Vibrant effort one to savor for Bucs' Morris

It was a tale of two coaches Sunday in the Pacific Northwest.

The Bucs were coming off an embarrassing 26-3 home loss to the Jets, while the Seahawks had been trounced 34-7 at Houston.

On Sunday, Seattle players appeared to be going through the motions for Coach Jim Mora, especially during a listless second half.

Meanwhile, Tampa Bay responded with energy and purpose for Coach Raheem Morris in a 24-7 triumph at Qwest Field, where Seattle had been 4-2.

Taking it all in were the Glazers, seeking a tangible sign of progress amid the gloom.

It was a gratifying day for players who are already fighting for their place on the 2010 roster. For Bucs general manager Mark Dominik, the lopsided win was a badly needed indication the organization is going in the right direction.

And the Bucs' beleaguered rookie coach was all smiles in the closing moments, knowing he had taken a significant step in showing ownership that the club was progressing, despite a 2-12 record.

"Job security is not an issue for coaches," Morris said Monday. "We don't have any. You just go out there and present your best self every day. That's all I can do. We make decisions based on how do we beat our next opponent. There will be no decisions made based on saving Raheem Morris, Mark Dominik or any player."

Cadillac Williams, who turned Josh Freeman's third-quarter flip into a 22-yard touchdown for the go-ahead score, said he wasn't surprised by the vibrant effort.

"I just think we showed the character of this team," Williams said. "I know I've been saying it all year, but I think the coach has been doing a really, really good job of preparing us. It's a young group, but these guys are jelling together.'

One of the club's few veterans, cornerback Ronde Barber, is proud of the way the Bucs rebounded from a deflating loss to the Jets.

"This is a milestone for us, really," Barber said after the Bucs posted their first West Coast regular-season win in a decade. "This team's definitely got a long way to go, but we feel like we're building something. We've got a lot to pat ourselves on the back about, things we can use to build in the next year."

But will Morris still be around for Phase 2 of a massive rebuilding project?

"There are always guys that are on the bubble," Morris said. "There's always coaches on the bubble. How you respond to being on the bubble is what defines you as a man, as a coach or as a player. Those defining roles will come out in the next two weeks. You always hear the theme on television right now - the teams that are not playing for anything. We are playing for us. It's about us."