Bucs 27, Falcons 24, OT

<p>Given a second chance, Matt Bryant redeemed himself and moved the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a step closer to the playoffs for the first time since winning the Super Bowl three seasons ago.</p><p>Bryant's 41-yard field goal with 15 seconds remaining in overtime gave the Bucs (10-5) a 27-24 victory over the Atlanta Falcons and a share of first place in the NFC South heading into the final week of the season.</p><p>The Bucs are tied with Carolina, which lost to Dallas on Sunday. They finish at home against the Saints, while Atlanta hosts Carolina.</p><p>Both teams wasted opportunities to win earlier in the extra period, with Atlanta's Todd Peterson having a 28-yarder blocked after recovering a fumble on the overtime kickoff, and Bryant shanking a 27-yarder that would have won it six minutes later.</p><p>Chris Simms threw for 285 yards and two touchdowns and Carnell "Cadillac" Williams ran for 150 yards to go over 1,000 for the season, including a 6-yard burst that tied the game 24-24 in the closing seconds of regulation.</p><p>Michael Vick threw for 161 yards and two TDs for Atlanta (8-7) and looked like he might conquer an old nemesis _ the Bucs defense _ when he led a 79-yard drive to put the Falcons ahead 24-17 on T.J. Duckett's 2-yard run. Vick, who is 2-5 and had some of the worst games of his career against Tampa Bay, scrambled for 7 yards on 3-and-7 and threw 37 yards to Michael Jenkins on third-and-4 from the Bucs 39 to set up the score.</p><p>Simms launched the winning drive from the Atlanta 49 after a punt. He threw 15 yards to Alex Smith and 11 to Anthony Becht to move the Bucs into Bryant's range.</p><p>Statistically, Vick had perhaps his best day against the Bucs defense last month when he threw for 306 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. But he still walked away frustrated after losing a fumble that set up a winning field goal for Tampa Bay in the final minute.</p><p>The Bucs have always matched up well against the Atlanta quarterback because of their exceptional team speed. Sixteen of their 20 sacks of Vick have come in the last four meetings between the clubs, including four Saturday.</p><p>Simms had gone four games without throwing an interception before being picked off by Keith Brookings in the second quarter, ending a streak of 127 consecutive passes without an interception _ a stretch that began after the Falcons' Pro Bowl linebacker intercepted one of his passes on Nov. 20.</p><p>The turnover led to Vick's 8-yard TD pass to Jenkins that erased a 14-7 deficit. DeAngelo Hall's interception and 65-yard return to the Bucs 13 positioned the Falcons to go ahead 17-14 on Peterson's 31-yard field goal just before the half.</p><p>Simms threw TD passes of 9 yards to Jameel Cook and 13 yards to Mike Alstott, the latter set up when Dewayne White knocked the ball loose from Vick after a 3-yard run and recovered at the Atlanta 29.</p><p>Bryant's career-long 50-yard field goal made it 17-17 with nine minutes left in regulation.</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2005/12/132546