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Home , Aaron Stecker, Corey Ivy, Derrick Brooks, Dewayne White, Ellis Wyms, Joe Jurevicius

2003

South Division Standings Team W L T Div Carolina 11 5 0 5-1 New Orleans 8 8 0 3-3 Tampa Bay 7 9 0 2-4 Atlanta 5 11 0 2-4 2003 Pre-Season (4-1) July 20, 2003: Every year we ask ourselves if the current NFL champion can repeat? I believe this Date team has enough going for it to accomplish this feat. But that's from the heart, if you look at the Team Outcome W-L-T schedule, they have a very tough hoe to tow, or is it toe to row, or road to hoe? Anyway..... two of Sat 8/2/03 at N.Y. Jets W 30-14 1-0 the teams in the first three games of the season have a statement to make. Something to prove after Fri 8/8/03 at W 20-19 2-0 last years embarrassment by the Bucs. Philadelphia (postseason) and Atlanta (manhandled them in Mon 8/18/03 at St. Louis L 16-26 2-1 both regular season games last year). They also play division rivals Carolina (which should be a W) Sat 8/23/03 Jacksonville W 10-6 3-1 and New Orleans (whom has been a long standing nemeses even before re-alignment), and Thu 8/28/03 W 34-3 4-1 Indianapolis and San Fran (who shouldn't be taken lightly). 2003 Regular Season (7-9) I figure they may go 3-5 in the first half, or 5-3 depending on the other teams development. The Date Team Outcome W-L-T second half of the season tho' they could go 5-3. Worst case scenario they'd be 8-8 for the season, which I highly doubt, or they could go 10-6, which is more feasible. Mon 9/8/03 at Philadelphia W 17-0 1-0 Sun 9/14/03 Carolina L 9-12 OT 1-1 Sun 9/21/03 at Atlanta W 31-10 2-1 2003 Preseason Sun 9/28/03 Bye Mon 10/6/03 Indianapolis L 35-38 OT 2-2 PreS Game 1 August 2, 2003: Tampa Bay (1-0) vs NY Jets (0-1) Sun 10/12/03 at Washington W 35-13 3-2 The Bucs won their first preseason game this year yesterday morning (Saturday L 7-24 3-3 Sun 10/19/03 at San Fran 8/2/03) against the 30-14. The game was held in Tokyo Japan. And the Bucs looked good. It was televised live on ESPN2 5:00 AM my Sun 10/26/03 Dallas W 16-0 4-3 time (6:00 PM Japan time) and yep, I was awake and watched it. Sun 11/2/03 New Orleans L 14-17 4-4 The Jets received the ball to start the game and they marched right down and Sun 11/9/03 at Carolina L 24-27 4-5 scored, 0-7. But it would be the last time they saw the till the last Sun 11/16/03 Green Bay L 13-20 4-6 three minutes of the game. The Bucs first string offense only played the first Mon 11/24/03 N.Y. Giants W 19-13 5-6 possession but answered the Jets TD by marching down and scoring themselves. The Sun 11/30/03 at Jacksonville L 10-17 5-7 was overturned by a bad call by the ref's and Tampa settled for a , 3-7. It was defense by Sun 12/7/03 at New Orleans W 14-7 6-7 both teams the remainder of the half, but Tampa got a touchdown and extra-point in the last 20 Sun 12/14/03 Houston W 16-3 7-7 seconds before the break, 10-7. Sat 12/20/03 Atlanta L 28-30 7-8 No one scored in the third quarter. But in the fourth the Bucs came to life slapping 17 unanswered Sun 12/28/03 at Tennessee L 13-33 7-9 points up, 30-7. The Jets, crushed well before fourth quarter, did score just before the game ended making the score look like it wasn't as bad as it really was, 30-14. Preseason games hardly tell how a team will do through the course of the regular season, but the Leader Stats through Bucs look like they never left the field during the off-season. The one thing that stood out the most 2003 Regular Season Passing: was the much improved execution and management by the offense. Which is/was Tampa's QB Brad Johnson Achilles' heel. If they continue to play as well as they did against the Jets, this team could repeat 16 Games Started 16 Played again. Barring injuries of course. 