Tampa Bay Buccaneers Get a Week 2 Comeback Win You Wouldn't Bet on

If someone came up to you at halftime of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' game against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday and asked if you'd care to wager on a Buccaneer victory, well, you probably would have bet:

1. Your house.

2. Your car.

3. As much cash as you could possibly muster.

Looked like one of those can't-miss deals. Up there in the Metrodome, the Minnesota Vikings were simply beating the sweat-soaked pants off those Buccaneers of Raheem Morris. It was ugly, flat-out ugly.

The Vikes were throwing a shutout, up 17-0 at halftime and things were looking really, really good for the men in purple.

They had out-gained the Bucs 284 yards to 62. Adrian Peterson was looking like a big, powerful gazelle, putting up 83 yards on 15 carries with a pair of touchdowns, and generally made the first half one of those scary scenes from a Buccaneer's worst nightmare.

Donovan McNabb, that old fossil, took a swig from the Fountain of Youth and looked nothing like the inept codger he was last week. He was schooling the young Bucs, completing 11-of-17 for 153 yards.

Time of possession was ridiculous (19:13 to 10:47), and thank goodness for air-conditioned domes, for had this been in hot, steamy Tampa, the defense would have wilted the way it did in the opening day loss to Detroit.

Yes, from Tampa's standpoint, you might have considered switching over to something exciting, perhaps the LPGA Tour.

Former Buccaneer great John Lynch on the Fox broadcast team, that marvelous big-hitting safety, came up with this gem:

"It could be a good second half."

At that point, you had to wonder if Lynch had taken too many shots to the head during his playing days.

Little did Lynch know how right he would be.

The Bucs crept into the game with a 10-point third quarter, but nah, they were down 20-10 when Minnesota added an early fourth-quarter field goal.

Then somehow, that old Any Given Sunday adage came to life. It did, it really did.

Suddenly, Minnesota's well-oiled offense quit working. McNabb started looking old again and Josh Freeman, who refuses to give up in fourth quarters, was working his comeback magic again when he hit Arrelious Benn with 6:39 to play. Then he took his team down once again in the waning moments and handed off to bruiser boy LeGarrette Blount, who bullied his way into the end zone with 31 second left.

Final: 24-20, Buccaneers. The most improbable, impossible comeback of Week 2 in the NFL.

Oh yes, about that bet.

I'd be:

1. Homeless.

2. Hitch-hiking.

3. Horribly broke.

No one saw this coming, and somewhere tonight, when the Vikings look at themselves in the mirror, they'll have a hard time believing it really happened.