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Bucs Trying Not To Look Too Far Ahead

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 22, 2007

TAMPA - The Bucs have set themselves up for a potentially glorious finish, but nobody seems to want to talk about the possibilities.

With a 6-4 mark, Tampa Bay has a two-game lead atop the weak NFC South, where the Panthers have suffered four consecutive losses and New Orleans has followed a four-game winning streak with back-to-back downers.

If the Bucs win their third division title since 2002, they would be assured a home playoff game against an NFC wild-card club.

"We're in a position to certainly win our seventh game," said Bucs coach Jon Gruden, stating the obvious. "We've got to concentrate on this game, because Washington is a formidable team. I think we understand the magnitude of every game we have from this point out."

WR Joey Galloway, who turned 36 on Monday, broke the code by actually mentioning the P word.

"Anytime you have a chance to get to the playoffs and win a division, those things don't happen very often," said Galloway, who has 12 receptions in three postseason games. "It's pretty exciting for us. It's sort of tough sometimes not to look ahead. We'll go one game at a time, focus on Washington and handle our business, but we are very excited to be in first place with a chance to win our division."

At 5-5, the Redskins have a lot to play for Sunday at Raymond James Stadium. While Washington trails Dallas by four games in the NFC East, the Redskins have wins against Detroit and Arizona that could be decisive in the wild-card chase.

"Washington is scrapping," said Bucs DT Chris Hovan. "They've lost two games in a row, and their backs are against the wall. They're going to come down here and try to get some momentum."

OFFICIAL CHANGE: Hovan's first NFL interception lasted approximately 72 hours.

The NFL issued a scoring change Wednesday, ruling Hovan's third-quarter pick against Atlanta's Byron Leftwich was a fumble recovery.

Rookie DE Gaines Adams gets credit for a sack and a forced fumble on the takeaway, which set up TE Alex Smith's 21-yard TD catch for a 24-0 advantage.

INJURY UPDATE: Gruden said RB Michael Pittman (ankle), FB B.J. Askew (ankle) and DE Greg Spires (calf) didn't participate in Wednesday's practice.

For the Redskins, G Randy Thomas (triceps) remains out and eight other players did not participate Wednesday, including WR Santana Moss (heel), S Sean Taylor (knee) and starting RT Todd Wade (knee).

JUNE'S STATUS: Bucs LB Cato June declined comment on his arrest Monday on a misdemeanor DUI charge, but Gruden confirmed June will start Sunday.

"I talked to him and also spent countless hours thinking about it," Gruden said. "I do know this - he's a great guy and we're going to stand behind him. I think he's going to learn from this."

Ira Kaufman

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