TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Shaun King hasn't been the losing quarterback in a game in more than two years and sees no reason why the personal streak should end now that he's in the NFL. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie will make his first pro start Monday night and insists he isn't concerned about doing it against the streaking Minnesota Vikings with first place on the line in the NFC Central .

"As a competitor, that's what you want. It's an opportunity in front of the whole country. It's at home, in front of the hometown fans. It's for first place. What more could you want," the second-round draft pick said.

"I'm not nervous at all. I know I have a job to do. I'll go out and do my best. I'm not afraid to mess up. I'm not afraid to fail. I'll just go out and play hard ... The key is to play smart. If I do that, I think we'll be O.K."

The rookie was an unspectacular 3-of-7 for 32 yards after starter Trent Dilfer broke his collarbone early in the second half of last week's 16-3 victory in Seattle. However, he avoided costly mistakes and threw his first pro touchdown pass to end a drought of eight straight quarters without a TD by the Tampa Bay offense.

Dilfer likely will be sidelined the remainder of the regular season. And with experienced backup Eric Zeier nursing sore ribs, coach Tony Dungy is banking on a strong running game and one of the league's top defenses to help King get the Bucs into the playoffs.

"I think everyone expects Shaun to go in and play well. He'll have the normal problems that young guys have. But in our offense, he doesn't have to throw 40 passes. He doesn't have to be on and making great plays," Dungy said.

"We've got a lot of ways we can win, and have won this year. Hopefully, that takes a little pressure off of him. You can't expect one guy to be the savior. The rest of our team is going to have to play well around him."

If King keeps the job and Tampa Bay advances to the playoffs, he would become the first rookie quarterback to start at least five games on a playoff team since Seattle's Kelly Stouffer in 1988.

Although the Bucs are 12-0 under Dungy when they attempt 20 or fewer passes, the coach said the team won't scale down the offense to try to minimize King's mistakes.

"We're just going to try to do what we do best," King said. "Run the ball and control the clock."

The Bucs (7-4) have won four in a row to climb into a three-way tie for the NFC Central lead with the Vikings and Detroit Lions. Minnesota has been even hotter, averaging 30 points during a five-game winning streak with Jeff George at quarterback.

Vikings coach Dennis Green said he doesn't expect the presence of a rookie at quarterback to affect the way Tampa Bay will approach his team.

The Bucs handed Minnesota its only regular-season loss a year ago by running the ball and playing solid defense. Overall, they've won three of seven against the Vikings under Dungy, Green's defensive coordinator for four seasons before moving to Tampa Bay in 1996.

"The big thing is we've had plenty of problems with Trent Dilfer," Green said, shrugging off a question about what the Vikings can do defensively to take advantage of King making his first start in such an important game.

"The Bucs have a lot of familiarity with our defense. They play exceptionally well, offensively, against us. That's the way it seems to me. We've always had battles. We're only 4-3 against those guys and have a much better record against the other teams in the Central Division."

King led Tulane to its first unbeaten in 67 years last season. He hasn't lost when he's played since Mississippi beat the Green Wave 41-24 in the next-to-last game of his junior season.

The Bucs rave about his maturity and poise and insist he has the right makeup to keep the team in the division race. King smiles when someone mentions how much confidence his coaches and teammates seem to have in him.

"Being a quarterback, you can be a vocal leader all you want. But guys look at your actions," he said. "They look at what you do when you're out there, what kind of plays you make or how you act when you're in the huddle. My poise is directly related to how I was raised ... which is believing you can do all things through Christ."

MINNESOTA Season schedule and results

TAMPA BAY Season schedule and results

September 12 @Atlanta W 17-14 September 19 Oakland L 17-22 September 26 @Green Bay L 20-23 October 3 Tampa Bay W 21-14 October 10 Chicago L 22-24 October 17 @Detroit L 23-25 October 24 San Francisco W 40-16 October 31 @Denver W 23-20 November 8 Dallas W 27-17 November 14 @Chicago W 27-24 November 28 San Diego W 35-27 December 6 @Tampa Bay 9:00pm ET December 12 @Kansas City 8:20pm ET December 20 Green Bay 9:00pm ET December 26 @NY Giants 1:00pm ET January 2 Detroit 1:00pm ET

September 12 NY Giants L 13-17 September 19 @Philadelphia W 19-5 September 26 Denver W 13-10 October 3 @Minnesota L 14-21 October 10 @Green Bay L 23-26 October 24 Chicago W 6-3 October 31 @Detroit L 3-20 November 7 @New Orleans W 31-16 November 14 Kansas City W 17-10 November 21 Atlanta W 19-10 November 28 @Seattle W 16-3 December 6 Minnesota 9:00pm ET December 12 Detroit 1:00pm ET December 19 @Oakland 4:05pm ET December 26 Green Bay 4:15pm ET January 2 @Chicago 1:00pm ET

Records source: STATS, Inc.

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