Tanard Jackson's first NFL touchdown is stored deep in his memory bank, but he can't forget the drive that got away.
Tampa Bay's safety keeps thinking about Carolina's draining 80-yard march that took up much of the fourth quarter and lifted the Panthers to a 28-21 triumph, dropping the Bucs to 0-6 and stretching their losing streak to 10 games heading into Sunday's matchup against the New England Patriots at London's Wembley Stadium.
"A loss takes away from those kinds of good plays,'' he said Monday, referring to his 26-yard interception return against a Jake Delhomme floater, forging a 21-21 tie with 8:33 remaining. "All that's been on my mind is that last drive and all we can do is learn from it. Basically, they ran the same play all the way down the field. They ran the ball down our throats.''
The Panthers threw only once during a bruising 16-play march in which they imposed their wills on a tiring Bucs defense.
"It was frustrating because we take pride in stopping the run and it didn't happen,'' Jackson said.
When Tampa Bay's defense was playing well in the past, the Bucs would have welcomed an opportunity to force a punt or create a turnover with the game on the line.
"Since I've been here, that's been our mentality as a defense,'' Jackson said. "That's still our mentality, but mentality is one thing and going out and executing it is another. It was no secret to us and everybody in the stadium that they were going to run the ball.''
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