TB / PITT notes......

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Bucs coach Tony Dungy never has wavered on his perspective that you can win a championship by running the ball well, controlling the clock and playing great defense.

Slinging the ball around the field is not something he routinely endorses.

But ironically, the Bucs' best offensive production this season came in a frenzied six-minute, two-touchdown span late in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game in Tennessee.

Offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen explained that Sunday the offense had no choice but to turn up the volume.

"I think we played in a little bit of a frenzy, with some urgency knowing that it was now or never and I think that was probably what went right," Christensen said.

Not surprisingly, receiver Keyshawn Johnson didn't hesitate to point out that the offense's best moments have come in hurried situations when the passing game was the only alternative.

"(That's) pretty much (true), thus far," Johnson said. "When you look at that, when you look at the Minnesota game at the end, when you look at the Dallas game at the end, we throw the football. So, maybe throwing is our strength."

BY THE NUMBERS

0: NFL teams with better overall defensive statistics than Steelers.

1: touchdown pass by Steelers this season.

63: yards RB Jerome Bettis needs to move past Ottis Anderson (10,273) for 13th on NFL's all-time rushing list.

116.5: difference between rushing yards produced by Steelers (192) and Bucs (75.5).

WHEN LAST THEY MET
After taking a 3-0 first-quarter lead, the Bucs shut out the Steelers the rest of the way en route to a 16-3 win in December 1998. A lot had to do with the defense, which forced five turnovers in Pittsburgh's first six possessions of the second half. Mike Alstott had a 3-yard touchdown run and Michael Husted kicked three field goals for the Bucs.


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Bucs coaches........


On the Steelers rushing attack that averages 192 yards:

"They do a great job. I don't know, since I've been in the league, if I've ever heard of an NFL team that was averaging 192 yards. That's kind of unheard of in the NFL. It's a credit to their offensive line, the tight ends, the fullback and the quarterback, who they treat like a running back. They're averaging over 5 yards a rush. No doubt, the best rushing team in the NFL."

On the play of Steelers quarterback Kordell Stewart:

"He's playing very well. He's playing kind of like he did three or four years ago when they went to the playoffs. They've got a new coordinator this year, Mike Mularkey, and he's done a good job with their offense and with Kordell Stewart. Right now, they're doing well." On the Bucs trying to improve their third-down defense:

"The key again is the scrambling quarterback, trying to contain him. We've got to have tighter coverage downfield. Then when they do check it off, we've got to make sure we make good tackles before they get the first down."

On the Steelers 3-4 defense:

"It makes you make adjustments because you don't see it. It's just new and different. You've got those four linebackers and you have to look at all your protections and try not to get your backs matched up on those linebackers too often. That's where they're going to get their sacks, with those outside linebackers matched up with the backs, or you set one of them free."

On the Steelers' tendency to blitz:

"On third down, they're going to cause confusion and bring different people. You've got all four linebackers, you don't know which one is coming."

On the Bucs' lack of a running game:

"We have to run the ball. I think that it's going to be a long season if we don't get our running game going. That's the bread and butter for the Bucs. And it's important we get more carries. Some of that's been my fault, some of it has been dictated by the game. But we've got to get more runs called. We've got to run the ball more. We know that."


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Christensen wants to run ball earlier
By ROGER MILLS
? St. Petersburg Times,
published October 19, 2001


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TAMPA -- For good reason, the Bucs threw the ball 50 times Sunday against the Titans. They were behind, and time was running out.

The Bucs passed 27 times in the fourth quarter and three times in overtime.

But the running game wasn't working when the game was close. Tampa Bay had 16 yards on 10 carries in the first half, raising concern. "We still are a running team," offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen said. "We have to run the ball to be successful. We can't throw the ball 50 times and be successful. That's not us.

"I have to take my part of the blame for that. I've got to give the running game a chance to get started more and go from there."

Christensen said it's essential for the Bucs to get the running game going early against the Steelers considering they must control the tempo, chew up the clock and neutralize the Steelers' NFL-best pass defense.

"We have not, this year, given (the defense) a chance to play from ahead," Christensen said. "That's big. We've got to give them a chance to play from ahead, tee off on the quarterback and not worry as much about runs."

Receiver Keyshawn Johnson added: "We're talking about the fourth game, and I don't think there is any major sense of panic setting in at this point.

"It seems like each game we're putting up more points and opportunities are coming for everybody. That's one of the things that we always wanted around here, and we're getting it now."

GETTING A LEG UP: The Bucs have struggled with field position, and some of that has been because veteran punter Mark Royals has not started the season well. Royals entered his 13th season with a 42.4-yard average.

Royals, who sprained his right knee on the opening day of training camp and missed virtually all of the preseason, is averaging 40.8 yards and netting 33.1. "He hasn't hit them like we're used to, and that's one of the things we have to get better at," coach Tony Dungy said. "Our net punt, we've not been as good as any team we've played this year." Against the Titans, Royals had six punts for a 35.2-yard average and Tennessee's Craig Hentrich had three for a 51.7-yard average.

