| | TAMPA, Fla. -- Trent Dilfer, Eric Zeier, Shaun King -- it
probably didn't matter who played quarterback.
With the way the defense played and the way Mike Alstott ran,
Doug Williams might have been able to guide the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers to victory Monday night.
Of course, it was King's night in the spotlight and if nothing
else, he proved to be a rookie who catches on quickly. He knows
Tampa Bay quarterbacks don't have to be brilliant for the Bucs
to win.
King threw for a meager 93 yards in his first NFL start, but
that was enough. Tampa Bay defeated the Minnesota Vikings 24-17 and
gained a share of first place in the NFC Central.
"He's a young, mature athlete -- very bright," said Alstott,
who finished with 95 yards on 23 carries.
"He throws a nice, catchable ball," receiver Jacquez Green
said. "I wasn't surprised he did so well. Our offense isn't that
complicated and he can do it all."
Playing for a team that simply asks its quarterbacks not to make
mistakes, King completed 11 of 19 passes. He scrambled away from
trouble all night and threw for two touchdowns, one of which
belongs on a highlight reel.
That was the 29-yard touchdown pass to Green that put the Bucs
ahead 17-14 in the third quarter.
The throw was something of a force into double coverage. Had it
been intercepted, it would have been viewed as a typical rookie
mistake. But Green leaped, ignored a defender draped on his back
and made a spectacular catch.
So the perception quickly changed: King was savvy enough to know he was throwing to a talented receiver who could go up and make a
big play.
"Shaun did a great job of taking what was available," Bucs
coach Tony Dungy said. "He knows what he's doing. He played well.
He was more composed out there than I was. I'm going to keep
starting him next week."
That means the dream sequence will continue for King, a
second-round draft pick out of Tulane who grew up across the bay in
St. Petersburg, close enough to watch Williams, the former Tampa
Bay quarterback, guide the Buccaneers in their formative years.
In a season when Dilfer has provided nothing but heartache for
the Bucs, King has quickly become an obvious favorite of fans and
teammates alike. For at least one game, he drew a starkly different
reaction than Dilfer would have after a sub-100 yard game.
King said it was a rewarding evening.
"I was very excited out there, but I had a great time," he
said. "I wasn't nervous and I tried to concentrate on doing my
job. I thought the coaches did a really good job preparing me this
week. My goal now is to improve upon the throws I missed and put us
in a position to win next Sunday against Detroit."
The Buccaneers will be going for their sixth straight victory
and sole possession of first place in the NFC Central. That's not
normally a time for rookie quarterbacks to take center stage.
But with the defense playing the way it is and Alstott churning
out the yards, King clearly has a chance to learn on the job. Dungy
said he's a joy to teach.
"It's not easy to come out on national TV and play well in your
first NFL start," Dungy said. "But we said all week that Shaun
was a very poised young man, and I think that came out loud and
clear tonight." | |
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