Bucs 10 Jaguars 17
Scott Smith, Buccaneers.com, published 1 December 2003

Keenan McCardell and Jimmy Smith got into one exclusive club together Sunday night. Smith and the Jacksonville Jaguars then knocked McCardell’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers out of a more important one. Fittingly, on a night in which Smith caught his 700th career pass just minutes before McCardell did the same, it was the ultra-prolific Jacksonville receiver that delivered the knockout blow in the Jaguars’ 17-10 victory. By sending the Bucs to their seventh defeat of the season, the 3-9 Jaguars took the defending league champions out of prime playoff contention.

The loss doesn’t officially end the Buccaneers’ playoff hopes, but it certainly puts them in a very deep hole at 5-7. There are eight other NFC teams with better records heading into Week 14, including three to which Tampa Bay has already lost. The Bucs had hoped to build on an inspiring Monday night win over the New York Giants but six days later couldn’t muster anywhere near the same effort on offense or defense.

Jacksonville, behind rookie QB Byron Leftwich’s hot hand, out-gained Tampa Bay, 359 yards to 221. That marked the Bucs’ lowest offensive output of the season and the third-most yards they have allowed all year. Leftwich, who was not sacked, used outstanding protection to complete 20 of 34 passes for 224 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. The killing blow, as far as the Bucs were concerned, was a 48-yard touchdown bomb to Smith at the beginning of the fourth quarter, with the receiver diving across the goal line to make the catch. CB Tim Wansley, covering on the play, pulled up with a hamstring strain near the play’s end and was lost for the rest of the game.

The Bucs had two opportunities to drive for the tying score, but one march ended with a punt just into Jacksonville territory and the other was lost on downs when mammoth DT John Henderson knocked down third and fourth-down passes at the line of scrimmage near midfield. They almost got a third. Jacksonville tried to slip Smith deep one more time with three minutes to play and CB Ronde Barber appeared to make an incredible, leaping interception. However, Jags Head Coach Jack Del Rio challenged the ruling and the replay official ruled that the ball had shifted slightly in Barber’s hands when it hit the ground, making it nothing more than an incompletion. Jacksonville held onto the ball, gained two more first downs and iced the game.

Smith and McCardell were both central figures in the game. Smith joined the 700 Club before McCardell, catching three of Leftwich’s first four completions on the game-opening drive, two of which converted third downs. That drive failed to produce any points, but Smith caught five of Leftwich’s first six completions and finished the game with 10 catches for 136 yards and the deciding touchdown.

McCardell joined his old running mate in the second quarter. The 12th-year veteran caught two critical passes on the Bucs’ 56-yard scoring drive, including a nine-yarder over the middle on third-and-eight from the Jaguars’ 14. McCardell finished the game with eight receptions for 74 yards, both team highs. McCardell virtually had to produce for Tampa Bay’s passing attack, which played without starter Joe Jurevicius, who suited up but couldn’t take the field due to right knee soreness. Charles Lee started in his place and caught six passes for 47 yards.

Playing with a short deck, Bucs QB Brad Johnson had one of his more inconsistent games of the season. He completed 21 of 38 passes, but none for longer than 18 yards. The Bucs gained just 144 net passing yards and Johnson failed to throw a touchdown pass for the first time all season, snapping a team-record 11-game streak in that category. Gruden played the game as if there was no time left to waste on shaky performances. After tackle Kenyatta Walker was flagged for holding in the first quarter, he was replaced at right tackle by Cornell Green to start the second period. Walker did return to start the second half but Green was on the field for two second-quarter scoring drives.

Plagued by penalties all season, the Bucs were flagged seven times for 80 yards. With five more penalty yards next season, Tampa Bay will set a new single-season record in that category. The Bucs were fortunate to be tied, 10-10, at halftime given that the Jaguars had gained 208 yards of offense to Tampa Bay’s 69. Tampa Bay’s defense which had allowed an average of 15.4 first downs per game through the first 11 contests, had surrendered 13 by halftime and allowed Leftwich to complete 15 of 22 passes for 157 yards. Leftwich was not sacked before halftime, and he used an excellently maintained pocket to find Smith repeatedly.

However, a failed fourth down and a missed field goal thwarted Jacksonville’s first two forays into Buc territory. On their third, a drive that began at Tampa Bay’s 40 thanks to LB Mike Peterson’s interception, the Jags finished it off, marching those 40 yards on seven plays. Leftwich’s 20-yard pass to WR Kevin Johnson on third-and-nine was the big play, and a 10-yard strike to TE Kyle Brady finished it off.

The Bucs tied the game five minutes later. McCardell’s 700th catch led to Thomas Jones’ five-yard run, a tough carry up the middle on which Jones extended the ball just over the plane of the goal line as he hit the ground. Tampa Bay took its first lead three minutes later on a short field goal drive set up by Brady’s fumble. LB Derrick Brooks forced the turnover by flipping Brady with a low tackle, and CB Tim Wansley recovered for Tampa Bay at the Jacksonville 39. Six plays later, Martin Gramatica popped a 47-yard field goal high and just over the crossbar.

Jacksonville tied the game just before halftime with Seth Marler’s 28-yard field goal. Leftwich had Johnson open in the end zone on third down from the five but threw well behind his man. The Jags almost uncovered one more unlikely scoring chance before halftime when Marler’s kickoff with 10 seconds left, intended to be a low, hard squib, shot directly into S David Gibson’s stomach and bounced out. A first-down pass to WR Kevin Johnson would have given the Jags one last crack at an end zone pass or long field goal, but Johnson dropped it.

After getting the lead, the Jaguars turned the ball over to RB Fred Taylor, who finished the game with 118 yards on 29 carries as Jacksonville out-rushed the Bucs, 135-77. The Bucs did a good job of bottling up Taylor in the first half, allowing him just 45 yards on 16 carries, an average of 2.8 yards per tote. Many of his early runs were stopped by hard tackles near the line of scrimmage. In the end, however, Jacksonville was able to stick to the ground game and capitalize in the late going. Michael Pittman did turn 10 carries into 60 yards, but Tampa Bay was playing catch-up much of the day. Linebackers Shelton Quarles and Derrick Brooks had 10 tackles each, and Brooks added a forced fumble. DE Simeon Rice, the NFL’s co-sack leader coming into the game, did not drop Leftwich but did nearly intercept two of his passes.