Sunday, December 02, 2001
Bucs have makings of another late-season run
'Indian Summer' for Tony Dungy's club
By JOE KAY
AP Sports Writer
CINCINNATI — The Bengals are next — what's left of them, anyway. The weather forecast makes no mention of snow. The following opponent is a winless team getting no better.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have all the makings for another late-season run.
The Buccaneers (5-5) are entering a comfortable two-game stretch at just the right time. They saved their season by beating the St. Louis Rams 24-17 on Monday night.
Now, they get the Bengals (4-6), who have lost six of their last eight games and reverted to their familiar role of a lost cause. A week later, the winless Detroit Lions visit Tampa.
Wins over two downtrodden teams would boost the Bucs back into contention with four games to play.
“There are some very beatable teams in front of us, if we take care of our business,” receiver Keyshawn Johnson said.
For some reason, the Buccaneers have a habit of waiting until they're an afterthought before they get serious. In 1999, they started 3-4, then won eight of their last nine. They opened 3-4 again last year, then won seven of nine and made the playoffs again.
Things are more desperate this time around. Tampa Bay has yet to win consecutive games and yet to show the consistency needed to make its usual finishing surge.
The Bucs may have waited too long.
“We're in a situation where our playoffs are basically starting already, because everything counts for us,” defensive end Simeon Rice said. “We can't take the chance of falling back at all. We have to get it done in a serious way.”
Whenever the Bucs head north in December, the weather is always a major concern. They're 0-20 in franchise history when the game-time temperature is under 40 degrees.
The last time they were in Cincinnati, they played their best cold-weather game ever. It was 40 degrees with a wind chill of 29 at the kickoff of their game at Cinergy Field on Dec. 27, 1998 game.
The cold didn't matter as the Buccaneers beat up on a dispirited Bengals team, 35-0. The biggest road win in franchise history couldn't prevent them from being eliminated from playoff contention.
The forecast calls for a slightly warmer afternoon this Sunday: temperatures in the mid-40s.
“That would be indian summer for us,” coach Tony Dungy said. “The last time we were up there, it was a pretty cold day.”
The Bucs will be facing a Bengals team much like the one they played in '98. After a 2-0 start raised hopes of a turnaround, the NFL's worst team of the past 10 years is back to bungling.
The Bengals have lost six of their last eight games. They've scored seven points in the past 10 quarters. They've started taking desperate measures — coach Dick LeBeau used all three quarterbacks in a 18-0 loss in Cleveland last week.
Instead of the playoffs, the concern now is implosion.
“We've got to get to the point where each guy is tired of losing, is tired of not playing our best, is tired of coming in on Monday and saying, 'Man, we sure beat ourselves in that one,”' said Jon Kitna, who threw two first-half interceptions in Cleveland and was benched.
Kitna will start Sunday, which is another good sign for the Bucs. He had perhaps the worst game of his career the only other time he played against them.
The Seattle Seahawks were 8-2 when they played Tampa Bay in 1999. Kitna threw a career-high five interceptions as the Bucs won 16-3 and extended their surge to the playoffs.
Kitna won't get a chance to throw that many interceptions again. LeBeau is prepared to replace him with Akili Smith if things start to get out of hand, although it's unclear how long Kitna has to prove himself.
“Jon Kitna will not have a short rope,” LeBeau said. “If he throws an interception, he will not be jerked.”
The quarterback isn't the whole problem. Players are questioning their teammates' commitment, and no one can explain why the Bengals have regressed so dramatically.
“We're making the same mistakes,” Kitna said in a frustrated tone. “That should not be the case. For us to make the same mistakes that we were making in Weeks 1 and 2, something's wrong.”
In Cincinnati, something's familiar.
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Bucs have makings of another late-season run
