Buccaneers vs. Dallas Cowboys 
LOSS - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 09 Dallas Cowboys 13
Tampa Bay Buccaneers traveled to Dallas, for what will be their final regular season game at Texas Stadium. Jeff Garcia passed for 227 yards and no interceptions, and the Buccaneer defense held the Cowboys to only 172 yards, but the team fell by a score of 13–9.
With Tony Romo on the sidelines with a broken finger, former Buccaneer Brad Johnson started at quarterback for the Cowboys. Dallas' first three drives went 3-and-out, and Johnson's passing game sputtered. Meanwhile, Jeff Garcia twice drove the Buccaneers into the red zone, and two Matt Bryant field goals put Tampa Bay ahead 6–0.
Dallas got onto the scoreboard in the second quarter with a field goal. On the next drive, Tampa Bay drove 48 yards in 14 plays, but missed a 51-yard field goal. The Cowboys took the good field position, and drove into Tampa Bay territory. With 47 seconds left in the half, facing 3rd & 12 at the 49, the Cowboys' drive appeared to be halted. However, Ronde Barber was called for a horse-collar penalty, and the drive continued. Johnson capitalized on the penalty, and scored a touchdown pass to Roy Williams with 4 seconds left in the half.
Clifton Smith fumbled away the second half kickoff for Tampa Bay, setting up a field position battle in the third quarter. Each team added another field goal, and the score stood at 13–9 late in the fourth quarter. Garcia drove the Buccaneers 56 yards in 16 plays, to the Dallas 18-yard line. Facing 4th & 5 with 19 seconds to go, Garcia's pass fell incomplete, and Dallas held on for the victory.
With the loss, the Buccaneers fell to 5–3.
GAMEDAY BRIEF
OFFICALS
- REFEREE: Gene Steratore
- UMPIRE: Jeff Rice
- HEAD LINESMAN: Tom Stabile
- LINE JUDGE: Jeff Seeman
- SIDE JUDGE: Barry Anderson
- BACK JUDGE: Tony Steratore
- FIELD JUDGE: Greg Gautreaux
- REPLAY OFFICIAL: Al Hynes
- VIDEO OPERATOR: not documented
SCORING
- BUCCANEERS: 10:57-1Q Bryant FG36
- BUCCANEERS: 01:09-1Q Bryant FG36
- COWBOYS: 09:29-2Q Folk FG38
- COWBOYS: 00:01-2Q Williams 2 pass from Johnson (Folk kick)
- COWBOYS: 05:13-3Q Folk FG45
- BUCCANEERS: 00:34-3Q Bryant FG41
STARTERS OFFENSE
- WR: #89 A. Bryant
- LT: #70 D. Penn
- LG: #78 A. Sears
- C: #52 J. Faine
- RG: #75 D. Joseph
- RT: #65 J. Trueblood
- TE: #81 A. Smith
- TE: #88 J. Gilmore
- WR: #80 M. Clayton
- QB: #07 J. Garcia
- FB: #34 E. Graham
STARTERS DEFENSE
- LE: #93 K. Carter
- DT: #95 C. Hovan
- DT: #71 J. Haye
- RE: #90 G. Adams
- SLB: #59 C. June
- MLB: #51 B. Ruud
- WLB: #55 D. Brooks
- LCB: #31 P. Buchanon
- RCB: #20 R. Barber
- SS: #23 J. Phillps
- FS: #36 T. Jackson
SUBSTITUTIONS
- 3 Bryant, 9 Bidwell, 19 Hilliard, 21 Piscitelli, 22 Smith, 25 Talib, 26 Allen, 28 Dunn, 33 Cook, 43 Mack, 48 Economos, 54 Hayes, 57 Hayward, 58 Black, 79 Mahan, 84 Galloway, 86 Stevens, 87 Clark, 91 White, 97 Wilkerson, 98 Sims
DID NOT PLAY
- 12 McCown, 76 Zuttah
INACTIVE
- 8 Griese, 10 Jackson, 11 Johnson, 29 Bennett, 35 Askew, 77 Lee, 85 Stovall, 96 Peterson
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
- BUCCANEERS: Graham 17-42, Garcia 1-6, Dunn 1-0.
- COWBOYS: Barber 25-71, Johnson 1-(-1).
PASSING
- BUCCANEERS: Garcia 44-28-228-0-0.
- COWBOYS: Johnson 33-19-122-0-1.
RECIEVING
- BUCCANEERS: Bryant 7-46. Graham 4-22, Galloway 3-38, Clayton 3-23. Hilliard 3-23, Stevens 3-16, A.Smith 2-39, Dunn 2-8, C.Smith 1-13.
- COWBOYS: Barber 6-29, Owens 5-33, Bennett 3-21, Williams 2-10, Crayton 1-13, Witten 1-8, Curtis 1-8.
INTERCEPTIONS
- BUCCANEERS: none.
- COWBOYS: none.
KICK RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: C.Smith 3-62.
- COWBOYS: Austin 2-38, Stanback 2-37.
PUNT RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: C.Smith 5-82, Hilliard 1-0.
- COWBOYS: Crayton 2-5.
SACKS
- BUCCANEERS: Adams 2-15, Sims 1-5.
- COWBOYS: Ratliff 1-8, James 1-6.
