Nothing is ever easy on the road for the 2008 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After losing three road games at New Orleans, Denver and Dallas in underwhelming fashion by a combined margin of 11 points, and winning at Chicago in overtime, the Bucs seem to make getting road victories a lot harder than it needs to be.

That was true in Kansas City on Sunday as the 1-6 Chiefs, who were without suspended star running back Larry Johnson, jumped out to a surprising 14-0 first quarter lead and increased that lead to 24-3 with just 2:13 left before halftime. The ambush appeared to be on at Arrowhead, but the Bucs rallied for a 30-27 overtime win against the Chiefs, who were left dumb-founded after blowing such a big lead.

“That was a great effort by our team and a great effort by Kansas City. It was the biggest comeback in the history of our franchise today,” said Bucs head coach Jon Gruden, who became Tampa Bay’s all-time winningest coach on Sunday with 57 victories. “We had a dramatic victory in Chicago that was much like this.”

The Bucs wound up ambushing the Chiefs in the fourth quarter, but really had no business winning this game after losing a fumble inside their own red zone to start the game, and losing two fumbles inside Kansas City’s red zone. An interception thrown by Jeff Garcia pushed the Bucs’ turnover total to four on Sunday, while the Bucs defense only registered one takeaway.

Perhaps emboldened by a similiarly dramatic, come-from-behind win at Chicago, Tampa Bay was able to rally in the fourth quarter thanks to a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by undrafted rookie Clifton Smith with 2:01 left in the second quarter. That quick strike injected life into a shell-shocked Tampa Bay sidelines and cut Kansas City’s lead to 24-10. A defensive stand and a 43-yard field goal by Matt Bryant trimmed the Chiefs’ halftime lead to 24-13.

“I think Clifton Smith made a big play and we got a field goal at the end of the half. We’ve got a lot of veteran leadership and we’ve got a lot of guys who love the game and believe in what we’re doing,” said Gruden as his team heads into the bye week next week. “To be 6-3 and alive and have the chance to regroup and get some guys back is exciting.”

After a scoreless third quarter, the Bucs offense came to life in the fourth quarter with Garcia rebounding from a tough start and leading two touchdown drives. After Smith’s heroic kickoff return in the first half, disaster struck as he fumbled at the Kansas City 10-yard line. However, free safety Tanard Jackson stripped rookie running back Jamaal Charles, who became the first player to rush for over 100 yards on the Bucs defense this year, at the Chiefs 3-yard line and recovered the ball.

“That was the play of the day, really,” Gruden said. “It gave Earnest Graham the chance to throw his first touchdown pass. We went deep in the playbook today.”

Garcia, who finished the game 31-of-43 for 339 yards, had driven Tampa Bay deep into Kansas City territory prior to Smith’s fumble, but it was Earnest Graham who threw a 3-yard touchdown on a halfback pass to tight end Alex Smith for a touchdown once the Bucs got down into the red zone rather than Garcia. But Kansas City still led 24-19 after Tampa Bay’s failed two-point conversion attempt.

For that touchdown, Gruden went to his bag of tricks to aid the Bucs’ red zone troubles after seeing Kansas City offensive coordinator Chan Gailey use a gimmick play that saw Charles flip the ball to receiver Mark Bradley on a reverse and then Bradley throw 36 yards downfield to quarterback Tyler Thigpen for a touchdown to put the Chiefs up 24-3 in the second quarter.

“We expected some of that from Coach Gailey and he’s had a history of being very creative and they had us on the ropes,” Gruden said. “They mixed it up quite well. Charles was the quarterback. They had a unique package and maybe we’ll steal a few of those ideas next week.”

Graham only rushed for 62 yards on 19 carries (3.3 avg.) against the Chiefs, and his touchdown pass barely made up for his two fumbles, the second of which happened in the end zone with less than four minutes left in the game and the Bucs needing a touchdown.

Tampa Bay’s defense, which gave up 27 points and 384 yards, including a season-high 183 yards on the ground, did stiffen and force a three-and-out after Graham’s fumble thanks in part to a key offensive pass interference penalty on tight end Tony Gonzalez, who tormented the Buccaneers with seven catches for 62 yards.

Clifton Smith returned Dustin Colquitt’s punt 14 yards to the 50-yard where Tampa Bay set up for its final drive in regulation. Graham ripped off a 7-yard run on first down, followed by a 10-yard jaunt by Smith two plays later. On first-and-10 at the Kansas City 33, Garcia hit Antonio Bryant, who led all receivers with eight catches for 115 yards, with a 19-yard pass down to the 14. With 33 seconds left, Garcia went to spike the ball, but Ike Hilliard moved prior to the snap and drew a false start penalty. That resulted in a 5-yard penalty and a 10-second run off and gave the Bucs only 25 seconds to work with and no timeouts. But on the next play, Garcia threw a deep pass into the end zone for Bryant, who hauled in a great touchdown catch over rookie cornerback Maurice Leggette with 19 seconds left.

