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Buccaneers season in review

By BRUCE LOWITT

© St. Petersburg Times, published December 31, 2000

Game 1

Bucs 21, Patriots 16

(Sept. 3, Foxboro Stadium, Foxboro, Mass.)

THE BIG PICTURE: The Bucs, coming off a 3-1 preseason, rolled into New England and rolled over the Patriots on Warrick Dunn's 56 rushing yards and two touchdowns and Mike Alstott's 54 yards. The defense sacked Pats quarterback Drew Bledsoe six times and knocked him down on 13 other occasions. "He's a stud, man," defensive end Tyoka Jackson said. "And the guy got up. He's going to be in the cold tub tomorrow, but the guy got up, kept slinging and almost brought them back." Bledsoe threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Terry Glenn with 3:01 to go to cut the Bucs lead to five points, then the Patriots got the ball back on the Tampa Bay 45 with 1:43 remaining. Five passes moved New England to the Bucs 22 with 14 seconds left. But after spiking the ball to stop the clock, he fired incomplete three times.

KEY PLAY: On second down on that last possession, Bledsoe rolled to the right, then threw back to his left to Chris Calloway, who appeared to be open. But cornerback Brian Kelly batted away the pass. "We knew they had a throwback in their offense," Kelly said. "(Bledsoe) rolled long and Calloway really didn't sell it good. He just ran in and ran back out. I just stayed with him and knocked it down."

WORTH REMEMBERING: The Bucs caught New England napping to take a 14-10 halftime lead. Shaun King drove the Bucs 50 yards in four plays, most of it coming on a 33-yard catch and run by Jacquez Green. With the clock winding down inside 40 seconds and the Bucs out of timeouts, King frantically lined up his offense and appeared ready to spike the ball and kill the clock. But as the rest of the Bucs stood relaxed, Reidel Anthony ran a fade route past Patriots cornerback Kato Serwanga and King hit him perfectly for an 8-yard touchdown with 35 seconds left.

WORTH FORGETTING: Special teams, which handed the Patriots 17 points. Karl Williams fumbled the opening kickoff, the Patriots recovered at the Tampa Bay 28 and Adam Vinatieri kicked a 30-yard field goal. Their first touchdown came on Troy Brown's 66-yard punt return with 7:25 remaining in the first half.

KEY STATISTICS: King completed 12 of 24 passes for 167 yards and a touchdown and scrambled for 21 yards -- and did not turn the ball over.

Game 2

Bucs 41, Bears 0

(Sept. 10, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa)

THE BIG PICTURE: Mike Alstott and Warrick Dunn combined for 124 yards rushing, but it was the defense that pretty much decided the game by halftime. It forced four turnovers in the first half and the Bucs converted three into scores, including a 24-yard fumble return for a touchdown by cornerback Ronde Barber. King drove the Bucs 90 yards on their first possession of the second half and his 13-yard strike to Keyshawn Johnson in the back of the end zone gave Tampa Bay a 27-0 lead. With his next throw King hit Jacquez Green on a crossing route for a 58-yard touchdown. "You could see with a lead like that and how our defense was playing, you can roll the dice a little bit," offensive coordinator Les Steckel said. "And you want to open it up, you want to utilize the skills of your players."

KEY PLAY: Paul Edinger's 42-yard field-goal attempt in the fourth quarter caught a gust of wind and sailed wide right. Not that it had an impact on the outcome, but the Bucs were hoping for a shutout and this preserved it, extending to 14 quarters their blanking of the Bears.

WORTH REMEMBERING: Cornerbacks Barber and Donnie Abraham. Barber had 21/2 sacks of Cade McNown, forced a fumble and returned a fumble for a touchdown. Abraham intercepted McNown twice and forced the fumble that produced Barber's touchdown.

WORTH FORGETTING: The Bucs were unable to finish off drives. They had first and goal at the 8-yard line and had to settle for the first of two field goals by Martin Gramatica.

KEY STATISTICS: Many numbers a long time coming. The 41 points were third-most in team history, the 41-point victory spread the Bucs' largest ever, the shutout was the first at home in five years and extended to 14 the Bears' string of quarters against Tampa Bay without a touchdown.

