Eagles Plan to Let Bucs Do All Talking
siliconinvestor.com
By ROB MAADDI 01/14/2003 02:37:46 EST
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers do a lot of talking, and the Philadelphia Eagles aren't listening.
"We're not worrying about what they say," running back Duce Staley said Monday. "We do our talking with what we do on the field.
Led by trash-talking stars Warren Sapp and Keyshawn Johnson, the Buccaneers (13-4) are coming to Veterans Stadium for the third straight year in the playoffs.
This time, a berth in the Super Bowl is at stake when Tampa plays the Eagles (13-4) in the NFC championship game Sunday. The Bucs lost first-round playoff games in Philadelphia the last two seasons.
"It's all or nothing this time," defensive end Hugh Douglas said.
The Eagles knocked the Bucs out of the playoffs with a 21-3 victory in 2000, and a 31-9 win last season. Tony Dungy was fired after last year's loss, and replaced by Jon Gruden. The Eagles also beat Tampa 20-10 earlier this season.
Return specialist Brian Mitchell hasn't forgotten the Bucs' incessant yapping from three months ago.
"They said I'm ancient, that I'm an old man," the 34-year-old Mitchell said. "So I did what old men do, I slapped the young guys all around the field."
Now the Bucs are looking for payback. They insist this is the matchup they wanted, even though they've lost four in a row to Philadelphia.
"This is to exorcise all the demons," defensive end Simeon Rice said. "Definitely, we want this. If you don't want this, then you don't want to consider yourself the best because they're the best team right now in the NFC."
The Eagles have heard this before.
"Let them talk," right tackle Jon Runyan said.
The Eagles had success running against Tampa's top-ranked defense in their first matchup this season. Staley had 152 yards on 24 carries.
"We're taking time out to run the ball more, so as the game goes on, we're getting better," Staley said.
The Bucs were able to keep Donovan McNabb in the pocket, holding him to 4 yards rushing, including a 1-yard TD run. But McNabb did enough to help the Eagles get the win, passing for 127 yards and one TD.
"It's the playoffs and you have to take your game up another notch," McNabb said. "We're excited about where we're at, but it feels like it's somewhat unfinished business. We have goals that we set in the offseason and we want to get there."
The Eagles advanced to the NFC title game for the second consecutive season with a 20-6 victory over Atlanta on Saturday night. Tampa dominated San Francisco 31-6 Sunday.
Philadelphia hasn't reached the Super Bowl in 22 years. The Bucs are 0-2 in NFC championship games.
"We feel good about where we are and what's going on in our locker room and likewise, they feel real good about where they are," cornerback Troy Vincent said.
"They have a lot to prove. They're coming back up north, they didn't like the outcome of the last game and they spoke about that candidly. They're going to put together a good plan this week." |
