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SEATTLE (Ticker) -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers once again leaned on their defense. Down to third-string rookie quarterback Shaun King, the Buccaneers received a dominant effort from their swarming defense and posted a 16-3 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. Tampa Bay forced six turnovers, including five interceptions. The win was the fourth straight for the Buccaneers (7-4) and moved them into a three-way tie with Detroit and Minnesota for first place in the NFC Central. "I was proud of our team," said Buccaneers coach Tony Dungy. "They hung in there and kept fighting. We had a little bit of adversity but the guys continued to play hard." Holding a 6-3 lead at halftime, Tampa Bay was dealt a huge blow on its first possession of the second half when starting quarterback Trent Dilfer suffered a broken right clavicle after being sacked by defensive end Phillip Daniels. "When I landed on it, I heard it pop and felt the pain immediately," said Dilfer, who will be sidelined indefinitely. "It's a quarterbacks nightmare. Everytime you play on astroturf there it's a possibility and it's happened to me for the first time in my career." "Everything I heard about these is that they are four-to-six week injuries. There is nothing you could do for a couple of weeks but rest, so that's what I'll do." Already without backup Eric Zeier due to a rib injury, the Bucs had to turn to King, a second-round pick, who had never taken a snap in a regular season game. King showed the poise that he displayed at Tulane last season when he led the Green Wave to an undefeated season while posting a quarterback rating of 183.3, the highest in NCAA history. King did not turn the ball over and tossed a two-yard touchdown to tight end Patrick Hape early in the fourth quarter that provided Tampa Bay with a 13-3 advantage. He completed 3-of-7 passes for 32 yards. The much-maligned Dilfer, who was benched earlier this season and has been a disappointment after being drafted in the first round in 1994, completed 5-of-11 passes for 50 yards before suffering his injury. It was a forgettable afternoon for Seattle quarterback Jon Kitna, who was intercepted five times by the third-rated defense in the NFL. Kitna came into the contest as the second-rated passer in the AFC and threw just six interceptions in his first nine games this season before today. He completed just 19-of-44 passes for 197 yards. "It wasn't that I hadn't seen anything that they did before," Kitna said. "But they did a lot more than we had seen on film. They had some success with it early. When that happens, they are going to continue to do it. We had good protection called but they would be shifting the wrong way and they were making it real tough on us." Rookie Martin Gramatica kicked three field goals for the Bucs, who have won a season-high four straight games. "I think this is one of our best performances," said Bucs defensive tackle Warren Sapp. "To come up here and play an 8-2 club in their house, a long way from home and everything pretty much going against us, nobody is thinking that we could get it done but the 50 guys in this room." Todd Peterson booted a 25-yard field goal for the game's first points in the opening quarter for Seattle, which had its season-best five-game winning streak stopped. The Seahawks (8-3) still have a comfortable two-game lead over second-place Kansas City in the AFC West. After Peterson's field goal opened the scoring 4:20 into the contest, the Bucs answered with a field goal of their own early in the second quarter to draw even. Tampa Bay marched 54 yards in 12 plays, a drive that took 6:10 that Gramatica culminated with his 42-yard field goal nine seconds into the second. Dilfer had a key 26-yard pass to tight end Dave Moore on 3rd-and-5 that kept the drive alive. A turnover led to the go-ahead points later in the period. Linebacker Derrick Brooks intercepted Kitna and returned the ball 10 yards to the Seattle 25. Four plays later, Gramatica booted 40-yard field goal with 72 seconds left before halftime. Tampa Bay took the opening kickoff of the second half and on the second play from scrimmage, its season took a big turn. Daniels broke through the line and sacked Dilfer, who had his shoulder driven into the artificial turf. Neither team could manage any offense in the third, but finally the Bucs drove 67 yards in eight plays to extend the lead to 13-3 2:39 into the fourth when King found Hape wide open in the end zone from two yards. King set that TD up with a beautiful 24-yard screen pass to Alstott that moved Bucs to the Seattle 10. From there, the defense made sure Seattle would not mount a comeback. On the next possession, Sapp sacked Kitna and recovered a fumble on the same play. The Bucs also intercepted Kitna twice over the final nine minutes to seal the win. "We had all the interceptions and Marino (Miami quarterback) just did it last week," Seattle coach Mike Holmgren said. "Jon Kitna did it this week. If he plays his career like Marino, I'll take it. For a young a quarterback, it was a pretty harsh lesson. But it is a lesson that he will look at and be better for it." Tampa Bay won despited gaining 156 yards and getting nine first downs. Seattle finished with 259 yards and 15 first downs. The Bucs beat Seattle for the first time in five all-time meetings.
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