Close, but No Victory Cigar for the Lions

Warren Sapp had called Sunday’s game against the winless Detroit Lions the most important of his seven-year career with Tampa Bay.

While the comment drew some snickering, the Lions certainly kept the game close and the Buccaneers needed Martin Gramatica’s 35-yard field goal with four seconds left to secure a 20-17 victory.

“If we lost to an 0-7 team, where is the morale of the team?” Sapp asked. “All the nuts and the bolts could’ve came out if we fell flat here in Detroit, no doubt about it.”

The Buccaneers are 4-4 for the fourth straight year, while the 0-8 Lions remained the NFL’s lone winless team and are off to their worst start since going 0-11 in 1942.

“The last five games have been extremely close,” said Detroit Coach Marty Mornhinweg, who has seen the Lions lose those five by an average of 4.6 points. “The good teams win those games. Not all of them, but many of them.”

While Sunday’s game couldn’t compare to Tampa Bay’s loss to St. Louis in the 1999 NFC championship game, Sapp insisted on sticking to his comparison.

“That is an excellent 0-8 team,” Sapp said.

Detroit began the fourth quarter with a 17-7 deficit, but tied the score with 1:49 left.

Unlike Tampa Bay’s 21-20 loss at Green Bay last week, when it squandered a 10-point second-half lead, the Buccaneers made the plays they needed to.

They drove 63 yards in 1:45 to set up Gramatica’s kick. Brad Johnson’s 18-yard pass to Keyshawn Johnson on third and three from Tampa Bay’s 27 and a 23-yard completion to Warrick Dunn to the Lion 26 were the key plays.

“To get a drive like that was important,” Tampa Bay Coach Tony Dungy said. “Hopefully, that’ll get us some momentum in the second half of the year.”

After starting 3-4 the last two seasons, Tampa Bay advanced to the playoffs, winning seven of the final nine games last season and eight of nine in 1999.

“The past has nothing to do with this year,” Tampa Bay’s Derrick Brooks said.

After missing chances to score a late go-ahead or tying touchdown the previous four weeks, Detroit tied the score at 17 when Charlie Batch found a wide-open Reuben Droughns for an eight-yard touchdown.

But the Lions’ defense could not prevent Tampa Bay from driving down the field relatively easily.

Detroit’s Ron Rice compared Sunday’s defeat to last year’s season-ending loss to Chicago, which knocked the Lions out of the playoffs and led to the hiring of a rookie coach and president: Mornhinweg and Matt Millen.

“I’d almost rather lose by 50 points than to lose like that,” Rice said. “That was like Chicago again. They get the field goal as time runs out and that’s it.”

Brad Johnson completed 20 of 37 passes for 188 yards with one touchdown.