354 of 570 attempts 62.1% Completion Rate PreS Game 2 August 8, 2003: Tampa Bay (2-0) at Miami (0-1) 3,811 Yards 26 TD / 21 INT Are these guys for real? Watching this team is watching the highest 20 Sacks / 6 2 Lost level of art-form that this game can deliver. All the way from watching Receiving: the eloquent execution by the third string players to the master planning WR Keenan McCardell on the sideline by Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator 16 Games Started 16 Played Monty Kiffen. 84 receptions Contrary to the final score of last nights preseason game against the 1174 yards / 14.0 avg 8 TD , 20-19, this game was never that close. The Buccaneers 1 1 Lost 1 Recovery controlled this game from the first kick-off. Mainly by the backups too. 1 TD Starting Brad Johnson only threw 6 times completing 3 for 41 yards. The majority of Rushing: the game was played by second string QB Shaun King and third string QB (Phil RB Michael Pittman Simms, NY Giants, son). King had an outstanding night making 8 completions on 12 attempts (66.6%) 13 Games Started 16 Played for 72 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 . He had a QB rating of 110.4 for the night. The 187 carries Buccaneers also established a running game amassing 152 yards on 37 attempts for 4.1 yds per 751 yards / 4.0 avg 0 TD's / 4 Fumble 1 Lost carry avg. That was accumulated by 10 different players including 20 597 receiving yards yards on 2 runs by Shaun King and 9 yards on 3 runs by Chris Simms. 75 catches / 8.0 avg The Tampa first string defense stayed in for very little action. The second 2 TD and third stringers held Miami to only 2 field goals in the first half, no : (9) points in the third, and though they tried to make a stand late in the fourth, WR Keenan McCardell it was too little too late. Points: (81) K If your a Buc fan, this game was a lot of fun to watch. Kickoff Returns: (25) RB PreS Game 3 August 18, 2003: Tampa Bay (2-1) @ St. Louis (1-1) 520 yards / 20.8 avg They aren't invincable. The Rams came onto the field prepared to make a statement. And they did 0 TD's / 1 Fumble beating the Bucs 16-26. The Rams defense shut out the Tampa offense 1st stringers behind QB Returns: (15) WR Brad Johnson in the first quarter and QB Shaun King in the second quarter. 110 yards / 7.3 avg Meanwhile the Rams offense scored on every possession of the first half 0 TD's / 0 Fumbles against Tampa's 1st string defense. Defense: I believe the reason it was such a lopsided game is because the once proud OLB and mighty, but recently fallen, Rams wanted to prove they still had IT 71 Tackles / 30 Assists against the reigning Superbowl champs. As for the Bucs, this was their 3rd 1 Sack / 2 Forced Fumble 7 passes defended preseason game and they already had proven to 2 INT / 1 TD themselves in the first two games that they still had IT and will be playing IT Sacks: (15) safe their last three preseason games. DE But I'll bet they go 4-1 in preseason. They haven't played a home game yet Interceptions: (5) but the last two are, and looking at whom they play, and the fact they'll be in S Dwight Smith front of their fans, they'll take the last 2 games. But that's just my take. Tampa Bay Buccaneer CBS SportsLine.com Power Ranking after week 17 PreS Game 4 August 23, 2003: Jacksonville (2-1) @ Tampa (3-1) #18 The Tampa defense made amends for last weeks embarrassing display against the St. Louis Rams and held Jacksonville's offense to two field goals winning The Buccaneer the game 10-6. The Buccaneers offense looked like the dreaded one of old but SwashBucklers was able to pull out the win with a field goal and one touchdown. Tampa scored only twice in twelve possessions (16.6%). Tampa lost 119 yards on 12 penalties. Last week against the Rams they lost 124 yards on 12 penalties. Sounds like something they need to work on. This game was such a 180 from what I've seen thus far, I'm tempted to say this 'undisciplined', 'disorganized' behavior by the Bucs may be for show (intentional).

