On a day in which the Bucs got a terrific performance from Luke Mccown, starting for an ailing Jeff Garcia; a day in which they statistically dominated the New Orleans Saints in every statistical category, it appeared that they would have another loss akin to earlier ones to Detroit and Jacksonville, following up a game in which the Bucs were summarily dominated in the 2^nd half by Washington, but gritted out a 19-13 win, no thanks to Bruce Gradkowski, who could not make an entire 1^st down in the 2^nd half. Mccown led the Bucs to 24 of those, but after a safety and one ill-advised INT that got run back for a TD, it appeared as if the Bucs would return to
Tampa with just a one game lead.

Enter Sean Payton, Reggie Bush, and “The Superdome Special”. Enter Gaines Adams, who went right around Jamaal Brown and had the play completely snuffed out. Bush’s pitch back to Devery Henderson went awry, Jovan Haye fell on the loose ball and from there, the Bucs offense imposed its will on the Saints.           

Undoubtedly, had Earnest Graham been stuffed on 4^th and 1 at the 28 yardline, coach Jon Gruden would be lambasted much in the same fashion as Sean Payton, Joe Gibbs, and Andy Reid; all of whom took gambles on Sunday and came out on the short end of it.  But Graham, quietly having a terrific season for the Bucs , was not to be denied, after running into a wall on 3^rd and 2. ““I was happy as heck to have that play because I was kind of disappointed that we didn’t get it on third down,”said Graham. “Once [Gruden] made that call, I just knew in that situation we were going to get it.” Gruden echoed Graham’s sentiments.  “Well we had a good play there. We had success powering the ball up on the right side earlier in the game…If New Orleans stopped ‘96-Power King’ today, they were going to win. But we had confidence in the play, our guys executed it, and Earnest Graham is one hell of a back.” And therein lies one of the biggest differences in the Bucs this season, as opposed to past years. The O-Line has earned the confidence of their head coach, and the starting running back. In years past, in those situations, often times the Bucs would resort to some sort of trickery; but not today. Gruden sent a message that he believed in his guys to get the job done, and they did just that. From there, Mccown checked it off to Graham to get the ball inside the 5; and ultimately, threw the game winner to Jerramy Stevens (his 1^st TD as a Buc) with just 14 ticks left on the clock.            

Lets not forget to give kudos to the Buccaneer defense as well, limiting the allegedly vaunted Saints offense to just 246 total yards, sacking Drew Brees three times, and not allowing any points in the 2^nd half (The Saints 9 came on the aforementioned INT return and safety). Early on in the season, the Bucs struggled mightily to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks, but as the year has progressed, Gaines Adams has begun to live up to his billing as the 4^th overall pick, Greg White, the former arena league star for the Orlando Predators, continues to impress, not to mention Jovan Haye. When you look at the Bucs since their Superbowl triumph in 2002, it’s been a roller coaster ride, from heartbreaking back to back losing seasons, to a surprise 11-5 year in ’05 only to lose a game to Washington in the 1^st round they had no business losing, onto an embarrassing 4-12 campaign in ’06. I’m not sure if it’s ever happened before, but barring a miracle, the Bucs, in the past four seasons, will have gone from last to 1^st, back to last, and back to 1^st again, in a division in which the last place team has taken the crown in every ensuing season since realignment in 2002. Lets quickly take a look at the five most memorable games for the Bucs since the 2002 season, in chronological order. 

• November 13^th, 2005, vs
  Washington: The Bucs and Skins lock up in a surprisingly high scoring affair, in Chris Simms second start as a Buc QB. After opening up a seemingly comfortable 11 pt lead in the 1^st half, the  Bucs D had little answers for the Skins offense, and trailed late in the game, 35-28. Simms proceeded to hit Edell Shephard for a touchdown to bring the Bucs to within 1 and, after an offside penalty on the ensuing PAT, the Bucs went for 2, with Mike Alstott barely crossing the goalline (although most Skins fans still say his elbow didn’t); to give the Bucs a 36-35 victory. Unfortunately, the Bucs would later lose to those same Skins in a Wildcard game, 17-10.
• December 24^th, 2005, vs
  Atlanta: In a Christmas Eve game not soon to be forgotten, on a day in which it seemed a ghost of Christmas past had it in for the Falcons sleazy organization, the Bucs found themselves trailing 24-17 late. Cadillac Williams took it in from 5 yards out to even the score with less than a minute to go; sending it into OT. From there, Edell Shephard fumbled the kickoff, and a Falcon victory appeared a foregone conclusion. But Dewayne White blocked Todd Peterson’s chipshot from 28 yards, setting up the Bucs, only to see Matt Bryant hook a 26 yarder wide right. Finally, with less than a minute to go in OT, Bryant connected from 42 yards away, giving the Bucs a dramatic victory and eliminating
  Atlanta from playoff contention.
• January 1^st, 2006, vs New Orleans: Following the Christmas Eve dramatics, the Bucs played somewhat subpar football throughout the first three quarters on New Years Day, and lead the Saints just 17-13 in the 4^th quarter. An overturned INT, however, seemed to give the Bucs new life; opening up a 20-13 lead. After exchanging punts, the Saints got it back one last time, only to have Dewayne White strip the ball from then Saint QB Todd Bouman, and return it for the touchdown, sealing the NFC South division title for the Bucs.
• October 22, 2006, vs
  Philadelphia: In an otherwise putrid season, the Bucs took on an old nemesis from years past, those oh so loveable Eagles, who brought at least 15,000 Midnight Green clad maniacs with them to Raymond James Stadium. Donovan Mcnabb found his old friend Ronde Barber twice on the day, both int’s being returned for TDs, reminiscent of the ’02 NFC title game. But, a 17-0 Buc lead turned into a 21-20 lead after some atrocious tackling allowed Brian Westbrook to score, with less than a minute to go. Bruce Gradkowski and the Bucs offense, outgained nearly by a 5-1 ratio on the day, moved it to the Eagle 45, and on came Matt Bryant. Bryant nailed the kick from
  Sarasota (or, to be more proper, 62 yards), to once again break the Eagles hearts. It was the only moment in the Bucs entire season that conjures up any positive memories for Buc fans, en route to a 4-12 finish.
• December 2^nd, 2007, at
  New Orleans: With starting QB Jeff Garcia out with a lower back bruise, Luke Mccown got the call, only his 5^th NFL start. Mccown impressed, hitting on his 1^st fifteen passes of the game, ultimately completing 29-37 for 313 and 2 TDs. With time running out and the Saints holding a one point lead, the Saints tried to get cute, but cute turned to ugly. For the Bucs, however, ugly equaled drop-dead gorgeus, as the Bucs drove 37 yards for the game winning TD, all but clinching the NFC South division, with a 27-23 win.

So, what is next for the Bucs? A chance to officially clinch the division in
Houston, against a talented, albeit, banged up Texans squad. Without Matt Schaub and cornerback Dunta Robinson, the Bucs should be able to take care of business down in
Texas without too much difficulty.