Game 3

Bucs 31, Lions 10

(Sept. 17, Silverdome, Pontiac, Mich.)

THE BIG PICTURE: Shaun King passed for 211 yards, ran for a touchdown and passed for another -- to guard Randall McDaniel, no less. For the third straight game, King did not commit a turnover. For the third straight game the defense was overpowering, sacking Charlie Batch seven times and intercepting him twice to beat him for the first time in four starts against Tampa Bay. King was 6-for-8 passing on third down and kept the Bucs perfect for the season in the red zone, leading them to scores on all five trips inside the Lions 20. "I can't say enough great things about him and I just said it afterward to him personally in the locker room here," offensive coordinator Les Steckel said. "The thing I love about Shaun is he has bought into the program and he is thoroughly convinced if he throws no interceptions, we'll win every game."

KEY PLAY: With about 10 minutes remaining, the Bucs led 24-10 when safety John Lynch intercepted Batch and returned the ball to the Lions' 38-yard line. The Bucs ran 51/2 minutes off the clock on an eight-play drive that ended with Warrick Dunn's game-sealing 1-yard touchdown run.

WORTH REMEMBERING: Attention, tackle-eligible linemen. Remember to report -- emphatically -- to the referee. McDaniel said he did; referee Gerry Austin said he didn't. Guess whose opinion counted. It wiped out a touchdown pass to tight end Dave Moore; the Bucs had to settle for a field goal.

WORTH FORGETTING: The Bucs led 21-3 in the second quarter when Martin Gramatica missed a 38-yard field-goal attempt. The Lions took over and got to midfield with seven seconds remaining, then used their last timeout of the half. Batch then launched a pass toward the front corner of the end zone. Safety Damien Robinson camped under it, and the Lions' Germane Crowell jumped over him and grabbed it for a 50-yard touchdown, cutting Tampa Bay's halftime lead to 11.

KEY STATISTIC: Ninety-three points in three games, the most by the Bucs in such a stretch, and the third time in their history they've been 3-0.

Game 4

Jets 21, Bucs 17

(Sept. 25, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa)

THE BIG PICTURE: In a showdown between Keyshawn Johnson's former and current teams, the Jets silenced him (1 yard on one catch, a shovel pass from Shaun King) and rallied from 11 points down, the winning play with 52 seconds remaining on running back Curtis Martin's 18-yard touchdown pass to Wayne Chrebet. After playing error-free football during the Bucs' 3-0 start, King suffered through one of the worst performances of his career -- 7-for-19 passing (including a 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dave Moore) -- with two interceptions, a lost fumble and several bad throws to wide-open receivers. The Bucs should've figured something was up before Martin took a pitch from Vinny Testaverde and threw the decisive pass. Just before the snap, Martin struggled to remove his right glove, then tossed it to the turf. "We just got fooled on it," defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin said. "We didn't play it like we should have. It was a good call. It seemed like the ball hung up there forever. I mean, it could've been picked. You know, it was a great call. But it could've backfired and they could've walked out of here without trying the field goal."

KEY PLAY: After the Jets pulled within 17-14 on Testaverde's 6-yard pass to Martin and two-point conversion pass to rookie Laveranues Coles with 1:54 to play, all the Bucs had to do was run three plays, force New York to use its timeouts and, if they didn't get a first down, punt and let their defense to the rest. Instead, Mike Alstott fumbled at the Tampa Bay 24 and safety Victor Green recovered for the Jets.

WORTH REMEMBERING: The Bucs intercepted Testaverde three times, one of them inside their 10-yard line just before halftime to kill a Jets threat, another by Ronde Barber, who returned it 37 yards for the touchdown that put Tampa Bay up 17-6 late in the third quarter.

WORTH FORGETTING: The offense disappeared. A total of 235 yards for the game, 55 in the second half and, in the fourth quarter, just 13 yards with no first downs, and fumbles by Alstott and King on their final two possessions.

