Donald Igwebuike

In a matter of minutes, Vinny Testaverde turned the boos to cheers. After throwing 4 interceptions Sunday, Testaverde led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to 10 points in the final 4 minutes for a 27-24 victory over the Green Bay Packers. Donald Igwebuike provided the winning margin on a 44-yard field goal with 12 seconds left. Igwebuike kicked a 28-yard field goal with 3 seconds left to give the Buccaneers (2-3) a 13-10 victory over Green Bay (0-5) 3 weeks ago.

It was a forgettable game, so New Orleans Coach Jim Mora forgot the score. Bobby Hebert threw a touchdown pass in the first quarter and Morten Andersen kicked 2 field goals Sunday to give the Saints a 13-9 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. "Here's two teams that last year played (to a Saints') 44-34 win and you come back a year later and go, what was it, 16-12?" Mora asked. "I don't know. Oh, it was 13-9. "We had a hard time really getting any consistency in our offense.

The playoff picture remained fuzzy for a number of teams, but the focus on the top pick in next spring's NFL draft sharpened here Sunday. The Indianapolis Colts bowed out of the race for the first overall selection in the 1986 draft with a 31-23 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, leaving the Buccaneers with either the first or second choice. Tampa Bay (2-13), Atlanta (3-12) and Indianapolis (4-11) are assured of having the top three picks although who gets the No.

For the first time in 10 weeks, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers walked off the field saluted as heroes Sunday. "It was good to finally win one," Coach Leeman Bennett said after Tampa Bay parlayed three long field goals by rookie Donald Igwebuike and a grudging pass defense into a 16-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. "It's been a long time coming and the football team had battled hard every Sunday," Bennett said of his first victory as coach of the Buccaneers (1-9).

Mark Nichols found a sure-fire cure for his blues Sunday. Detroit's wide receiver, who hadn't caught a pass all season, grabbed two for touchdowns as the Lions beat Tampa Bay, 30-9, to keep the Buccaneers winless after four weeks of play. The Lions, rebounding from a 14-6 loss to Indianapolis last week, improved their record to 3-1. "I've been feeling pretty down," said Nichols, who was in for just three snaps during each of the Lions' two previous games.

Joe Montana didn't enjoy himself, until it was over. Montana, who struggled for most of the game, ran four yards for a touchdown with 40 seconds left Sunday to give the San Francisco 49ers a 20-16 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. "It was not fun to play that way, and it wasn't fun to have to come back from behind," Montana said. "But a lot of us have been in those situations before and we didn't get rattled."

Two weeks ago, when victorious Minnesota players labeled Tampa Bay a "mediocre" team after a 14-13 victory, the Buccaneers felt insulted. Today, they'd be thrilled with the description. Minnesota's Wade Wilson passed for 335 yards and 3 touchdowns while Tampa Bay counterpart Vinny Testaverde elicited boos with 6 interceptions and a fumble Sunday as the Vikings emerged from their recent lethargy with a 49-20 rout of the bumbling Buccaneers. Tampa Bay beat the Vikings for the 8th time in 9 games.

With the Phoenix Cardinals' history of bad luck in close games, except against Tampa Bay, something had to give. It turned out to be the Buccaneers' secondary. Jay Novacek slipped behind Tampa Bay's safetymen to catch a 42-yard touchdown pass with 3:14 left Sunday, stopping the Buccaneers' rally and giving the Cardinals their first victory of the season, 30-24. The Cardinals have beaten Tampa Bay five times in the last three seasons.

Rookie Fuad Reveiz is proving Don Shula's decision to keep him over Uwe von Schamann was the right one. Reveiz kicked a 43-yard field goal with six seconds left Sunday, lifting the Miami Dolphins to a 41-38 victory over the winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers. "I was a little apprehensive, but I was preparing myself on the sideline to go at it like any other kick," Reveiz said. "Don Strock's hold and Jeff Toew's snap were perfect just like they've been all year," he said.

The crowds are dwindling and the losses are mounting at Tampa Stadium. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost for the 40th time in 50 games Sunday before a crowd of 34,579 in 72,000-seat Tampa Stadium. The Buccaneers, 2-14, 6-10, 2-14 in their last three seasons, are now 0-2 this year after a 23-10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Linebacker Chris Doleman returned a first-quarter interception 59 yards for a touchdown and Chuck Nelson kicked three field goals to key the Viking victory.