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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 3, 2007

Sunday's Best

Luke McCown may have been Tampa Bay's third choice behind Jeff Garcia and Bruce Gradkowski most of the season, but he proved to be the best option on the road against New Orleans. McCown completed 29 of 37 passes for 313 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in his first start since 2004 as Tampa Bay pulled off a 27-23 victory to improve its record to 8-4, just about lock up the NFC South and guarantee at least a .500 finish after last season's 4-12 mark.

(Bad) Call Of The Day

Think of every bad coaching call you have seen on every level of football. Now try to think if any of them were worse than New Orleans coach Sean Payton's. New Orleans had possession on its 49-yard line with 3:36 remaining and a 23-20 lead. The Bucs had called their final timeout. Instead of simply running up the middle, killing the clock and icing the game, Payton decided to do something unexpected. Saints RB Reggie Bush took a handoff and attempted to toss a reverse to WR Devery Henderson. The toss was behind him, Henderson fumbled and defensive tackle Jovan Haye recovered. Five plays later, Tampa Bay scored the winning touchdown. "That was a disappointing loss and probably the worst job I have done as a head coach since I have been here," Payton said. The following plays also live in the Coaching Hall of Shame: • In 1978, Giants coach John McVay decided to have Joe Pisarcik hand off to Larry Csonka, rather than take a knee, with less than a minute left. There was a bad exchange, the ball came loose, Herm Edwards picked it up and scored and the Eagles had a gift victory. • In 1995, Cowboys coach Barry Switzer went for it twice on fourth-and-1 from his own 30 in a game against the Eagles - and failed both times. .• In 2002, Lions coach Marty Mornhinweg decided to take the wind and kick off in overtime against the Bears. Chicago drove down the field and kicked a field goal to win 20-17.

Team Stat

Tampa Bay had one of its best offensive outputs of this season by amassing 466 yards, while New Orleans produced 246.

By The Numbers

1 - fourth-down conversion for Tampa Bay on its only attempt 2 - quarterback hurries and a sack by Bucs DE Gaines Adams 4 - NFC South victories for the Bucs against no losses 8 - victories for Coach Jon Gruden this season, which assures him of at least his third best record with the Bucs. Gruden was 12-4 in 2002 and 11-5 in 2005. 9 - tackles by Bucs OLB Derrick Brooks 24 - first downs by Tampa Bay, compared to 13 for New Orleans 41 - yards receiving and three receptions by Bucs FB B.J. Askew 64 - rushing yards by Saints RB Reggie Bush on 13 attempts 108.7 - Luke McCown's passer rating.

Casual Friday

There have been seven Fridays for Bucs fans to walk into work with pride, and Tampa Bay just gave you an eighth excuse to wear a jersey with pride: 12 - Luke McCown (either on clearance rack or special order, but good to have) 34 - Earnest Graham (has rushed for a TD in four consecutive games) 55 - Derrick Brooks (had a team-high nine tackles) 71 - Jovan Haye (recovered fumble that led to winning drive and quietly having a sensational season) 84 - Joey Galloway (seven receptions for 159 yards)

Locker Room Talk

•"There are a lot of reports out there. I don't have time for all the reports. I don't have any knowledge of structural damage at all. I just wish some of these reports were verified. Who reported it? ... He Chris Mortensen does not have an ... idea what he's talking about. I don't understand why he would say that unless he got the X-rays himself." - Gruden about ESPN analyst Chris Mortensen's report that Garcia suffered a hairline fracture in his back against the Redskins last week. •"We just didn't handle the toss well enough. That's my fault. I shouldn't have called the play in that situation. I knew we were in a position to get a first down and possibly run out the clock. That was a mistake by me." - Payton on the reverse play •"We just kept playing. You can blame it on this, or blame it on that. There are probably a lot of things we could have done better, but we keep having guys step up and make plays, and it's not the same guys. We have guys stepping up. Even at the start of the game, you wouldn't think this person would make a play, but every week we do it." - Bucs DE Kevin Carter •"I've never been in a game like that in my life. All I know is that we never quit. All the time Coach told me it wasn't over, and you saw out there today why you have to have faith." - McCown •"Luke blew it. Gosh darn it, Luke. It was just miscommunication. It's a little situation. We were on different pages. We'll work on it." - Bucs WR Joey Galloway about McCown's pass to him that was intercepted. Anwar S. Richardson

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