PreS Game 5 August 28, 2003: Houston (0-4) at Tampa Bay (4-1) Tampa quarterback Brad Johnson was in the game for only the first possession in the 34-3 massacre of the second-year team . He handed the ball off the first four plays then threw a completed pass for no gain then was sacked for a loss forcing Tampa to kick on fourth down and 19 yards. All the starters were off the field by the end of the first quarter. Shaun King finished the Taylor Tagliarino first half as QB throwing 13 completions on 17 attempts (76.4%), 1 touchdown, no interceptions and ran twice for 17 yards. Third string QB Chris Simms played all but the last 5-1/2 minutes of the second half completing 5 of 6 passes (83.3%) for 37 yards, 1 touchdown and no interceptions. Tampa ran for a combined 169 yards led by with 14 attempts for 65 yards (4.6 yd avg). Tampa's defense held the opposing team to zero touchdowns for the second game in a row. The Texans only had 62 yards on the ground and 82 in the air and only scored on 1 field goal in the game. Preseason for the Bucs has shown that they have a lot of talent very deep. It is very possible that, less a plaque of injuries occur, they very well could repeat as Superbowl Champions. Cortney Overstreet 2003 Season

Game 1 September 8, 2003: Tampa Bay (1-0) at Philadelphia (0-1) The Buc's are still using last years recipe for success. A pot full of defense with just a dash of offense. They shut-out the 17-0 in Philly's new-home debut of Lincoln Financial Field. Philadelphia looked poised for the challenge on their second possession, running some stunts on offense to take the ball all the way to the Buc's 1 yard line, 1st and goal..... and.... unbelievably it got down to 4th and goal for the Eagles. On fourth down No Keyshawn Girl they faked a field goal with kick-holder backup-QB Koy Detmer throwing a good pass in the end zone to rookie tight-end L.J. Smith, whom couldn't bring it in. That's as close as Philly could, and did, get to the goal posts. With a shut-out, there's not much pressure on the offense. I believe had said during 's last year as the Buc's head coach, "If the offense can give us 17 points, we can win every game." Or something like that. And that's just what they did. The offense was quite 'vanilla' tho' QB Brad Johnson had a good night completing 27 of 36 passes (75%) for 238 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 . They gained a modest 88 yards on the ground between Michael Pittman (8-35/4.38), (12-23/1.92) and Thomas Jones (10-30/3.0). The highlight of the offense were the two Tomoko Kojima acrobatic scoring catches by WR Joe Jurivicius, whom displayed outstanding poise and concentration on both catches.

Wanna know which team is Philadelphia's new, most hated, and strongest rival today? I'll let you have three guesses and the first two don't count. (a hint: they're the only team with the gonad's to wear pewter).

Game 2 September 14, 2003: Carolina (2-0) at Tampa Bay (1-1) This was a special teams battle that was won by the in overtime handing the

Tampa Bay Buc's their first loss of the regular season 9-12. Carolina blocked two of K Martin Gramatica's field goals and one extra-point. Jessica Diaz Offensively Tampa QB Brad Johnson threw 34 completions out of 61 attempts (55.7%) for 339 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. The only passing touchdown came from WR Keenan McCardell who had 5 receptions for 53 yards. The highest air production came from WR who had 9 receptions for 109 yards. QB Brad Johnson spread the passing game around to 9 different receivers. Carolina's 'D' stuffed Tampa's running game holding RB Michael Pittman to 10 runs for 38 yards (3.8 yd avg) and FB Michael Alstott to 9 yards on 4 runs (2.25 yd avg). Tampa's 'D' was able to contain the passing game intercepting Panther QB Jake Delhomme twice and holding him to 9 completions on 23 attempts (39.1%), 96 yards and no Aimee Perkin touchdowns. But they weren't able to do the same with the running game allowing Carolina RB Stephen Davis 142 yards on 33 carries (4.3 yd avg). All of Carolina's points came on 4 field goals by K John Kasey including the game winner in overtime. Tampa's defense was led by CB with 7 tackles, 1 assist and 1 interception. SS John Lynch followed with 7 tackles, 1 assist and DE Simeon Rice racked up 4 tackles, 2 assists, 1 interception and 1 forced fumble (Carolina retained possession as it went out of bounds).

