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Buccaneers' playoff hopes dimmed by three straight losses

Dec 23, 2008 - 5:11 PM Oakland (4-11) at Tampa Bay (9-6), 1:00 pm EST

TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' march toward a playoff berth has grinded to a halt.

Even if the skidding Buccaneers beat the visiting Oakland Raiders on Sunday, they will need some help to secure the final wild card berth in the NFC.

That seemed unfathomable a month ago. Tampa Bay had won four straight games to improve to 9-3 and were closing in on the NFC South title and a possible No. 2 seed in the postseason.

The Buccaneers need two things to happen - beat the woeful Raiders and hope the Philadelphia Eagles defeat knock of the visiting Dallas Cowboys.

"We've got to win, I know that," Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden said. "We need a little help. Fortunately I've got some good friends in Philadelphia. The bottom line is we're a 9-6 football team. We've lost three tough games in a row, and we have an opportunity to win our 10th game and it might be good enough for us to qualify for the playoffs."

While division rival Atlanta was wrapping up a playoff berth, the Bucs tumbled to their third straight defeat, surrendering the final 17 points in a 41-24 home loss to the San Diego Chargers last weekend.

Tampa Bay showed some grit in battling back from a 10-point deficit to take a 24-20 lead on Jeff Garcia's 71-yard scoring pass to Antonio Bryant.

But the Buccaneers' defense, which has allowed 92 points in the three losses, gave up a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes and Garcia threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown.

"I've had better days," said Garcia, who had been limited the past two weeks by a calf strain. "We just have to refocus and try to finish off this last game of the regular season on a positive note. It's been very disappointing over the past three weeks to play the way we have and not finish games off the way we are capable of finishing."

The running game also has struggled for Tampa Bay since Earnest Graham was placed on injured reserve in mid-November. Garcia was the leading rusher with 45 yards against San Diego.

"It hurts. The guy scored 10 touchdowns for us last year," Gruden said of Graham. "He's a great closing back. Warrick Dunn has done some excellent things. He's got about 1,100 years of all-purpose yardage and Cadillac (Williams) is on his way back. Injuries do hurt you and with a position like that certainly it's tough but that's pro football."

The Raiders have a final chance to win back-to-back games following last weekend's 27-16 victory over the Houston Texans.

Johnnie Lee Higgins had an 80-yard punt return for a touchdown, his franchise record-tying third of the season, and also caught a 29-yard scoring pass to help Oakland snap a three-game losing streak.

Second-year quarterback JaMarcus Russell had one of his best games of the season, finishing 18-for-25 for 236 yards and two TDs.