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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 24, 2007

Sunday's Best

Most people on the East Coast saw San Francisco LB Patrick Willis on this year's Pro Bowl list and may not have understood why, but everyone in the Tampa Bay area now comprehends. Willis led the 49ers with 20 tackles (12 solo and eight assisted), two sacks, one forced fumble, a quarterback hurry, plus a pass defended during his team's 21-19 victory against Tampa Bay.

What To Wear

New England coach Bill Belichick may have been busted for stealing signals earlier this year, but after seeing San Francisco coach Mike Nolan on the sidelines, he should considering ripping off some style. Belichick prefers to dress like the Unabomber with a playbook, wearing a hooded sweatshirt and jogging pants, while Nolan sported a black suit and gold tie. Basically, Nolan looked like the lawyer who would represent Belichick in court, and although sweats are great attire for Wal-Mart runs, nobody would harass him for stealing some style.
Team Stat
The key to Tampa Bay's success has been its running attack, which struggled for any success against San Francisco. Tampa Bay gained only 67 on the ground during its loss on Sunday. Bucs RB Earnest Graham carried nine times for 21 yards, while QB Luke McCown had 17, RB Michael Bennett had 16 and RB Michael Pittman added 13.

By The Numbers

0 - punt return yards gained by Bucs CB Phillip Buchanon on four attempts. 1 - interception by Bucs CB Brian Kelly. 49ers WR Darrell Jackson (former Tampa Catholic standout) caught a 21-yard TD pass against him. 4 - tackles by Bucs LB Jeremiah Trotter. 7 - Third downs Tampa Bay converted out of 19. 68 - kickoff return yards by Micheal Spurlock on three attempts one week after returning the first one in Bucs history for a touchdown. 434 - offensive yards by Tampa Bay compared to San Francisco's 213. 1,008 - yards Frank Gore has rushed for this season, becoming the fifth player in franchise history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in consecutive years.

Casual Friday

The good thing for Tampa Bay fans is the loss against San Francisco will not affect the Bucs' playoff status, so there is still a reason to wear a jersey to work this week during casual Friday. Of course, many co-workers are on vacation right now, making gloating pretty much unnecessary. Tampa Bay likely will play its backups this week against Carolina, so here are the new jersey's you should be able to find on the clearance rack to wear: 12 - McCown (passed for 185 yards and will probably start this week) 29 - Michael Bennett (bound to eventually live up to his potential) 57 - Adam Hayward (has performed well on special teams) 58 - Quincy Black (linebacker of the future performed well) 86 - Jerramy Stevens (hard to question 73 yards and 2 TDs)

Locker Room Talk

•"That's TV announcers talking about that. We got a lot of momentum. It's very hard to disagree with everybody that you should win your last two games if you can, and we tried today. We pay everybody on our football team, our coaching staff big money to win football games. I am more concerned with finishing this season and playing better football than we did in the second half today." - Bucs coach Jon Gruden •"I think we are very aware of what we are capable of doing. ... Obviously, we want to keep a positive mindset, but we also know what awaits us. Whoever that game is going to be against at home is really going to be our focus right now. It's not to say we're overlooking our next week's opponent, but the key is for some of the guys who are key to this team, that are important to this team and their health is important." - Bucs QB Jeff Garcia about the importance of Tampa Bay's final two games. •"Coach had a plan going in on who was going to play what and where. If we won, great plan. We lost the game and it's something everybody wants to question. Inside this locker room, we're not going to question that. We always say whenever you win the ballgame playing, you are expected to play like a starter if the starter is not in there." - LB Derrick Brooks said about Gruden's decision to rest starters. •"I don't really know what to think. Is momentum good? Honestly, I really don't know. I've been on teams that have done it both ways. I just think it's really imperative for us to stay together, stay on the same page, and whoever is out there playing for us, they have to play for us. You never know what might happen in the playoffs. Somebody might go down. There are different ways to look at it and I really don't have an opinion one way or another." - Bucs DE Kevin Carter. •"We are not concerned about that at all. Like I said, these coaches have been though a lot of games and we trust that they will be making the right calls and have us in the best position for the playoffs." - Tampa Bay RB Earnest Graham said. Anwar S. Richardson

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