For Buccaneers, This Victory Doubly Sweet

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers weren’t going to be satisfied with just making the playoffs Sunday. It meant just as much to them to hurt Green Bay’s chances in the crowded NFC race.

Bouncing back from the worst loss in franchise history, the Buccaneers closed in on their first division title in 18 years with a 29-10 victory that dealt a blow to the Packers’ prospects with one game remaining.

“That’s a ballclub we’ve been chasing for a very long time,” Buccaneer defensive tackle Warren Sapp said. “It was kind of ironic that it came down to us burying them and us moving on. It’s strange like that sometimes. We wanted to come out and finish them off.”

Green Bay had won 13 of the previous 15 games between the division rivals, including seven of eight since Tony Dungy took over as the Buccaneer coach in 1996.

The loss was the third in a row for the Packers (7-8), who must beat Arizona next week and hope for a loss by Dallas to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time since 1992.

Brett Favre threw two interceptions and left the locker room without speaking to reporters. His teammates weren’t in much of a mood to talk about what it will take to salvage a disappointing year under Coach Ray Rhodes.

After last week’s 45-0 loss at Oakland, Tampa Bay (10-5) came back to equal a club record for regular-season victories and can win the NFC Central and a first-round playoff bye by winning at Chicago next week. The Buccaneers were assured a berth when Carolina lost to Pittsburgh, but needed to win to stay a game ahead of second-place Minnesota (9-6) in the division.

Rookie Shaun King completed 17 of 31 passes for 133 yards to improve to 3-1 as Tampa Bay’s starting quarterback.