The Bucs Got It Done, Won, And Got Out Of Town Fast Martin Fennelly, The Tampa Tribune, published 16 December 2002 They couldn't get to the buses fast enough. The buses that belched exhaust and gagged you like this game, the buses that went rumbling away from the Motor City. To the airport. To the plane that took the Tampa Bay Buccaneers above the clouds again, up there with all the possibilities, away from the cold, gray nightmare of what could have been against the Detroit Lions. ``Let's get the hell out of here,'' Warren Sapp said. This was The Let's Get the Hell Out of Here Game. All teams, including good ones, have them. The Bucs had one in Carolina earlier this season. They won that one. And they won this one. They needed a whip and a chair and a late field goal, but they held off the Lions, 23-20. They outlived the disaster that is a 10-3 team losing to a 3-10 team in December. It was torture to watch. But then you realized: The Bucs are in the playoffs. And you looked around after they'd won and noticed the teams that hadn't. New Orleans, at home, had fallen to 3-10 Minnesota. Atlanta, at home, had lost to 4-9 Seattle. The Bucs are a win away from a division title. After all that messing around, the truth was, of all things, just like Keyshawn Johnson said. ``One more and we get to put on the hats.'' It didn't matter how it looked. It didn't matter because this is the stretch where winning means momentum, with or without style points. It didn't matter because it is December and the Eagles and Packers won and the Bucs kept up the drag race. One more and they get NFC South hats. You can only apologize for that so much. ``There's not a lot of teams in the NFL that have 11 wins,'' Bucs coach Jon Gruden said. ``I don't really give a rat's behind how we get them, as long as we get them.'' This isn't the 7-6 Bucs squeaking one out to keep playoff dreams alive. This is 11-3 with bigger dreams as the Bucs play Pittsburgh next Monday. There's no sense here that Sunday will linger. It didn't matter how it looked. Get it done. Get it won. And get out. The Bucs nearly lost to a team with the NFL's 31st-best offense and 27th-best defense. The Bucs nearly lost to a team that was without four starters, including their running game, James Stewart. Then Lions quarterback Joey Harrington left with an irregular heartbeat. A lot of other Lion hearts beat regular, proud and regular. The Bucs nearly lost to backup quarterback Mike McMahon. The Bucs nearly lost to two guys they'd never heard of, Aveion Cason and Rafael Cooper, who together had rushed for 24 yards in Detroit's first 12 games. They gained 112 Sunday. The Bucs nearly lost despite a 96-yard touchdown drive that gave them a 10-0 lead. The defense gave it right back. It was 10-10. The Bucs nearly lost even after Shelton Quarles intercepted a pass, Brad Johnson hit throw-it-to-me Keyshawn for 30 yards and Michael Pittman scored his first touchdown of the season for a 20-13 lead. The Lions scored 24 seconds later. Somebody named Eddie Drummond brought the kick back 91 yards. McMahon scored on the next play. It was 20-20. Yes, the Bucs nearly lost. But they didn't. Martin Gramatica kicked another field goal, the defense held, the offense ran out the clock and the Bucs ran for the bus. They counted their blessings and why home field matters in the playoffs. ``It's the road,'' Sapp said. ``New Orleans couldn't win here in Detroit. Philly lost in Jacksonville.'' Sometimes, it's not even the road. Last weekend, the Steelers surrendered only 47 yards at home to the expansion Houston Texans - and lost. The Bucs haven't let that happen this season. They didn't let it happen Sunday. That's one reason why there is still no ceiling on this postseason, no matter what anyone says. Just ask Gruden. ``Hell's bells, I'm so tired of hearing the god-dang experts tell me we can't win a game when it's cold, we can't win on the road, and damn sure if we go to Philadelphia we have no chance. We're going to fight. We've proven that.'' They got the hell out of Detroit. One more and they get to put on the hats.