The 2008 season was the Buccaneers' last one with Jon Gruden at the helm, and it looked like it was going to be a fourth playoff appearance for Gruden's Bucs before a stunning late-season collapse. After 13 weeks, the Buccaneers were tied for the second-best record in the NFC and the top spot in the NFC South with a 9-3 record and two of their final four opponents (San Diego and Oakland) had losing records. After it was revealed that legendary Defensive Coordinator Monte Kiffin was leaving after the season to join the University of Tennessee staff headed by his son, Lane, the Bucs lost their last four games, allowing an average of 31 points per week in that span. The Buccaneers attempted to acquire long-time Packers quarterback Brett Favre in the summer but Favre signed with the Jets and Jeff Garcia returned as the starter. Garcia was hurt in a season-opening loss at New Orleans and Brian Griese, reacquired in an offseason trade, started the next four games, three of them victories. Griese suffered a shoulder injury late in the lone loss, in Week Five at Denver, and Garcia returned to start the final 11 contests. A Week 14 showdown with Carolina ended in a 38-23 defeat and gave the Panthers control of the NFC South race, and a 41-24 loss to San Diego two weeks later put the Bucs on the brink of elimination. Tampa Bay needed to beat Oakland in Week 17 and have Dallas lose to Philadelphia to secure a Wild Card spot. The Eagles did pummel the Cowboys in the late afternoon but the Bucs had already been eliminated by their earlier loss to the Raiders.
