Tampa Bay locks up No. 1 pick in draft Rick Stroud, The Tampa Bay Times, published 29 December 2014 Early in the fourth quarter Sunday, the Bucs led New Orleans 20-7, had intercepted the Saints' Drew Brees three times and were stomping their way to a season-high rushing game — and a probable third victory — to close out 2014. Of course, by winning, the Bucs had a lot to lose, starting with the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft and presumably their choice of the best quarterbacks in college football — Oregon's Marcus Mariota and Florida State's Jameis Winston. Shameless for Jameis? Imploda for Mariota? Even the most die-hard Bucs fan might be conflicted about what happened next. Pulling many of their starters at halftime and virtually all of them at key positions by the fourth quarter, the Bucs allowed the Saints to score 16 unanswered points and claim a 23-20 victory. The Bucs' Josh McCown, who attempted only three passes in the second half, was sacked twice, including on a game-sealing safety with three offensive linemen in the lineup who had barely played this season. When McCown was tackled in the end zone, a cheer arose from the north end zone of Raymond James Stadium, most of the noise coming from skull-and-crossed-sword flag-waving Bucs fans. "I don't think anybody tanked it," McCown said after the game. "We played the guys we played to rotate guys in to give them a look." Both teams were already eliminated from the playoffs, but at 2-14, the Bucs secured the first pick ahead of the Titans, who also lost Sunday and would have claimed the top pick had Tampa Bay won. "Yeah, we didn't have some of our best players right at the end, but the guys we had in there we felt like we could move the ball and be able to win with," Bucs coach Lovie Smith said unapologetically. However, several Bucs players weren't completely certain about the timing of their departure. "The whole second half I didn't play," said Mike Evans, who caught his 12th touchdown of the season, a club record. "They just pulled me because I was gassed. It was (the coach's) decision." Gassed? His next game is in August. Linebacker Lavonte David, who missed only a few snaps this season, did not play in the second half. "I guess I understand why," David said. "We wanted to get everybody else some playing time or whatever. They told me I wasn't playing the second half, so I just took it for what it was." Left tackle Demar Dotson, one of only two starting offensive linemen still in the game with the Bucs trailing 21-20 and 1:57 remaining, said he didn't think the wholesale substitutions were an attempt to give the game to the Saints. "I don't think we were trying to hand the game away," said Dotson, who had a holding penalty on the final series. "I hope not." For the first half, with the Saints looking disinterested, the Bucs built a 20-7 lead behind the running of Doug Martin, who rushed for 108 yards on 19 carries. McCown was efficient, completing 12 of 20 passes for 106 yards, including a 6-yard touchdown to Evans. In fact, the Bucs scored twice in the final 1:48 of the first half, with rookie Charles Sims rushing for his first career touchdown and rookie Patrick Murray kicking a 27-yard field goal six seconds before halftime. The Bucs also got red zone interceptions from safeties Bradley McDougald and Keith Tandy. But then, with the Titans on their way to losing to the Colts 27-10 to finish with an identical 2-14 record, the Bucs started substituting as if it were a preseason game. "I think that's not out of the realm of possibilities, to look at some other guys," Smith said. "We're not going to the playoffs and we have a comfortable lead and we're going to run the football. One win wouldn't have helped an awful lot. We're going to feel better when we're winning our division. Until then, we don't feel good about a lot, except for knowing our roster a lot better and knowing the direction we need to go." Ah, but all things considered, the Bucs are where they want to be: on the clock with the No. 1 overall pick. In fact, general manager Jason Licht will attend the Rose Bowl on Thursday, where Mariota and Winston square off, and said he will try to convince Smith to come along. "That's one consolation, I guess, from the season we've had," Smith said. "So that's where we are now. We were anxious to play this last game. We wanted to get 2014 in our past to get to this next year, where I know the things we have to do."