No lead had been safe for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this season.
So it was up to the defense to help them get their first win of the season.
Rookie Mike Glennon threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to tackle Donald Penn and led a long fourth-quarter TD drive to put the Buccaneers ahead for good in a 22-19 victory over the embattled Miami Dolphins on Monday night.
Bobby Rainey’s 1-yard run capped an 80-yard drive, and the Bucs held on the final 10 minutes to become the last team in the league to win this season.
Jacksonville beat Tennessee on Sunday, leaving Tampa Bay as the league’s only winless team entering the game.
The Bucs (1-8) held fourth-quarter leads in four of their eight losses, losing each time in the final 89 seconds of regulation or overtime.
“It had the same feeling going down the stretch,” coach Greg Schiano said after his team won for only the second time in 15 games dating to last season. “But our guys bowed up and made some plays.”
“It was rough. It was scary, I’m not going to lie,” linebacker Adam Hayward said, recalling how the Bucs blew a 21-point lead before losing at Seattle eight days earlier.
“It looked like last week. The guys, like Lavonte (David) and a bunch of us just said we’re tired of it,” Hayward added. “We can’t do it again, and everybody just started stepping up and making plays.”
Playing for the first time since a bullying scandal in the Dolphins’ locker room broke, Miami (4-5) started slowly before overcoming an early 15-0 deficit to lead 19-15 heading into the fourth quarter.
Ryan Tannehill threw touchdown passes of 6 and 19 yards to Rishard Matthews but got no help from a running game that was limited to just 2 yards rushing.
The Bucs sacked Tannehill twice on Miami’s final possession before Darrelle Revis intercepted Tannehill’s fourth-down desperation throw intended for Mike Wallace with 1:35 remaining.
Read More: ESPN
