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RICK STROUDSAINTS 17, BUCS 14: Despite six turnovers, Tampa Bay has a chance to win before John Carney's late field goal.
TAMPA - Keenan McCardell held the ball aloft in the end zone. The sellout crowd erupted. The sideline emptied, and the dark cloud that had followed the Buccaneers on Sunday disappeared.
The world champions had rallied from a 14-point deficit against the Saints in the fourth quarter.
The tying touchdown came on fourth and 10 with 2:08 left, just moments after the public address announcer spilled the beans about Carolina getting upset by Houston.
The Bucs were fit to be tied.
They had knotted the score, and with a comeback victory against the Saints, they finally could even the NFC South in Charlotte next week.
What more could the Bucs ask for?
They were set up better than the Bachelor.
"But the cards aren't playing themselves out like they're supposed to, right?" cornerback Ronde Barber said.
In just two minutes, the time it takes to microwave a bag of popcorn, the Bucs watched it all slip away.
John Carney kicked a 47-yard field goal with eight seconds left to give the Saints a 17-14 victory against the Bucs. The kick capped a 43-yard drive with no timeouts led by quarterback Aaron Brooks, who completed five consecutive passes.
In losing for the third time in four games at Raymond James Stadium, the Bucs dropped to 4-4, matching the number of defeats during last year's Super Bowl season.
"It's always hard. It's hard to swallow any time you get beat," Bucs coach Jon Gruden said. "We've had our share of swallowing this year. We've swallowed some real whoppers. But you know what? There's a lot of teams in similar straits that we're in. I commend our team for the comeback, and I think we can all learn why we lost the football game."
It's certainly not a mystery.
For about 50 minutes Sunday, the Bucs offense handled the football like a hot potato.
Tampa Bay turned it over six times, four times inside the Saints 30. Brad Johnson was intercepted twice by cornerback Ashley Ambrose, who returned the second 73 yards for a touchdown and 14-0 lead as the third quarter ended.
The Saints' other touchdown came in the second quarter, when Brooks hit Michael Lewis for 38 yards.
"The crowd is kind of in an excited mode," Gruden said. "You're shooting yourself in the foot turning the football over. It's unfortunate. It's inexcusable. It's something that's going to prevent us from being any kind of good football team."
The Bucs outgained the Saints 350-257 and had 21 first downs to New Orleans' 10. Johnson, who was sacked four times and lost a fumble at the Saints 24, wasn't the only culprit. Running back Michael Pittman ended a drive by fumbling at the New Orleans 20. Martin Gramatica missed a 36-yard field goal, and cornerback Tim Wansley fumbled a punt at the Bucs 25.
"I thought there were about (seven) crucial plays in the whole game," Johnson said. "Twice, we jumped offside on third and short. We had two fumbles in the red zone area. We had the missed field goal. We had the interception for a touchdown, and we had the tipped ball for an interception.
"The only play I wish I had back was the (second) interception. I was trying to throw the ball away, got hit and didn't get the ball out of bounds."
Injuries took a big bite out of the Bucs.
Tampa Bay played with a makeshift offensive line. With starters Roman Oben (broken right hand) and guard Jason Whittle (shoulder) out, Kenyatta Walker started at left tackle for the first time since his rookie season. Cornell Green started at right tackle. Cosey Coleman moved from left to right guard for Whittle, and Kerry Jenkins started at left guard.
Defensively, the Bucs already were without safety John Lynch and cornerback Brian Kelly. Then the bad got worse when second-year pro Jermaine Phillips broke his right forearm, which will keep him out 4-6 weeks.
In fact, on the winning drive, the free safety was David Gibson, a former Buc who was released by the Colts in training camp and signed last week.
"We were scrambling around," defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin said. "I mean, Gibby, he just gets off the bus, and he's in there in the most critical time of the year. Gibson did a nice job. It's like, "Dave, I think I remember you. What's your name?"'
But the Saints couldn't put the Bucs away.
Johnson, who was just 3-of-8 for 19 yards in the third quarter, finally got hot. Backed up at his 3 with 11:21 left, he completed six passes to help march the Bucs 97 yards for a score. His 26-yard touchdown to Pittman cut the Saints' lead to 14-7 with 7:59 left.
Carney missed a chance to put the game away after Wansley's fumble when he hooked a 39-yard field goal.
The Bucs needed just seven plays and 1:45 to drive 71 yards for the tying score. On fourth and 10 at the Saints 30, knowing he had drawn New Orleans offside with a hard count, Johnson hit McCardell in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown.
The fans were going nuts. The Carolina score flashed on the board. Even oft-ignored receiver Keyshawn Johnson was rediscovered, catching 10 passes for 124 yards.
"The stage was set for everything," Pittman said.
But rather than play it safe and stay in zone coverage, the Bucs blitzed. And Brooks made them pay, hitting Lewis on a slant for 17 yards and Boo Williams for 13.
"We blitzed him because we don't like to play conservative in those types of situations," Kiffin said. "You can get real conservative and let them go downfield, so we blitzed. And Derrick Brooks is bearing right down on him, coming up the left side scot-free, and Aaron Brooks did a great job on that one.
"We got two really great drives at the end. Gosh darn it. You love those kinds of games, man. The crowd is going nuts. Nobody is leaving early. I'm so fired up. We're kicking off. Gosh darn it, it's a tough business. It's a friggin' roller-coaster."
It was all there for the Bucs. Then it was gone.
"I wish our PA announcer didn't announce (the Carolina score)," Keyshawn Johnson said. "Let's leave that alone. We don't need more pressure than what it's worth. In the future, I hope he doesn't do it."