Lions Fall Again to the Bucs : NFC: Testaverde leads Tampa Bay to victory over Detroit for the second time in three weeks, 23-20.

It took Vinny Testaverde more than three quarters, but he finally found a way to beat Detroit’s restructured secondary.

Tampa Bay’s quarterback broke up a battle of field goals with two fourth-quarter touchdown drives that carried the Buccaneers to a 23-20 victory over the Lions Sunday night.

Gary Anderson scored on an 11-yard run that gave the Bucs a short-lived 16-13 lead early in the final quarter and John Harvey’s three-yard touchdown reception provided the winning points with 4:21 left.

The victory was Tampa Bay’s second in three weeks over Detroit (1-2) and gave the Bucaneers (2-1) sole possession of second-place in the NFC Central behind the unbeaten Chicago Bears.

Tampa Bay dominated Detroit in the opening week of the season, winning 38-21, forcing six turnovers and sacking Rodney Peete and Bob Gagliano six times.

This time, the difference on the scoreboard was a 42-yard field goal that Eddie Murray made on the first play of the fourth quarter but was nullified because of a tripping penalty on Eric Andolsek.

Steve Christie kicked first-half field goals of 55 and 28 yards for Tampa Bay, then added a 21-yarder to trim a seven-point deficit to 13-9 with 3:21 left in the third quarter.

Anderson, unable to spot an open receiver on a halfback pass, tucked the ball under his arm, cut back to his left and ran seven yards before diving four more for the touchdown that gave the Bucaneers their 16-13 advantage.

The Lions regained the lead, 20-16, only 2:25 later when Peete, who scored on a quarterback sneak in the third quarter, scrambled 22 yards to set up a five-yard touchdown pass to Robert Clark.

Peete frustrated the Bucs with his running all night long, gaining 97 yards in eight carries. He also completed 17 of 26 passes for 169 yards and made several crucial third-down plays to set up Murray’s field goals of 25 and 33 yards in the first half.