KEY STATISTIC: Let a runner roll up 90 or more yards against Tony Dungy's Bucs and they're almost a sure bet to lose. Martin's 90 yards was the 18th time it had been done since Dungy arrived; the Bucs lost 17 of them.

Game 5

Redskins 20, Bucs 17 OT

(Oct. 1, FedEx Field, Landover, Md.)

THE BIG PICTURE: After the Bucs rallied from 10 points down in the final two minutes to tie the score, Deion Sanders returned a Tampa Bay punt 57 yards to set up former Buc Michael Husted's game-winning 20-yard field goal 4:09 into overtime. Down 17-7, Shaun King threw a 46-yard touchdown to Reidel Anthony with 2:00 on the clock. After the Bucs failed to recover an onside kick, the Redskins reached the Tampa Bay 17, but Warren Sapp blocked Husted's field-goal attempt, the Bucs took over with no timeouts and 43 seconds remaining, and King scrambled 15 yards and passed 12 yards to Warrick Dunn and 19 to Keyshawn Johnson, setting up a game-tying 42-yard field goal by Martin Gramatica on the final play of regulation. "We fought hard and felt good when we gave ourselves a shot to win there at the end," safety John Lynch said. "But the whole time you had the feeling we were being outplayed."

KEY PLAY: Tampa Bay lost the overtime coin toss, and forced a Redskins punt. It was a short one but Jacquez Green, who replaced injured Karl Williams, let it skip past him. He chased it down inside the 10-yard line and returned it to the 14. The Bucs, unable to get a first down, punted to Sanders.

WORTH REMEMBERING: Trailing by 10 with 3:36 left, King drove the Bucs from their 31 to Washington's 46 where two incomplete passes set up third and 10. After being stripped of the football by defensive end Bruce Smith, King scooped it up, rolled to his left and threw the 46-yard touchdown to Reidel Anthony that left the Bucs trailing by a field goal at the two-minute warning.

WORTH FORGETTING: Defensive end John McLaughlin and safety Dexter Jackson said they were blocked in the back on Sanders' 57-yard punt return, but no penalty flags were thrown.

KEY STATISTICS: The Bucs rushed for 72 yards. Stephen Davis had almost double that -- 141 yards on 28 carries, including a 50-yard touchdown run.

Game 6

Vikings 30, Bucs 23

(Oct. 9, Metrodome, Minneapolis)

THE BIG PICTURE: In a showdown between the unbeaten Vikings and the NFC Central's defending champions, Minnesota improved to 6-0 and dropped the Bucs to 3-3. More accurately, the Bucs dropped themselves by dropping the ball. Keyshawn Johnson fumbled on the Bucs' first play, Minnnesota recovered and quarterback Daunte Culpepper ran 27 yards for a touchdown on the Vikings' first play. Shaun King's 10-yard quarterback draw tied it 7-7 and after the Vikings went up 10-7, Tampa Bay's Aaron Stecker dropped the kickoff. On third down, Culpepper fired a 26-yard scoring strike to tight end John Davis. Still, Tampa Bay led 23-20 with 12:13 remaining after Warren Sapp blocked a 51-yard field-goal attempt by Gary Anderson and cornerback Donnie Abraham returned it 66 yards for a touchdown. Culpepper rallied the Vikings with a 42-yard scoring bomb to Randy Moss. Anderson's 19-yard field goal with a minute to play sealed the victory. "We dug ourselves a little bit of a hole early," coach Tony Dungy said. "We fought and fought to get out of it, but we never were able to get out all the way. . . . We made too many mistakes. To beat this team, we had to play a perfect game and we didn't."

KEY PLAY: The game plan was simple: Do whatever it takes to stop Moss from killing them with big plays. It required Tampa Bay to keep both safeties, John Lynch and Damien Robinson, back in coverage. It was a calculated risk and it pretty much worked until Culpepper uncorked two completions -- to Moss and Matthew Hatchette -- and the 42-yard pass to Moss that turned the game around. Donnie Abraham and Lynch were in position to break up the pass, but as Moss has done so many times, he outjumped the defense and made the catch despite the double coverage.