“Antonio played great and he made the touchdown catch today,” Gruden said.

With Tampa Bay trailing 24-22, the Bucs needed to go for another two-point conversion to tie. This time, Garcia’s pass to the end zone hit Alex Smith between the numbers for a two-point conversion and the game was tied and headed for overtime, although it would be without Smith, who sprained his left knee on the play.

The Bucs won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball in overtime. Starting at their own 26, Garcia threw a short pass to Michael Clayton, who broke a tackle and received downfield blocks from Clifton Smith and tight end Jerramy Stevens to pick up 29 yards down to the Kansas City 45.

“It was a great catch. It was a great run after the catch,” Gruden said. “Those are the kind of plays that will bring him back to life, I think, and allow him to explode back onto the scene in the NFL. He did some really good things today.”

On second-and-11 from the Kansas City 36, picked up 11 yards down to the Chiefs 25. He finished the game with a season-high 57 yards on four catches.

After Smith rushed for five yards down to the 20 on second down, Gruden elected to kick a field goal on third down. But a false start penalty on right tackle Jeremy Trueblood pushed the Bucs back five yards and was actually the saving grace as Matt Bryant missed a 37-yard field goal attempt.

Gruden reinserted Garcia and the offense on third-and-10 from the 25-yard line and called a pass play to fullback Jameel Cook, who gained nine yards down to the Kansas City 16. On fourth-and-1, Bryant kicked a 34-yard field goal and Tampa Bay escaped Kansas City with its sixth win of the season.

Kansas City got on top of Tampa Bay early with a touchdown drive on its first possession. The Chiefs ran the ball surprisingly well with Smith gaining 20 yards on three carries, but it was Gonzalez who did the most damage with catches of 11 and 16 yards on the drive – the last of which set up Kansas City at the Tampa Bay 12. On third-and-5 from the Tampa Bay 7, Thigpen found wide receiver Dewayne Bowe with a slant pass that scored a touchdown against rookie cornerback Aqib Talib. Kansas City’s scoring drive covered 69 yards in 12 plays, and with 8:19 left in the first quarter, the Chiefs led 7-0.

Disaster struck on Tampa Bay’s first offensive play as Graham was stripped of the ball by Chiefs defensive tackle Tank Tyler. The loose ball was recovered by defensive end Turk McBride at the Tampa Bay 41. It only took the Chiefs seven plays to march 41 yards down the field and score again. Tight end Brad Cottam got things started with an 8-yard catch, followed by another 15-yarder to Gonzalez down to the Tampa Bay 12. After two carries by running back Kolby Smith, who was carted off the field midway through the second quarter with a knee injury, netted eight yards down to the Tampa Bay 4, cornerback Ronde Barber was penalized for defensive holding on Gonzalez in the end zone on third down. That penalty gave Kansas City a first-and-goal at the 2-yard line. Two plays later, Smith scored the first rushing touchdown against Tampa Bay’s defense this year. With 4:47 left in the first quarter, the Chiefs increased their lead to 14-0.

The Buccaneers offense responded on their next possession, driving 68 yards on 13 plays. Graham was the workhorse with 21 yards rushing on five carries. In the passing game, tight end John Gilmore came up with consecutive catches of four and 12 yards to move the chains across midfield. But the big play on the drive came on a one-handed, 21-yard catch by Bryant down to the Kansas City 13. But after two Graham runs set up a third-and-2 from the Chiefs 5-yard line, Michael Bennett was stuffed for a 2-yard loss on a flip play and the Bucs were forced to settle for a Matt Bryant 25-yard field goal. With 13:04 left in the second quarter, Kansas City led 14-3.

Tampa Bay’s defense was humiliated on the next drive as Charles gashed the Bucs for runs of six yards, 16 yards and 10 yards before lining up at quarterback in the Wildcat formation and pitching the ball on a reverse to receiver Bradley, who threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Thigpen, who slipped past Barber. The trick play totally fooled the Bucs defense. With 10:12 left in the second quarter, Kansas City took a commanding 21-3.

Tampa Bay’s next drive was stymied on second-and-5 from the Kansas City 35 when Garcia’s deep pass intended for Stevens was picked off by rookie cornerback Brandon Carr at the 7. He returned the interception 35 yards down the right sidelines back to the Kansas City 42.

On third-and-3 from the Kansas City 49, Thigpen threw a 5-yard pass to Gonzalez, but he fumbled the ball upon being hit by linebacker Cato June. The ball was recovered by Jackson. However, Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards successfully challenged the play and the call on the field was reversed. Although the Chiefs got a first down as a result of the call, the Bucs were able to force a punt four plays later.

