Redskins picked clean
TAMPA, Fla. -- Four fumbles in 16 plays and 2 interceptions with the game on the line.
Tampa Bay's defense ensured the NFC South-leading Buccaneers would enhance their chances of returning to the playoffs, while the mistake-prone Washington Redskins took another step in the other direction.
"This is our time of the year," Bucs cornerback Brian Kelly said Sunday after his first interception of the season sealed a 19-13 victory. "This is what we do. We come up big this time of the year."
Ronde Barber became Tampa Bay's all-time interceptions leader with 3:40 remaining. Kelly picked off Jason Campbell's throw in the end zone with 17 seconds left to guarantee the Redskins (5-6) their third straight loss.
The Bucs (7-4) also recovered 4 fumbles in a span of 16 Redskins' offensive plays to set up a touchdown and 3 field goals in the first half. They held on for their third straight victory despite being outgained 316-15 and not making a first down after halftime.
"To start the game off like that, it's hard to explain," said Redskins coach Joe Gibbs, who watched Santana Moss and Clinton Portis lose fumbles on two of Washington's first three plays.
"You're not going to beat a real good football team when you turn the ball over like that. We put ourselves in such a mess. ... I'm proud of our guys the way they came fighting back in the second half."
Tampa Bay played most of the day without quarterback Jeff Garcia, who hurt his back on the first play and remained on the sideline until Washington pulled within a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Garcia's injury was described as a lower back bruise that the Bucs didn't feel would worsen if he went back into the game. His return didn't spark the offense, but that wasn't a problem with the defense delivering big play after big play.
"If you look at the stats, you'll see that they had something ridiculous like 300 yards in the second half," Barber said.
"That's something we'll look back on and not be too happy about. But we'll also look at the way we finished, and we always talk about finishing football games, and to have 2 turnovers to stall the (potential winning) drives, we'll be happy about that."
Campbell led the Redskins' comeback from a 19-3 halftime deficit. A week after setting career highs for attempts (54), completions (33) and yards (346) in a close loss to Dallas, the second-year pro was 30 of 49 for 301 yards.
Barber's 32nd career interception stopped one Washington threat at the Tampa 31. The Redskins had marched from their 7 to the Bucs 16 before Kelly broke in front of Moss in the closing seconds.
"It's tough to swallow, three losses in a row. We've got to put them behind us as soon as possible," said Campbell, who marched the Redskins to the Dallas 19 before throwing an interception in the closing minutes of a 28-23 loss the previous week.
In addition to 6 takeaways, Tampa Bay's defense stopped Portis on fourth-and-inches from the Bucs 5 late in the third quarter and Washington trailing 19-10.
If Gibbs had gone for a field goal at that point, Campbell may not have needed to get his team into the end zone at the finish.