WORTH REMEMBERING: Jacquez Green, who entered gaining 25.8 yards per catch, set a career high with 11 receptions for 131 yards in an effort that almost single-handedly kept the Bucs in the game.

WORTH FORGETTING: After falling behind 27-23, the Bucs got to midfield and faced fourth and 1. Rookie Todd Yoder was all alone at the 30 when Mike Alstott faked the run and threw a long but apparently catchable ball. Yoder turned all the way around, tripped over his feet and fell down and the pass was incomplete.

KEY STATISTIC: Johnson's fumble was his second in the past two games. He said he'd never lost one in his career before coming to Tampa Bay.

Game 7

Lions 28, Bucs 14

(Oct. 19, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa)

THE BIG PICTURE: Shaun King, who'd had one of the worst games of his career against the Jets, surpassed that in Thursday night prime time against Detroit. He was 17-of-34 for 149 yards with no touchdowns and threw three second-half interceptions. The second one, midway through the fourth quarter with the score tied, was a killer. It allowed the Lions to take control and set up James Stewart's winning touchdown with 4:28 to play. It was the second of Stewart's three short scoring bursts. After the Lions took the 21-14 lead, the Bucs faced fourth and 2 at their 38 with 3:18 to play. But with only one timeout, Dungy opted to go for the first down, King fired incomplete to Jacquez Green, the Lions took over and in four plays they scored again. "I don't know if we're demoralized, but we're definitely disappointed," coach Tony Dungy said. "We've dug ourselves a big, big hole, and the only way we get out of it is to pull ourselves out. Losing two home games is very, very tough. It's hard to fathom that. But we've got to come out of it."

KEY PLAY: The Bucs, tied 14-14, faced third and 1 at their 40-yard line. King rolled left and tried to hit Keyshawn Johnson downfield, but his throw was intercepted by linebacker Chris Claiborne. Eight plays and 54 yards later the Lions went ahead to stay.

WORTH REMEMBERING: The Bucs sacked quarterback Charlie Batch seven times, just as they had on Sept. 17. Defensive end Marcus Jones led the charge with a club-record four sacks and Warren Sapp had two. Jones also blocked a field-goal attempt, the third in three games for Tampa Bay.

WORTH FORGETTING: Two Bucs drives in the red zone failed to produce a touchdown. A blocked Lions punt resulted in a safety instead of a touchdown. And fullback Mike Alstott turned the tide of the game by losing his second fumble of the year. One minute the Bucs had an 8-0 lead. The next they were tied at halftime 11-11.

KEY STATISTIC: After averaging 8 yards a carry in the first quarter, the Bucs attempted four running plays in the second half in extending their streak to seven quarters without an offensive touchdown.

Game 8

Bucs 41, Vikings 13

(Oct. 30, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa)

THE BIG PICTURE: Shaun King took apart the Vikings defense, passing for 267 yards and a career-high four touchdowns to knock off previously unbeaten Minnesota and end Tampa Bay's four-game slide. It was the best offensive showing in two seasons for the Bucs, who racked up 413 yards. Tampa Bay's offense, which had not scored a touchdown in seven quarters, reached the end zone on its first three possessions. In fact, because the Bucs scored so quickly, the defense's tongues were dragging after participating in 49 first-half plays. Leading 31-13 when they opened the second half, the Bucs essentially put the game away with an 81/2-minute drive that resulted in a 47-yard field goal by Martin Gramatica. That was longer than Tampa Bay held the ball the entire first half. "Well, we're not exactly where we want to be but we're not out of it," defensive tackle Warren Sapp said. "That's the one thing we had to do was come out here and get us a win. This ballclub has been known to finish strong. We had to get us a win right here to end October and championships are won in November and December. So we're going to see where we go from here."

KEY PLAY: The Vikings and Bucs essentially traded scores through most of the first half, then Derrick Brooks broke the string. Three plays and 1-minute, 48 seconds after King passed 20 yards to tight end Dave Moore for a touchdown, linebacker Derrick Brooks intercepted Daunte Culpepper and returned the ball 34 yards for his first NFL touchdown, giving the Bucs a 28-10 lead.

