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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- The six-game winning streak is over. The
drive to their second playoff berth since 1982 is delayed. And,
after a record-setting loss, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers once again
must figure out how to revive a stagnant offense.
Hoping their offensive woes were erased by the emergence of
rookie quarterback Shaun King, the Bucs regressed Sunday in a 45-0
loss to the Oakland Raiders that prevented Tampa Bay (9-5) from
clinching a playoff spot.
|  | | Oakland's Tyrone Wheatley ran 19 times for 111 yards and two touchdowns. |
It was the worst loss in Bucs history and the biggest margin of
victory for the Raiders since they joined the NFL in 1970. But
Tampa Bay remains confident it will clinch a playoff spot next week
at home against Green Bay.
"We won six in a row and we didn't disintegrate overnight.
We're going to bounce back," Tampa Bay coach Tony Dungy said. "We
haven't been in a game like this in a while. We just couldn't get
anything going. But I don't think it will have a long-term effect
if we win next week."
Lance Johnstone returned King's fumble 13 yards for a score and
Tyrone Wheatley ran 30 yards for a TD following Mike Alstott's
fumble for the Raiders (7-7), who got two touchdowns apiece from
Wheatley and Napoleon Kaufman.
Kaufman had scoring runs of 75 and 17 yards, Wheatley added a
3-yard scoring run, Tim Brown caught a 20-yard scoring pass from
Rich Gannon and Joe Nedney kicked a 26-yard field goal in his
Raiders debut.
"Everything that could go right today did," said Gannon, whose
team's seven losses have all been by a touchdown or less. "You
want some of the good things that happened today spread out over
the last month or so. Like getting a turnover and running it in for
a touchdown, that should have happened two weeks ago."
Kaufman had 122 yards on eight carries and Wheatley had 111
yards on 19 rushes against a defense that entered the game ranked
No. 2 in the NFL.
"They took it to us. They ran it right down our throat," Bucs
safety John Lynch said. "I don't know if you can treat a game as
an aberration and let it go, but we're a good football team and we
just didn't show up today."
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GAME NOTES |
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The worst previous loss in Tampa Bay history was a 42-0
loss at Pittsburgh in the Bucs' expansion season in 1976.
The Raiders had two bigger margins of victory in their AFL days -- a 56-7 playoff win over Houston in 1969 and a 51-0 win over Denver in
1967.
The game was blacked out locally, the 23rd consecutive
Raiders home game that has been blacked out. The last time a
Raiders home game was shown in TV in northern California was the
home opener of the 1997 season.
The Raiders outgained the Bucs 152 yards to 11 yards in the first quarter.
Tim Brown's TD catch was his 75th, leaving him one behind Fred Biletnikoff's club record.
Tampa Bay was 0-for-12 on third-down conversions.
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Oakland won by stealing Tampa Bay's recipe for success: a solid
ground game complementing an opportunistic defense. In addition to
the two fumbles, King was intercepted once.
The Raiders held the Bucs to 137 total yards, including 52 on
the ground, and allowed Tampa Bay no deeper than the Oakland 49 in
the first three quarters.
The Bucs, who still have a one-game lead over Detroit in the NFC
Central, had forced 19 turnovers and converted them into 54 points
in the club-record winning streak that ended Sunday.
But Tampa Bay had none against the Raiders, and an offense that
seemed to finally be rolling came to a halt. King, who lost for the
first time since his junior season at Tulane in 1997, was 17-of-29
for 142 yards and was sacked four times.
"The key is to get this out of our system and come back next
week," King said.
Alstott gained 7 yards on six carries. No Tampa Bay player
rushed for more than 12 yards.
The Raiders drove 84 yards at the start of the game, leading to
Brown's scoring catch. Nedney, trying a field goal in a game for
the first time since reconstructive knee surgery in 1998, added his
field goal late in the first period to make it 10-0.
Oakland increased its lead to 17-0 on Wheatley's scoring run
midway through the second period, one play after Alstott's fumble
was returned 20 yards by Charles Woodson.
And that lead increased to 24-0 in the opening minutes of the
third period when King fumbled and Johnstone strolled untouched
into the end zone.
Kaufman's scoring run made it 31-0 midway through the third
period, and Wheatley added his second TD later in the period.
Kaufman's second scoring run, on which he started to the right side
and then cut back across the field and outraced the Tampa Bay
defense, made it 45-0.
Brown said the Raiders, who have blown several fourth-quarter
leads this season, will look back at Sunday's game with a tinge of
disappointment.
"It's the kind of game we felt we could have played all year.
This is what we're capable of doing," Brown said. "If we don't
make the playoffs, we're going to look back at this game and say
this is the way we could have played all year."
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ALSO SEE
NFL Scoreboard
Tampa Bay Clubhouse
Oakland Clubhouse
Week 15 wrap-ups
Week 15 infirmary report
TJ's Take on Week 15
PrimeTime Players
Week 15 stats leaders
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