It’s Now the First-Place Buccaneers

The first-place Tampa Bay Buccaneers? Believe it.

The NFL’s losingest team of the past two decades won its third consecutive game Sunday, moving atop the NFC Central with a 19-16 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.

Michael Husted kicked four field goals, including a game-winning 53-yarder with 29 seconds left, and the Buccaneer defense forced six turnovers--five by Jeff Blake.

Tampa Bay’s start is the club’s best since 1990 when the team also won four of its first six games before losing six in a row en route to a 6-10 finish.

Even though the winning streak has been against relatively weak competition, it is a definite sign of progress for a team that has lost 10 or more games for a league-record 12 consecutive seasons.

The Buccaneers needed a last-minute goal-line interception to beat Washington two weeks ago, then barely held off the error-prone Carolina Panthers in a 20-13 victory last week.

The last time the Buccaneers were in first place this late in the season was 1981, when a 4-2 start left Tampa Bay tied with Minnesota atop the NFC Central.

The Bengals, who fell to unbeaten Miami, 26-23, last week, have lost four in a row.

“Cincinnati has got to feel sad because they’ve come close to beating two good football teams--Miami and the Buccaneers, a team that cleaned Miami’s plow in the last preseason game,” Tampa Bay Coach Sam Wyche said.

Husted, who missed attempts of 44 and 47 yards, tied the score, 16-16, with a 33-yarder with 3:32 left.

The game-winner was set up by Buccaneer cornerback Tony Stargell, who forced a Blake fumble that Charles Dimry recovered at the Tampa Bay 44.

It was a disappointing finish for Blake, who also fumbled on the play after Husted gave the Buccaneers the lead, killing any chance the Bengals had to rally.

“We had six turnovers, a lot of mistakes. You can’t win like that,” Blake said.

The Bengals (2-4) cried foul on the last interception when Tampa Bay’s Martin Mayhew appeared to hit Darnay Scott early and the ball wound up in the hands of Buccaneer safety John Lynch.