Buccaneers vs. Buffalo Bills 
LOSS - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20 Buffalo Bills 33
***HISTORIC MARKER*** The Buccaneers made their first regular season trip in franchise history to Ralph Wilson Stadium to meet the Bills.
The Buccaneers had played only one time at Buffalo, a preseason game in 1977. Byron Leftwich threw for 296 yards and three touchdowns, but the Bills held Tampa Bay to only 57 yards rushing, and the Buccaneers had 13 penalties for 112 yard in the loss.
Leading 20–7 with less than a minute remaining in the first half, Buffalo looked to score once more. However, Fred Jackson fumbled at the Tampa Bay 16, and Sabby Piscitelli recovered. Piscitelli ran 72 yards to the Buffalo 8, and after a touchdown on the next play, Tampa Bay trimmed the deficit to 20–14.
Late in the fourth quarter, Leftwich led the Buccaneers on 14-play scoring drive, twice converting on 4th down. The touchdown could have brought the Buccaners within 8 points, but a failed two-point conversion ultimately foiled the comeback.
Tampa Bay dropped to 0–2, and lost their sixth consecutive game, dating back to 2008.
GAMEDAY BRIEF
OFFICALS
- REFEREE: Ron Winter
- UMPIRE: Bill Schuster
- HEAD LINESMAN: Jim Mello
- LINE JUDGE: Tom Stephan
- SIDE JUDGE: Tom Hill
- FIELD JUDGE: Jim Howey
- BACK JUDGE: Richard Reels
- REPLAY OFFICIAL: Ken Baker
- VIDEO OPERATOR: not documented
SCORING
- BILLS: 11:31-1Q Evans 32 pass from Edwards (Lindell kick)
- BILLS: 06:16-1Q Whitner 76 interception return (Lindell kick)
- BILLS: 00:09-1Q Lindell FG31
- BUCCANEERS: 12:55-2Q Winslow 42 pass from Leftwich (Nugent kick)
- BILLS: 09:50-2Q Lindell FG43
- BUCCANEERS: 00:27-2Q Williams 8 pass from Leftwich (Nugent kick)
- BILLS: 11:23-4Q Lindell FG27
- BILLS: 09:16-4Q Owens 43 pass from Edwards (Lindell kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 05:27-4Q Stevens 6 pass from Leftwich (pass failed)
- BILLS: 01:57-4QLindell FG20
STARTERS OFFENSE
- WR: #80 M. Clayton
- TE: #86 J. Stevens
- LT: #70 D. Penn
- LG: #76 J. Zuttah
- C: #79 S. Mahan
- RG: #75 D. Joseph
- RT: #65 J. Trueblood
- TE: #82 K. Winslow
- QB: #07 B. Leftwich
- RB: #24 C. Williams
- FB: #35 B. Askew
STARTERS DEFENSE
- LE: #97 J. Wilkerson
- NT: #98 R. Sims
- DT: #95 C. Hovan
- RE: #90 G. Adams
- DB: #58 Q. Black
- MLB: #51 B. Ruud
- WLB: #54 G. Hayes
- LCB: #25 A. Talib
- RCB: #20 R. Barber
- SS: #21 S. Piscitelli
- FS: #23 J. Phillips
SUBSTITUTIONS
- 4 Nugent, 8 D Johnson, 11 J Johnson, 18 Stroughter, 22 Smith, 26 Allen, 27 Cox, 28 Ward, 33 Mack, 34 Graham, 37 Cargile, 48 Economos, 50 McCoy, 53 Koutouvides, 56 Wilson, 57 Hayward, 72 M Johnson, 85 Stovall, 87 Clark, 91 White, 93 Miller, 96 Crowder
DID NOT PLAY
- 61 Compas
INACTIVE
- 5 Freeman, 52 Faine, 62 Dile, 69 Dotson, 88 Gilmore, 89 Bryant, 92 D.Moore, 94 K.Moore
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
- BUCCANEERS: Ward 9-32, Graham 2-16, Williams 7-9, Leftwich 1-0.
- BILLS: Jackson 28-163, Edwards 3-24, Owens 1-13, Omon 2-9, Parrish 1-9.
PASSING
- BUCCANEERS: Leftwich 50-26-296-2-3.
- BILLS: Edwards 31-21-230-1-2.
RECIEVING
- BUCCANEERS: Winslow 7-90, Williams 7-56, Stovall 3-80, Stevens 3-24, Clayton 2-27, Stroughter 1-10, Ward 1-5, Graham 1-3, Smith 1-1.
- BILLS: Schoumann 6-62, Jackson 6-25, Reed 4-46, Owens 3-52, Evans 1-32, Nelson 1-13.
INTERCEPTIONS
- BUCCANEERS: Piscitelli 1-4, Ruud 0-21.
- BILLS: Whitner 1-76, Scott 1-27.
KICK RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Smith 4-101.
- BILLS: Jones 3-70, Phillips 1-0.
PUNT RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Smith 1-5.
- BILLS: Parrish 3-15, Youboty 0-16.
SACKS
- BUCCANEERS: Wilkerson 1-8, Miller 1-2.
- BILLS: Stroud 1-0, Denney 1-0.
