Bucs do Bears a favor with victory vs. Lions
DETROIT — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are turning a miserable season into something more positive.
Matthew Stafford threw his fourth interception of the game when a pass went in and out of Calvin Johnson’s hands to rookie Johnthan Banks inside the 5-yard line in the final minute, allowing the Buccaneers to hold on for a 24-21 victory.
The Buccaneers (3-8) have won three consecutive games after losing their first eight, joining the 1978 St. Louis Cardinals as the only teams in NFL history to do that.
‘‘Wow, that’s history,’’ Buccaneers rookie tight end Tim Wright said.
Buccaneers rookie Mike Glennon avoided miscues. He was 14-for-21 for 247 yards and two touchdowns to Tiquan Underwood, whose second score was an 85-yard reception early in the fourth quarter. Glennon had a season-high 138.4 quarterback rating.
Glennon couldn’t rely on the running game he has had lately because Bobby Rainey was held to 35 yards on 15 carries a week after he ran for 163 yards and scored three touchdowns against the Atlanta Falcons.
The Lions (6-5), meanwhile, lost back-to-back games for the first time this season to remain tied with the Bears atop the NFC North. They can blame five turnovers for throwing away a chance to improve their playoff positioning.
‘‘As disappointing as this was, it doesn’t eliminate us from anything,’’ Lions coach Jim Schwartz said. ‘‘It just raises the urgency level for the next five games.’’
Stafford was 26-for-46 for 297 yards with three touchdowns. He threw scoring passes to Nate Burleson and Joseph Fauria in the second quarter and to Brandon Pettigrew in the third, but he couldn’t overcome his interceptions.
‘‘I can’t make bad deci- sions, and I had a couple of those and a couple of bad breaks,’’ Stafford said.
The last interception wasn’t Stafford’s fault. Johnson had the ball briefly before safety Kelcie McCray jarred it loose and Banks caught it out of the air.
‘‘He got a good hit on me,’’ Johnson said.