Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23 Detroit Lions 20
Sunday 15 December 2002 at Ford Field
FOX COMMENTARY CREW Curt Menafee and Tim Ryan
The Buccaneers guaranteed themselves a playoff berth with this
win over the 3-11 Lions but it was anything but convincing. Back-
up QB Mike McMahon replaced Joey Harrington early in the
game and had his team tied late in the fourth quarter before
Martin Gramatica booted a 38-yard fieldgoal with 3:04 remaining
to put the Buccaneers ahead for good. The Saints and Falcons
both lost meaning one more win would give Jon Gruden’s team
the division title but he knew improvement was needed. “We
were not flat today,'' he said. ``And I know that's going to be the
word on the street, but the truth is, this is the NFL and you can
get your block knocked off here if you don't make some plays.”
GAME SCORING
TB
10:43-1Q
Gramatica FG20
TB
14:17-2Q
Alstott 1 run (Gramatica kick)
DET
11:24-2Q
Schroeder 18 pass from McMahon (Hanson kick)
DET
5:53-2Q
Hanson FG37
TB
0:17-2Q
Gramatica FG28
DET
12:02-3Q
Hanson FG25
TB
10:08-4Q
Pittman 4 run (Gramatica kick)
DET
9:44-4Q
McMahon 2 run (Hanson kick)
TB
3:04-4Q
Gramatica FG38
GAME REPORTS
Roy Cummings' take on the game
Martin Fennelly's award-winning column
They gave him the damn ball
Offensive line plagued by penalties
Pittman finally scores
What the Detroit press had to say
Game notes and anecdotes
The game report
Game quotes
The gamebook and the play by play of the game
STARTERS
OFFENSE
DEFENSE
LT
72 Oben
LDE
94 Spires
LG
71 Jenkins
UT
92 McFarland
C
62 Christy
DT
99 Sapp
RG
60 Coleman
RDE
97 Rice
RT
67 Walker
LLB
51 Singleton
TE
85 Dilger
MLB
53 Quarles
WR
19 Johnson
RLB
55 Brooks
WR
87 McCardell
LCB
25 Kelly
FB
40 Alstott
SS
38 Howell
RB
32 Pittman
FS
34 Jackson
QB
14 Johnson
RCB
20 Barber
PLAYED
7 Gramatica, 9 Tupa, 23 Phillips, 26 Smith, 27 Stecker, 30 Barnes, 31
Wansley, 35 Ivy, 43 Cook, 52 Webster, 58 Golden, 66 Benjamin, 74
Green, 75 Brown, 77 Washington, 80 Yoder, 83 Jurevicius, 86 Williams,
88 Dudley, 90 Gurley, 91 Darby, 95 Warner
DID NOT PLAY
10 King
INACTIVE
11 Johnson, 47 Lynch, 64 Goodspeed, 81 Lee, 84 Barlow, 89 Crawford,
93 Claybrooks, 96 Wyms
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
BUCS: Alstott 11-47, Pittman 11-46, Stecker 4-28, B.Johnson 2-2.
LIONS: Cason 10-62, Cooper 8-50, Schlessinger 6-31, McMahon 2-1.
PASSING
BUCS: B.Johnson 41-24-253-0-0.
LIONS: Harrington 1-0-0-0-0, McMahon 21-10-158-1-1.
RECEIVING
BUCS: K.Johnson 6-90, Pittman 5-47, Dilger 3-35, Dudley 3-29, Alstott 3-
23, McCardell 2-25, Stecker 2-4.
LIONS: Schroeder 4-96, Cason 2-38, Ricks 1-9, Crowell 1-7, Schlessinger
1-6, Anderson 1-2
INTERCEPTIONS
BUCS: Quarles 1-4.
LIONS: none.
KICK RETURNS
BUCS: Stecker 5-148.
LIONS: Drummond 5-197, Foster 1-26.
PUNT RETURNS
BUCS: Williams 2-(-2).
LIONS: Drummond 3-4, Foster 1-10.
SACKS
BUCS: Barber 1-10.
LIONS: none.
VIDEO CLIPS Click on the boxes for the main plays from the game
Mike Alstott scored on a nice run outside left tackle
Shelton Quarles’ interception was almost missed on the coverage
Michael Pittman added the final touchdown for the Buccaneers
