Detroit Lions Related Info: Team Page City Page: • Detroit Message Boards: • Lions • NFL

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Related Info: Team Page City Page: • Tampa Message Boards: • Buccaneers • NFL

TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- Keyshawn Johnson's memorable drive continued the Detroit Lions' forgettable season.

Johnson grabbed his first touchdown catch of the year with 45 seconds left as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers escaped with a crucial 15-12 victory over the snakebitten Detroit Lions.

Tampa Bay appeared on its way to a devastating loss, but Johnson highlighted a 15-play, 80-yard drive with a pair of fourth-down catches and a circus TD reception that capped the scoring.

"You can't find a better receiver on Sunday," Bucs defensive tackle Warren Sapp said.

"He is a stud," added safety John Lynch. "He makes big plays when the game is on the line."

Johnson had set an NFL record by totaling 92 catches without a touchdown before grabbing his 10th reception of the day and team-record 93rd of the season.

"I think the media was concerned with it more than I was," he said of the record. "I've been in these kind of streaks before, but I just keep moving the chains."

Brad Johnson completed 31-of-54 passes for 305 yards for the Buccaneers (7-5), who claimed their third straight win and remained in the thick of the playoff hunt in the NFC.

"It is huge," Lynch said. "I can't imagine what we would have felt like if we hadn't pulled this one out."

The Lions became the first NFL team in 15 years to start a year with 12 losses. Their last nine have been by a total of 38 points and seven, including two to the Bucs, have come by five or fewer.

"They're all tough, all heartbreakers, and they're all very difficult," coach Marty Mornhinweg said.

With rookie quarterback Mike McMahon setting up Jason Hanson for four field goals, Detroit had a 12-7 lead before Tampa Bay started its last drive with 4:56 to play.

The first big play of the drive came on 3rd-and-10 from the Bucs' 31-yard line as Brad Johnson found Keyshawn Johnson for 16 yards.

"I told Brad Johnson to hang in there and give me the opportunity, and he did," Keyshawn Johnson said. "He hung in there. Then I have to live up to my end of the bargain."

Pressured all game, Brad Johnson then was called for intentional grounding. But he followed an incompletion with a 14-yard pass to Keyshawn Johnson and a seven-yarder to fullback Mike Alstott on 4th-and-5.

Tampa Bay faced its second fourth down of the drive with 1:20 to play, when Brad Johnson threw a 13-yard pass to Keyshawn Johnson to Detroit's 13.

Two plays later, the 6-4 Keyshawn Johnson had 1-on-1 coverage with 5-9 Jimmy Wyrick. He leapt over the back of Wyrick and came down with two hands on the ball for the decisive touchdown.

"I'm not trying to save a season, I was just trying to save a football game," Keyshawn Johnson said. "This was my first time to make a huge impact."

"Keyshawn ran a corner route," Brad Johnson said. "I just threw it up."

The Bucs' offense had done little to that point, despite Brad Johnson's sixth career 300-yard game. They drove into Lions territory just once before their final drive.

Alstott carried 12 times for 66 yards and a touchdown for Tampa Bay, which is two games behind first-place Green Bay in the NFC Central but in position for a wild card berth with four games remaining.

The Bucs have their defense to thank. The unit allowed only 253 yards Sunday and has limited opponents to 17 points or fewer in each of the team's seven wins.

While Tampa Bay has eked out its share of victories this year, Detroit has found all kinds of ways to lose.

Last week, Hanson missed his third field of the day with 24 seconds left en route to a 13-10 loss to Chicago. That followed a 29-27 Thanksgiving Day loss to Green Bay, which included an apparent touchdown in the final moments.

The Bucs had witnessed the Lions' miserable season firsthand. On November 11, Martin Gramatica kicked a field goal with four seconds remaining to give Tampa Bay a 20-17 win in Detroit.

"A lot of our games this year have come down to the final play," Mornhinweg said. "It's been a crazy year."

The series of heartbreaking defeats has the Lions closer to the first winless season since the Bucs went 0-14 in their inaugural 1976 campaign.

Off to the worst start in franchise history, Detroit is the first club to go 0-12 since Indianapolis in 1986. San Diego opened the 2000 season with 11 losses.

If nothing else, the Lions are finding some playing time for McMahon, who went just 11-of-25 for 165 yards in place of the injured Charlie Batch but showed quick feet in the pocket and a strong arm.

But McMahon also took a sack with just over five minutes left, knocking Detroit out of field-goal range.

Alstott opened the scoring midway through the second quarter with a 24-yard TD run before Hanson kicked three field goals for a 9-7 lead entering the fourth. Hanson made it 12-7 with 11:43 to play.