STEEL CURTAIN?: While the Bucs offense develops its identity, in comes the NFL's best defense to make things difficult.

The Steelers enter Sunday's game ranked No. 1 overall. They are No. 1 against the pass, allowing 143.3 yards per game, and 11th against the run, allowing 95.8. "Pittsburgh is playing extremely well right now," quarterback Brad Johnson said. "They're disguising their fronts very well with their coverages. A lot of the guys on the team you're not going to know their names, but they are making a lot of plays.

"They're playing with high intensity and creating a lot of chaos with their front coverages and not giving up the big play. And that's the key to this league. Don't give up the big play. Make people convert on third down, and they're doing a great job of that."

THE SAPP MACHINE: One by one, teammates came out to the parking lot to look at Warren Sapp's newest toy. He drove to work Thursday in a blue vehicle that resembled a hybrid between a go-cart and a Formula One racing car. The three-wheeled vehicle is called a Campagna T-Rex.

INJURY UPDATE: Linebacker Jeff Gooch (left shoulder sprain) and safety Dexter Jackson (left thigh bruise) sat out practice and likely won't play Sunday.

Linebacker Derrick Brooks (left foot sprain) and running back Warrick Dunn (sprained right big toe) also sat out but probably will play. "They are ahead of where they were last week," Dungy said. "So that kind of leads me to think they would play."



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Steelers bring NFL's top rushing attack
By ROGER MILLS
? St. Petersburg Times,
published October 18, 2001


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TAMPA -- One week after dealing with Eddie George, the Bucs now must deal with the NFL's best rushing team.

The Steelers enter Sunday's game averaging 192 yards. (By comparison, Oakland led the NFL last season with 154.4 yards per game.)

The Bucs have taken notice.

"Yeah, I do (remember seeing a team run like that), when I played eighth grade in my (junior) league team," defensive end Simeon Rice said. "We were averaging like 200 yards. But in the NFL? "They're doing some things right now that are putting them on that pedestal."

What's frightening for the Bucs, who are allowing 100 rushing yards per game, is the Steelers' running game does not rely solely on bruising back Jerome Bettis.

Bettis has 101.8 yards per game and 5.4 yards per carry. But Amos Zereoue (6.9 yards per carry) and Kordell Stewart (5.5) also have been dangerous.

"When you're averaging 192 yards offensively in running the ball, you don't turn to watch the quarterback first," Bucs defensive tackle Warren Sapp said. "You watch the big boys go to work."

DEALING WITH THE 3-4: The Bucs offense must turn its attention to facing a defense with three linemen and four linebackers.

Most teams, including the Bucs, play a 4-3 scheme that uses four linemen and three linebackers.

"What it does is bring something different to what everyone else is doing," right guard Jerry Wunsch said. "You have to be on because it's not the regular, everyday defense. There are a lot of blitzes, and a lot of blitzes can come from different areas.

"There are all kinds of different things that come. Usually, when you're stuck, you can follow a specific rule. But this week, the rules get broken."

The Bucs saw the 3-4 when they played the Patriots in the preseason. Wunsch said that should help. "I think that's why you try to get them on the schedule," he said.

"So you don't get surprised."

CERQUA RISING: With injuries to Derrick Brooks (left foot sprain) and Jeff Gooch (left shoulder sprain), rookie linebacker Marq Cerqua has a chance to debut Sunday. Cerqua is the seventh linebacker for a defense that routinely uses six linebackers. He initially was used on the scout team.

But Wednesday, he practiced with the second team, playing the strong- and weak-side positions.

"The kid has done a phenomenal job," linebackers coach Joe Barry said. "He's come a million miles since training camp but still has about 5-million to go. "Is he going to play 80 plays for us Sunday? No. Is he going to play one play? I don't know. But with the injuries, he has an opportunity to do some things."

Barry said Cerqua, an undrafted free agent from Carson-Newman, spent most of training camp playing strong-side linebacker but has been getting a crash course on the weak side.

"I don't want to get his hopes up. For us right now, he will play if the wheels came off," Barry said. "But he has done a great job and has earned his opportunity."

ROSTER MOVE: The Bucs signed linebacker Byron Thweatt, who played for four years at Virginia, to the practice squad. To make room, they released defensive tackle Devone Claybrooks.

Thweatt originally signed with the Bucs as a college free agent in April but was released at the end of training camp.

BACK IN THE MIX: Defensive end James Cannida, who was expected to play a prominent role coming off the bench this season before spraining his left knee in the final preseason game, returned to full practice.

"It felt good," Cannida said. "I felt a couple of times today that I was being hesitant coming off the ball. I think it's going to take some time for me to get back into it."

INJURY REPORT: Brooks, Gooch, receiver Jacquez Green (left groin) and safety Dexter Jackson (left thigh bruise) sat out practice. Gooch is out for Sunday, but Brooks, Green and Jackson are probable.



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