Still trying to get over the hump and into Super Bowl contention, the Buccaneers made two critical offseason acquisitions, one on each side of the ball. Edge rusher Simeon Rice was lured from Arizona to Tampa with the idea that he would be the final piece to a dominant defense that featured Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, Rondé Barber, John Lynch and other stars, a theory that would prove accurate relatively quickly. A year after adding Keyshawn Johnson to the offense, the Bucs signed quarterback Brad Johnson to revive an unproductive passing game, and he threw for 3,406 yards and 13 touchdowns. The Bucs did throw the ball better in 2001, but their usually strong run game cratered to 30th in the league. The Bucs bounced between wins and losses on the way to a 4-5 start but, as had become common under Tony Dungy, raced to the finish with five wins in seven weeks to finish 9-7 and earn another Wild Card berth. And that meant another trip to Philadelphia in the postseason, this one ending in a lopsided 31-9 loss. Barber set a franchise record with 10 interceptions and Rice had 11.0 sacks for the NFL's sixth-ranked defense.
