TAMPA, Fla. -- The stage was set for another Denver fourth-quarter comeback, only this time there was no John Elway to lead it.

	The Bucs' Chidi Ahanotu and Warren Sapp, left, combine for a fourth-quarter sack of Brian Griese.

Tampa Bay's defense lived up to its ranking as the stingiest in the NFL, preying on Brian Griese's inexperience in the closing minutes to hold off the winless defending Super Bowl champions for a 13-10 victory.

The Bucs defense once again saved the day for an offense that has had problems scoring.

"A win is a win. I don't care if it's a Picasso or I drew it," said Bucs defensive tackle Warren Sapp, who told ESPN's Ed Werder after the game that he broke two bones in his left hand during the first half

"Elway could not have got them down the field. They were going to lose this ballgame. It came down a situation where they needed 85 yards to beat us. No, not today."

Denver became the first defending Super Bowl champion to begin a season with three consecutive losses in a non-strike season. The New York Giants started 0-5 in 1987 following a Super Bowl championship campaign, but three of those losses were with replacement players.

"We're not used to this situation, but it's a learning experience. We've been on top, now we've got to experience how it feels to be on the bottom," said Terrell Davis, the league's MVP last season.

		Sunday, Sept. 26 Rushing the football and defending the run are the two things that carry the Denver Broncos, so I don't like to see people blame Brian Griese. He is a young quarterback just starting the third game of his career. Don't look to look to Greise to carry this football team. As stated by Warren Sapp, Terrell Davis is the engine that makes the Broncos offense go. When you don't run the ball and you don't defend the run, you are going to have problems. As for the Buccaneers' offensive strategy Sunday, when you have a great defense like they do, if you don't turn the ball over and give the other offense extra opportunities to score, your defense will hold up well. The Bucs showed that.

"Teams have started out slowly and come back strong, so hopefully we'll be able to do that," added coach Mike Shanahan.

But no reigning champs have ever dug themselves out of a deeper hole to successfully defend their title. The Dallas Cowboys were 0-2 when Emmitt Smith ended a contract holdout in 1993, then went on to win the Super Bowl again.

"We just have to go back to work," Davis said. "There are still 13 games left."

Mike Alstott rushed for a career-high 131 yards and scored on a 28-yard run in the first quarter for the Buccaneers. But in the end, the league's No. 1 defense was the difference.

Davis failed to gain 100 yards for the third consecutive game, picking up 53 on 19 carries, and Griese failed to lead the Broncos to a first down on two possessions in the final 4:08.

The Bucs (2-1) intercepted Elway's successor once, setting up one of Martin Gramatica's two field goals, and the Denver quarterback was sacked twice on the last two drives.

Shanahan replaced Griese with Bubby Brister in the fourth quarter of last week's loss to Kansas City, however he didn't yank his young starter this time.

"I thought about it, but I really didn't think it was the quarterback," the Broncos coach said.

Trent Dilfer bounced back from poor performances in Tampa Bay's first two games to complete 15 of 18 passes for 135 yards.

	GAME NOTES
	Ed McCaffrey's touchdown was the first against the Tampa Bay defense in 13 quarters, a streak that began in the last game of 1998. The Bucs had never won a game against a defending Super Bowl champion, losing 10 consecutive times before Sunday. Neil Smith had two of Denver's seven sacks, giving him 101 in his career. Running back Warrick Dunn led the Bucs with nine receptions for 82 yards.

The Broncos had seven sacks after not having any in losses to Miami and Kansas City, but they weren't able to rattle Dilfer into making costly mistakes.

The Bucs controlled the ball on the ground with Alstott, and Dilfer didn't have any turnovers after throwing five interceptions and losing a fumble that was returned for a touchdown in the first two games.

The Bucs never tested the Broncos downfield, but made good use of high-percentage passes to set up Alstott's touchdown run and two field goals in the first half.

Dilfer was 10-for-11 in the first two quarters, although his longest completion was a 16-yarder to Warrick Dunn on a third-down swing pass that the running back turned into a big gainer.

"It's nasty, and it's ugly, but it gets the job done," said Dilfer, who was bothered by leg cramps in the second half.

The Broncos, meanwhile, continued to struggle on offense. They finished with 173 total yards, including just 53 on the ground.

Davis, who gained 2,008 yards last season, has failed to gain 100 in three straight games for the first time since the last two weeks of the 1997 regular season and the opener in 1998 .

Denver's only touchdown came after Tampa Bay's Jacquez Green mishandled a punt that bounced through his hands and legs, and Chris Watson recovered at the Bucs' 12.

Two plays later, Griese threw a 12-yard TD pass to Ed McCaffrey to make it 7-7 late in the first quarter. The Broncos didn't seriously threaten again until Jason Elam kicked a 44-yard field goal less than a minute into the fourth quarter.

Griese finished 14-for-28 for 132 yards.