Buccaneers...19 Vikings...13
Jeff Garcia didn’t give Adrian Peterson a chance to beat Tampa Bay.
Garcia threw for 255 yards and scrambled for two first downs on a time-consuming go-ahead field goal drive in the fourth quarter, helping the Buccaneers defeat the Minnesota Vikings, 19-13.
Peterson ran for 85 yards in 19 carries through three quarters, but his bid for a fifth consecutive 100-yard game fell short when the Vikings ran just eight plays in the last quarter.
Garcia, who completed 23 of 30 passes, was the main reason. He moved the Buccaneers 69 yards in 13 plays, burning nearly nine minutes off the clock to take a 16-13 lead on Matt Bryant’s third field goal of the game. Minnesota (5-5) fumbled on the ensuing kickoff, Tampa Bay (7-3) recovered, and Bryant added his fourth field goal for a six-point lead with 3:30 to go.
Quoteworthy: “Probably the only positive is that we’ve got a chance to win the NFC North. Everybody is 5-5.” -- Brad Childress, Vikings coach
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