Game 3 September 21, 2003: Tampa Bay (2-1) at Atlanta (1-2) What a difference in play by all three sides of the ball compared to last week. Offense, defense and special teams.... all kicked-*ss on the winning 31-10. Victoria Vodar Buc's quarterback Brad Johnson put up some admirable numbers completing 16 of 24 passes (66.6%) for 192 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. One touchdown came courtesy of a 68 yard pass to RB Michael Pittman 5:47 into the second quarter. Besides being the go-to-guy on the ground with 82 yards on 20 attempts (4.1 yd avg), Pittman was also Brad Johnson's favorite target through the air with 7 catches for another 82 yards. The second touchdown came with 2 minutes left in the first half from quarterback Brad Johnson to Warren Sapp on a 6 yard pass. WHOA WHOA!!! Back up a bit! Tight end Warren Sapp? That's right. He's Lauren_Rudolph also been playing the full back position. But I think we'd all have to agree after watching Warren Sapp's parley in the endzone after his touchdown, not ALL black men can dance. The real starting full back for Tampa Bay, Michael Alstott, complimented the running game with 8 runs for 44 yards (5.5 yd avg) and Keenan McCardell contributed 41 yards on 4 catches as the second go-to- guy in the passing game. Brad Johnson spread the ball out to 6 different receivers. K Martin Gramatica shook-off last weeks Murphy Curse making all his kicks which included 1 field goal and 4 extra points (7 total). Tampa's defense was led by Ryan Neece with 6 tackles and 1

interception. Defensive back Dwight Smith and strong safety John Lynch also had interceptions, 2 and 1, respectively. Linebacker had Leigh Vollmer the only Buccaneer sack of the night. Besides DT Warren Sapp's touchdown, he also had 4 tackles. Next week is Tampa Bay's Bye Week. They'll actually have 15 days to prepare for the next game, against the (3-0), which airs Monday night 10/6/03 at 9:00 PM on ABC (local channel # 9). Remember last years NFC South rival regular season outcome? The Bucs owned the Falcons beating them in both regular season division games, the Falcons owned the Saints winning their two games and the Saints owned the Bucs winning their two games. It'll be interesting to see if this vicious cycle continues this season.

Game 4 October 6, 2003: Indianapolis Colts (5-0) at Tampa Bay (2-2) Britney Craine OOOOHHHHHHHH MMMMYYYYYYYY GOOODDDDDDD!!!!!!! Monday night games are played way too late. I'm lucky to stay awake for the first half. It was no different this past Monday. After Tampa put 21 points on the board (I was already knoddin' by this time), I figured the game was already over as most of America probably thought at this point, and allowed myself to drift off to lulla land dreaming of a pewter Superbowl repeat. I woke at 4:00-4:30 the next morning, the TV still running from the game the night before. An hour later I'm in pouring my third (and last) cup of coffee listening to the local news when the sports portion announced the final score. Wynette Wright Tampa Bay 35 (oh yea baby! That offense is getting some life) Indianapolis 38...... huh?...... say it again?...... what?...... no!...... OOOHHH MMYYY GGOODD!!!!!! I missed one of the greatest games in Indianapolis Colt history. Also the most embarrassing one for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in recent history. (Don't forget, Tampa has a very long history of embarrassments prior to Tony Dungy becoming Tampa's head coach in 1996.) Offensively the Bucs had a good night. QB Brad Johnson completed two-thirds of his passes, 26 of 39 for 319 yards, 3 touchdowns and only 1 pick. He spread the ball to 9 different receivers led by WR Keenan McCardell with 106 yards on 4 catches and 2 touchdowns. Followed by TE for 63 yards on 6 catches. WR had the third TD getting the ball twice for 14 yards. The running game was strong with RB Michael Pittman hitting the hundred mark with 106 yards on 16 carries (6.62 yd avg). WR Keenan McCardell also had a touchdown after a Tampa Kayla Drawdy fumble recovered by Indy whom also fumbled on the return and Keenan recovered and returned 57 yards for the TD. Up until the last five minutes of the game, the Buc defense wasn't having what you'd call a steller game, but they held Indy down 35-14 after CB Rhonde Barber's interception return for a TD in the fourth quarter. I'd have to believe that's when the rest of America probably turned off their TV's and went to bed. Besides Barber's INT the 'D' only racked up one sack by DE . That's a sub-par production for this unit. Most of the production came from the backfield (naturally since was quarterbacking on the other side) led by CB with 10 tackles and 2 assists and CB Rhonde Barber with his pick for a TD, 8 tackles and 1 assist. Followed up by SS John Lynch with 5 tackles and 5 assists and Andrea Gordillo OLB Derrick Brooks with 4 tackles and 3 assists. Apparantly that 35-14 lead led to the Buc's 'D' to fall asleep with the rest of America, for in the closing five minutes of the game the Colts commenced to put 21 points on the board to tie the game 35-35 and send it into overtime. Have to admit, there was some luck to accomplish that. Scoring in 1 minute and 32 seconds then recovering an onside kick and scoring in another minute and eight seconds. Tampa recovered the next onside kick but was unable to advance with three running plays from RB Aaron Stecker for 9 yards and a 15 yard unnecessary roughness call on T . kicked to Indy with 1:48 left. Indy put together a 1 minute and 6 second drive to tie the score leaving 35 seconds on the clock. Tampa tried a 62 yard field goal with Martin Gramattica that failed as regulation time ran out.

