TAMPA – The Buccaneer game plan is clear: stop Curtis Martin and dare rusty Vinny Testaverde, who doesn’t have Keyshawn Johnson anymore, to beat them.
“Vinny I think is not playing as sharp as he did in ’98 before he got hurt; he was just deadly that year throwing 65 percent completions,” Tampa Bay coach Tony Dungy said. “What he’s doing is he’s making the big play when they need it. And he’s getting rid of the ball. He’s only been sacked twice this year. He just has a feel for their offense that a veteran quarterback has.”
Dungy, refreshingly honest, elaborated after practice about the rust on Testaverde.
“I don’t think he’s as comfortable and as sharp when you watch tape fom ’98, where every ball is on the money and in some incredibly tight spots,” Dungy said, “and then you see him miss some guys who are open and just slightly overthrow guys, I think that is natural and to be expected and he’s gonna get better as the season goes on.
“The thing is it hasn’t discouraged the Jets, it hasn’t discouraged him and they’ve just been able to continue to run their offense and make the fourth-quarter plays when they needed to.”
But this time Testaverde may have to make them against the quickest and most explosive defense in the league. NFC Defensive Player of the Week Warren Sapp has 5½ of the Bucs’ league-leading 18 sacks.
“The thing that we gotta do is come out and get this running game under control because they’re committed to running the ball,” Sapp said. “This guy has 70 rushes in three games and you don’t find that with many backs in this league and that’s gotta be our challenge.”
Martin is 70-241-2 TDs rushing and 10-78-1 TD receiving.
“He can run any play; he’s tough; he can make you miss and he knows what it takes to get those big yards in the fourth quarter,” Dungy said. “He’s the bonafide Pro Bowl back.”
The Bucs have been unfazed by the Keyshawn Circus.
“This ain’t no soap opera, and nothing Keyshawn says, or nothing [Kevin] Mawae says or anybody else says is gonna win or lose this ballgame,” Sapp said. “It’s gonna be won out there on the field for 60 minutes. That’s where it’s all about.
“You want a soap opera go home and turn on ABC and watch “General Hospital,” ’cause we’re gonna go out and play football.” Sapp is tickled that the Bucs (93 points) finally have an offense. And he knows exactly what intangible Keyshawn brings.
“I think [he brings] a presence, and that’s the one thing that we never had, an identity,” Sapp said. “It’s Shaun’s [King] offense and Keyshawn’s a big part of it and Mike [Alstott] and Warrick [Dunn] is, too, and I think the one thing that he’s doing that we’ve never had around here is pushing them toward greatness.” Sapp to this day remains incredulous that the Jets traded Keyshawn for the 13th and 27th picks in the draft.
“You don’t let a player like that … that’s like me being traded away from the Bucs,” he said. “You just don’t give away your best player on your ballclub … for two first-round picks. You can get 40 first-round picks and maybe never find another player like that.
“Who’d they get with those picks?”
John Abraham and Anthony Becht.
“Exactly,” Sapp said.
