Buccaneer Game Plan the Same

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers came into the season-opener against the Dallas Cowboys with a new offensive coordinator and new quarterback--then fell back on Plan B: Let the defense win it.

Brad Johnson led a series of long, slow drives, yet produced only one late touchdown, forcing the Buccaneer defense to hold on for a 10-6 victory over the surprisingly tough Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

“The defense is why I came here,” said Johnson, who also was lured by a $28 million, five-year contract. “They play hard and give us a chance to win.”

Johnson completed his first nine passes and drove the Buccaneers to a field goal on their opening series.

Although Johnson remained steady, the offense failed to reach the end zone until he dove in from the 1 early in the fourth quarter.

Tampa Bay’s defense, well rested thanks to Johnson’s clock-eating possessions, harassed Dallas rookie quarterback Quincy Carter into plenty of first-timer mistakes and limited Emmitt Smith’s running room.

But the Cowboys led 6-3 going into the fourth quarter and had two potential go-ahead drives in the final minutes.

Dallas reached the Tampa Bay 30 the first time, only to lose 11 yards on the next play. The Cowboys punted to the 1 and their defense forced the Buccaneers to go three-and-out for only the second time.

Dallas took over again at the 39, but moved only one yard closer. On fourth down, Carter was intercepted by John Lynch at the 14 with 1:17 left.

Johnson took a knee and the Buccaneers’ first victory in Texas Stadium in eight tries was secure.

“It was too close,” said Warrick Dunn, who had only 56 yards after burning the Cowboys for 210 yards in a 27-7 victory in December. “We made a lot of mistakes offensively.”

Said defensive tackle Warren Sapp: “We’ve got to finish off our drives and score some points.”

Johnson completed 26 of 35 passes for 195 yards. Half of his completions resulted in first downs and the Buccaneers were eight for 16 on third downs.

For Dallas, the close game against a Super Bowl contender was a big confidence booster.

“A lot of people are walking out of here with a different feeling about this team,” said Smith, who ran for 40 yards and needs 64 more to pass Barry Sanders (15,268) as the No. 2 NFL career rusher. “Nobody gave up and that gave us a chance to win.”