Bucs regroup for stretch run
Defenseless, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers literally were run out of first place.
That was the cold reality lingering Tuesday from Monday night’s 38-23 loss to Carolina in which one of the NFL’s top defenses yielded 299 yards rushing and permitted the Panthers to convert eight of 10 third-down situations.
The Bucs (9-4) allowed one rushing touchdown, as well as a lone 100-yard rusher, all season before Monday, when DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart both topped the century mark and each scored twice against them.
“We’ve played very well defensively and last night, hopefully, we can use that as some motivation as we finish the season,” coach Jon Gruden said in a subdued tone reflecting disappointment as well as a lack of rest following a middle-of-the night flight home from Charlotte.
“We missed more tackles than we had missed probably all season. Again, I’m not going to stand up here and make excuses,” he added. “I’ll take responsibility for it. We’ve got to do much better.”
The loss dropped Tampa Bay a game behind Carolina (10-3) in the NFC South with three games to play. The Bucs travel to Atlanta (8-5) for another important divisional matchup Sunday, then finish the regular season at home against San Diego and Oakland.
Players were at a loss to explain what happened against the Panthers, who had TD drives of 73, 73, 72 and 90 yards – the latter entirely on the ground – after failing to score a touchdown in a 27-3 loss to the Bucs on Oct. 12.
Poor tackling was a problem as Williams averaged 9.8 yards per carry on his way to a career-best 186 yards on 19 attempts. Stewart had eye-popping numbers, too, gaining 7.7 per carry and finishing with 115 yards on 15 attempts.
“They didn’t take their foot off the accelerator. They just kept doing what they were doing and really gave it to us,” cornerback Ronde Barber said.
The Panthers would have finished with over 300 yards rushing if Jake Delhomme hadn’t taken a knee on the game’s last two plays.
Jeff Garcia had his second 300-yard game passing, and Antonio Bryant had nine receptions for 200 yards and two TDs.
Retirees benefit: The NFL and its union will pay a combined $100 a month toward the Medicare costs of retired players under a new plan announced Tuesday.
The program begins Jan. 1 for ex-players over 65 who are vested in the league’s pension plan. The money will go to the monthly premium of the player’s coverage.
The problems of destitute players and other retirees has been a subject of continuing complaints from ex-players. Much of the criticism was aimed at Gene Upshaw, the late executive director of the NFLPA who died in August.
NFL to cut staff: The NFL said Tuesday it is cutting more than 10 percent of its headquarters staff in response to the downturn in the nation’s economy.
Commissioner Roger Goodell announced the cuts in a memo to league employees. The NFL is eliminating about 150 of its staff of 1,100 in New York, NFL Films in New Jersey and television and Internet production facilities in Los Angeles.
The NFL has been symbolic of the wealth surrounding professional sports – its players will be paid $4.5 billion this year – but it now joins the NBA, NASCAR and the company that runs Major League Baseball’s Internet division in announcing layoffs.
The cuts will take place over the next 60 days, running past the Super Bowl, Feb. 1 in Tampa.
Employees who volunteer to leave will be offered what was termed “a voluntary separation program.”