Packers salvage credibility

The Green Bay Packers regained a measure of credibility as they repelled a late charge by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the most improved team in American football, hanging on for a 21-16 victory.

The battle of the Bays pitted the Super Bowl champions against a young team enjoying a tremendous resurgence under one of the league's most unflappable coaches, Tony Dungy. In just his second season, Dungy has made the Buccaneers play-off contenders, a dramatic turnaround for a team that has not enjoyed a winning season in 15 years.

Dungy stuck with Trent Dilfer despite a wretched start last year and his faith was rewarded, as Dilfer began delivering victories at the end of last season. Two strong running backs in Warrick Dunn and Mike Alstott round off the offence while the aggressive defence is built around Hardy Nickerson at linebacker and Warren Sapp at defensive tackle.

While Tampa is a team on the way up, Green Bay seems to be going sideways. The team has looked shaky in the early going, particularly in last week's loss against the Detroit Lions, when Brett Favre reverted to his hothead days of former years.

After falling into a 21-3 hole at Lambeau Field - where the Packers haven't lost in 22 outings - Tampa stormed back in the second half, scoring 13 points to give themselves a fighting chance to pull off their first win at Green Bay since 1989. But Dilfer failed to connect on his passes on the last Tampa drive.

The most grievous blow for Tampa was self-inflicted, when the Buccaneers took over the ball at Green Bay's 17 after Favre fumbled on a quarterback sneak. Dilfer's pass, however, flew straight to Gabe Wilkins, who showed great agility for a big man by hurdling over a diving Dilfer on his way to a 77-yard touchdown.

Nickerson sparked Tampa's comeback campaign when he blocked a 43-yard field goal attempt. A 63-yard Tampa drive in seven plays culminated in a one-yard touchdown from Alstott just before the end of the third quarter.

Another long Tampa drive at the start of the fourth quarter led to a second touchdown, this time a two-yard plunge from Dunn, who contributed to the drive earlier with a 44-yard run. But that was the end of Tampa's heroics.

The Dallas Cowboys dominated play but still lost 20-17 to the New York Giants. Troy Aikman was intercepted twice by Tito Wooten, the safety, who returned one of them for a sizzling 61-yard touchdown run. Down 20-9, the Cowboys pulled to within three points on a two-yard touchdown catch from Anthony Miller and a two-point conversion pass by Aikman with less than two minutes left. But the Cowboys ran out of time on their last drive.

Kordell Stewart, the quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers, lived up to his reputation as one of the league's most scintillating players in a 42-34 shootout against the Baltimore Ravens. He threw three interceptions in the first half, allowing Baltimore to accumulate a 21-0 lead. Transformed in the second half, Stewart threw three touchdown passes and capped things off by rushing for a 74-yard score.