(Martin had also missed on an earlier field goal attempt of 60 yards.) Tampa got the ball first but the drive stalled at the Indy 47 yard line. They did have a second chance when they got the ball back on a Jennie Illas roughing the kicker penalty by Indy. They went three and out anyway and had to punt. Special teams pinned Indy on their 13 yard line to start their drive. But Peyton Manning and company devised a 15 play 76 yard 6 minute 43 second drive to set up Kicker 's 29 yard field goal to win the game. The Bucs offense is becoming depleted by injuries after losing FB Mike Alstott for the season after sustaining a neck injury and WR still sidelined with a knee sprain. Oh yea, have ya' noticed the Bucs are 0-2 in overtime games? So guys, gotta win it in the first 60 minutes. Know what I mean? Oh yea...... HAPPY BIRTHDAY COACH!!!!

Catherine Croake

Game 5 October 12, 2003: Tampa Bay (3-2) at Washington Redskins (3-3) I would pity any team that had to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after last weeks embarrassment. It just happened to be Captain Spurrier's Renegades, the Michelle Penaranda Washington Redskins, that had to take the 35-13 thrashing. Buc QB Brad Johnson had a great game completing 22 of 30 passes (73.3%) for 268 yards, 4 touchdowns and no picks. He connected with three receivers for TD's: WR Keeshawn Johnson had 1 touchdown with 4 catches for 80 yards, TE with 2 touchdowns and 4 catches for 28 yards and TE Will Heller had a touchdown on hs only catch of the night for 4 yards. WR Keenan McCardell contributed 77 yards on 5 catches. They gained 108 Keri-Anne DaCosta yards on the ground with three runnng backs with Michael Pittman getting the majority of the runs, 17 for 62 yards (3.64 yd avg). He also committed 2 fumbles but neither were recovered by the Redskins. The Buccaneer defense had 2 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles and 6 sacks. OLB Derrick Brooks, FS Dwight Smith and DB all had 7 tackles each with Brooks and Smith with an interception each. The six sacks came compliments of DE Simeon Rice (4) and DT Warren Sapp (2). Rice also had 6 tackles and 1 forced fumble and Sapp with 3 tackles. Danielle Dolan They were hittin' on all cylinders today.