WORTH REMEMBERING: King played catch with receiver Keyshawn Johnson (six for 121 yards, and one touchdown).

WORTH FORGETTING: Instant replay. Sapp seemed to sack Culpepper, force a fumble, recover it and run it to the Vikings' 8-yard line. But when referee Phil Luckett reviewed the play, he decided that Culpepper's right arm, which Sapp hit from behind, was just beginning to move forward. It was ruled an incomplete pass, the Vikings kept the ball and drove to their only touchdown.

KEY STATISTIC: The Bucs never punted.

Game 9

Bucs 27, Falcons 14

(Nov. 5, Georgia Dome, Atlanta)

THE BIG PICTURE: Keyshawn Johnson caught a pair of touchdown passes. The Bucs defense intercepted four passes, two by cornerback Donnie Abraham. It recorded four sacks, one of which -- by Steve White and Warren Sapp in the second quarter -- sent Falcons quarterback Chris Chandler out with a concussion. Special teams blocked a punt to set up a touchdown. It was the Bucs day in every way. At least one-third of the announced crowd of 61,725 wore red and pewter. "We took Raymond James (Stadium) and brought it north a couple miles," Sapp said. "They were looking at it like, 'Wait a minute! This is our house!' But it wasn't today. We took it over early and often, and we kept it going for four quarters and got us a win we had to have."

KEY PLAY: Defensive end John McLaughlin blocked a Dan Stryzinski punt in the second quarter, setting up the Bucs on the Falcons 3-yard line. Two plays later, Shaun King passed to Johnson for a touchdown to make it 14-0.

WORTH REMEMBERING: With the Bucs facing fourth and 10 at their 26, Mark Royals executed a fake-punt pass to Damien Robinson, who scampered for a 36-yard gain.

WORTH FORGETTING: King, the reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Week, struggled to complete 11-of-25 for 110 yards, and he was intercepted in the end zone. At one point in the fourth quarter, Royals had one less passing yard than King.

KEY STATISTIC: With his 51-yard field goal in the third quarter, Martin Gramatica tied a Bucs record with his third 50-plus-yarder of the season. As it turned out, he was just warming up.

Game 10

Bucs 20, Packers 15

(Nov. 12, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa)

THE BIG PICTURE: After building a 14-3 halftime lead on Shaun King's touchdown passes to Keyshawn Johnson and Reidel Anthony, the Bucs found themselves trailing the Packers by a point 66 seconds into the fourth quarter. But Martin Gramatica advised coach Tony Dungy that he felt confident he could clear the crossbar on any field-goal attempt closer than 55 yards. The Bucs gave him a chance to prove it. He did, starting with a 54-yard bomb just inside the right upright. On the next Packers series, linebacker Al Singleton stripped Green Bay running back Ahman Green of the ball, and defensive end Chidi Ahanotu recovered. On third and 10, King ran for 5 yards to set up Gramatica's 51-yarder. "You can't find that," defensive end Warren Sapp said, nodding in Gramatica's direction in the locker room. "I looked at Coach and said, 'That might have been the best pick we've ever made.' Outside of me, (Derrick) Brooks or whoever else, that is the best pick we've made around here in 100 years."

KEY PLAY: King's third-down scramble for 14 yards set up Gramatica's 54-yarder that put Tampa Bay ahead to stay.

WORTH REMEMBERING: The Bucs were spared the threat of another Brett Favre-led comeback. He left the game with a sprained left foot with 8:40 remaining in the third quarter after being sacked by Sapp.

WORTH FORGETTING: Special teams. Green Bay downed one of its punts at the Tampa Bay 2-yard line, Gramatica botched an onside kick attempt (he kicked the ball perfectly but couldn't catch it), the Bucs had 12 men on the field during a Green Bay punt that moved the Packers into field-goal range, the Bucs had one punt go 12 yards, gave up a 32-yard punt return to Allen Rossum and they watched Green Bay score a touchdown from 27 yards on a fake field goal.

