The Bucs forced a quick punt and tacked on three more points before halftime to make it a more digestible 24-13 score. Soon-to-be-Pro Bowl rookie return man Clifton Smith got the Bucs' backs off the wall with two minutes left in the half when he ran Connor Barth's kickoff back 97 yards for a touchdown. Kansas City quarterback Tyler Thigpen, who had already thrown a touchdown pass in the first quarter, ran deep down the field on a direct snap/reverse trick play and caught a 37-yard scoring pass from wide receiver Mark Bradley. Helped by an Earnest Graham fumble on the Buccaneers' first play from scrimmage, the Chiefs rushed out to a quick 14-0 lead. But this one was all KC for the game's first 28 minutes. This was a bit of a surprise for the visitors, as Tampa Bay was 5-3 at the time and the Chiefs had yet to win a game on their way to a 2-14 finish. In 2008, the Bucs went to Kansas City for the first time in more than two decades and another wild game broke out. Jermaine Phillips killed one scoring threat with an interception and then Dewayne White ended the Chiefs' last hopes with a fourth-down sack near midfield. Pittman scored again a few minutes into the fourth quarter but Martin Gramatica missed the extra point, keeping the Chiefs within a field goal of tying it. His 78-yard breakaway put the Bucs up by a 28-24 margin in the third quarter, but the Chiefs responded with a touchdown to move back ahead by three. Pittman ran 15 times for 28 yards and three touchdowns and added two catches for 30 yards. Brian Griese was sharp for the Bucs, but it was running back Michael Pittman who kept the Bucs in the shootout with one his best days with the team. Trent Green threw for 369 yards and three touchdowns and favored star tight end Tony Gonzalez, who caught nine balls for 123 yards and a score. In 2004, the Chiefs made their third straight trip to Tampa and eventually lost, 34-31, in a game that featured eight lead changes. Tampa Bay ended up with the NFC Central title on a tiebreaker over the Chicago Bears.Īfter the league adopted a new scheduling format as part of its 2002 expansion and realignment, the Buccaneers and Chiefs settled into a rotation of dates every four years. The Bucs' defense forced a punt and Bell was able to run the last eight minutes off the clock in a single drive. The Bucs couldn't punch it in from there but kicker Neil O'Donoghue was able to deliver on what was probably the least certain 19-yard field goal in team history. One of Williams' five completions on the day was a seven-yarder to Jimmie Giles to convert a third-down and make it first-and-goal at the nine. Even with all that, it was still a scoreless tie in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, a defense that would end up as the league's top-rated unit held Kansas City to 80 net yards of offense, still the lowest total a Buccaneer team has ever relinquished. But the Bucs ran when the visitors couldn't, handing it off to Ricky Bell 39 times for 137 of their 224 ground yards. Quarterbacks Doug Williams of the Buccaneers and Steve Fuller of the Chiefs combined to complete 12 passes for 97 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions.
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