A Win, but No Playoffs

Tampa Bay got its biggest road victory ever--in the cold, no less--but couldn’t get into the playoffs.

The Buccaneers sustained their playoff hopes Sunday with their first road shutout, a 35-0 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, highlighted by Mike Alstott’s career-high three touchdown runs.

However, the Buccaneers (8-8) were eliminated about four hours later during their flight to Florida. They needed two things to happen, and got only one.

The New York Giants defeated Philadelphia, 20-10, to sustain hope. And cheers filled the plane when San Diego tied Arizona with a late touchdown--a Cardinal loss was the other half of the playoff equation.

“We heard it on the radio,” Tampa Bay Coach Tony Dungy said after arriving at the team’s practice complex. “Everybody was excited. You’re feeling good thinking the game was going into overtime.”

Chris Jacke’s last-second field goal gave the Cardinals a 16-13 victory and the final NFC wild-card berth, ending the Buccaneer season in tortuous fashion.

Instead of building upon their 10-victory season of 1997, the Buccaneers started 4-7 and wound up needing a lot of help down the stretch. They didn’t get it.

The Buccaneers got everything handed to them by Cincinnati (3-13). The Bengals fumbled a punt, had another blocked, missed a field goal, fumbled a kickoff and lost quarterback Paul Justin because of a hand injury as Tampa Bay rolled to a 28-0 halftime lead.

“Maybe we had some guys already on the highway, already on the plane flying home,” said Bengal safety Sam Shade, who also questioned his teammates’ effort during the season. “I don’t know.”