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Article: Bucs stamp out 49ers: Gruden to try to get Tampa Bay past Eagles in NFC title game.(The Dallas Morning News)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- January 12, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Rick Gosselin
TAMPA, Fla. _ The time has finally come to determine the value of Jon Gruden as a head football coach.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers fired Tony Dungy as their coach last January because he couldn't beat the Philadelphia Eagles in the playoffs. Now it's Gruden's turn.
The Bucs defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 31-6, on Sunday to advance to the NFC title game against the Eagles, the third consecutive postseason these two have met.
Tampa Bay lost to the Eagles in the wild-card round each of the last two years, failing to score an offensive touchdown in either game. But those were Dungy teams with a heavy defensive stamp.