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Garcia leads surprising Buccaneers against Lions

Oct 21, 2007 - 10:30 AM Tampa Bay (4-2) at Detroit (3-2) Sunday 1:00 pm EDT

DETROIT (Ticker) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are getting exactly what they hoped for from Jeff Garcia.

Under the leadership of the veteran quarterback, the surprising Buccaneers visit the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

Despite a spate of injuries, including ones that have sidelined starting running back Carnell "Cadillac" Williams and his backup Michael Pittman, Tampa Bay is 4-2 and tied with the Carolina Panthers atop the NFC South.

One of the main reasons is Garcia, who was signed as a free agent after stepping in for Donovan McNabb and leading the Philadelphia Eagles to the NFC East title last season.

Garcia completed four straight passes to set up Matt Bryant's 43-yard field goal with 11 seconds to play as Tampa Bay eked out a 13-10 victory over the Tennessee Titans last Sunday.

Overall, Garcia finished 20-of-31 for 274 yards and one touchdown, a 69-yard pass to veteran wide receiver Joey Galloway. For the season, Garcia has thrown five touchdown passes and zero interceptions.

Tampa Bay made a move to fortify its running game Tuesday, acquiring Michael Bennett from the Kansas City Chiefs for draft picks.

Last week's bye came at the right time for the Lions, who absorbed a 34-3 beating at the hands of the Washington Redskins on October 7. The loss denied Detroit its first 4-1 start in 16 years.

Two weeks earlier, the Lions were humbled by another NFC East team, losing to the Philadelphia Eagles, 56-21.

In between, Detroit set an NFL record by scoring 34 points in the fourth quarter to overtake the Chicago Bears, 37-27.

Journeyman Jon Kitna played extremely well in the first four games, throwing eight touchdowns vs. four interceptions, but he and the high-powered offense came to a crashing halt in falling to 0-21 all-time at Washington.

The Redskins had four sacks and two interceptions of Kitna, who finished 16-of-29 for 106 yards. In the last three games, Kitna has been sacked 20 times.

One plus for the Lions has been the slow return to health of running back Kevin Jones, who missed the first two games while recovering from foot surgery.

Jones carried just three times in his first game but gradually has increased his workload, rushing 11 times for 48 yards against the Redskins.