Tampa Bay went three-and-out and had to punt the ball back to Kansas City, who took over at its 32. On first down, Thigpen threw the ball downfield to Bradley, who hauled in a 56-yard catch against cornerback Phillip Buchanon down to the Tampa Bay 12. But a 10-yard penalty against guard Brian Waters forced a second-and-20 situation at the Tampa Bay 22. Thigpen’s pass to Gonzalez on third-and-19 was incomplete and that set up Connor Barth’s 39-yard field goal.

Smith’s 97-yard kickoff return with 2:01 left cut the Chiefs’ lead to 24-10. And after the Chiefs went three-and-out, Tampa Bay took over at its own 20 with 1:08 left in the second quarter. On third-and-11 from the 19, a roughing the passer penalty on McBride gave the Bucs a first down at their own 34. Joey Galloway hauled in a 22-yard pass down to the Kansas City 44 with 33 seconds left. On the next play, Garcia found Bryant with an 8-yard pass down to the Kansas City 36. Two plays later, Graham caught an 11-yard pass down to the 25-yard line. As time expired in the first half, Bryant’s 43-yard field goal was good. Kansas City led 24-13.

The Buccaneers drove down to the Kansas City 13-yard line before its red zone woes struck again. On second-and-7, Garcia threw a pass to Smith at the 10-yard lineb, but he was stripped by defensive back Tyron Brackenridge and recovered by McBride. But on Kansas City’s first play from scrimmage Jackson stripped Charles of the ball at the Kansas City 3-yard line and recovered the ball there.

On Tampa Bay’s first play, Garcia handed off to Graham, who ran up to the line of scrimmage and threw a halfback pass to tight end Alex Smith, who was all alone in the right corner of the end zone for a touchdown. With 13:36 left in the fourth quarter, the Bucs trailed the Chiefs 24-19 and decided to go for a two-point conversion to pull the game within three points, but Garcia’s pass to Hilliard in the end zone was errant and fell incomplete.

The Bucs almost recorded their second consecutive turnover as Buchanon picked off Thigpen and raced deep into Kansas City territory, but an illegal contact penalty on safety Sabby Piscitelli negated that play and gave the Chiefs a first down. On the next play, Bowe ripped off a 22-yard gain. A couple of plays later, Charles ripped off runs of nine and 22 yards, which set Kansas City up at the Tampa Bay 13. But the Bucs defense held on third-and-1 and after taking a delay of game penalty, Barth drilled a 28-yard field goal. With 7:38 left in the game, Kansas City’s lead increased to 27-19.

The Bucs took the ball at their own 33 yard and drove down to the Kansas City 7. But on first-and-goal, Graham was stripped of the ball by defensive end Tamba Hali . The ball was recovered by safety Jarrod Page inside the end zone for a touchback.

That was the last bit of adversity that Tampa Bay had to overcome as it scored a touchdown on Antonio Bryant’s catch to send the game into overtime and win it with Matt Bryant’s kick with 10:24 left in the overtime period.

PEWTERREPORT.COM PLAYER OF THE GAME
Rookie return man Clifton Smith had a sensational game in just his second NFL game after taking over the return duties from disappointing rookie Dexter Jackson, who was Tampa Bay’s second-round draft pick. Smith followed a key block by defensive end Jimmy Wilkerson, who sealed off cornerback Maurice Leggett. Chiefs linebacker Demorrio Williams dove at Smith and missed as he blew by. Tight end John Gilmore blocked Barth near midfield and Smith shook off an attempted tackle by safety Jon McGraw at the Kansas City 25 to score on the second kick return in team history.

Smith, who finished the game with 232 yards on six kick returns (38.7 avg.) has a first grasp of the return duties now and was the best Buccaneer out on the field on Sunday in Kansas City.  If not for Smith’s kickoff return touchdown, the Bucs might not have had the momentum necessary to make their comeback. Yes, Smith did have a costly fumble at the Kansas City 10-yard line in the fourth quarter, but free safety Tanard Jackson bailed him out by forcing a fumble on Kansas City’s next play to set up Tampa Bay’s first fourth quarter touchdown.

On offense, Smith caught one pass for three yards, and had a career-high 17 yards on three carries, but special teams is where he thrived. His 14-yard punt return out to the 50-yard line helped key the start of Tampa Bay’s game-tying touchdown drive. In overtime, Smith threw a key block on cornerback Brandon Cox to spring Michael Clayton’s 29-yard catch-and-run that helped set up the game-winning field goal.

IT WAS OVER WHEN…
This game appeared over for Tampa Bay early on in the first half when they trailed by 21 points at one time, but the Bucs rallied in the fourth quarter to force overtime and this game truly wasn’t over until Matt Bryant’s 34-yard field goal proved to be the game winner with 10:24 left in overtime.

