Bucs intend to make splash on Monday stage

TAMPA, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are eager to show NFL fans across the nation their new identity on a prime-time stage.

A team that was once accustomed to Monday night games, the Bucs have not hosted one on that night in eight years.

Their previous appearance was three years ago -- an ugly loss that began a four-game, season-ending slide that kept them out of the playoffs and cost coach Jon Gruden his job.

All that's history, though.

Tampa Bay (2-1) is building under coach Raheem Morris, who's excited to show off his young team against the Indianapolis Colts (0-3) tonight.

"I said in the locker room, it's an opportunity to show everybody what they've been missing," Morris said, adding that the absence of Colts quarterback Peyton Manning will not take any luster off the occasion for the Bucs, who won 10 games last season and are off to another promising start.

"We're going to a big-time game and big-time environment with a bunch of guys who haven't done it before. Ronde Barber might be the only guy that's played on 'Monday Night Football,' coaches included, so it's all hands on deck," the NFL's youngest head coach said.

"Let's go play a great game on a great stage and act like we've been there before," the 35-year-old Morris said. "And the key to that is to go out there and use our formula. Play fast, play hard, play consistent and do what we do."

Barber, 36 and in his 15th season, is the lone player remaining from Tampa Bay's 2003 Super Bowl winner. He's the oldest player on the league's youngest team. He also knows what it's like to be a young guy heading into his first Monday night game.

The Bucs were fixtures in prime time during their best years, when the roster had a collection of high-profile personalities, including Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, John Lynch, Simeon Rice, Keyshawn Johnson, Warrick Dunn and Mike Alstott.

"When we were good back in the '90s and the early part of this decade, we were pretty well known. We had a lot of name guys," Barber said. "We've yet to have that kind of exposure with the guys in this locker room, that kind of attention, so this is huge for us."

Coming off their Super Bowl title, the Bucs played on Monday night three times in 2003, going 2-1.

Barber will never forget the loss -- 38-35 in overtime to the Colts. Manning threw for 386 yards, and Indianapolis overcame a 21-point deficit in the final five minutes of regulation.

"Believe me, that was a great game for 55 minutes. I scored a touchdown late on an interception, but they showed their resiliency," Barber said.

"It was a frustrating loss. I still cringe when I look at those highlights on NFL Network as one of the best comebacks ever. This is our chance, this 2011 team, to prove who we are."

The Bucs were one of the league's biggest surprises a year ago, narrowly missing the playoffs. They lost this season's opener to Detroit, then rebounded with wins over Minnesota and Atlanta.