The Buccaneers defense has held the Jets to three points through the first 50 minutes of play, which leaves the end of their five-game losing streak in sight.
They’ll need to get to the finish line without the help of cornerback Vernon Hargreaves. Hargreaves is done for the rest of the day with a hamstring injury with the Bucs leading 9-3.
It was 3-3 at halftime, but Tampa was able to drive for a field goal to open the second half and then turned a Bilal Powell fumble into another Patrick Murray make. Those have been rather modest achievements for the offense, but modest is probably as much as the team can expect with Jameis Winston and Mike Evans out of the lineup.
The Jets defense has held up well without their own injured cornerback Morris Claiborne, but penalties and the offense’s ineptitude have conspired to leave them in need of a big rally in the final minutes.