TAMPA BAY, 22 December 2003 — Michael Vick showed flashes of the form that made him a front-runner for 2002 MVP honors to lead the Atlanta Falcons to a 30-28 win over Tampa Bay which ended the playoff hopes of the defending champions Buccaneers on Saturday.

The Falcons had to survive a furious fourth-quarter rally to edge the Bucs (7-8), the only team to make the playoffs in each of the last four years.

Vick, who threw for 119 yards and two touchdowns in his third start of an injury-hit season, had no qualms about eliminating Tampa from postseason contention. “They were trying to do it to us last year,” he told reporters. The Bucs gave the Falcons (4-11) a huge scare, quarterback Brad Johnson overcoming a poor first half to throw for three TDs in the game’s final 11:27.

Tampa failed to force overtime when a hurried Johnson misfired on a two-point conversion attempt with 27 seconds to play.

The unusually erratic Johnson was intercepted four times in the first half, one of the miscues resulting in an Atlanta TD. In contrast, Vick played flawlessly, also running for 39 yards and two first downs.

Looking on was new Falcons president and general manager Rich McKay, who was previously with the Bucs.

The Falcons dominated the first 15 minutes, going up 10-0 on Jay Feely’s 26-yard field goal and Vick’s six-yard toss to Alge Crumpler. Rickey Dudley put the Bucs back into the game 6:35 from the half when he hauled in Johnson’s three-yard toss for his first TD of the season.

In Minneapolis, Daunte Culpepper threw for 260 yards and three first-half touchdowns while rookie Onterrio Smith ran for three more TDs to propel the Minnesota Vikings to a 45-20 rout of the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Vikings (9-6) are one game up on the Green Bay Packers in the NFC North and can claim the division title with a win over the lowly Arizona Cardinals next week.

The Chiefs (12-3), who began the season 9-0, are now in danger of missing a first-round playoff bye. Only the top two teams in each conference get to take the week off.

New England took sole possession of the best record in the AFC — one game ahead of the Chiefs — and clinched a first-round bye with a 21-16 victory over the New York Jets.

The Patriots intercepted Chad Pennington five times and Tom Brady connected with David Givens on a pair of touchdowns as New England posted their 11th straight victory.