PITTSBURGH -- It was only one win. But it might end up having an important place in history.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 27-24 victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday might end up being a turning point in franchise history. A struggling young team went into a hostile environment and beat a team it wasn’t supposed to.
It looked an awful lot like the biggest turning point in franchise history. That was back in 1996 when first-year coach Tony Dungy took a struggling team out to San Diego. The Bucs pulled off an upset that day that Hall of Famers Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks have referred to as the turning point that led to the team’s only period of sustained success.
Like Dungy’s team, this year’s version of the Bucs struggled early. The Bucs came into the game at 0-3 and were coming off a 56-14 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Around Tampa Bay, fans were starting to question whether coach Lovie Smith knew what he was doing. Despite the criticism, Smith stuck with his philosophy.
On Sunday, that paid off. The pass rush showed up for the first time all season, and quarterback Mike Glennon, playing for an injured Josh McCown, provided a spark for the offense. But Sunday might have had as much to do with the future as it does the present.
“I definitely believe in momentum," Smith said. “Sometimes nothing good happens until you just keep going. Once you get that momentum, you find a way to win. You have to experience it first. We didn’t know how to win."
Now, the Bucs know what winning feels like.
“This is just a step," Smith said. “We talk about quarters [of the season]. This is the last game of the first quarter. We have many seasons through the year. To be able to finish off this first quarter on a win and to have the opportunity to win was big."
It’s big because this season still has potential. If the Bucs continue to play like they did against the Steelers, they’ll have a shot at a successful season.
“It takes time," Smith said. “Any new program starting out, you’d like to be playoff-ready right away, but that didn’t happen. You’d just like to win a game right away, and that didn’t happen. It takes a little bit of time, but the guys have continued to work hard. Eventually things just kind of clicked a little bit. We still have a long way to go."
But at least the Bucs finally got on the right path.
