But the blindside hits have come from fans and the media, not snorting pass rushers.
Dilfer was more guarded than usual last week heading up to Sunday's encounter with the Minnesota Vikings, beating the recent blitz of criticism by throwing a career-high three touchdowns and no interceptions.
"It was good for him, no question about it. We have a lot of faith in him and we might be a minority in the city," Bucs coach Tony Dungy said.
When Dilfer performs as flawlessly as he did against the Vikings, it is easy to see why the Bucs believe he will fulfill draft-day expectations.
Tampa Bay is 7-1 in the games Dilfer has started and not thrown an interception and 3-3 when he passes for at least one TD.
But Dilfer was ranked 31st among the 32 NFL quarterbacks who qualified for passer ratings. Three of his 10 interceptions were returned for scores during the Bucs' five-game losing streak to start the season.
As the fans and media turned up the heat, Dilfer grew tired of being burned by his comments. So last week, he chose his words carefully and generally seemed more aloof.
"I will continue to be. I've just learned," Dilfer said. "I think that I've bent over backwards for a lot of media people and the one thing I can say for myself is that I'm always honest. I don't ever feed you a line of B.S. because I saw someone who did that constantly and saw the way it was accepted. I guess I was too honest, sometimes. I set myself up for some cheap shots."
After a 27-0 loss to Detroit on Sept. 29 in which he had one of his two interceptions returned 98 yards for a touchdown, Dilfer said "Fans who think booing is going to affect me or my teammates are ignorant."
He particularly was irked when comments he aimed at taunting Bucs fans were taken out of context.
"Someone made a good point to me that was totally in my corner that said you should know better than to even use that word (ignorant)," Dilfer said. "It's a loaded word. And he's right. You make mistakes, you live with them and you move on."
Last week, Dilfer was a primary focus of an article in Sports Illustrated by senior writer Peter King on highly drafted quarterbacks who are flopping in the NFL.
Former Bucs coach Sam Wyche, whom Dilfer fueded publicly with last season, criticized Dilfer for not being dedicated.
"He thinks he gives the game a lot of time," Wyche tells SI. "But he never gave the game the time other quarterbacks I've had gave it."
Dilfer says he still has not read the article, but added that thin-skinned family members and friends have bent his ear about the criticism.
"I don't think I've been unfairly treated," Dilfer said. "I think it's part of the job. I get paid a lot of money to deal with it and it's part of the deal."
But Dilfer admitted Monday that he has struggled to keep emotions in check and become a more subdued personality.
"I used to come off the field in college and ream everybody in sight," Dilfer said. "I've just learned it's just not the way to do it. You see weaknesses in your personality. I guess it works for Dan Marino, but I don't know many others it works for. You've got to be the same way all the time.
"My goal is to be emotionally stable throughout the year. And I had visions of horrible things happening, I had visions of great things happening and I didn't know which was going to happen. Unfortunately, the bad thing happened the first five games of the season. But I didn't go back on what I believe, which is you have to remain on an even keel."
Dilfer said the five-day hiatus during the bye week helped clear his mind and restore his legs for Sunday's game against Minnesota. Dungy said Wednesday's practice was the best this season and before the game "sensed a little electricity that wasn't there previously."
Dilfer credited the improved play of his offensive line for dictating the outcome of the game. As for Dilfer's performance, it might discourage any more roughing the quarterback.
"I really don't feel I played much different than I had the last couple weeks," Dilfer said. "I just think things worked out better this week.
"My confidence was never really down, but I think this boosts your confidence a little bit. And I think it takes some of the heat off of you."
