NFL: Bucs win without Keyshawn

And the defending Super Bowl champions made the New York Giants remember why Raymond James Stadium used to be such a tough place for visiting teams in a 19-13 victory.

All eyes were on the Bucs (5-6) in prime time as a national television audience was eager to see how they would respond to adversity and to life without their most vocal wideout. Johnson was deactivated by the Bucs for the rest of the season last Tuesday for being a distraction.

Tampa Bay answered with a not-so- pretty win to end a three-game losing streak with five games left in the season.

The next stop for the Bucs is Jacksonville, where they will take on the Jaguars on Sunday night.

Brad Johnson completed 22-of-32 passes for 269 yards. Five of those passes went to Lee for 91 yards, and Keenan McCardell caught nine for 83 yards, giving him 698 receptions for his career. He needs two more to become the 16th player in NFL history -- and fifth active -- to reach 700 career receptions.

Lee, a fourth-year receiver out of nearby Central Florida who was released twice by the Bucs this season, caught a 53-yard touchdown pass from Johnson with 3:37 left in the first half to seemingly break the game open. It was his first touchdown catch in a Tampa Bay uniform and gave his team a 14-3 lead.

New York (4-7) pulled to within 17-13 early in the fourth quarter, but the Bucs defense avoided another collapse and twice shut down the Giants' attempt at a comeback.

Warren Sapp put an exclamation point on the win with his second sack of Giants quarterback Kerry Collins at the Giants 3 on third down with 1:59 left, setting up a fourth-and-19.

New York opted to take a page out of Patriots coach Bill Belichik's book, lining up to punt and snapping the ball out of the end zone for a safety to make it 19-13.

Belichik's gamble worked against the Denver Broncos earlier in the month, but New York's did not as a penalty for offsides on the onside kick gave the Bucs the ball at the Giants 29.

They ran out the clock from there.

After a scoreless first quarter, running back Thomas Jones scored his first touchdown as a Buccaneer when he dove in from the 1 early in the second quarter to wake up a rather subdued crowd of 65,648.

Key receptions by Lee and Joe Jurevicius kept the drive alive, and Jones almost scored on the play before as he stumbled to the goal line. But his knee hit at the 1.

Matt Bryant kicked a 30-yard field goal for the Giants a few possessions later. A fumble by McCardell helped set up the drive.

Johnson engineered a six-play, 73-yard drive, capping it off with a strike to Lee, who lined up wide right, ran a short slant, caught it in stride and raced across the field and down the left sideline for the score. Lee strutted the last few yards into the end zone and jumped into the stands -- a la the Lambeau Leap -- to celebrate.

Martin Gramatica's 21-yard field goal late in the third quarter stretched the lead to 17-6 for Tampa Bay. Gramatica is a graduate of La Belle High School.

The Giants seemed more than willing to make it an easy night for the Bucs by doing something the Bucs had become adept at this season -- committing penalties. A slew of facemask, roughing the passer and personal foul penalties kept Buccaneer drives alive.

Eager to return the favor, Tampa Bay turned the ball over at critical times to allow New York to stay in the game. Frank Walker's 56-yard interception return of a poorly thrown ball by Johnson early in the fourth quar ter cut the lead to 17-13. Inexplicably, Giants head coach Jim Fassel chose not to go for two points and pull within a field goal.

Running back Tiki Barber, twin brother of Tampa Bay cornerback Ronde Barber, was stuffed on a third-and-1 at his own 42 with New York on the move on its next possession. He recovered his own fumble, but the Giants had to punt it away.

The Bucs offense took over and converted a few clutch first downs on a clock-killing drive. A 35-yard diving reception by running back Michael Pittman was reversed on replay and gave the Giants another chance with 3:56 left in the game.

But on the first play from scrimmage following Tom Tupa's 29-yard punt, Bucs safety John Lynch intercepted Collins' pass at midfield to seal the win.