TAMPA — Bye-bye, Buc Ball. Defense put the Bucs on the map. Tony Dungy’s defense made the Bucs into winners. Even when Jon Gruden closed the deal, it was about defense.
Now it isn’t.
We knew it before Lovie Smith was fired Wednesday, probably knew it last draft, when Jameis Winston was taken first and lineman Donovan Smith and Ali Marpet were selected, a year after Mike Evans and Charles Sims were picked.
Regardless of whether Dirk Koetter is the next head coach, O has overtaken D in Tampa Bay. Maybe for good.
The Bucs have a quarterback ownership believes in, so much so that it was moved past Smith and Buc Ball nostalgia, made easier when Lovie’s defense collapsed down the stretch.