Game 6 October 19, 2003: Tampa Bay (3-3) at San Francisco (3-4) A team of imposters showed up at 3Com Park in California today impersonating the Tampa Bay Buccaneer football team. They were good at it too. They looked and acted just like the real players. But it was obvious by the games stats that the real Buccaneers never made it to the game. Up till now, the San Francisco 49er's had been struggling with a record of 2-4. Quarterback Jeff Garcia and the 49er's #1 wide receiver, , have been pointing fingers indicating the problems they are having on the field this year. Jeff Garcia has completed 116 of 211 passes (54.9%) this season for 8 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. On this day, he had a better game completing 15 of 29 passes (51.7%) for 253 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 pick.. His favorite target, wide receiver Terrell Owens, has only 3 touchdowns through seven games so far this season. That puts him on track to finish the regular season with a total of 7 touchdowns. Which is well below his average of 14 the past three years. He also has been uncharateristically dropping passes he would normally make, even if they were tough to catch. But on this day, Terrell caught 6 passes for 152 yards and 1 touchdown. 49er running back has only been averaging 67.4 yards per game. But on this day, he pounded out 117 yards on 20 carries (5.85 yd avg) and 1 touchdown. This struggling 49er's team entered the Pirates Den of the defending Superbowl champs and Jennifer Abbott handed them their third loss of the season with a score of 7 to 24. They also handed them their second embarrassment of the season. Both coming at home. Just two weeks after Indfianapolis put 28 points on the board in the 4th quarter to tie the game, then win it in overtime. The 49er's had a total of 458 net yards (212 on the ground) compared to Tampa's 326 (68 on the ground). Buc quarterback Brad Johnson threw for 241 yards with 21 completions on 34 attempts (61.7%) and 1 touchdown. But negated the positives with 2 interceptions and 1 fumble. He was also sacked twice. The Bucs only ran 14 times even though it was productive with a 4.85 yards per carry average. Running back Michael Pittman led the ground attack with a total of 29 yards on 6 carries (4.83 yd avg). Pittman also Vanessa Castillo caught 10 passes for 60 yards. Wide receiver Keenan McCardell only had 3 catches but racked up a team best 116 yards. Wide receiver Keeshawn Johnson only had 1 catch for 4 yards. The Tampa defense had a sub-par game with only 1 interception (Simeon Rice), 1 recovered fumble (Rhonde Barber), 1 sack (Rhonde Barber) and no defensive points. They weren't able to stop the run or the pass. A few bright spots came when defensive Warren Sapp blocked a 31-yard field goal attempt early in the second quarter and corner back Rhonde Barber blocked a 39-yard field goal attempt half- way-through the third quarter. In contrast, San Fran probably had it's best defensive game this season. Besides holding the Tampa ground game to 68 yards, they also accumulated 3 interceptions, 2 sacks, and recovered 1 of 3 fumbles. It was ugly and painfull. I pity Parcells and his Cowboys.

Game 7 October 26, 2003: (5-2) at Tampa Bay (4-3) The Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense was vanilla, but the 'D' was back to form handing the Dallas Cowboys their second loss of the season in a 16-0 shutout. The bright spot on offense came from RB Michael Pittman with 30 carries for 113 yards (3.76 yd avg) and 1 reception for 4 yards. QB Brad Johnson completed 13 of 26 passes (50%) for 151 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions but fumbled twice losing one. WR Keenan McCardell led receivers with 6 catches for 68 yards. The Buc defense held the Cowboys scoreless recovering 1 of 3 fumbles, sacking Cowboy QB Quincy Carter 4 times and intercepting him twice. Led by CB Rhonde Barber with 6 tackles, 1 interception and 2 forced fumbles followed by OLB Derrick Brooks with 6 tackles and 3 assists. DE Ellis Wyms caused the other forced fumble along with 3 tackles and 1 sack. DB recorded an interception with 2 tackles and 1 assist. The other 3 sacks came from NT Anthony McFarland (3 tackles/2 assists), DT Warren Sapp (2 tackles) and DT Chartric Darby (1 tackle). As the scheme has been developing this year (win/loss/win/loss/win...), next week will be a loss to the (whom Tampa hasn't beat since entering the same division, 0-2). The bright side is they play division rival and division leader Carolina Panthers the week they're suppose to win. But that'll just put them at 5-4 for the season and a poor 2-3 in the division with the only hope of going 50% in division play if they beat the Atlanta Falcons in game 15 week 16. I don't think the Bucs'll make the playoffs if they end the year with an 8-8 season record with a 3-3 division record.

