Buccaneers Are Kings for a Day

Quarterback Shaun King showed that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers can live without Trent Dilfer.

No surprise.

Running back Mike Alstott showed that Tampa Bay can get by without Warrick Dunn.

No sweat.

But most importantly of all, the Buccaneer defense showed that Jeff George, Cris Carter, Randy Moss and the rest of that Minnesota Viking airborne offense can be shut down.

No kidding.

The result was an impressive 24-17 Buccaneer victory over Minnesota in a key battle among two of the three teams who started the week atop the NFC Central, a win coming in a game played Monday night in front of a record Raymond James Stadium crowd of 65,741 and a national television audience.

The victory leaves the Buccaneers tied atop the NFC Central with the Detroit Lions, both at 8-4, while the Vikings fall to 7-5, tying them with the Green Bay Packers.

Tampa Bay, which began the game with the No. 2-ranked defense in the league, a unit that had seven interceptions in its previous two games, played to form despite the fact they were facing the top pass offense in the league.

They knew all about George, the Minnesota quarterback, and his 5-0 mark since taking over for Randall Cunningham. They were well aware of Carter, who had caught at least one touchdown pass in each of his previous six games and had 638 receiving yards since George assumed command. They didn’t have to be told about Moss, the smooth, flashy receiver who requires only an inch of room to go a mile.

But Tampa Bay served notice early that the Vikings would have to check their weapons at the gate.

George got his notice on the third play of the game. Taking a step back at the Tampa Bay 39-yard line, he tried to throw a quick pass to Leroy Hoard just across the line of scrimmage. Instead, Buccaneer defensive back Donnie Abraham blitzed in, leaped high, grabbed the football and was off for the end zone before the Vikings could get their hands on him.

That immediately took some pressure off King, and that was much appreciated.

With Dilfer, who had been the starting quarterback, probably out for the season after breaking his right collarbone last week, the Buccaneers were forced to start King, who was making the first start of his pro career in the “Monday Night Football” glare.

And as if King didn’t have enough on his young shoulders, he was starting in front of his family and friends, having grown up in St. Petersburg.

Tough spot? Piece of cake.

King was cool, calm and productive, completing 11 of 19 passes for 93 yards and two touchdowns, a 29-yarder to Jacquez Green and a clutch one-yard toss to Dave Moore in the fourth quarter to give Tampa Bay the margin it would need to hang on.

King’s low passing yardage can be traced to the fact that he only threw the ball when he had to. That’s the just the way Tampa Bay Coach Tony Dungy scripted it. Dungy knew that if his team fell behind and he had to cut King loose, it could be dangerous.

Dunn was out because of a sprained ankle, but Dungy hoped that Alstott and the defense could carry much of the workload, leaving King to throw only in those spots that were most advantageous to him.

Alstott did his part, carrying the ball 23 times for 95 yards.

And the defense proved worthy of its high ranking, picking off two of George’s passes, both by Abraham, and sacking George three times.

“Our guys hung in there against a lot of adversity,” Dungy said. “We had our hands full. The character of our team really showed.

“The guys rallied around Shaun. He really knows what he’s doing. I think we’ll keep Shaun starting. He’s got a nice little streak going.”

Alstott was impressed.

“Shaun did a great job of getting us in the right position, checking off to the right play all night,” Alstott said. “He played like we needed him to. His poise was very impressive. He had control of the huddle. He never panicked. He just did what a quarterback is supposed to do.”

For awhile Monday, it looked as if King and company might dominate. They led 10-0 in the second quarter when Abraham’s interception and subsequent touchdown was followed by a 20-yard Martin Gramatica field goal.

But even a Tampa Bay defense playing at the peak of its game was not going to shut down Minnesota.

And sure enough, the Vikings came back before the half to not only get back into the game, but to take the lead.

The Viking rally began with one of King’s few mistakes of the night, a fumble that gave the Vikings the ball at the Tampa Bay 22. From there, they drove to the one and Hoard took the ball across the goal line on a play that had to be reviewed on replay before it was made official.

Another Buccaneer mistake led to seven more points by Minnesota. This time, it was a muffed punt return by Karl Williams, giving the Vikings the ball at the Tampa Bay 10 with just under a minute to play. George wound up finding Carter on a one-yard touchdown pass play to extend the receiver’s streak and move Minnesota into a 14-10 advantage.

But King also showed resiliency on this night, coming back with the two touchdown passes in the second half that put the game out of reach.

“Usually a good offense beats a good defense,” Minnesota Coach Dennis Green said.

Maybe so, but not this time.

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* REWIND: WEEK 13

It looks as if Dan Marino will have trouble getting that elusive Super Bowl ring. Page 4

* ACCUSATIONS

NFL official accused of nepotism a day after Washington is called for a season-high 14 penalties in loss to Detroit. Page 4