PHILADELPHIA -- Fireworks above the field, flyovers above the stadium, and Rocky leading the cheers.

How could the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat that?

In every way possible.

The Super Bowl champions began defense of their title Monday night by turning the Linc into their personal playground. Less than eight months after they throttled the Eagles for the NFC championship in the final game at Veterans Stadium, the Bucs moved their act across the street to Lincoln Financial Field and blanked Philadelphia 17-0.

A suffocating defense, some sharp passing from Brad Johnson and two spectacular touchdown catches by Joe Jurevicius keyed the dominant win.

''We kind of embrace all this Philly love,'' linebacker Derrick Brooks, the 2002 Defensive Player of the Year, said.

''We want to play well, especially when we play the Eagles,'' added All-Pro defensive tackle Warren Sapp, who even made a 14-yard gain as a tight end. ''It's one of those deals where we don't like each other. We really don't.''

But the Bucs sure liked coming to Philadelphia this year.

''We played the way we expected to play,'' Sapp said. ''Once we got it rolling, you know how we are. We're like sharks with blood in the water. We're coming.''

The rest of the league better look out. After a sloppy first half, the Bucs took on the look of a budding dynasty. Johnson went 13-for-14 for 119 yards. Jurevicius finished one drive with a brilliant 7-yard TD catch on which he tipped a high pass into the air at the 2, slipped around a defender and made a lunging reception in the end zone for a 17-0 lead.

Earlier, on a 13-yard score to cap a 12-play, 80-yard drive, Jurevicius leaped in the corner of the end zone for Johnson's pinpoint pass and caught it while barely tiptoeing inbounds for the touchdown.

''I felt like I was throwing to Yao Ming out there,'' Johnson joked.

''These fans, as much as I hate them because I play for Tampa Bay, are great fans,'' Jurevicius said, ''and to come into this stadium in front of a hostile crowd, we just had a lot go for us tonight.''

So much so that Philadelphia gained just 245 yards, much of it in garbage time. Quarterback Donovan McNabb was 19-for-36 for 148 yards.

The Eagles never caught a spark from the pyrotechnics that inaugurated the $520 million stadium. A 40-minute pregame celebration for the new building was about all the excitement the locals got. The Eagles even brought out Philadelphia's favorite fictional hero, ''Rocky.'' Sylvester Stallone, wearing a No. 22 Eagles jersey, wildly pumped his arms and exhorted the crowd into a frenzy.

Then the Bucs put on the silencer.

''They play well together and they were feeding off each other's energy,'' McNabb said. ''Everybody talks about this game because of the rematch from last year. We realize that we have 15 games left.''

The Bucs have 15 games in which to display just how balanced they are. Tampa Bay ended the 2002 season with a 15-0 win at Chicago, so it's on a shutout streak, too.

While Sapp played a huge role in the shutout, he also got to strut his stuff on offense. Inserted as an extra tight end, he made a 14-yard fourth-quarter reception on which he faked out two Eagles to get to the Philadelphia 11-yard line. After his first career catch, Sapp made an exaggerated first-down signal, the final insult to the quiet fans who expected so much more from their team.

''I don't think I was actually running down the field, and I thought I was going to fumble a few times,'' he said. ''That's a favorite route of the tight end, because you run away from everybody and don't get knocked out.''

The knockout punch belonged to the Bucs.

''Philly fans will definitely remember us for a lot of years,'' Johnson said.