KEY STATISTIC: King completed 11 of 14 passes for 129 yards in the first half. But in the second half he completed 5 of 13 for 35 yards and was intercepted.

Game 11

Bears 13, Bucs 10

(Nov. 19, Soldier Field, Chicago)

THE BIG PICTURE: Shaun King, who grew up in sunny St. Petersburg and played college football indoors at Tulane, never seemed to get his arm warmed up against the Bears. He was intercepted twice and safety Tony Parrish returned one of them 38 yards for a touchdown. Losing the game didn't hurt as much as losing fullback Mike Alstott and safety John Lynch. Alstott sustained a sprained left knee in the second quarter and missed the next three games. Lynch dislocated his right shoulder in the first quarter and missed the rest of the game, but he returned the following week. The loss dropped the Bucs record to 6-5. "We're in trouble," guard Frank Middleton said. "We've got to beat Green Bay in Green Bay, we've got to beat the Rams at home, we've got to beat Buffalo at home, Dallas at home. We're in trouble and the only way we can get out of it is 5-0."

KEY PLAY: Warrick Dunn's lost fumble -- only the fifth of his career in 997 touches -- set up what proved to be the winning 48-yard field goal with 10:02 left.

WORTH REMEMBERING: The Bucs defense extended to 18 quarters the Bears' streak of not scoring an offensive touchdown against Tampa Bay.

WORTH FORGETTING: If you believe this hex business, the temperature was 37 degrees and the wind chill 16 and at game's end the Bucs dropped to 0-18 in games played when the temperature is under 40 degrees.

KEY STATISTIC: King was unable to attempt a pass in the third quarter and completed just three the second half for a net of 10 yards passing; he threw for a career-low 91 yards in the game.

Game 12

Bucs 31, Bills 17

(Nov. 26, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa)

THE BIG PICTURE: Two days before the kickoff, defensive tackle Warren Sapp publicly blamed offensive coordinator Les Steckel for the team's poor record this season, saying the Bucs offense lacked identity and had fewer base plays than a high school team. Did it unify the Bucs? Who knows? "I wasn't concerned about the impact it was going to have," coach Tony Dungy said, "because I know the type of team we have. It's something we don't want to see. We want to handle matters in-house and we don't like to take them outside. But I thought our team would come out and play well, and they did." Warrick Dunn rushed for a season-high 106 yards on 20 carries and scored two touchdowns. On special teams, Karl Williams had an electrifying 73-yard punt return for a score. Defensively, the Bucs sacked Bills quarterback Rob Johnson six times. Sapp had two, breaking the team's season record of 13 set by Hall of Fame defensive end Lee Roy Selmon. Linebacker Derrick Brooks had 20 tackles. Safety John Lynch had three tackles, but the fact that he played at all with his dislocated left shoulder inspired his teammates.

KEY PLAY: The Bills faced third and 9 from the Bucs 19-yard line with Tampa Bay leading 10-7 in the third quarter when Peerless Price snared a Johnson pass and was fighting for extra yards when Brooks stripped the ball and recovered the fumble.

WORTH REMEMBERING: Brooks tackled Johnson in the fourth quarter as he released a desperation pass, then sprang to his feet and chased down running back Shawn Bryson about 30 yards downfield, drawing a penalty for a late hit out of bounds. After the play, Sapp drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty (and a $2,500 fine five days later) for helping himself to a drink of water on the Bills sideline.

WORTH FORGETTING: The Bills ran 82 plays to Tampa Bay's 50, held the ball for more than 36 minutes and outgained the Bucs 433-180 yards.

KEY STATISTIC: Warrick Dunn accounted for 129 of the Bucs' 180 yards on offense.

