Sunday September 28, 1997 - Arizona Cardinals vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Gameday Report

WON - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 19 Arizona Cardinals 18

The Buccaneers offense sputtered, but the defense did enough to keep the Buccaneers in the game.

Alshermond Singleton blocked a punt and recovered it for a touchdown. With less than five minutes left in the fourth quarter, Karl Williams scored a go-ahead 31-yard touchdown on fourth down. With Tampa Bay leading 19–18, Arizona drove to the Tampa Bay 29-yard line in the closing seconds.

Cardinals kicker Kevin Butler missed a 47-yard field goal wide right, and the Buccaneers held on to start the season 5–0.

This would be Ronde Barber's first regular season game with the Buccaneers. The 5–0 start matched the franchise best set in 1979.

Click here to view official GAMEBOOK & play-by-play highlights

GAMEDAY BRIEF

WEATHER: Partly Cloudy - 86°F. - Humidity 62% - Wind W.S.W. 12 mph Wind Chill 84°F.

OFFICALS

REFEREE: Dale Hammer
UMPIRE: Ed Coukart
HEAD LINESMAN: Sanford Rivers
LINE JUDGE: Ron Winter
BACK JUDGE: Steven Zimmer
FIELD JUDGE: Jeff Triplette
SIDE JUDGE: Tommy Moore
REPLAY OFFICAL: NOT DOCUMENTED

SCORING

BUCCANEERS: 6:53-1Q Singleton recovered blocked punt in endzone (kick failed)
BUCCANEERS: 5:46-2Q Anthony 8 pass from Dilfer (2 pt conversion failed)
CARDINALS: 1:52-2Q Moore 21 pass from Graham (Butler kick)
CARDINALS: 9:48-3Q Butler FG37
CARDINALS: 0:26-3Q Williams 42 interception return (Sanders pass from Graham)
BUCCANEERS: 4:48-4Q Williams 31 pass from Dilfer (Husted kick)

STARTERS OFFENSE

WR: #85 R. Anthony
LT: #74 P. Gruber
LG: #60 J. Pyne
C: #61 T. Mayberry
RG: #64 J. Diaz
RT: #70 J. Odom
TE: #80 J. Harris
WR: #88 H. Copeland
QB: #12 T. Dilfer
RB: #28 W. Dunn
FB: #40 M. Alstott

STARTERS DEFENSE

LE: #72 C. Ahanotu
NT: #77 B. Culpepper
UT: #99 W. Sapp
RE: #91 R. Upshaw
SLB: #50 J. Gooch
MLB: #56 H. Nickerson
WLB: #55 D. Brooks
LCB: #21 D. Abraham
RCB: #45 T. Legette
SS: #47 J. Lynch
FS: #25 M. Johnson

SUBSTITUTIONS

5 Husted, 6 Barnhardt, 20 Barber, 22 Mincy, 23 Bouie, 29 Gant, 31 Young, 37 Ellison, 51 Singleton, 52 Bellisari, 53 Quarles, 69 Pierson, 71 Wunsch, 73 Middleton, 78 Jones, 82 Hape, 83 Moore, 84 Thomas, 86 Williams, 94 White, 97 Jackson

DID NOT PLAY

4 Walsh, 32 Rhett

INACTIVE

13 Milanovich, 24 Robinson, 27 Parker, 59 Porter, 65 Dogins, 75 Curry, 87 Davis, 90 Maniecki

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

BUCCANEERS: Alstott 8-27, Dunn 10-27, Dilfer 2-0.
CARDINALS: McElroy 13-40, Johnson 5-21, Centers 4-4, McKinnon 1-3, Graham 1-2, Swann 1-0.

PASSING

BUCCANEERS: Dilfer 24-12-110-1-2, Barnhardt 1-1-25-0-0.
CARDINALS: Graham 52-31-339-2-1.

RECIEVING

BUCCANEERS: Anthony 5-49, Harris 3-10, Dunn 2-10, Williams 1-31, Bouie 1-25, Copeland 1-10.
CARDINALS: Moore 8-147, Centers 8-58, Sanders 5-60, Edwards 3-27, Williams 2-15, McElroy 2-11, Gedney 1-17, Carter 1-4, Johnson 1-0.

INTERCEPTIONS

BUCCANEERS: Abraham 1-0, Lynch 1-0.
CARDINALS: Williams 1-42.

KICK RETURNS

BUCCANEERS: Williams 2-43, Dunn 1-30.
CARDINALS: Williams 2-46.

PUNT RETURNS

BUCCANEERS: Williams 4-57.
CARDINALS: Williams 2-21.

SACKS

BUCCANEERS: Culpepper 3-19, Ahanotu 2-21, Sapp 1-5.
CARDINALS: Swann 2-12, Smith 1-10.