Game 8 November 2, 2003: New Orleans (4-5) at Tampa Bay (4-4) The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have not been able to beat the New Orleans Saints since the beginning of the 2002 season, when they both were placed in the newly created NFC South Division. Todays 14-17 loss was their third in a row to their new division rival. The game was a defensive battle which was won on the foot of Saints Kicker John Carney when he aced a 47 yard field goal with 8 seconds left on the clock. The battle on the field was fought using opposing weapons on both sides of the ball. The Buc's went to the air with QB Brad Johson completing 27 of 46 passes (58.6%) for 321 yards and 2 touchdowns vs Saints QB Aaron Brooks throwing for 142 yards on 13 of 29 passes (44.8%), and New Orleans went to the ground with RB Deuce McAllister gaining 110 yards on 26 carries (4.23 yd avg) vs Buc's RB Michael Pittman with 48 yards on 16 carries (3.00 yd avg). Pittman also had 49 yards in the air on 6 catches with 1 touchdown. WR Keeshawn Johnson had a good day with 124 yards on 10 catches (12.4 yd avg) and WR Keenan McCardell with 75 yards on 5 catches (15 yd avg) and a touchdown. Actually the New Orleans Saints should of came away with a score of 35-14 considering the Buc's turned the ball over 6 times with Brad Johnson's two interceptions and the 4 recovered forced fumbles by Brad Johnson, G Cornell Green, Michael Pitman and CB Tim Wansley. Statistically, the Saints 'D' had a better day, but the Buc's 'D' did an excellent job containing the New Orleans offense. DE Simeon Rice recorded his 9th sack of the season and contributed 4 tackles. OLB Derrick Brooks caught his second interception of the year and had 3 tackles and 2 assists. It's hard to believe the 2002 Superbowl Champs are only 50%, 50% into the season.

Game 9 November 9, 2003: Tampa Bay (4-5) at Carolina Panthers (7-2) The Tampa Bay Buccaneers drop below .500 entering the second half of the season in their second loss of the season to the Carolina Panthers 24-27. There are 12 of the 16 NFC teams with a record below .500, so Tampa is far from eliminated in post season. But they'll need to win at least 4 of the remaining 7 games to keep their hopes alive and really need 5 if they're looking for a little insurance. You would think it was do-able with only 1 of their last 7 opponents having a winning record, and having 1 more home game than away games, and they've only lost by 3 points in 4 of their 5 regular season losses. But..... let's break it down.... Of those less-than-.500 teams they still have left to play, there's the , the and division games against New Orleans (who owns them, 0-3 in all-time division games) and the Atlanta Falcons (who will probably have back at quarterback). Their last game of the season is against 7-2 red-hot Steve McNair and the , they're 1-3 in home games, and 3 points with the Tampa Bay offense is monumental. More mental than monu. It's possible the Tampa Bay Buc players and coaches lost themselves this year thinking they're as good as they were last year..... naturally. Statistically neither offense played well. Tampa QB Brad Johnson was 24 of 43 (55.8%) for 275 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception and 1 fumble (recovered himself). They had decent production out of the receiving corp led by WR Keenan McCardell with 9 receptions for 118 yards and 1 touchdown. Even WR Keshawn Johnson had a decent game with 5 catches for 80 yards and 1 touchdown. The Bucs accumulated 89 yards on the ground led by RB Michael Pittman with 50 yards on 12 carries (4.16 yd avg). Carolina QB Jake Delhomme was 20 of 32 (62.5%) for 277 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions and 2 fumbles. The Panthers totaled 89 yards on the ground led by RB DeShaun Foster with 56 yards on 22 carries (2.54 yd avg). Statistically both defenses had a mediocre day. For their caliber that is. The Bucs 'D' was led by CB Tim Wansley who got to the ball more times than anyone else with 9 tackles and 2 interceptions (first two of the season) followed by DE Simeon Rice who had 4 tackles, 2 sacks and 1 forced fumble (recovered by Carolina). On the other side, it was Panther OLB that got to the ball most on his team with 6 tackles and 1 assist. DT racked up 3 tackles, 1 sack and 1 forced fumble (recovered by Carolina), SS Mike Minter had 4 tackles and 1 interception while DE and DE accounted for the other two sacks and 4 tackles / 1 assist and 2 tackles / 2 assists respectively. If you think about it.... these teams are mirrored images of each other. A very vanilla offense that relies on the defense to win the games.

Game 10 November 16, 2003: Green Bay (5-5) at Tampa Bay (4-6) The Tampa Bay Buccaneers dropped well below .500 and their 3rd game in a row, losing to the Green Bay Packers in front of their hometown crowd by a score of 13-20. Both teams came with the intent of pounding the ball on the ground at each other. Both featured running backs who ran for over 100 yards, Tampa with 154 total and Green Bay with 190. They only had 149 and 92 yards in the air respectively. But Tampa made a few more mistakes than Green Bay with QB Brad Johnson throwing 2 picks and fumbling once compared to QB Bret Favre with only 1 pick and no fumbles. The Green Bay 'D' sacked Johnson 3 times to go with the 2 picks and a fumble recovery. The Tampa 'D' never got to Favre. Green Bay had the ball 8:07 minutes longer than Tampa. Tampa now must play in a must-win-all mode to try and make it into the playoffs. This is it!

