Regular Season Game #8

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

OT

Total

Tampa Bay

0

13

0

14

3

30

Kansas City

14

10

0

3

0

27

Buccaneers Overcome Turnovers to Rally to Beat KC in Overtime

Regular Season Game #8

NFL.com l Video Highlights

Chiefs WR Dwayne Bowe jumps into the crowd after catching a touchdown pass.

Nov. 2- Tampa Bay had four turnovers and a raft of injured starters. No matter, they were in Kansas City -- and caught an incredibly lucky break.

Jeff Garcia's 24-yard touchdown pass and 2-point conversion toss tied it with 19 seconds left and Matt Bryant's 34-yard field goal in overtime gave the Buccaneers a 30-27 win over the Chiefs on Sunday after trailing by 21 points.

The Chiefs (1-7) never touched the ball in overtime as Garcia hit Michael Clayton for 29 yards on the first play and smartly moved Tampa Bay (6-3) down the field.

Adding to the dismay of the Chiefs was the fact that Bryant was wide right on a 38-yard try on third down in the overtime drive. But a false start penalty on Jeremy Trueblood negated the play. So with a third down, the Bucs tried another play, and Garcia connected with Jameel Cook for nine yards, setting up a game-winning field goal that must have landed on the Chiefs like a punch to the midsection.

Garcia hit 31 of 43 passes for 339 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. The Chiefs' Tyler Thigpen, making his third career start, was 14-for-25 for 164 yards and a touchdown.

He also caught a 37-yard touchdown pass from wide receiver Mark Bradley, but the Chiefs lost for the 16th time in 17 games.

The Bucs appeared to have blown their comeback bid when Earnest Graham fumbled at the goal line and Kansas City's Jarrad Page recovered in the end zone with 3:24 to go.

But the Chiefs wound up punting and Garcia took over on the 50 and quickly moved down field.

The injury-weakened Bucs fell behind 24-3 in the second quarter. But scored 10 quick points at the end of the first half on Clifton Smith's 97-yard kickoff return and Bryant's 43-yard field goal.

In the second half, one play after Turk McBride recovered Smith's fumble for Kansas City, Tanard Jackson forced Jamaal Charles to drop the ball and then recovered it himself on the Chiefs' 3.

Graham took the handoff and Smith was all by himself in the end zone as the running back pulled up and tossed him a 3-yard TD, making it 24-19.

Less than 2 minutes later, the Bucs appeared to have scored when Phillip Buchanon intercepted Thigpen's pass and returned it to the end zone. But an illegal contact penalty on safety Sabby Piscitelli negated the play and Connor Barth's 28-yard field goal gave K.C. a 27-19 lead.

The Chiefs were leading 14-3 when Thigpen, on first down from the 37, lined up wide right, across from 12-year veteran cornerback Ronde Barber.

The ball was snapped directly to running back Jamaal Charles, and Barber ignored Thigpen as Charles turned around and pitched the ball to Bradley on what looked like an end around.

Bradley, after nearly fumbling the high pitch, pulled up and heaved the ball toward Thigpen, who was alone in the end zone.

Thigpen hit Dwayne Bowe with a 7-yard touchdown pass for a 7-0 lead on the first possession. Graham then fumbled to McBride on the Bucs' first play and Kolby Smith scored on a 1-yard run.

Bryant's great one-handed catch for 21 yards set up Bryant's 25-yard field goal for the Bucs and then Bryant closed out the second quarter with a 43-yarder, trimming the lead to 24-13.

Counting running back Warrick Dunn, their second-leading rusher, the Bucs were missing four injured starters, including safety Jermaine Phillips, left guard Arron Sears and fullback B.J. Askew.

The Chiefs were missing running back Larry Johnson, who sat out a third straight game for disciplinary reasons, and were further weakened when Smith went out in the second quarter with a knee sprain.

Individual Statistics

Kansas City Passing:

Tyler Thigpen 14 of 25 for 164 yards and 1 touchdown

Mark Bradley 1 of 1 for 37 yards and 1 touchdown

Tampa Bay Passing:

Jeff Garcia 31 of 43 for 339 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception

Earnest Graham 1 of 1 for 3 yards and 1 touchdown

Kansas City Rushing:

Jamaal Charles 18 carries for 106 yards

Kolby Smith 10 carries for 46 yards and 1 touchdown

Tyler Thigpen 6 carries for 22 yards

Dantrell Savage 2 carries for 9 yards

Tampa Bay Rushing:

Earnest Graham 19 carries for 62 yards

Clifton Smith 3 carries for 17 yards

Michael Bennett 2 carries for 1 yard

Michael Clayton 1 carry for 1 yard

Kansas City Receiving:

Mark Bradley 4 receptions for 65 yards

Tony Gonzalez 7 receptions for 62 yards

Tyler Thigpen 1 reception for 37 yards and 1 touchdown

Dwayne Bowe 2 receptions for 29 yards and 1 touchdown

Brad Cottam 1 reception for 8 yards

Tampa Bay Receiving:

Antonio Bryant 8 receptions for 115 yards and 1 touchdown

Michael Clayton 4 receptions for 57 yards

Ike Hilliard 6 receptions for 55 yards

John Gilmore 4 receptions for 40 yards

Earnest Graham 5 receptions for 29 yards

Joey Galloway 1 reception for 22 yards

Alex Smith 2 receptions for 12 yards and 1 touchdown

Jameel Cook 1 reception for 9 yards

Clifton Smith 1 reception for 3 yards

Kansas City Tackles-Assists-Sacks:

Maurice Leggett 7-0-0, Pat Thomas 7-3-0, Donnie Edwards 6-2-0, Rocky Boiman 5-0-0, Tyron Brackenridge 4-1-0, Brandon Carr 4-0-0, Derrick Johnson 4-0-0, Glenn Dorsey 3-1-0, Tamba Hali 3-1-0, Turk McBride 3-3-0, Brandon Flowers 2-2-0, Bernard Pollard 2-1-0, Alfonso Boone 1-0-0, Ron Edwards 1-0-0, Jarrad Page 1-2-0, Tank Tyler 1-2-0

Tampa Bay Tackles-Assists-Sacks:

Barrett Ruud 11-2-1, Derrick Brooks 9-1-0, Sabby Piscitelli 5-2-0, Tanard Jackson 4-0-0, Gaines Adams 3-0-0, Cato June 3-0-0, Chris Hovan 2-2-0, Jimmy Wilkerson 2-0-0, Will Allen 1-0-0, Ronde Barber 1-0-0, Phillip Buchanon 1-0-0, Jovan Haye 1-1-0, Elbert Mack 1-0-0, Ryan Sims 1-0-0, Greg White 1-0-0, Kevin Carter 0-2-0

Kansas City Fumble Recoveries:

Turk McBride 2 for 0 yards

Jarrad Page 1 for 0 yards

Tampa Bay Fumble Recoveries:

Tanard Jackson 1 for 0 yards

Kansas City Interceptions:

Brandon Carr 1 for 35 yards

Tampa Bay Interceptions:

None

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