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For Bucs, Now The Fun Starts: 'This Is What You Play For'

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By ROY CUMMINGS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 1, 2008

Updated: 01/01/2008 12:12 am

TAMPA - Mondays are tough for just about everybody. They're especially tough for professional football players. Their battered and beaten bodies are often so sore they struggle just to drag themselves out of bed.

This Monday was different. At least it was for Bucs third-year tight end Alex Smith.

When Smith woke up, he didn't feel anywhere near as sore or as groggy as he usually does. He felt good, he said. He felt energized; felt like he couldn't wait to get up and get going.

It wasn't all that extra rest he got on Sunday that left him feeling so good. It was his anticipation of the playoffs.

"I don't know if it's mind over matter or what, but I just felt better," Smith said. "I wasn't aching or anything. I'm just excited to get out there and get ready to go."

Smith wasn't alone. Bucs center John Wade was moving a little faster than usual on Monday as well, and Wade was coming off a busy Sunday in which he played every offensive snap during a 31-23 loss to the Panthers.

"This is what you work for the whole offseason," Wade said in explaining his mood. "You work to get into a position to be in the playoffs, so I think everybody around here is excited."

Bucs coach Jon Gruden sure is. He talked Monday about the 20 teams that walked out of their locker rooms Sunday knowing they won't be a part of what he calls the Super Bowl tournament and smiled because his team is not one of them.

"We're down to 12 playoff teams; if that doesn't get you excited, you're in the wrong profession," Gruden said.

"We've all seen Villanova," he said, referring to that school's improbable 1985 NCAA men's basketball title run. "Underdogs do flourish sometimes. And I'm sure we'll be a heavy underdog in this tournament, but we'll see what we get."

They get the Giants for starters, but Tampa Bay is favored by 3 points for Sunday's playoff opener at Raymond James Stadium. However, the Giants' strengths fall in two areas where the Bucs may be weakest.

The first area is their pass rush; the Giants led the league in sacks with 53. They figure to give the Bucs' young offensive line quite a test. That unit hasn't necessarily struggled in pass protection this year, allowing only 36 sacks, but 10 have come in the past three games.

"They get a lot of credit and they should," Gruden said of the Giants' pass rushers. "They're great players. I think a new coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has come to New York and made a real impact.

"They have a great blitz package. Defensive end Justin Tuck is all over the place. I've got a lot of respect for linebacker Antonio Pierce. He's the ringleader I think. They all hit, all play hard. It'll be a challenge for us."

Stopping the Giants' rushing attack will be a challenge as well. Led by Brandon Jacobs, who ran for more than 1,000 yards in 11 games, the Giants were fourth in the league in rushing with a 134.3 yards-per-game average.

The Bucs will counter that with a rush defense that often struggles to stop powerful backs such as Jacobs and finished 17th in the league this year, allowing 107.9 yards per game.

"We're really going to have to be sharp and get off the ball against them," nose tackle Chris Hovan said. "There's no doubt about it, we're going to have to play great run defense this week."

The Bucs will have to move the ball and score points, too, and that is also something of a concern. The Bucs finished the regular season ranked 26th in the league in red-zone scoring, with 20 touchdowns in 46 chances.

The Giants, meanwhile, finished 28th in the league in red-zone defense, allowing 25 touchdowns in 42 situations. That's something for the Bucs to be excited about.

But they don't need stats like that to amp them up. Just being in the playoffs appears to be enough to give them all the excitement and all the momentum they need.

"This is when the real football starts," wide receiver Ike Hilliard said. "This is what you play for."

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

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