TAMPA, Fla. If Matt Bryant s idea of fun is lining up for the kick of his life, then he sure had a blast on Sunday. The kick ruined a gallant comeback engineered by McNabb after the Bucs built a 17-0 lead, mostly on the strength two interceptions that Ronde Barber returned for touchdowns.
Tom Dempsey and Jason Elam share the league record for the longest field goal 63 yards. The only other kickers who have been successful fromn beyond 59 yards are Steve Cox and Morten Andersen, who both booted 60-yarders. You know what was funny was, Bryant said, as I was lining up to kick it, Bidwell turns around and says, Man, just have fun.
And that s what I did. Barber, whose 92-yard runback clinched Tampa Bay s victory over Philadelphia in the NFC championship game four seasons ago, scored on a 37-yard return early in the second quarter and put the Bucs up 17-0 with a 66-yard TD with just over five minutes remaining in the third. McNabb rallied the Eagles, throwing one of his three late TD passes after Philadelphia was forced to take out a time out when the quarterback became ill and started throwing up between plays.
With the Bucs defense missing four tackles, Brian Westbrook scored on a 52-yard reception to put Philadelphia head 21-20 with 33 seconds remaining. Rookie Bruce Gradkowski drove the Bucs in position for Bryant, who has struggled from beyond 40 yards this season, to win it with his longest biggest kick by eight yards. The ball cleared the crossbar with plenty of room to spare, setting off a wild celebration.
The Eagles (4-3) lost for the second straight week on a field goal as time expired. New Orleans John Carney kicked a 31-yarder to beat them 27-24 the previous week. Gradkowski threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Michael Clayton to beat Cincinnati 14-13 in the final minute the previous week.
The winning TD originally was ruled an incompletion, but was reversed by replay.
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