Buccaneers Move a Step Closer to Playoffs

For Matt Bryant, it wasn’t difficult to shrug off missing a potential game-winning field goal in overtime. He figured the rest of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would give him a chance to redeem himself.

Or so he said.

“We’re not going to give up. It doesn’t matter. We’ll take on the world. We’ve been doing it from the beginning,” Bryant said Saturday after kicking a 41-yard field goal with 15 seconds left in overtime to beat Atlanta, 27-24, and nudge the Buccaneers closer to their first playoff berth since they won the Super Bowl three seasons ago.

“The world picked us not to be very good and we’ve managed to prove the world wrong quite a few times,” Bryant added. “We’ve just got to do it one more time to get to the playoffs.”

The Buccaneers (10-5) also gained a share of first place in the NFC South entering the final week of the season. They’re tied with Carolina, which lost to Dallas on Saturday, and can win the division title with a victory over New Orleans at home next week.

Atlanta (8-7), which plays host to Carolina next week, has been eliminated from playoff contention.

The Buccaneers and Falcons wasted opportunities to win in the overtime. Atlanta’s Todd Peterson had a 28-yarder blocked after Tampa Bay fumbled the overtime kickoff, and Bryant shanked a 27-yarder that would have won it six minutes later.

“To have the kick blocked. It kind of put everything into perspective -- like maybe it just ain’t our year,” Falcon quarterback Michael Vick said.

Chris Simms threw for 285 yards and two touchdowns and Carnell Williams ran for 150 yards, including a six-yard burst that tied the score, 24-24, in the closing seconds of regulation.

Simms threw touchdown passes of nine yards to Jameel Cook and 13 yards to Mike Alstott.

Vick threw for 161 yards and two touchdowns and looked like he might conquer an old nemesis -- the Buccaneer defense -- when he led a 79-yard drive to put the Falcons ahead, 24-17, on T.J. Duckett’s two-yard run.

Vick, who is 2-5 against Tampa Bay and has had some of the worst games of his career against the Buccaneers, scrambled for seven yards on third and seven and threw 37 yards to Michael Jenkins on third and four from the Buccaneer 39 to set up the score.

But for the second time in just over a month, the Falcons’ defense couldn’t protect a fourth-quarter lead.

Atlanta Coach Jim Mora considered trying to run the clock out when the Falcons got the ball for the last time with just over two minutes left in overtime. But team officials were unable to determine how a tie would affect the club’s chances of making the playoffs.

“We couldn’t come up with a solid, solid answer, and I’m not really one to play for ties.... If someone had said: ‘If you tie this game and win next week, you’re in the playoffs,’ play for a tie,” Mora said.