November 17, 2003: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers placed WR Keyshawn Johnson on the inactive list stating he was too disruptive and negative for the good of the team.

Game 11 November 24, 2003: NY Giants (4-7) at Tampa Bay (5-6) One down, five to go. On a Monday night game the Tampa Bay Buccaneers turned things around posting a 19-13 win over the New York Giants. Back to 'Buc Ball', a very vanilla offense and a heavy dose of 'D'. Tampa QB Brad Johnson completed 22 of 32 passes (68.7%) for 269 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 inteception. RB Michael Pittman carried the ball 19 times for 55 yards (2.89 yd avg) and no touchdowns. In the absence of WR Keyshawn Johnson we saw WR Charles Lee step-it-up with 5 receptions for 91 yards and a touchdown. Along with the usual contribution by WR Keenan McCardell with 9 catches for 83 yards. They overcame 4 offensive fumbles, 2 which were recovered by the Giants. The Tampa defense recovered 5 of the game total 7 fumbles, caused 3 forced fumbles, sacked Giants QB 3 times and intercepted him twice. DT Warren Sapp racked up 2 sacks bringing his total to 5 for the year and caused 2 of the forced fumbles along with 4 tackles. DE Simeon Rice accounted for the other sack adding to his total of 12 for the year and caused the other foerced fumble along with 1 tackle and 1 assist. The busiest guy on the field was CB Tim Wansley with 7 tackles and 2 assists. In retrospect, the Bucs have gone 2-4 against teams who currently are above .500. Fortunately they only play 1 team that meets that criteria between now and the end of regular season (Tennessee 12/28/03 last game of the season). They are 3-2 against teams below .500. Those are the remaining games of the regular season (Jacksonville, New Orleans, Houston and Atlanta). New Orleans has owned the Bucs since coming into the same division last year. But something I've learned in my half- century existance is that all things must pass. It needs to if the Bucs hope to make the playoffs. And they best not overlook Jacksonville anticipating that game either. They've lost the last 2 in a row and are going to be like hungry pirana.

Game 12 November 30, 2003: Tampa Bay (5-7) at (3-9) Nope, things ain't turnin' out the way we expected for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They dropped this Sunday night special by a score of 10-17 to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Game 13 December 7, 2003: Tampa Bay (6-7) at New Orleans Saints (6-7) It's nuts! They go to Jacksonville and play a struggling sub-500 ball club and get beat, then go to New Orleans whose had their ticket since the NFC South merger and they beat 'em. GO FIGURE! The Tampa Bay Buccaneer rollercoaster has taken a swing upward with the 14-7 win over the New Orleans Saints.

Game 14 December 14, 2003: Houston Texans (5-9) at Tampa Bay (7-7) The Bucs are keeping their slim-chance-in-h*ll of making the playoffs stay alive with a 16-3 victory over the Houston Texans.

Game 15 December 20, 2003: Atlanta Falcons (4-11) at Tampa Bay (7-8) The Bucs lost their slim-chance-in-h*ll of making the playoffs in a 28-30 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. There's strong talk about Warren Sapp not coming back to the Bucs next year because he's in his most expensive year and a free agent. I hope these are just rumors. It's been a tough year coming from the top and falling so far. But it's been just one year and I have belief in the personnel on and off the field over in One Buc Place, and expect to see 'em back in contention next year.

Game 16 December 28, 2003: Tampa Bay (7-9) at Tennessee Titans (12-4) The Tampa Bay Buccaneers fell below .500 in their 13-33 @$$-whoopin' by the 'Steve- Does- Dare' Tennessee Titans. The last time the Buccaneers finished the season below .500 was seven years ago in 1996 when they went 6-10.

Dewayne White, the epiphany of the Bucs 2003 season. e·piph·a·ny (¹-p¹f“…-n¶) n., pl. e·piph·a·nies b. A comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization.

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