, i.e. his movie. I think 25th Hour was off the chain, and Spike is getting shade from the movie industry. Translation: I liked Spike's movie and he is not receiving his props for doing an awesome job of directing a slow-paced drama."

Thanks.

As you know if you travel a lot, airline personnel do a slow burn when a parade of coach passengers barges into first class to use the bathroom. Flight attendants never say much about it when it happens, but you can see the rolling of the eyes, and you know they're ticked off. They try to separate the two worlds with a blue curtain, but bladders are bladders, and on long flights the parade usually happens. On my San Diego-bound United flight last week, a flight attendant made the following announcement to us vermin back in coach: "Ladies and gentlemen, we have lavatory facilities in both the forward and rear cabins of our aircraft. In order to maintain the integrity of both cabins we kindly ask that you use the facilities in your individual cabin on our flight to San Diego today. Thank you very much." I always thought you maintained integrity by not cheating on a test, or not committing adultery. I never knew you maintained integrity by using a certain bathroom in a long metal tube.

1. I think the way the NFL picks its Super Bowl MVP is well-intentioned but dumb. Fifteen media people covering the game, including me, had a ballot this year. Four votes were given to the top vote-getter of a fan poll conducted concurrently on the Internet. So here's how the vote went in the pressbox: Simeon Rice had 6.5 votes, Dexter Jackson 4, Michael Pittman 4 and Greg Spires .5. Rice was up big. Jackson came out on top in the Internet poll -- and was awarded all four of the fan votes, instead of a fragment equal to his percentage of total online votes. I mean, Jackson didn't get 700,000 votes and Rice zero. I personally think the two defensive ends impacted this game much more than Jackson did, but that's neither here nor there. What is here or there is that the fans decided this MVP award, and the fans should not decide the MVP award.

2. I think these are my quick-hit football thoughts of the weekend:

a. Attention college juniors: Are any of you actually staying to play college football next year? Eli Manning's one. Anyone else?

b. I see that Keyshawn Johnson says he's not talking anymore. How about a guy ANNOUNCING he's not talking anymore? As Mary Beth King's friend Sara Armour -- who wore a Keyshawn Johnson jersey to this game -- said: "Twenty bucks says that's a lie."

c. After watching the first quarter, I might argue that the entire Bucs defense was the game's MVP.

d. How about Joe Jurevicius being the game's best deep threat the last two weeks, the two biggest weeks of the year?

e. How about Brad Johnson hitting him so consistently?

f. I don't know why the media world keeps seeing the Bucs as the team of Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks and John Lynch, exclusively. If I were one of the other 50 Bucs players, that would tick me off.

g. Tyrone Wheatley's first touch didn't come until the 52nd minute. Weird.

3. I think Phil Simms is a pretty smart man when it comes to both quarterbacks and Christopher Simms. The elder Simms said at a Sports Illustrated-hosted breakfast Sunday that he doesn't think it would be a good idea -- "too much pressure on everyone concerned," he said -- for Chris to play for Parcells. He's right.

4. I think I would like to know two things about Super Bowl entertainment. One: Celine Dion is a Canadian. That is fine. I love Canadians. But who thought it would be a good idea to have her sing about "America, my home sweet home?" Two: I like Sting and I like No Doubt. But aren't there more current acts, with songs that are actually on the radio now?

5. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:

a. I sure have been flying United a lot lately. I've seen the same Frasier episode -- the one where he's unemployed, has a reception for his fan club, and three weirdos show up -- three times in the last three weeks.

b. Mary Beth King Note of the Week: She was here, for her first Super Bowl. She had fun. She dressed as Rich Gannon and had better seats to the game than I did, thanks to the generosity of Sports Illustrated. She sat on the Raiders sideline, fairly low, at the 40-yard-line. Wish I could have sat there. Her highlights:

* She got to meet "Catherine" from CSI and had her pictured taken with her. Mary Beth loves "CSI."

* She met Gruden at the NFL party Friday night. "How old are you, Mary Beth?" he asked, and she replied, "Sixteen." Which is wrong. The Chuckster just made her a little nervous. She's 17.

* She got to go shopping in La Jolla Friday with her friend Brooke Squiller, whom Mary Beth reports is the coolest, and Brooke's mom, Robin. "Dad, did you know the malls here are outside? It's amazing!" Mary Beth reported.

* She rode in a bicycle cab with Sara, right behind me, uptown Saturday night. And she heard a bunch of Raiders fans on the sidewalk scream out, "HEY PETER! PETER KING! YOU THE MAN!" And she thought it was ridiculously absurd, as did I.

* She met Jerry Jones, who charmed the socks off her.

* She got to see some really weird animals at the San Diego Zoo.

* She was walking through the host Marriott Hotel Saturday when a scalper -- there were as many as I've ever seen at a Super Bowl -- saw me with her, and instead of saying, "Who's got tickets?" said: "Who's got field hockey tickets?" That was my personal highlight of the weekend.

c. Coffeenerdness: The New York Daily News reports that Playboy is considering a "Women of Starbucks" pictorial for an upcoming issue. Wow. Things might be getting a little frothy in MMQB if that happens.

d. Coffeenerdness II: Expand, Peet's, Expand. Had the large latte in the La Jolla Peet's three times this week, and the foamy texture and strong and rich consistency of the espresso beats Starbucks.

e. Speaking of the Daily News, its fashion and beauty editor, Alev Aktar, reported from the Golden Globe Awards that Sharon Stone had the worst outfit of the night, with a diamante dog collar and transparent combo that revealed more than just cleavage. "She needed to be dragged off to the pound," Aktar wrote. My God, could you imagine if they reviewed sportswriter clothing? We'd be skewered!

6. I think it's been a long time since I've heard as good a Hall of Fame presentation by a peer than the one Cliff Christl of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel made for James Lofton. I also think Lofton owes Christl a case of cheeseheads, or something like that.

7. I think once again this game proves never to listen to anything I say about prognosticating. I picked the Raiders, 17-16. When a guy approached me in the lobby of the Marriott Sunday morning, looking for a betting tip, I told him: "You should never listen to me about anything related to picking a game. But if I were to give you the only piece of advice I feel confident about, it would be to take the under." The over/under was 44. I was sure it'd be under. And of course the teams combined for 69 points. Yes, I am a dope.

8. I think it was 100-to-1, at least, in downtown San Diego, Raiders fans-to-Bucs fans. I am not exaggerating. This town was Raidersville. "It's a Raiders home game,"' said SI's Josh Elliott, and that's what it seemed like.

9. I think, then, that the Bucs must play pretty well on the road.

10. I think you've been a great audience this season, and I've loved bringing whatever I know to you. And I think now I'm going to sleep for the next three days.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. Monday Morning Quarterback appears in this space -- no kidding -- on Monday mornings. Click here to send him a comment.

 

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