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VIKINGS AGAIN STAND IN PATH OF UNBEATEN BUCS

The Record (Bergen County, NJ) September 14, 1997 | VINNY DiTRANI VINNY DiTRANI The Record (Bergen County, NJ) 09-14-1997 VIKINGS AGAIN STAND IN PATH OF UNBEATEN BUCS By VINNY DiTRANI Date: 09-14-1997, Sunday Section: SPORTS Edition: All Editions — Sunday Column: NFC NOTEBOOK

Last time the Tampa Bay Bucs opened the season with two straight wins was 1992, when they beat the Cardinals and Packers at home. They took that record to the Metrodome, where they were spanked by the Minnesota Vikings, 26-20.

The Buccaneers won just three more games in 1992.

Tony Dungy was in his first year as defensive coordinator of the Vikings that season. Now Dungy is in his second year as Tampa Bay head coach, as the Buccaneers take their perfect record to the Metrodome for an early NFC Central showdown with the 2-0 Vikings.

Showdowns haven’t exactly been populating the Tampa Bay schedule recently, considering the team has had double-digit loss totals in 13 of the last 14 seasons, and dropped nine in the 14th (1995). Last time anyone outside the Tampa city limits — and many within those limits — paid any attention to the Bucs was the strike-shortened season of 1983 when they went 5-4 and lost in the first round of the playoffs to Dallas.

There are signs, however, this Buc team is ready to make some noise other than the huge roar from the simultaneous starting of their car engines moments after a regular-season finale. Dungy, 41, knows it will take a lot more than a win today — which would make Tampa Bay the only undefeated team in the NFC — to convince people that the Buccaneers are more than the NFL’s version of a college homecoming opponent. see here new nfl uniforms

“It’s still very early and we have the reputation of `Oh, they’re Tampa Bay and they’ll fold up,'” he said. “I don’t think that’s going to happen. I would be surprised if we don’t continue to improve.”

Some say it’s those new Buccaneer uniforms — about the only new NFL uniforms in recent years that don’t make you gag — that will keep the Bucs on the winning track. Others, like Dungy, say it’s the players inside those uniforms making the difference.

“We’re stocking up with young players,” he said. “We have the second youngest team in the league and we’re not opposed to playing young players.”

While some coaches think the best thing about young players is they grow older, Dungy has sprinkled his lineup liberally with youngsters.

The defense is thriving with the development of defensive linemen Warren Sapp and Regan Upshaw, linebacker Derrick Brooks, and cornerback Donnie Abraham, all in their second or third years. Middle linebacker Hardy Nickerson provides the veteran leadership. see here new nfl uniforms

The offense features running back Warrick Dunn, fullback Mike Alstott, receivers Reidel Anthony and Karl Williams, plus four linemen in their first or second seasons. The emergence of Trent Dilfer as a force not just on the golf course but also at quarterback is another reason Dungy thinks his Bucs are for real.

“When I took the job, everybody talked about the 10-12 years of losing and all the negatives,” Dungy said. “I didn’t want to look at history. I didn’t see any reason we couldn’t win. We had a lot of young players that were pretty good.”

Oh, yes, don’t forget the Vikings are also a surprising 2-0. “All we’ve heard all week is, `Tampa is 2-0.’ And, `Gee, they’re the undefeated team in the NFC,'” said Minnesota offensive coordinator Brian Billick. “And I think the guys are taking that as a challenge.”

Helping hands don’t stretch far

Last spring the NFL joined with the Canadian Football League in an agreement to aid the CFL through its difficult fiscal times. One of the possibilities mentioned in the agreement was the chance CFL players would become available to NFL teams once the season ends in Canada in late November.

Could this mean a player such as Toronto quarterback Doug Flutie plays the last month of the NFL season for a club that lost its starting quarterback to injury?

Don’t count on it. A player from the CFL is prohibited from playing in the NFL by rule, and it would take a vote of the competition committee to change the bylaw.

“It has been discussed, but we haven’t taken any vote on it,” said Giants general manager George Young, co-chairman of the competition committee. So at least for 1997 there won’t be a late-season influx from Canada. And there doesn’t appear to be great sentiment around the NFL to allow it to occur in the future.

Rhodes may be hitting road

Rumblings continue out of Philadelphia that head coach Ray Rhodes is in his final season with the Eagles because of continuing differences with owner Jeffrey Lurie. Rhodes is upset Lurie won’t spend money to keep players in his program. “It’s very difficult,” Rhodes said when asked about creating continuity when the roster fluctuates drastically every season. “The first year we turned over 30-plus guys. Last year it was 24 guys. This year it’s 23 or 24 guys. I would like to get some continuity and keep a group together for some time, but that’s been hard for me to do.”

Reeves’ closed-door policy

Atlanta coach Dan Reeves closed his practices last week for fear friends of former Falcons personnel man Kenny Herock might feed Herock, now working for Oakland, pertinent info. Reeves did the same thing last year before his Giants played Bill Parcells and the Patriots in the finale. . . . Rams quarterback Tony Banks, who fumbled 21 times as a rookie last year, had three more fumbles last week against the 49ers and has begun carrying a football with him everywhere he goes. Coach Dick Vermeil must have learned that one while covering college games for ABC.

. . . The idea was that putting a fullback in front of Barry Sanders in the Detroit backfield would make Sanders an even more effective runner.

Sanders has run for 53 yards in two games. So much for that theory.