Break Up The Bucs

WARREN BETTIS
1995
Avg. yds. per carry	NFL rank*	Yards per game
4.3	10	84.1
3.5	38	42.5
1996
Avg. yds. per carry	NFL rank‡	Yards per game
3.0	30	41.7
4.6	9	105.5
*Minimum of 100 carries
‡Minimum of 38 carries

It was the tiny tot watching cartoons in Tony Dungy's office last Friday who really put into perspective the legacy of losing that Dungy is up against as the new coach in Tampa Bay. "Tell us who you're going to cheer for on Sunday," Dungy said to his four-year-old son, Eric.

"The Minnesota Vikings, I love 'em. They're the best," Eric hollered before really lowering the boom on the old man. "You know, Dad, the Bucs never seem to score a touchdown. Are they sick or somethin'?"

"Now," said a smiling Dungy as he messed up his son's hair, "do you see what I have to deal with?"

Familial insurrection, though, is the least of Dungy's worries. Although Sunday's 24-13 upset of the Vikings in a half-empty Houlihan's Stadium gave Dungy his first win after five losses, the Bucs still look like a lock to finish below .500 for the 14th season in a row. "The opponent here is expectations," says the coach. "There have never been any."

Just how unaccustomed the Buccaneers are to winning was evident on Sunday. A little rusty in the nuances of the Gatorade shower, the players almost missed Dungy with the juice, hitting him on the right shoulder and back. And when quarterback Trent Dilfer, who completed 22 of 35 passes for 218 yards and three touchdowns, hooked up with journeyman wideout Robb Thomas for an 11-yard score to put the Bucs up 21-10 with 9:19 left to play, both players bumbled their way through the celebratory procedure—standing there for a moment like a couple of orange traffic barrels. You can't blame them, though. Dilfer, after all, entered the game having thrown only five TD passes (and 30 interceptions) in his first 23 NFL starts, and this season he had a fourth-quarter passer rating of 0.00 (yes, zilch). And Thomas's two touchdown catches on Sunday matched the eight-year veteran's output during his last five seasons in Seattle and Kansas City. "We're still not a Super Bowl team by any measure," said Dilfer—in case anyone was wondering.

There were some hopeful signs on Sunday, however. Dungy's attacking defense, which he created while serving as the Vikings' defensive coordinator from 1992 to '95, forced two fumbles, picked off a pass and sacked Minnesota quarterback Warren Moon three times. "There have been games here when I hit the field knowing we didn't have a chance to win," said the Bucs' veteran linebacker Hardy Nickerson on Sunday. "That has changed under Tony Dungy."

Dungy is the fourth coach in Tampa in the last six years, but his defense is just one of the many instant upgrades the Bucs received when he signed a six-year contract in January. With his solemn, introspective and regimented approach, he has added intensity to a franchise that was born in 1976 and promptly embarked upon a 26-game losing streak. When John McKay, the coach during that infamous first stretch, was asked about his team's execution, he replied, "I think that might be a good idea." Since then the Bucs have repeatedly butchered their teams with some of the worst personnel moves in the history of organized sports. In 1983 they let quarterback Doug Williams sign with the USFL, and he went on to become a Super Bowl MVP in Washington; they failed to sign 1986 first-round pick Bo Jackson; and they traded Steve Young in 1987.

Last year they signed Dallas wideout Alvin Harper to a four-year, $10.4 million contract only to watch him flop so badly by the Bay—he has 15 catches so far this season—that he has been called Maxwell House because he's...good to the last drop. And even though the Bucs' offense ranks 28th in the league, the Tampa Bay front office is no longer negotiating with holdout Errict Rhett, who rushed for 2,218 yards in his first two seasons. Says Rhett's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, "It defies logic that there is no sense of urgency with this team despite all the losing and an offense nothing short of pathetic." The Bucs, for their part, say they won't talk to Rhett till he reports to play the final year of his current contract.

Rhett's absence has opened the door for rookie fullback Mike Alstott, a second-round pick from Purdue who is tied for the Bucs' team lead with 19 catches. Alston's first score as a pro came early in the fourth quarter, a 12-yard reception in which he dragged 240-pound Minnesota linebacker Jeff Brady the final four yards to put Tampa Bay ahead for good, 14-10. "Anything can happen now," said the gung ho rookie. "Who knows? We might go on an 11-game winning streak and finish 11-5."

Maybe then even Eric Dungy might cheer for the Bucs.