Game 13

Bucs 27, Cowboys 7

(Dec. 3, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa)

THE BIG PICTURE: Warrick Dunn predicted he would thrive as the Bucs' premier ballcarrier after the season-ending knee injury to Mike Alstott. Thrive? How about 210 yards, 70 on the first of his two touchdown runs? This followed his 106 yards against Buffalo, his first back-to-back 100-yard rushing games since his rookie season. Dunn received a standing ovation when he left the game with 3:16 to play. Shaun King, clearly bothered by a sore back, had another dismal game, completing 9 of 15 passes for 65 yards (four to Keyshawn Johnson for 28 yards). That brought to 177 the Bucs' net passing yardage in the past three games. Quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen said he nearly replaced King with backup Eric Zeier in the first quarter and said the Bucs wouldn't go far unless King and the passing game improved rapidly. "(Dunn) can't carry us all the way," he said. "We're going to have to throw the ball better. But again, I think the way the game went, if we don't turn it over, we can live without big passing numbers. But we certainly have to throw the ball better than we did today."

KEY PLAY: With Tampa Bay up 10-0 in the first quarter, Wayne McGarrity muffed a Bucs punt and backed Dallas into bad field position at its 3-yard line. On third down, quarterback Troy Aikman's pass bounced off Chris Warren's hands and was intercepted by cornerback Brian Kelly, who returned it 9 yards for a touchdown.

WORTH REMEMBERING: Warrick Dunn, period.

WORTH FORGETTING: Shaun King (for the moment).

KEY STATISTIC: Dunn's 70-yard run was the team's longest of the season and fourth-longest in club history. Dunn has the longest, 76 yards against Chicago in 1997.

Game 14

Bucs 16, Dolphins 13

(Dec. 10, Pro Player Stadium, Miami)

THE BIG PICTURE: The Bucs won for the sixth time in their past seven games, beating the AFC East leaders by intercepting Jay Fiedler four times and recovering his fumble. Tampa Bay turned those turnovers into 13 points, including a 31-yard interception return by linebacker Jamie Duncan for the Bucs' only touchdown. Duncan also recovered a fumbled snap by Fiedler to set up the winning 46-yard field goal through a driving rain by Martin Gramatica with 8:12 left in the game. Shaun King completed 11 of 15 for 147 yards. But he was sacked four times and intercepted once. Warrick Dunn accounted for 143 of the Bucs 221 yards (59 rushing, 84 receiving). "It was like a bunch of kids out there playing and that's what it felt like," safety John Lynch said. "It was raining, you're soaked, but you're still out there playing. Mom's calling you in, but you're still playing. It was fun. I was having a blast out there, regardless of how (I was) hurting. It's just what football is all about. They were battling hard, we were battling hard, and it was just a test of wills and we came out on top."

KEY PLAY: With the Dolphins trying to win the game rather than settle for a tie and overtime, Bucs safety Damien Robinson intercepted Fiedler at the Tampa Bay 9-yard line with 14 seconds remaining.

WORTH REMEMBERING: On third and 7 from the Bucs 5-yard line with 2:15 to play, Dunn caught a screen pass in his own end zone and was driven backward by cornerback Patrick Surtain. Dunn somehow spun out of the tackle and surged forward to the 4, avoiding a safety that would have cut Tampa Bay's lead to 16-15 and given Miami the ball back.

WORTH FORGETTING: The Bucs couldn't get into the end zone with first-and-goal at the Miami 1-yard line.

KEY STATISTIC: Dunn handled the ball on 34 of the Bucs' 57 plays and did not commit a turnover.

Game 15

Bucs 38, Rams 35

(Dec, 18, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa)

THE BIG PICTURE: It was the long-awaited a rematch of last season's NFC Championship Game, won by St. Louis 11-6. With this winner locking up a playoff berth and the loser dangerously close to elimination, Tampa Bay beat the defending Super Bowl champions at their own game, an offensive shootout that wasn't decided until Warrick Dunn scored his third touchdown on a 1-yard dive with 48 seconds to play. The game had absolutely anything a Bucs fan could want: Dunn finished with 145 yards rushing and 53 receiving. Keyshawn Johnson caught two Shaun King touchdown passes. King passed for 256 yards, 22 to Reidel Anthony to put the ball at the 1-yard line and set up Dunn's winning score. A most improbable 80-yard comeback drive in the final 1:48 with no timeouts remaining after the Rams went ahead 35-31. And in that drive the greatest escape since Steve McQueen was riding motorcycles. Dunn, trapped 14 yards behind the line with a swing pass, pitched the ball back to King, who ran 29 yards for a first down. Marshall Faulk scored four St. Louis touchdowns. But the Tampa Bay defense, not to be overlooked, intercepted Kurt Warner three times, the last by Lynch with 25 seconds to play, snuffing out the Rams' last chance. "We went to their place last year and played our game and they won it," coach Tony Dungy said. "They came to our place and we got into their style of game and we won it. I guess it's only fitting."

