Buccaneers vs. Dallas Cowboys

LOSS - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21 Dallas Cowboys 34

The first regular season game for head coach Raheem Morris saw the Buccaneers fall to the Dallas Cowboys by a score of 34–21. Running back Cadillac Williams returned as a starter, and rushed for 97 yards and one touchdown. Quarterback Byron Leftwich threw for 276 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions. The Buccaneer defense, however, gave up three big plays in the loss.

Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo threw for a career-best 353 yards. Three long touchdown passes (66, 80, 44 yards respectively) put the game out of reach. Early in the fourth quarter, Tampa Bay closed the deficit to 20–14, but Romo's 80-yard catch & run to Patrick Crayton put the Cowboys ahead for good.

On specials teams, kicker Mike Nugent had one field goal attempt blocked, and shanked another.

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GAMEDAY BRIEF

OFFICALS

• REFEREE: Alberto Riveron
• UMPIRE: Ruben Fowler
• HEAD LINESMAN: Ed Camp
• LINE JUDGE: Ron Phares
• SIDE JUDGE: Jimmy DeBell
• BACK JUDGE: Lee Dyer
• FIELD JUDGE: Steve Zimmer
• REPLAY OFFICIAL: Bob McGarth
• VIDEO OPERATOR: not documented

SCORING

• COWBOYS: 09:35-1Q Folk FG51
• COWBOYS: 01:22-1Q Folk FG21
• BUCCANEERS: 10:19-2Q Williams 1 run (Nugent kick)
• COWBOYS: 00:46-2Q Austin 42 pass from Romo (Folk kick)
• COWBOYS: 11:23-3Q Williams 66 pass from Romo (Folk kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 13:45-4Q Ward 1 run (Nugent kick)
• COWBOYS: 12:43-4Q Crayton 80 pass from Romo (Folk kick)
• COWBOYS: 03:57-4Q Barber 6 run (Folk kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 01:28-4Q Winslow 2 pass from Leftwich (Nugent kick)

STARTERS OFFENSE

• WR: #80 M. Clayton
• LT: #70 D. Penn
• LG: #76 J. Zuttah
• C: #52 J. Faine
• RG: #75 D. Joseph
• RT: #65 J. Trueblood
• TE: #82 K. Winslow
• WR: #89 A. Bryant
• QB: #07 B. Leftwich
• RB: #24 C. Williams
• TE: #86 J. Stevens

STARTERS DEFENSE

• LE: #97 J. Wilkerson
• DT: #98 R. Simms
• DT: #95 C. Hovan
• RE: #90 G. Adams
• SLB: #58 Q. Black
• MLB: #51 B. Ruud
• WLB: #50 M. McCoy
• LCB: #25 A. Talib
• RCB: #20 R. Barber
• SS: #21 S. Piscitelli
• FS: #23 J. Phillps

SUBSTITUTIONS

• 4 Nugent, 8 D Johnson, 18 Stroughter, 22 Smith, 26 Allen, 27 Cox, 28 Ward, 29 Arrington, 33 Mack, 34 Graham, 35 Askew, 48 Economos, 53 Koutouvides, 54 Hayes, 56 Wilson, 61 Compas, 64 M Johnson, 85 Stovall, 87 Clark, 91 White, 92 D.Moore, 93 Miller

DID NOT PLAY

• 11 J Johnson

INACTIVE

• 5 Freeman, 31 Biggers, 57 Hayward, 62 Dile, 69 Dotson, 88 Gilmore, 94 K.Moore, 96 Evans

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

• BUCCANEERS: Williams 13-97, Ward 12-62, Winslow 1-7, Smith 1-4, Leftwich 3-3, Graham 1-1.
• COWBOYS: Barber 14-79, Jones 6-22, Choice 2-10, Crayton 1-5, Romo 1-2.

PASSING

• BUCCANEERS: Leftwich 41-25-276-0-1, Clayton 1-0-0-0-0.
• COWBOYS: Romo 27-16-353-0-3.

RECIEVING

• BUCCANEERS: Clayton 5-93, Winslow 5-30, Stevens 4-41, Stroughter 3-25, Bryant 2-29, Ward 2-21, Clark 1-17, Stroughter 1-13, Askew 1-4, Smith 1-3.
• COWBOYS: Witten 5-71, Crayton 4-135, Williams 3-86, Choice 2-6, Austin 1-42, Bennett 1-13.

INTERCEPTIONS

• BUCCANEERS: none.
• COWBOYS: none.

KICK RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Smith 4-101.
• COWBOYS: Jones 3-70, Phillips 1-0.

PUNT RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Smith 3-27.
• COWBOYS: Crayton 1-3, Newman 1-0.

SACKS

• BUCCANEERS: Barber 1-9.
• COWBOYS: none.

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