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What They're Saying: The Tampa Bay Sportswriters Staff Report December 29, 2003
One day after the Titans defeated the Buccaneers 33-13, we look to see what the Tampa Bay sportwriters are saying about the Titans win.
''Based on what went down Sunday, when a quarterback who had not played since last season led the Tennessee Titans (12-4) to a 33-13 victory at the Coliseum, the journey could be a long one.
''Facing one of the AFC's top teams, the Bucs' season finale offered them a chance to avoid their first losing season since 1996 and prove they are still playoff timber. By the third quarter, however, the Bucs had proved otherwise.
''Unable to move the ball, hold on to it or adequately protect starting quarterback Brad Johnson, the Bucs turned the offense over to reserve quarterback Shaun King.
''King immediately engineered a pair of scoring drives, the first resulting in a 33-yard field goal and the second ending with King tossing 14 yards to Aaron Stecker for a touchdown, but it wasn't enough.
''An already depleted defense that was hurt further by the loss of safety John Lynch (shoulder stinger) and nose tackle Anthony McFarland (ankle sprain) just couldn't stop the Neil O'Donnell-led Titans.
''Building on a 16-3 halftime lead that was built mostly on field goals, the Titans added three scoring drives in the second half, the last touchdown coming when tight end Erron Kinney recovered a Chris Brown fumble in the end zone.
'' 'I don't know if you can say that typified our season or not,' cornerback Ronde Barber said of the Titans' final touchdown. 'We have had some bad breaks. But other teams have had bad breaks, too.'
''The Bucs went into Sunday's game with six key contributors on the injured reserve list, then lost two more players to injury during the game.
''It left you wondering just how competitive the Bucs would have been in the playoffs had they somehow found a way to squeeze into them. The Bucs, though, believe they would have done well.
'' 'If we had found a way to get in,' Lynch said, 'I think we would have done some damage.'
''Lynch nearly did some damage to the Titans' playoff hopes Sunday. When he delivered a helmet-to-helmet hit to receiver Justin McCareins at the end of Tennessee's first drive, McCareins was left wobbling and woozy.
''The hit sparked a series of scuffles, but it didn't quite spark the Bucs the way Lynch thought it would. Though they came back to tie the game at 3 on their first series, the Bucs failed to build any momentum.
'' 'It's a shame we couldn't sustain it,' said Lynch, who left the game in the first half after aggravating a shoulder stinger that might require offseason surgery.
''Lynch is not the only player who might be facing surgery. Right tackle Kenyatta Walker (torn right knee meniscus) and defensive end Greg Spires (torn left rotator cuff) also might require it.
''That won't make returning to the playoffs next season any easier.''
''John Lynch's experience in the final game was a microcosm of his entire season. It began with a big hit and ended with numbness.
''On the opening series, Lynch's hit on receiver Justin McCareins in the end zone caused tempers to flare on both sides. By the end of the half, Lynch was on the sideline with a shoulder stinger, a recurring injury this season.
''Lynch was not penalized for the hit, which replays showed was helmet to helmet. While trainers attended a shaken McCareins, offensive tackle Zach Piller and Lynch exchanged words.
'' 'It's just football,' Lynch said. 'I was playing free safety. He put his arm up to catch the ball and I hit him. Obviously, you don't like to see someone laying on the ground. I talked to Justin and he's all right and that's a good thing. But that's football. You play this game physically.'
''The Titans kicked a 37-yard field goal on the next play. On the kickoff, Piller drew a 15-yard personal foul for leveling Jermaine Phillips at the end of the return.
''On the Bucs' first possession, a Titans face-mask penalty was offset by a late unnecessary roughness penalty against Bucs receiver Keenan McCardell. Other first-half tensions also could be attributed to Lynch's early hit.
''Seeing the escalating tempers, Titans coach Jeff Fisher tried to calm his playoff-bound team.
'' 'John is not a dirty player,' Fisher said. 'He is a Pro Bowl safety. That was just one of those things. Things started to get a little out of hand. We had a couple of penalties that hurt us as a result, but we settled down. The officials did a good job of keeping things under control.'
''Late in the half, Lynch left the game after trying to tackle running back Chris Brown. Lynch, who missed two games this season and left several others because of nerve damage in his right shoulder, said he will consult with the Bucs medical staff this week as to the best way to proceed.
''Surgery is an option, he said.
''PICK PARTY: Brad Johnson was intercepted three times, giving him seven in the past two games and a career-high 21 for the season. He had 15 with the Redskins in 2000.
''On the first interception, defensive end Jevon Kearse tipped a waist-high middle screen into the air and made a diving catch. On the second, safety Tank Williams anticipated a slant route by Michael Pittman. On the third, Johnson was hit as he threw.
