Redskins, but lost to the Detroit Lions at home in overtime to break the Lions' historic road losing streak. Needing help to make the playoffs as a wild-card team, the Bucs routed the eventual NFC West champion Seattle Seahawks 38–15 in Tampa. With the last week of the regular season on the slate, the Bucs needed to defeat the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome, then hope for the defeats of the Green Bay Packers and the New York Giants by the Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins, respectively, as both teams held playoff tiebreakers over the Buccaneers. The Saints planned to fight the Bucs equally hard, as a victory and a Falcons loss to the Carolina Panthers would give them the #1 seed in the NFC. The game was close and hard-fought throughout the first half, but two key turnovers by the Bucs defense, a Barrett Ruud forced fumble of Saints running back Julius Jones near the Bucs' goal line and an interception of Saints quarterback Drew Brees near the end of the half, gave the Bucs the slight edge. A Saints field goal in the fourth quarter cut the Tampa Bay lead to 20–13, but with the Falcons holding a large lead over the Panthers, Saints coach Sean Payton chose to sit Brees and put in backup Chase Daniel. The Bucs held on and won the game 23–13, finishing the season with a 10–6 record, their best since 2005. However, the Packers and Giants both won close games as well, thus sending the eventual Super Bowl champion Packers to the playoffs. For the second time in three years, the Bucs had finished with a winning record, yet missed the playoffs. The season marked a 7-game improvement over the previous one, and was highlighted by the superb play of second-year quarterback Josh Freeman and a strong rookie class led by Gerald McCoy, Arrelious Benn, Mike Williams, Cody Grimm, and LeGarrette Blount. No Buccaneers were selected to the Pro Bowl, but left tackle Donald Penn did play in the game as a replacement for Green Bay's Chad Clifton, marking Penn's first appearance. Raheem Morris finished second in AP NFL Coach of the Year voting, and Mike Williams finished second in Offensive Rookie of the Year voting. 2011 The Buccaneers went into 2011 with high expectations, but they ended up not materializing. Things began on an ominous note when they lost at