Buccaneers vs. Atlanta Falcons 
LOSS - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 03 Atlanta Falcons 14
The Bucs went to the Georgia Dome for a Week 2 contest against their division rival, the Atlanta Falcons.
Historically, the Buccaneers had been able to effectively contain Falcons' QB Michael Vick, shutting down the Falcons' offense in the process. However, the Bucs' performance here had not improved much from Week 1. The defense was unable to stop the running duo of Vick and RB Warrick Dunn, whose combined performance netted 261 yards, and 306 for Atlanta as a team—a new Falcons team record. Also illustrating their sharp fall in performance from their #1 NFL ranking the previous season, the Buccaneers' defense also allowed a 1-yard QB TD run by Vick and a 4-yard TD pass to RB Fred McCrary.
Buccaneers QB Chris Simms continued to struggle, throwing another three interceptions, while Carnell Williams was held to just 37 yards on 15 carries. The Buccaneers' only points came on a chip-shot 22-yard field goal by kicker Matt Bryant.
GAMEDAY BRIEF
OFFICALS
- REFEREE: Bill Vinovich
- UMPIRE: Tony Michalek
- HEAD LINESMAN: Derick Bowers
- LINE JUDGE: John Hussey
- SIDE JUDGE: Laird Hayes
- BACK JUDGE: Keith Ferguson
- FIELD JUDGE: Gary Cavaletto
- REPLAY OFFICAL: Lloyd McPeters
- VIDEO OPERATOR: Roger Ruth
SCORING
- FALCONS: 3:27-1Q Griffith 4 pass from Vick (Peterson kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 0:20-1Q Cook 9 pass from Simms (Bryant kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 12:50-2Q Alstott 11 pass from Simms (Bryant kick)
- FALCONS: 3:19-2Q Jenkins 8 pass from Vick (Peterson kick)
- FALCONS: 0:09-3Q Peterson FG31
- BUCCANEERS: 9:01-4Q Bryant FG50
- FALCONS: 4:18-4Q Duckett 2 run (Peterson kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 0:25-4Q Williams 6 run (Bryant kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 0:15-OT Bryant FG42
STARTERS OFFENSE
- QB: #02 C. Simms
- LT: #69 A. Davis
- LG: #72 D. Buenning
- C: #76 J. Wade
- RG: #79 S. Mahan
- RT: #67 K. Walker
- TE: #88 A. Becht
- TE: #81 A. Smith
- FB: #40 M. Alstott
- WR: #84 J. Galloway
- RB: #24 C. Williams
STARTERS DEFENSE
- LE: #94 G. Spires
- NT: #95 C. Hovan
- DT: #92 A. McFarland
- RE: #97 S. Rice
- SLB: #56 R. Nece
- MLB: #53 S. Quarles
- WLB: #55 D. Brooks
- LCB: #21 J. Bolden
- RCB: #20 R. Barber
- SS: #23 J. Phillips
- FS: #26 W. Allen
SUBSTITUTIONS
- 3 Bryant, 9 Bidwell, 19 Hilliard, 27 Cox, 32 Pittman, 34 Graham, 39 Pearson, 46 Adams, 48 Economos, 51 Ruud, 52 Cash, 54 Mallard, 65 Trueblood, 77 Terry, 87 Jolley, 88 Becht, 89 Jones, 90 White, 98 Wyms
DID NOT PLAY
- 7 Gradkowski, 33 Sowell, 74 Green, 91 Jenkins
INACTIVE
- 13 Rattay, 25 Kelly, 29 Zemaitis, 50 Winborn, 75 Joseph, 82 Warren, 83 Moore, 85 Stovall
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
- BUCCANEERS: Williams 15-37, Simms 1-3.
- FALCONS: Dunn 21-134, Vick 14-127, Norwood 9-45.
PASSING
- BUCCANEERS: Simms 53-28-313-3-0.
- FALCONS: Vick 15-10-92-1-1, Norwood 1-0-0-0-0.
RECIEVING
- BUCCANEERS: Galloway 9-161, Hilliard 6-53, Clayton 5-62, Pittman 3-17, Alstott 3-10, Becht 2-10.
- FALCONS: Lelie 3-22, Jenkins 2-14, Crumpler 1-22, White 1-18, Norwood 1-12, McCrary 1-4, Hall 1-0.
INTERCEPTIONS
- BUCCANEERS: Brooks 1-21.
- FALCONS: Hall 2-78, Webster 1-3.
KICK RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Pittman 2-35.
- FALCONS: Rossum 1-23.
PUNT RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Jones 1-10.
- FALCONS: Rossum 1-15.
SACKS
- BUCCANEERS: White 1-10, Nece 1-6, Bolden 1-0.
- FALCONS: Coleman 1-2.
