Brake Light Problem

On my 98 Taurus, Both of my main brake lights went out at the same time.... I have never heard of this happening.

I still have the turn signals, and rear lights, but no brake lights.

So, I went and bought replacement bulbs, and that's when I ran into my problem. I peeled back the carpeting, and that black plastic by the tailgate latch, and looked for the bulb. There was this little black bung thing, but all it had was wires, and was labeled like Elec 66 or something like that. I couldn't find the bulb, so my question is, after peeling back the carpeting, do I have to unbolt the entire light unit to get to the bulb?

I cannot see a way to get to it from the inside. there is a large metal bracket across the entire rear section.

thanks for all the help.

I don't know about a '98 but the owner's manual for my '02 has info about how to change all the bulbs.