Buccaneers Make an Attitude Adjustment

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are showing no signs of folding.

The Buccaneers remained in playoff contention as Trent Dilfer threw two touchdown passes and Mike Alstott had a 47-yard scoring run Sunday in a 31-10 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

Tampa Bay (7-3), a game behind Green Bay and Minnesota in the NFC Central, has shaken off a three-game losing streak that followed a 5-0 start. The Buccaneers have won two consecutive games on the road and are only one victory away from ending their streak of 14 losing seasons in a row since 1982.

“Everything in the past is thrown out,” said defensive tackle Brad Culpepper, who had three sacks after being accused of having a foreign substance on his jersey in last week’s win at Indianapolis. “We have different colors. We’re going to be moving into a new stadium. Nothing is like it was in the past.”

The Buccaneers couldn’t afford to slip against Atlanta (2-8), and they didn’t. It was the biggest road victory in team history, eclipsing another landmark win--the 33-14 rout of New Orleans in 1977 after the expansion franchise started with 26 consecutive losses.

The tone was set when Todd Kinchen fumbled during a punt return and Shelton Quarles recovered at the Tampa Bay 48 less than four minutes into the game.

After a five-yard run by Alstott, the 248-pound fullback ran over William White at the line of scrimmage, cut to the outside and ran down the sideline for the touchdown, tumbling into the end zone after Ray Buchanan chopped his legs at the two-yard line.

Kinchen fumbled another punt at the 50 in the fourth quarter--again recovered by Quarles--to set up Tampa Bay’s final touchdown, a 30-yard run by Warrick Dunn with 6:44 to play.