Buccaneers and Dilfer Rebound

A conservative game plan helped Trent Dilfer regain his confidence and keep a promise.

Bouncing back from the worst performance of his career, Tampa Bay’s second-year quarterback from Fresno State used high-percentage passes and the legs of Errict Rhett to beat the Washington Redskins, 14-6, on Sunday.

Dilfer assured anyone who would listen in the past week that he had put an error-filled, 22-6 loss to Chicago behind him and vowed to be a more patient passer against the Redskins.

After completing four of five passes for only 24 yards in the first half, Dilfer was six for seven for 75 yards in the third quarter, when Rhett carried 10 times for 47 yards and a touchdown.

“I prepared for this game as if it was the biggest of my life,” Dilfer said. “I went over every single play, all the options, each possible scenario. I felt like I didn’t make a single stupid throw.”

Rhett’s 10-yard run put the Buccaneers (2-2) ahead, 7-6, and a disputed seven-yard touchdown catch by Alvin Harper made it 14-6 less than a minute into the fourth quarter.

The defense made the lead stand, stopping Washington’s last threat after Gus Frerotte marched the Redskins to the Buccaneer one in the closing seconds. Frerotte threw an interception on the final play.

Washington (1-3), needing a touchdown and two-point conversion to send the game into overtime, squandered its chances.

One play after a pass-interference call in the end zone on Tampa Bay’s Tony Stargell, Frerotte’s short pass in the flat to a wide-open Cedric Smith glanced off the fullback’s hands.

“I’m going to kick myself for the rest of the season,” Smith said. “I should have caught the ball.”

On fourth down, Scott Galbraith was open but Frerotte instead threw to Coleman Bell in the back of the end zone and the pass was intercepted by Martin Mayhew.

Dilfer, intercepted four times last week, finished 13 of 18 for 136 yards with no interceptions.