TAMPA — Pass rushers are like big-game hunters. They can proudly tell you in great detail the story behind every trophy mounted on their wall. They can also tell you, albeit with a tinge of frustration, about every prize that somehow slipped away.
Defensive end Robert Ayers, the Buccaneers’ newest big-game hunter, tells just such a tale from last season, when he had a career-best 9.5 sacks with the Giants.
“In my mind I had 10 sacks last year,’’ Ayers said. “But they took a half away.”
The poaching took place during the Week 16 game frigid Sunday night in Minnesota.