The mystery surrounding it has never really been solved. Sure there are a lot of theories; Monte’s resignation, Injuries to players, the list goes on. The Bottom line is it was the greatest collapse in the history of Tampa Bay Buccaneers football as well as football in general: a 9-3 Football team fighting for the No.2 seed and homefield advantage all of a sudden not even making the playoffs! It all started here, with the Carolina Panthers running up 301 rushing yards on Tampa Bay’s vaunted defense, and NO, I refuse to count Jake Delhomme’s kneel down for -2 yards which brought the total to 299. Sorry, it was 300 yards folks, and it wasn’t the end either.
Check out the final insult to the Bucs defense if you have the stomach for it, by clicking this link. Its High Definition. Now when the Bucs played the Panthers here in Tampa last year, The Bucs gave up 267 yards rushing then too. This was of course prior to Raheem Morris taking over the defense. What was the difference? The Tampa Two predicates 4 quick undersized defensive linemen penetrating deep into the offensive backfield. Its not about being a 380 pound behemoth and waiting and reacting, its about charging, penetrating your gap, and getting into the backfield to disrupt the running play before it even happens. In the rematch in Carolina, the Bucs were more respectable with only allowing 157 yards rushing (yes I said only). That has to get better, mediocrity cannot be accepted. The Bucs went out and addressed the Defensive line by drafting Gerald McCoy and Brian Price, two defensive tackles that meet the specifics of the Tampa Two defense perfectly. Lightning quick, they are able to run the one gap system to the specs Tony Dungy and Monte Kiffin set out originally. Remember, it was the Tampa Two the Bucs were running when they gave up the 301 yards, so its not just the system, its the players that are running it.
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