Buccaneers vs. Atlanta Falcons

WIN - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48 Atlanta Falcons 10

The Buccaneers opened the Ray Perkins era by setting team records for points scored, total yardage, margin of victory, and touchdown passes thrown.

Steve DeBerg was 24 of 34 for 333 yards and five touchdowns, throwing touchdowns on each of the Buccaneers' first four possessions. DeBerg's five touchdown passes still stands as a Buccaneers record, having been tied by Brad Johnson in 2002. Perkins, who had played with Joe Namath in college and Johnny Unitas in the pros, and drafted Phil Simms with the Giants, said that DeBerg had one of the best games of any quarterback with whom he had been associated.

In a completely dominating performance, the Buccaneers controlled the ball for 38 minutes, allowed no sacks, and converted 14 of 16 third-down attempts. Meanwhile, the Buccaneers defense had four sacks and three turnovers. DeBerg did throw one interception, but on the very next play cornerback Bobby Futrell intercepted David Archer's overthrow of tight end Ken Whisenhunt.

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GAMEDAY BRIEF

OFFICALS

• REFEREE: Bob McElwee
• UMPIRE: Tom Hensley
• LINE JUDGE: Ron DeSouza
• LINESMAN: Dale Hamer
• BACK JUDGE: Jim Kearney
• FIELD JUDGE: Jack Vaughan
• SIDE JUDGE: Don Wedge

SCORING

• BUCCANEERS: :56-1Q Freeman 11 pass from DeBerg (Igwebuike kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 0:43-1Q Carter 6 pass from DeBerg (Igwebuike kick)
• FALCONS: 11:35-2Q Luckhurst FG50
• BUCCANEERS: 5:18-2Q Magee 11 pass from DeBerg (Igwebuike kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 2:37-2Q Carter 3 pass from DeBerg (kick failed)
• BUCCANEERS: 5:43-3Q Austin 1 run (Igwebuike kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 14:38-4Q Carrier 2 pass from DeBerg (Igwebuike kick)
• FALCONS: 9:34-4Q Bailey 34 pass from Campbell (Luckhurst kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 3:32-4Q Bartalo 3 run (Igwebuike kick)

STARTERS OFFENSE

• QB: #17 DeBerg
• LT: #72 Taylor
• LG: #66 Yarno
• C: #60 Grimes
• RG: #68 Mallory
• RT: #74 Powell
• WR: #89 Carrier
• WR: #87 Carter
• FB: #39 Austin
• TE: #86 Magee
• RB: #32 Wilder

STARTERS DEFENSE

• LDE: #78 Cannon
• NT: #94 Stensrud
• RDE: #90 Holmes
• LOLB: #51 Washington
• LILB: #58 Davis
• RILB: #54 Randle
• ROLB: #57 Moss
• LCB: #29 Reynolds
• SS: #33 Kemp
• FS: #20 Woods
• RCB: #22 Jones

SUBSTITUTIONS

• 1 Igwebuike, 5 Garcia, 21 McKeever, 25 Howard, 35 Smith, 36 Futrell, 41 Swoope, 42 Bartalo, 50 Turk, 52 Brantley, 53 Graham, 56 Walker, 59 Murphy, 73 Heller , 75 Kellin, 77 Maarleveld, 79 Goode, 81 Freeman, 82 Hall, 83 Holloway, 85 G.Taylor, 98 Keys

DID NOT PLAY

• 14 Testaverde

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

• BUCCANEERS: Howard 12-47, Bartalo 7-23, Smith 5-23, Austin 9-20, Wilder 7-13, Freeman 1-1.
• FALCONS: Riggs 12-52, Archer 2-8, Flowers 2-3.

PASSING

• BUCCANEERS: DeBerg 34-24-333-1-5.
• FALCONS: Archer 22-8-94-2-0, Campbell 11-6-77-0-1.

RECIEVING

• BUCCANEERS: Carter 6-60, Carrier 6-50, Wilder 4-62, Magee 3-46, Hall 2-44, Howard 1-45, Austin 1-15, Freeman 1-11.
• FALCONS: Riggs 4-27, Bailey 3-56, Johnson 3-33, Dixon 1-33, Whisenhunt 1-14, Matthews 1-4, Flowers 1-4.

INTERCEPTIONS

• BUCCANEERS: Woods 1-42, Futrell 1-23.
• FALCONS: Case 1-12.

KICK RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Futrell 2-8.
• FALCONS: Stamps 6-117.

PUNT RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Futrell 4-39
• FALCONS: none

SACKS

• BUCCANEERS: Kellin 2.5-24.5, Holmes 1.5-12.5.
• FALCONS: none

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