TAMPA, Fla. - All the good was erased for Ravens safety Rod Woodson once Tampa Bay Buccaneers fullback Mike Alstott rumbled into the end zone.
Alstott's 32-yard touchdown run with 1:35 left in last night's 22-10 win for the Buccaneers over the Ravens was the team's most explosive play, the longest gain by 17 yards.
The Ravens held the Bucs to 213 total yards. Tampa Bay got the ball in Ravens territory in four of its first six drives, but managed just nine points.
"It doesn't matter," Woodson said. "We could have gotten the ball back one more time for our offense. And quite a few guys, including myself, missed a tackle on Alstott on that last play. When that happens, he's a good back who can make good cuts, and he made a good cut to go back across the field and score.
"We get paid to keep people out of the end zone, no matter what the score is.
"I've said it all year," Woodson added. "Truly, I'm disappointed in the way we played as a team."
Alstott scored his touchdown on a second-and-11 with the Bucs up by six. The Ravens had another timeout left and undoubtedly would have used it had they been able to stop Alstott. He and running back Warrick Dunn combined for 127 yards on 27 carries.
"Baltimore was playing some good defense," Alstott said. "We were just trying to put it down their throats. They're a great defense."
New faces
Taking a page from last season's Super Bowl, the Ravens stayed at the same hotel, dressed in the same locker room and played at the same stadium.
The only part that wasn't the same is the Ravens themselves.
Eight of the team's 22 starters are different from the night at Raymond James Stadium in January.
"Last year was last year," Ravens cornerback Chris McAlister said. "We're in Tampa now under totally different circumstances."
Ravens coach Brian Billick, though, admitted he expected to have a few flashbacks when he walked onto the field.
"If you've got to go on the road," Billick said of his team's first away game since Nov. 25 in Jacksonville, "go back to a place where you have some real fond memories."
Coaching ties
Although last night marked the first time the Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have played, the teams' head coaches are hardly strangers.
Billick and Buccaneers coach Tony Dungy were on the Minnesota Vikings' coaching staff together under Dennis Green from 1992 to 1995, with Billick serving as offensive coordinator and Dungy as defensive coordinator.