'' 'I feel bad for what happened on all three of them,' Johnson said. 'I don't feel bad for the way I read the play. I would have made the same play again on all three of them.'
''Johnson was replaced early in the third by Shaun King, whose 14-yard pass to Aaron Stecker was the Bucs' only touchdown. It was King's first scoring pass since Dec. 24, 2000.
''King was 11 of 15 for 106 yards with one interception. He was sacked twice.
'' 'I planned on playing Shaun a little bit,' Bucs coach Jon Gruden said. 'Obviously, we hoped the circumstances would have been better. But he has worked hard. He deserved an opportunity to go out and play a little bit. There have been a lot of tight games this season, it's been hard to get him in there. But I think he showed some of the things he's capable of doing.'
''MEASURING UP: Titans running back Eddie George reached two milestones with his 87 rushing yards against the Bucs. He posted 1,000 yards for the seventh season and eclipsed 10,000 for his career.
''George, in his eighth year, is the 17th NFL player to reach 10,000 yards rushing..
'' 'Getting close to it, people were telling me I was 5 yards away,' George said. 'I said, ''Please don't tell me,'' because you tend to get over anxious and you just want to get it over with. ... I'm blessed and honored to be in that group, to play every game in my career and accomplish that goal is something I'm very proud of.' ''
''How embarrassing?
''The Bucs lost to a Titans team quarterbacked by Neil O'Donnell, who spent the first 16 weeks of the season, like you, on the couch after being cut in preseason. With Pro Bowl quarterback Steve McNair unable to play because of a strained right calf and cracked bone spurs in his left ankle, O'Donnell passed for 232 yards and two touchdowns Sunday.
''Meanwhile, Bucs quarterback Brad Johnson was intercepted three times, going 12-for-23 for 96 yards before being replaced in the third quarter by Shaun King.
''As Bucs players hung their heads and walked to the locker room, the Titans and fans watched the video scoreboard and saw the Colts win the AFC South by beating the Texans 20-17. Despite Sunday's win, Tennessee enters the playoffs as a wild card at Baltimore.
''Addressing his team after the game, Jon Gruden took full responsibility for the losing record, his first in six years of coaching in the NFL.
'' 'It's a frustrating year following a Liberty Bowl win or any bowl win,' Gruden said. 'This is very frustrating but, again, we're very realistic about what has occurred here in the last year or so of football. A lot of things have changed since Super Bowl XXXVII, obviously. But I like the football team, I believe we have a good, solid nucleus. And we have some things, obviously, we have to improve upon.
'' 'It's got to begin on the way home, on the plane. We've got some work to do, obviously, examining the health of the football team, the salary-cap structure in which we are, and our position in the draft and what we need to try to do to return this team to where we want it to be.'
'' 'The best thing about this is we've got a head coach that stepped up and accepted responsibility,' linebacker Derrick Brooks said. 'And he will not be associated with losing. And with him making that statement in front of this team, man, I can't do nothing but get fired up.'
''According to Gruden, the Bucs do not have to rebuild as much as reload. By virtue of their record, they will pick anywhere from 13th to 15th overall in the draft. Seventeen players will become unrestricted free agents, not including Keyshawn Johnson, and none is bigger than seven-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Warren Sapp.
''After the game, in which he played despite a foot injury and recorded five tackles, Sapp declined to be interviewed. While praising Sapp, Gruden was noncommittal about the team's efforts to re-sign him.
'' 'There's no question, from afar and from up close, at gunpoint range, I know what Warren Sapp is about as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer,' Gruden said. 'He's a Hall of Fame candidate, the most feared, most productive inside player in my time in this league. We'll see what happens. I hate to sit here and paint a bleak picture that we decided who's going where and he's decided who's going where until we take a bit of time and move on.'
''Most Bucs said Sunday that the team did not need an overhaul.
'' 'We have some tremendous players here, and there's still a lot intact,' Brad Johnson said. 'I talked about it last year. Going into to next year, this year doesn't help us, it doesn't hurt us. I've said that after a Super Bowl win, I say that after a 7-9 season. It'll be a new beginning. We'll have a great offseason and come back with a burst of energy and energized for next year. Unfortunately, this year we had a lot of bad breaks and it just didn't go our way.'
''Blame it on injuries, distractions or just the Super Bowl jinx. It doesn't matter because it's over. It was an L of a season.
'' 'That's what I don't think a lot of guys understand that right now,' Brooks said. 'They say they hurt, but I trust they're very disappointed. But it goes deep with me, man. I'd like to promise our fans that I'll be back and it starts with me. I'm a leader of this football team and I make no excuses for what happened, whether it be injuries or whether it be the lack of big plays. I'm not making excuses. The only person I can start with is me. It's a personal promise what next year is going to be with me, it's going to be personal.' ''
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