NFL: Bucs finally end drought for rushing scores

When Thomas Jones leaped over the pile from one yard out with 11:21 left in the first half, he ended drought of seven games without a rushing touchdown. Alstott had two on Sept. 21 in a 31-10 rout of the Atlanta Falcons.

Going into Monday night's game, there were 36 running backs around the league with more rushing touchdowns than the entire Tampa Bay team. Alstott's two scored were the only ones on the ground all season.

Jones, who was acquired in the offseason from the Arizona Cardinals, was the Bucs' leading rusher at the half. He was coming off his best performance of the season against Green Bay the week before, when he rushed for 134 yards on nine carries but couldn't score.

Head coach Jon Gruden had said last week he was going to try to utilize Jones more in the backfield with Michael Pittman.

"We do want more out of Thomas Jones," Gruden said. "We don't want to diminish what Pittman means to us and what he's about, but we do need to creatively use Thomas Jones anyway we can. He's a guy who you can eventually build a team around and our scouts really liked him."

Pittman led the Bucs with 581 rushing yards entering the game but had no rushing touchdowns and two receiving.

FATHERLESS: Even though he isn't active anymore, Keyshawn Johnson's presence still was felt inside Raymond James Stadium. In the north end zone, a banner with the words, "Key's Kids," was draped over the wall. Seated directly behind the banner was a group of kids that were beneficiaries of Johnson's charity program. "Key's Kids" rewards academic achievement and enables inner city and underprivileged kids to attend football games.

There was no sign of Keyshawn, however, since the vocal receiver deactivated by the Bucs last Tuesday for being a distraction.

SACK EXCHANGE: Warren Sapp, who needed seven sacks to break Hall of Famer Lee Roy Selmon's career franchise record of 78.5 at the beginning of the season, picked up his fourth in the first quarter. That's only one more than the number of passes he has caught this season.

Simeon Rice continued his terrorizing ways of Giants quarterback Kerry Collins by sacking him and forcing a fumble on the last play of the first half. Rice now has sacked Collins six times in his career, more than any other quarterback he has faced.

TAKEAWAY PARTY: When Giants running back Tiki Barber fumbled the ball away on his team's second possession of the game, it allowed Tampa Bay to extend its streak of consecutive games with a takeaway to 52. Shelton Quarles recovered to keep the longest active streak alive.

WATCH OUT PEYTON: As dismal as the season has gone for the Bucs, quarterback Brad Johnson quietly has remained among the league leaders in passing. His 86.7 passer rating coming into the game was third best in the NFC and his 19 touchdown passes tied him with Indianapolis' Peyton Manning for the league lead. He grabbed sole possession of the lead with his 53-yard strike to Charles Lee in the second quarter.