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It's All Come Together

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By ROY CUMMINGS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 16, 2007

TAMPA - Jeff Garcia did an assessment of the talent around him and concluded late last summer that the dream was not a fantasy. Reaching the playoffs, he thought, was a realistic possibility for the Bucs.

The first five games were the key, though. The Bucs had to win at least two of those games to have a chance, Garcia figured. When they won three, he began to think anything was possible.

"When we came out of those first five games with a 3-2 record, I felt like we were putting ourselves in real good position to be a playoff team," Garcia said. "You just never know how it's all going to come together."

It has come together in rather odd fashion for the Bucs, who gained ground on their rivals even during their bye week and stand ready to clinch a division title with a lineup that looks nothing like the one they started with.

They lost their starting fullback before they settled into the starting blocks, lost their starting left tackle and starting tailback before they passed the quarter pole and even lost their quarterback for two games.

The latter may have been the most significant loss of all. As they seek to clinch the NFC South title today against Atlanta, the Bucs are the only division leader in the league that has not had the same quarterback start every game.

It's fitting, though, that Garcia will be back in the lineup today and that he has a chance to guide the Bucs to the victory that will get them to the playoffs. After all, they wouldn't be where they are without him.

That's the consensus of teammates, coaches, opponents and scouts alike, but Garcia argues that the Bucs would not be in the position they're in if not for that fast start.

After losing the opener, a game that left many thinking 2007 would turn out much like 2006, when Tampa Bay finished 4-12, the Bucs quickly developed a new sense of confidence and established a foundation for success by winning their next three games.

"We proved during that first stretch that we could compete with any team in the league and that we really had a great chance of winning a lot of our games from that point on," Garcia said.

The Bucs proved during their next stretch that they could also lose a lot of games from that point on. After winning three of their first four, they immediately lost three of the next four.

Still, the Bucs continued to move forward in a lot of ways. Even while losing during the second quarter of the season, they clearly were developing confidence and continuity.

By the midpoint of the season, their young offensive line had come together, and their revamped defensive line was showing signs of doing the same. The play of the secondary, meanwhile, was giving the Bucs an edge, a fear factor.

"I just saw us getting better every week," veteran linebacker Derrick Brooks said. "I saw other guys stepping up when guys went down, I saw us not turning the ball over, I saw us playing more consistently. All those things add up."

They added up this time to another string of victories. Four straight in the third quarter of the season gave the Bucs a vise grip on a division that, it must be said, is one of the weakest in the NFL.

Whether it's the result of injuries to key players, off-field problems or a combination of both, the Saints, Falcons and Panthers have had disappointing seasons in 2007.

The Bucs have taken full advantage, winning all four of their division games to this point. They've also taken advantage of a schedule that was ranked 27th in terms of difficulty before the season.

Of their eight victories, seven have come against teams with losing records, and all but two have come against teams that failed to make the playoffs last season.

The only thing the Bucs have yet to do is prove they can beat the best the NFL has to offer. Of their eight victories, only one has come against a team (Tennessee) with a winning record and the Titans are 7-6.

But despite going 1-3 against teams with winning records, many believe the Bucs have the wherewithal to go deep into the playoffs and possibly even challenge for the NFC title.

Garcia is one reason. The play of Earnest Graham, who has replaced tailback Cadillac Williams and is on pace to gain 1,000 yards rushing, is another. The biggest, though, may be the defense.

A unit that finished 17th in yards allowed and 21st in points allowed last season goes into today's game ranked third in the former category and second in the latter.

"Defensively, I think they've probably exceeded a lot of expectations in terms of getting some of their young guys to really become big-time playmakers for them," said NFL scout Chris Landry. "That's been a big factor for them."

Veterans have been a factor, too. At a time when their seasons are starting to be numbered, Garcia, Brooks and Joey Galloway have put together one of their best seasons.

Championships are hard to come by in this league. Though the Bucs are in position to win their third division title in six seasons, it would be just their sixth in 32 years of existence.

"The longer you're around, the more you appreciate how hard it is to do it," Galloway said of winning a division title. "I haven't done it very often in my 13 years."

Brooks has. A division title this year would mark the fourth time he has been a division champion as a Buccaneer. Still, he considers winning a title a rare achievement.

"They're hard to come by," he said of winning division titles. "For the teams that consistently do it, you've just got to have that much more respect for them."

Reporter Roy Cummings can be reached at (813) 259-7979 or rcummings@tampatrib.com.

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