Bucs' foolish personal foul sets up Jets victory

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers out Jets-ed the Jets, making a foolish late-game mistake that led to a last-second defeat in the season opener.

Bucs linebacker Lavonte David shoved a scrambling Geno Smith after the Jets rookie quarterback had gone out of bounds following a desperate scramble with seven seconds remaining in Sunday's game. The ensuing personal foul moved the ball from the Bucs' 45-yard line to the 30, close enough to Nick Folk to drill a 48-yard field goal on the next play.

(The Big Lead)

The shove would have been absurd at any point in the game -- not only is Smith a quarterback, but he was a step out of bounds. But to do it with seven seconds left and the Jets needing a miracle to pull out a victory?

Without the penalty, New York would have needed to gain 10 to 15 yards in less than seven seconds with no timeouts to set up a Folk attempt at a go-ahead field goal. So, essentially, David's penalty cost Tampa a Week 1 win that was all but assured.

Though the first week of the season isn't yet in the books, we already may have seen one of the worst penalties.

(via Timothy Burke)

PHOTOS: Click 'Next' to check out Week One action