KEY PLAY: Pick one: the magical King-to-Dunn-to-King play. King running 5 yards on a fourth and 4 later in the drive. Anthony's catch. Dunn's 52-yard touchdown run with a lateral two plays after the Rams had cut the Bucs lead to 24-21. Monster hits by Warren Sapp (on Warner) and Lynch (on Faulk).

WORTH REMEMBERING: The game.

WORTH FORGETTING: Warner passing to Torry Holt, a play covering 72 yards that gave the Rams the 35-31 lead with 5:18 to play.

KEY STATISTIC: Try two -- Dunn's 6.6 yards per carry and King's 14.2 yards per completion, two indications that they could move the ball when they had to. Yes, the Rams went into the game with the No. 28 passing defense in the league -- but the Bucs went into it with the No. 30 passing offense.

Game 16

Packers 17, Bucs 14, OT

(Lambeau Field, Green Bay)

THE BIG PICTURE: No regular-season loss ever hurt this much, not the one to the Bears five games ago nor any of the other 17 losses when the game began in under-40 degrees. This one was Tampa Bay's for the taking. A 40-yard field goal would give the Bucs a bye week and, in the remaining two steps to the Super Bowl, a home game. Martin Gramatica's field goals had rescued the Bucs in Game 10 against the Packers at Raymond James Stadium with a couple of 50-plus yarders and in Game 14 at Miami with a 46-yarder in a driving rainstorm. But his boot in freezing Green Bay that would have won the game with nine seconds remaining was wide right, the game went into overtime, the Bucs kicked off, Brett Favre drove the Packers down the field and Ryan Longwell kicked a chip-shot 22-yarder. The win did nothing for Green Bay -- it was eliminated from the playoffs when St. Louis won -- but the loss sent the Bucs to Philadelphia on New Year's Eve and, with a win, to face the Giants in the Meadowlands or the the Vikings in the Metrodome. "It's a tough feeling. But it's not just one kick,"coach Tony Dungy said. "It's a combination of things -- the Chicago game, the Detroit game at home, the Jets game. That's just the way it goes. You really can't look back. We're playing on the road and we've got to go make it happen. Hey, we're going to need kicks. He'll make a lot more kicks before he's done. It just didn't go through. It's a tough loss, obviously. But hey, he's made a ton of kicks for us and we expect him to make a lot more."

KEY PLAY: Okay, the missed field goal. But perhaps as important was the call on the overtime coin flip. The Bucs said heads, it came up tails, Tampa Bay kicked off and its offense never got its hands on the ball. And (this is pure second-guessing) Shaun King taking a knee, rather than trying a sneak to his left, to set up Gramatica's 40-yard attempt raised eyebrows. It cost the Bucs a yard or two and, perhaps more important, failed to center the ball between the hashmarks.

WORTH REMEMBERING: The 17 minutes that preceded the failed field goal. The Bucs rallied from a 14-0 Green Bay lead and did it with a defense that stopped Green Bay's offense, uhh, cold, and forced turnovers that led to Gramatica's first two field goals. Shaun King was a perfect 6-for-6 in the Bucs touchdown drive. And a razzle-dazzle King handoff that Warrick Dunn handed off to Mike Alstott, who lateraled it to King gave the Bucs the two-point conversion that drew them within a field goal of a tie Gramatica gave them with a 43-yarder midway in the fourth quarter.

WORTH FORGETTING: Okay, the missed field goal. But also the first half. King was 6-for-19 for 60 yards and the Bucs punted seven times.

KEY STAT: Thirty-nine yards in Bucs penalties during the Packers' third-quarter touchdown drive.

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