Oakland's Michael Bush broke two tackles, rambled through a gaping hole
in the right side of the defense and headed upfield to put a dagger in
Tampa Bay's slim playoff hopes.
The 245-pound third-string running back rushed for a career-high 177
yards and scored on a 67-yard fourth-quarter jaunt that helped the
Raiders rally to end the Buccaneers' season with a 31-24 victory Sunday.
Even with a win, the Bucs (9-7) would have needed help to make the
playoffs and avoid one of the biggest collapses in franchise history.
They were 9-3 and tied for first heading into December but finished with
four consecutive losses.
The Raiders (5-11) overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to win for
the second straight week and make their final case for interim coach Tom
Cable to retain his job. They improved to 4-8 since Lane Kiffin was
fired four games into the season, winding up with their most wins since
going 5-11 under Norv Turner in 2004.
JaMarcus Russell threw for 148 yards and two touchdowns for the Raiders,
who looked as though they were out of the game after being outgained
168-21 in the third quarter and watching Tampa Bay go up 24-14 with a
field goal and touchdown in the first four minutes of the fourth period.
But Oakland's young quarterback rebounded from throwing an interception
that Sabby Piscitelli returned 84 yards to the Raiders' 11 to set up
Carnell "Cadillac" Williams' 8-yard TD run.
A 43-yard pass interference penalty led to Russell's 12-yard TD pass to
Johnnie Lee Higgins that trimmed Oakland's deficit to 24-21, and that
was just the beginning of the end for Tampa Bay.
Williams, who missed the first 10 games of the season because of a
career-threatening injury to his right knee from September 2007, hurt
his left knee at the end of a 28-yard gain in front of the Bucs bench.
The drive stalled on downs at the Oakland 33, and Bush took over from
there. He beat would-be tacklers Kevin Carter and Jovan Haye on his
67-yard TD burst and carried repeatedly on the Raiders' next possession
to burn the clock and set up Sebastian Janikowski's 25-yard field goal
that made it 31-24 with 1:09 to go.
Tampa Bay's offense struggled to move the ball against a defense playing
without injured Pro Bowl cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, and the defense
once again failed to get consistent pressure on an opposing quarterback
and had difficulty getting off the field on third down.
The Bucs gave up 564 yards rushing and allowed Carolina, Atlanta and San
Diego to convert 21 of 37 third downs the previous three weeks. Oakland
finished with 192 yards rushing and converted 6 of 13 first downs.
Jeff Garcia threw for 257 yards, including a 58-yarder to Michael
Clayton for a third-quarter touchdown that erased Oakland's 14-7
halftime lead. Williams finished with a season-best 78 yards rushing on
12 carries.
Russell was 14-of-21 for Oakland and was intercepted once. Bush averaged
6.6 yards per carry on 27 attempts with the Raiders' other two running
backs, Justin Fargas and Darren McFadden, hobbled by injuries.
