| |  Eagles stand between Bucs and Super Bowl
By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com
TAMPA, Fla. -- They have been here before, and these Tampa Bay Buccaneers are facing the chilling specter of déjà vu all over again.
One game shy of the Super Bowl berth they have long believed is their collective birthright, the Bucs now stare at a championship path that again winds through a city that has been the equivalent of Hades for them.
|  | | Jon Gruden has the Bucs in the NFC championship in his first season as head coach. |
Philadelphia might be about brotherly love for most people but, for Tampa Bay veterans, it is a trip to the nether regions. It is also an unavoidable stop on the 2002 Super Bowl itinerary after the 31-6 dismantling Sunday of the San Francisco 49ers, a place where the Bucs must exorcise their demons to fulfill searing aspirations.
At least for now, maybe until they break out the videotape of some of their past atrocities at the vermin pit otherwise known as Veterans Stadium, the Bucs seem poised for glory and ready to purge the gory from their memory banks. At least that was the message being universally delivered through a Bucs locker room where the common theme for the upcoming battle with the Eagles was one of unfinished business.
"This is where your name is cemented as a legend," said Bucs defensive end Simeon Rice, "and where you earn your bones. I guess, given what has gone on here in the past, it was inevitable we would go up there again. That's OK as far as we're concerned. You can't just play the football game, you have to be the game, and we'll be the game when the time comes."
When the time comes, of course, is one thing. But where it comes, the Buccaneers have demonstrated in their past several trips to Philadelphia, is quite another.
In each of the past two campaigns, the Bucs' season ended with a playoff defeat at Veterans Stadium, and they were also beaten there Oct. 20. The cumulative margin in those three defeats was 72-22. Worse, the Bucs did not score an offensive touchdown in any of the three games.
Their only touchdown in those three contests came on an 11-yard fumble return by weakside linebacker Derrick Brooks, the NFL defensive player of the year in 2002, in the Oct. 20 game. In the last three games at Philadelphia, the Bucs have averaged 7.3 points, 13.7 first downs and 221.1 yards. The most rushing yardage in those three games was a paltry 81 earlier this year.
Fact is, Tampa Bay had zero offensive touchdowns in its last three playoff outings before Sunday. They lost the 1999 NFC title game at St. Louis by a 11-6 count. In 2000, the Bucs lost at Philadelphia, 21-3, in a wild-card contest. And in the finale for coach Tony Dungy last year, the Bucs were thumped by a 31-9 score at Philadelphia, despite vows from some veterans that they would save their beloved leader's job.
Yeah, right, guys.
But the Bucs graybeards insisted Sunday they are living in the moment. They promised that past pratfalls against the Eagles will not be repeated. And while they stopped short of providing any bulletin board material, like by guaranteeing a win, Tampa Bay players actually sounded convincing in emphasizing that history is in the rear-view mirror.
They would tolerate no suggestions that their only hope for an upset was to play a Dungy-type game, heavy on defense, with fewer than 20 points total for the two teams. The Bucs insisted they aren't looking ahead to a Sunday meeting with the Eagles as much as they are looking forward to another chance for redemption.
"Trust me," said fullback Mike Alstott, who scored on a pair of 2-yard runs Sunday, "there is a different mind-set. We aren't the same team that has gone up there in the past. Every situation is a new one. This situation, we think, is a great one for us."
It can't get any better, though, than the situation the Bucs encountered Sunday afternoon, facing a physically battered 49ers team, one that seemed spent after the historic rally last weekend from a 24-point deficit.
High above the playing surface Sunday afternoon, the luxury suite patrons at Raymond James Stadium dined on New Zealand baby lamb chops. Down on the field, San Francisco proved a tasty appetizer for a Bucs roster that is confident the main course will be served next weekend.
In a disastrous performance that did nothing to provide San Francisco coach Steve Mariucci any ammunition for a contract extension, the 49ers seemed to just go through the motions. Quarterback Jeff Garcia played a horrendous game -- completing 22 of 41 passes for 193 yards, with three interceptions, no touchdowns and four sacks -- as the 49ers offense registered a bulimic 228 yards and 14 first downs.
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We're not going to sit here and try to justify what happened two or three years ago, or what happened earlier this year. It's irrelevant now. We respect Philadelphia for what it has done this year, not in the past. What happened there before has no bearing. We're going to get on the plane, and we're going to play them anywhere, play them anyplace. Whether it be in 'The Vet' or on the Walt Whitman Bridge, we're going to be there. ” |
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— Jon Gruden, Bucs coach on traveling to Philadelphia to face the Eagles |
It marked only the fourth time the 49ers failed to score a touchdown in a postseason game. The loss was the worst playoff defeat for San Francisco since a 49-3 whipping by the New York Giants in 1986. Conversely, by halftime, at which point they led 28-6, the Bucs had already tallied more points than they have ever posted in a playoff contest.
It wasn't just the San Francisco offense, though, that was culpable for an embarrassing meltdown. When cornerback Ahmed Plummer exited with a shoulder injury just nine snaps into the game, it left an already depleted 49ers secondary even thinner. The result was that, in his first start in nearly a month, Bucs quarterback Brad Johnson had easy pickings.
After a sputtering start in which he looked rusty, Johnson, who missed the final two games of the regular season with a deep bruise to his lower back, finished with 15 completions in 31 attempts for 196 yards, with a couple touchdown passes and one interception.
Once again, No. 3 wide receiver Joe Jurevicius had a solid game and the loquacious Keyshawn Johnson got the dam ball thrown to him enough for him to register five catches for 85 yards.
"It was a workmanlike performance," said Brad Johnson, who needed seven stitches to close a wound over his eye, earned on a scramble. "I felt good out there, the timing came back after a while, and we got in a nice rhythm. It's a good way to go into next week."
With an insurmountable lead, Tampa Bay played things cozy in the second half, primarily running the ball, working the clock and starting to conjure up visions of the upcoming collision with the Eagles. For the past five seasons or so, the Bucs have been the most obvious underachieving franchise in the league, and much of that can be attributed to their Philly foibles.
Short of retaining an exorcist, however, the Bucs know there is just one way to reverse history, and that's with a victory that catapults them into Super Bowl XXXVI.
"We're not going to sit here and try to justify what happened two or three years ago, or what happened earlier this year," said Bucs coach Jon Gruden. "It's irrelevant now. We respect Philadelphia for what it has done this year, not in the past. What happened there before has no bearing.
"We're going to get on the plane, and we're going to play them anywhere, play them anyplace. Whether it be in 'The Vet' or on the Walt Whitman Bridge, we're going to be there."
Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.
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Finesse No More
