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Lions Should Give Bucs Plenty Of Chances To Apply Pressure

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By ROY CUMMINGS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 19, 2007

TAMPA - Lions coach Rod Marinelli may not recognize the Bucs when he sees them for the first time in two years Sunday. Only two of the players he tutored during his 10 years as Bucs defensive line coach remain, and the vaunted pass rush he worked so hard to develop has disappeared, too.

Once a rapid-fire shotgun blast of pressure, the Bucs' pass rush seems akin to the payload delivered by a muzzle-loader now. It can still hurt you, but it comes at you a lot less often than it once did, and does that ever bug Bucs coach Jon Gruden.

Gruden has expressed his dissatisfaction with the pass rush every week of the season, and when you look at the numbers it has produced you can understand why. With 11 sacks overall, the Bucs are tied for 17th in the league in that category and 23rd in sacks per pass play.

'It's not good enough,' Bucs defensive line coach Larry Coyer said, repeating the remarks Gruden made most recently on Monday. 'I think we're getting better, and I think last week was probably our most consistent week yet. But we're still not good enough.'

The Bucs' pass rush did seem more like its old self last week. It did on paper, anyway. The Bucs were credited with three sacks, but one came as a result of Titans quarterback Vince Young falling down after running into his teammate while running out of the pocket.

Take that sack away, though, and the Bucs still applied some pretty good pressure to the Titans. They recorded a season-best nine quarterback hits, including two each by Greg White, Jovan Haye and Kevin Carter. But that has been the story of the Bucs' whole season.

'We're a step late,' Coyer said of the Bucs' pass rushers, who have recorded 30 quarterback hits this year. 'I mean, it's all well and good that you make the hit, but you can't be a step late. Not to be critical of anyone, but you've got to get there.'

The next chance to get there comes Sunday at Detroit. It may be the best chance the Bucs have had all season. Already the Lions have surrendered 28 sacks, six more than any other team in the league. Of course, the Lions also have thrown the ball more than most everyone else in the league.

'They'll throw the ball 55 times if they have to, so it's the responsibility of the front four to be a factor in that kind of game,' Coyer said. 'They'll set you up with draws and traps and screens, but you have to be prepared because they'll throw it on you a lot.'

In order to foil the Lions' passing attack the Bucs will have to get off the line quickly and be relentless in their pursuit of quarterback Jon Kitna. Kitna doesn't move that well, and his receivers run long routes, so he usually takes a lot of five- and seven-step drops.

'We just have to keep pressing,' said Haye, the Bucs' under tackle who leads the team with three sacks and was one of those who recorded a true takedown of Young last week against Tennessee.

The other was Carter. Rookie Gaines Adams, meanwhile, got credit for the sack in which Young simply fell and was touched down to end the play. It was his first NFL sack.

Fellow rookie Greg White also has one sack, and he said he is finding that teams are starting to defend him differently since he got his sack in the home opener against New Orleans five weeks ago.

Adjusting to those changes, White said, is perhaps the most difficult part of developing a good pass rush. The fact he is not the only one learning that lesson may explain the Bucs' lack of consistent pressure.

Once a veteran-laden group, the Bucs' pass rush now includes one first-year starter (Haye), two first-year players (Adams and White), and one veteran (Patrick Chukwurah) who has seen only limited playing time.

Of the veterans in the group, Carter has had the most success getting to the passer in his career. But the last time he had more than six sacks in a season was in 2002.

You get the feeling, then, that the problem the Bucs have had getting to the passer could go on all year. That's not what Gruden wants to hear. And it's not what Coyer wants to see.

'No, we need somebody to step up here,' Coyer said. 'We need guys to make plays. Tampa's been famous for having those kinds of players, whether it was Warren Sapp or Simeon Rice or whoever. Those were special guys, but that's the heritage here. So somebody has to step up and keep that heritage alive.'

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

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