STATS THAT COUNT
Bucs head coach Jon Gruden became the franchise’s all-time winningest coach with 57 wins on Sunday. Gruden suffered his first loss as a head coach (with Oakland) at Kansas City in 1998. … Clifton Smith’s 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown is the longest in team history and also only the second TD coming from from a kickoff return. … Middle linebacker Barrett Ruud led all defenders with 13 tackles and recorded his second sack of the year on the first play of the game. His two sacks this year are a career high. It would be the Bucs’ only sack of the day. … Kicker Matt Bryant was 3-of-3 on field goals on Sunday and is now 20-of-23, including a perfect 20-of-20 on kicks inside 49 yards. Bryant has now kicked eight game-winning field goals. … With 13:36 left in the fourth quarter, halfback Earnest Graham attempted and completed his first career pass to TE Alex Smith for a three-yard touchdown. It was the third touchdown pass by a running back in team history. The first touchdown pass in team history was thrown by RB Louis Carter against Seattle on Oct. 17, 1976. The last time a running back threw a touchdown pass was at Green Bay (12/2/84) by James Wilder. … Wide receiver Brian Clark returned his first NFL kickoff for 22 yards on Sunday. … With the loss, Kansas City drops to 21-6 in its last 27 home games. … Tampa Bay allowed a 100-yard rusher (Kansas City’s Jamaal Charles rushed for 106 yards) for the first time since Week 17 in 2007 when DeAngelo Williams rushed for 121 yards in the regular season finale. … Prior to Sunday’s win at Kansas City, the Bucs had lost 10-of-11 road games against AFC teams. …  Before Sunday’s 14-point outburst in the first quarter, the Chiefs had only scored a total of six points in first quarter through seven games. … Tampa Bay out-gained Kansas City 423-384 yards and converted 8-of-13 (62 percent) on third downs.

RECORD COMEBACK
Tampa Bay’s 21-point comeback today marked the largest comeback win in franchise history. After trailing 24-3 in the second quarter, the Buccaneers got in gear and came storming back, outscoring the Chiefs 27-3 to earn a 30-27 win in overtime. Earlier this season, Tampa Bay rallied from 10 points down at Chicago (9/21/08) for a 27-24 overtime victory after trailing 24-14 in the fourth quarter. Prior to that, the last time Tampa Bay won a game after trailing by 10 or more points was on December 12, 1999 against Detroit. The Buccaneers trailed 10-0 before rallying for a 23-16 victory.

LINEUP SHUFFLE
The loss of strong safety Jermaine Phillips to a broken left forearm allowed second-year player Sabby Piscitelli to earn his first start at strong safety. However, the injuries were more significant on offense where starting left guard Arron Sears was suffering from a concussion and was replaced by rookie Jeremy Zuttah, and Michael Bennett replaced Warrick Dunn (pinched nerve) at halfback. Starting fullback B.J. Askew remained out with a torn hamstring and was replaced by Jameel Cook for the third straight week.

SUNDAY’S STARTING LINEUPS
The announced Tampa Bay starting lineup for Sunday’s game was as follows:

BUCS STARTING OFFENSE
WR Antonio Bryant
LT Donald Penn
LG Jeremy Zuttah
C Jeff Faine
RG Davin Joseph
RT Jeremy Trueblood
TE Alex Smith
WR Michael Clayton
FB Jameel Cook
RB Earnest Graham
QB Jeff Garcia

BUCS STARTING DEFENSE
LE Kevin Carter
NT Chris Hovan
UT Jovan Haye
RE Gaines Adams
MLB Barrett Ruud
WLB Derrick Brooks
LCB Phillip Buchanon
RCB Ronde Barber
CB Aqib Talib
FS Tanard Jackson
SS Sabby Piscitelli

MISSING IN ACTION
Here is a list of Tampa Bay’s inactives for the Bucs game:

FB B.J. Askew
SS Jermaine Phillips
LG Arron Sears
RB Warrick Dunn
WR Maurice Stovall
WR Dexter Jackson
QB Brian Griese
QB Josh Johnson (emergency quarterback)

BUCS INJURIES
With 10:43 left in the third quarter, Bucs defensive end Gaines Adams hurt his right shoulder and left the field. He was replaced by defensive end Greg White. Adams returned to the field later in the third quarter. At the end of the third quarter, right guard Davin Joseph went to the sidelines with a leg injury. He was replaced temporarily by Sean Mahan, but later returned to the game. Tight end Alex Smith suffered a left knee sprain on the Bucs’ final two-point conversion and did not return for the overtime period. The injury is believed to be somewhat serious.

KICKOFF CONDITIONS
The announced attendance for the Buccaneers vs. Chiefs game at Arrowhead Stadium was 74,045. The temperature at kickoff was 69 degrees with 61 percent humidity under sunny skies.

UP NEXT
The Buccaneers (6-3) have their long-awaited bye week next week. Tampa Bay will host Minnesota at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 16. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m.

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