TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- Tony Dungy's 48th birthday had a little bit of everything. It ended with an improbable victory in his former home.
After rallying from a 21-point deficit against the NFL's best defense with less than four minutes remaining, the Indianapolis Colts stunned the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in overtime, 38-35, when Mike Vanderjagt's second attempt at a game-winning field goal successfully knuckled off the right upright.
Vanderjagt - who had been 12-for-12 on field-goal attempts this season - missed wide right on a 40-yard attempt with 3:52 left in overtime but defensive end Simeon Rice was whistled for a highly questionable unsportsmanlike penalty call for using a teammate for leverage. Replays indicated Rice grazed a teammate's back on his way down.
"It was reported that he was running forward," said referee Johnny Grier, who said umpire Ed Coukart made the call. "He jumped and landed on his own players."
"They called jumping, and they said he landed on some teammates or landed on some other people," Bucs coach Jon Gruden said. "I'm really going to look at that play, obviously, carefully. I don't believe we were in error, at least what I could see on the field. (But) we had numerous chances to win this game. I'm not going to cry about that one."
On Vanderjagt's second attempt, from 29 yards out, defensive end Ellis Wyms tipped the kick, but it still had enough force to just go through and help the Colts become the first team in NFL history to win after trailing from 21 points down with less than four minutes to play.
The Colts also matched their largest comeback in franchise history, previously accomplished three times.
"They never gave up, that is what I like about us," Dungy said. "We have great team chemistry."
Dungy went 54-42 in six seasons coaching the Bucs before being fired following the 2001 season by owner Malcolm Glazer, who targeted Bill Parcells as his successor. After Parcells jilted the Bucs, Glazer sent four draft picks and $8 million to the Oakland Raiders for Gruden, who immediately led the team to its first Super Bowl title.
"I think from my standpoint I kind of understand now about what Venus and Serena Williams say (about playing each other): 'It's never that much joy in it,'" Dungy said. "I am just extremely happy, but when you fight against guys that you went to war with, it was really tough out there."
Dungy's former squad dominated his current one in the first half, jumping out to a 21-0 advantage and taking a 35-14 edge on Ronde Barber's 29-yard interception return with 5:09 left.
But Brad Pyatt returned the kickoff 90 yards, setting up James Mungro's three-yard touchdown run with 3:37 left. Idress Bashir recovered the ensuing onside kick, and Peyton Manning tossed a 28-yard TD pass to Marvin Harrison to cut the deficit to 35-28 with 2:29 left.
The Colts (5-0) narrowly missed recovering another onside kick but prevented the Bucs from getting a first down and took advantage of a pair of clock-stopping penalties to get the ball back with 1:41 left.
One play after Warren Sapp was whistled for an unnecessary roughness penalty on Manning, the quarterback completed a 52-yard pass to Harrison to the Tampa Bay 6, and Ricky Williams ran it in from one yard out to tie the score with 35 seconds remaining.
"That was a fun game," Manning said. "The first half was not a whole lot of fun, but we've been in games before where you get down 21-to-nothing, and you just feel like, 'We stink and they're really good.' We just didn't feel that way in the second half. I mean, they're a good team, but we've really been doing some things that are out of character."
Tampa Bay cornerback Brian Kelly sustained a pectoral injury and was not in the game down the stretch, and the Bucs had backup Tim Wansley instead of Barber defending fellow Pro Bowler Harrison.
The Bucs' defense had allowed one touchdown in their first three games but surrendered four in the fourth quarter alone. Tampa Bay (2-2) had not given up three touchdowns in the fourth quarter since November 19, 1989 at Chicago.
Tampa Bay had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation but Martin Gramatica's 62-yard field-goal attempt was blocked.
Manning, who threw for just 66 yards in the first half, finished with 386 yards on 34-of-47 passing with two touchdowns - both to Harrison - and one interception. Harrison had 11 catches for 176 yards.
"In the second half, we just said, 'Let's go. Let's just go with it,'" Manning said. "If they play two (deep), I'll hit Marvin. If they play one (deep), I'll work the outside. I don't care who's out there (covering) Marvin. I really don't. But we were finally able to get some one-on-one matchups, and we had a little momentum."
Brad Johnson, who completed 26-of-39 passes for 318 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, got the Bucs on the board with a 74-yard strike to Keenan McCardell 5:08 into the contest. Johnson, who had great protection on the play, found the receiver covered solely by linebacker Rob Morris after the Colts' safeties bit on a pump fake.
Tampa Bay's second touchdown, which came 4:57 later, was much more unusual. Johnson threw a pass that floated and was intercepted by Colts safety Mike Doss at the Indianapolis 41. But the rookie had the ball punched out by Bucs center John Wade, and McCardell picked it up and scampered 57 yards untouched into the end zone.
It was just the third time since 1950 that a player had scored on a touchdown reception and a fumble recovery in the same game.
Johnson made it 28-7 with a 15-yard pass to McCardell with 1:14 left in the third quarter. It was the first three-touchdown game in the 12-year career of McCardell, who had four catches for 106 yards.
"They made a play when they had to," McCardell said. "I won't say what I really want to say about the last flag we got. It's one of those things that's a heartbreaker. It shouldn't have come to that situation."
Williams scored the first of the Colts' four fourth-quarter touchdowns with a one-yard run with 12:01 remaining.
The Bucs' Michael Pittman had 16 rushes for 106 yards.
Both teams were whistled for 11 penalties, with Tampa Bay's accumulating for 111 yards and Indianapolis' for 80.
"Well, we lost. Period," Bucs linebacker Derrick Brooks said. "We give credit to the other team. They did what it takes to win. We let another one slip through our hands, but we'll just come back."
