Sunday, January 6, 2002 - Philadelphia Eagles vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Gameday Report

LOSS - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13 Philadelphia Eagles 17

Originally this game was to be played back in week 2 and was thought to be a highly anticipated rematch from last season's wild card round. But due to 9/11, it was rescheduled for week 18.

With possible playoff implications on the line, the game was moved to Sunday Night Football. Going into the game though, both teams found themselves locked into their respective playoff seeds. Regardless of the outcome of this game, Tampa Bay would be the #6 seed in the NFC, and Philadelphia would be the #3 seed, and they would meet six days later at Veterans Stadium. Therefore, both teams rested many of their starters, and the game was considered largely inconsequential and lost a lot of its luster.

With several players inactive, such as Keyshawn Johnson, Warrick Dunn, Martin Gramatica, and with quarterback Brad Johnson playing only in the first drive, the offense sputtered. Tampa Bay held a 13–3 lead deep into the fourth quarter.

With 2:19 to go, Eagles back-up quarterback A. J. Feeley connected with Dameane Douglas for their first touchdown, and narrowed the lead to 13–10. On the ensuing kickoff, Karl "The Truth" Williams fumbled the return at the Tampa Bay 24-yard line, and it was recovered by Philadelphia. Two plays later, Feeley and Douglas took the lead with their second touchdown. Philadelphia managed to score 14 points in 25 seconds, and held on to win the unusual, rather lackadaisical game.

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

GAMEDAY BRIEF

WEATHER: Cloudy - 60°F. - Humidity 70% - Wind W. 15 mph Wind Chill 59°F.

OFFICALS

REFEREE: Walt Coleman
UMPIRE: Undrey Wash
LINE JUDGE: Ron Phares
SIDE JUDGE: Dave Wyant
HEAD LINESMAN: Paul Weidner
BACK JUDGE: Ron Spitler
FIELD JUDGE: Keven Mack
REPLAY OFFICIAL: Dave Orem
VIDEO OPERATOR: Bud Alexander

SCORING

BUCCANEERS: 04:50-1Q Brien FG42
BUCCANEERS: 14:56-2Q Stecker 4 run (Brien kick)
EAGLES: 09:18-2Q Akers FG47
BUCCANEERS: 00:19-2Q Brien FG23
EAGLES: 02:12-4Q Douglas 2 pass from Feeley (Akers kick)
EAGLES: 01:46-4Q Douglas 24 pass from Feeley (Akers kick)

STARTERS OFFENSE

WR: #81 J. Green
LT: #67 K. Walker
LG: #64 R. McDonald
C: #62 J. Christy
RG: #60 C. Coleman
RT: #71 J. Wunsch
TE: #83 D. Moore
WR: #86 K. Williams
QB: #14 B. Johnson
RB: #40 M. Alstott
TE: #80 T. Yoder

STARTERS DEFENSE

LE: #94 S. White
NT: #92 A. McFarland
DT: #99 W. Sapp
RE: #97 S. Rice
SLB: #53 S. Quarles
MLB: #55 N. Webster
WLB: #55 D. Brooks
LCB: #25 B. Kelly
RCB: #20 R. Barber
SS: #47 J. Lynch
FS: #34 D. Jackson

SUBSTITUTIONS

3 Royals, 4 Brien, 10 King, 21 Abraham, 22 Stecker, 26 Smith, 27 Abdullah, 38 Howell, 43 Cook, 46 Gibson, 50 Gooch, 51 Singleton,, 69 Pierson, 75 Washington, 76 Curry, 84 McDermott, 87 Murphy, 88 Wynn, 89 Roberg, 91 Darby, 96 Wyms, 98 Cannida

DID NOT PLAY

59 Duncan

INACTIVE

Hamilton, 7 Gramatica, 19 Johnson, 28 Dunn, 65 Hochstein, 68 Grice, 78 Jones, 85 Anthony

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

BUCCANEERS: Stecker 12-35, Abdullah 8-34, Alstott 3-11, King 2-(-9).
EAGLES: Buckhalter 20-89, Detmer 2-13, Smart 2-6, Martin 1-3.

PASSING

BUCCANEERS: B.Johnson 4-3-46-0-0, King 28-19-148-1-0.
EAGLES: Detmer 14-5-51-1-0, Feeley 14-10-143-1-2.

RECIEVING

BUCCANEERS: Cook 5-21, Wynn 4-69, Murphy 3-25, Stecker 3-8, Abdullah 2-26, Yoder 2-20, Williams 2-18, Green 1-7.
EAGLES: Douglas 5-77, Buckhalter 5-50, Stewart 3-41, Scott 2-26.

INTERCEPTIONS

BUCCANEERS: Lynch 1-2, Abraham 1-0.
EAGLES: Cook 1-11.

KICK RETURNS

BUCCANEERS: Murphy 2-34, Williams 1-22, Abdullah 1-18.
EAGLES: Mitchell 3-70, D.Douglas 1-18.

PUNT RETURNS

BUCCANEERS: Williams 2-4.
EAGLES: Brown 4-19.

SACKS

BUCCANEERS: Gooch 0.5-4.5, Kelly 0.5-4.5.
EAGLES: Kalu 1-12, Walker 1-10, Burgess 1-7.