TAMPA, Fla. -- Not too many miles from Raymond James Stadium, 'The Boss' performed on Sunday evening.

According to the published play list, and keeping with his choices earlier in the tour, it's likely the concert featured selections from "The Rising" with very few vintage standards. But since there was a large contingent of Tampa Bay Buccaneers players heading to the concert, maybe they could have imposed upon Bruce Springsteen to belt out at least a quick chorus of "Glory Days," huh?

	Simeon Rice sacked Brett Favre twice in the Bucs' win.

Or perhaps more appropriately, after Sunday's manhandling of the arch rival Green Bay Packers, the lesser known "No Surrender."

We made a promise, we swore we'd always remember

No retreat, believe me, no surrender

It's doubtful many of the Tampa Bay veterans, embittered by the blood feud with the Packers from the years when the teams battled in the old NFC Central, have ever heard the lyrics. No matter. The Bucs lived those words anyway in a 21-7 victory that left Tampa Bay (9-2) with the best record in the NFL and a leg up in the battle for home-field advantage in the playoffs.

Save for a first-quarter Green Bay touchdown, a score that came after an interception by Rob Johnson, the Bucs defense permitted zilch. The victory established the Bucs as the latest Super Bowl favorite in this roller coaster season, and left the veterans of past battles to do a little woofin' afterward.

For the NFL's top-ranked defense, a throwback group that swarms to the football like bees on honey, there was, indeed, no surrender.

"I've never been on a defense this good," said cornerback Ronde Barber, who had one of his team's four interceptions. "It's a constant thing. There is no let-down. Never. We come out every game trying to shut people down. I would say the only disappointment today was we didn't get a shutout. Now wouldn't that have been something?"

It would be picking nits to find much fault, of course, with a defense that is still the heart and soul of the NFL's premier team. This was supposed to be, under first-year coach and offensive guru Jon Gruden, a Bucs club that went up and down the field and made fans forget the anemic attacks of the past. It hasn't worked out that way. Tampa Bay still wins most weeks the old-fashioned way.

Which is to say the defense suffocates its opponent while the offense gets just enough points to stay ahead. This is hardly the manner by which the ever-scheming Gruden thought that he would win but, with a nod toward predecessor Tony Dungy, he isn't about to hand back hard-earned victories.

This marked the fifth straight time the Bucs have topped Green Bay here and they did it by clamping down on the Packers' rushing game, harassing Brett Favre into killer errors, and frustrating the league's best clutch player. Besides the four interceptions, Tampa Bay sacked Favre three times.

Green Bay managed just 15 first downs and 267 yards, and had eight possessions end on punts and four on turnovers. This marked the fifth straight game at Raymond James Stadium in which Green Bay failed to score a touchdown on the ground; the Packers have averaged a paltry 76 rushing yards over that span.

Suddenly the Packers, on top of the NFL just two weeks ago, have dropped consecutive games. And in the two-game losing streak, Favre has thrown seven interceptions, after throwing away just four in the first nine games.

"The one thing about Brett," said Bucs cornerback Brian Kelly, who had two of the four interceptions, "is that he's always going to try to make a play out there. Most times, I'd say, he makes them. But there are times you can take a play away from him, too, take advantage of his competitiveness. We seem to be able to do that better than other teams do."

That the Bucs were again so successful against the Green Bay offense was due mostly to their ability to chase Favre with a four-man rush. Tampa Bay blitzed rarely and, while defensive tackle Warren Sapp had zero tackles according to the unofficial statistics, he was active enough upfront to allow his teammates to make plays.

	“	I've never been on a defense this good. It's a constant thing. There is no let-down. Never. We come out every game trying to shut people down. I would say the only disappointment today was we didn't get a shutout. Now wouldn't that have been something? ”
		— Ronde Barber, Bucs cornerback

Fellow tackle Chartric Darby had one sack, when Sapp collapsed two Green Bay blockers, and end Simeon Rice collared Favre on two occasions. There were times when the Packers took advantage of Sapp, running inside of him for a couple healthy gains when he aligned at end, and his biggest damage may have come in knocking Green Bay left tackle Chad Clifton out of the game on a dubious hit after an interception.

But the loquacious Sapp remains the centerpiece of the Bucs defense and, as usual, its most verbose booster.

"We just play (all the way) to the wall every snap," Sapp said. "That was our kind of football out there today."

For sure, the Bucs were content to lay back in their trademark "Cover 2" scheme and wait for Favre and the Packers to make mistakes. And when the errors came, Tampa Bay jumped on them. Not surprisingly both Tampa Bay touchdowns, a four-yard catch by wide receiver Joe Jurevicius and a three-yard grab from tight end Ken Dilger, came after takeaways.

"Call it whatever you want to," free safety Dexter Jackson said. "I guess we're just opportunistic. Resourceful. Whatever. But we're winners. And we keep showing that winners never give in, OK? We don't surrender."

Yeah, 'The Boss' would get it.

Like soldiers in the winter's night with a vow to defend

No retreat, believe me, no surrender

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.