Buccaneers vs. Atlanta Falcons

LOSS - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17 Atlanta Falcons 20

Trying to avoid a 3-game losing streak, the Buccaneers flew to Georgia Dome for an NFC South rivalry match against the Atlanta Falcons.

In the first quarter the Buccaneers trailed early as kicker Jason Elam nailed a 45-yard field goal, and then with QB Chris Redman making a 22-yard touchdown pass to RB Jerious Norwood. Then the Buccaneers replied with QB Josh Freeman making a 42-yard touchdown pass to WR Antonio Bryant, then kicker Connor Barth made a 39-yard field goal. In the third quarter the Buccaneers took the lead when Freeman hooked up with Cadillac Williams on an 8-yard touchdown pass. Then the Falcons lost the margin when kicker Jason Elam got a 37-yard field goal. In the final seconds of the fourth quarter the Bucccaneers fell behind when Redman made a 5-yard touchdown pass to WR Roddy White.

With the loss, the Buccaneers fell to 1–10 and stay winless on the road after 5 visits. Additionally, the team was officially eliminated from postseason contention. "We did our job well today," Ronde Barber said. "We flew around and it was like Buc ball again. We played well enough to win. Until the end."

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GAMEDAY BRIEF

OFFICALS

• REFEREE: Walt Anderson
• UMPIRE: Scott Dawson
• HEAD LINESMAN: Phil McKinnely
• LINE JUDGE: Byron Boston
• SIDE JUDGE: James Coleman
• BACK JUDGE: Billy Smith
• FIELD JUDGE: Jim Howey
• REPLAY OFFICAL: Not Documented
• VIDEO OPERATOR: Not Documented

SCORING

• FALCONS: 10:44-2Q Elam FG45
• FALCONS: 6:31-2Q Norwood 22 pass from Redman (Elam kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 5:40-2Q Bryant 42 pass from Freeman (Barth kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 0:20-2Q Barth FG39
• FALCONS: 11:43-3Q Williams 8 pass from Freeman (Barth kick)
• FALCONS: 6:42-3Q Elam FG37
• FALCONS: 0:23-4Q White 5 pass from Redman (Elam 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
• TE: #86 J. Stevens
• QB: #05 J. Freeman
• FB: #45 C. Pressley
• RB: #24 C. Williams

STARTERS DEFENSE

• LE: #97 J. Wilkerson
• DT: #98 R. Sims
• DT: #95 C. Hovan
• RE: #91 S. White
• SLB: #58 Q. Black
• MLB: #51 B. Ruud
• WLB: #54 G. Hayes
• LCB: #25 A. Talib
• RCB: #20 R. Barber
• SS: #21 S. Piscitelli
• FS: #28 T. Jackson

SUBSTITUTIONS

• 8 D Johnson, 10 Barth, 18 Stroughter, 22 Smith, 27 Cox, 28 Ward, 29 Roberson, 33 Mack, 34 Graham, 41 Lynch, 48 Economos, 50 McCoy, 53 Koutouvides, 57 Hayward, 69 Dotson, 71 Bennett, 85 Stovall, 88 Gilmore, 89 Bryant, 93 Miller, 96 Crowder

DID NOT PLAY

• 11 J Johnson, 61 Compas

INACTIVE

• 12 Carpenter, 16 Figurs, 74 Murphy, 77 Lee, 83 Nunn, 87 Clark, 92 D.Moore, 94 K.Moore

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

• BUCCANEERS: Williams 10-30, Ward 13-29, Freeman 2-14, Graham 1-0.
• FALCONS: Turner 12-33, Norwood 6-22, Snelling 4-8, Weems 1-7, Redman 2-4, Mughelli 1-0.

PASSING

• BUCCANEERS: Freeman 29-20-250-0-2, Johnson 1-0-0-0-0.
• FALCONS: Ryan 3-2-15-0-0, Redman 41-23-243-0-2.

RECIEVING

• BUCCANEERS: Winslow 7-81, Bryant 3-91, Stovall 3-26, Stroughter 3-19, Graham 1-15, Williams 1-8, Stevens 1-6, Ward 1-2.
• FALCONS: Gonzalez 9-83, Jenkins 7-80, White 5-57, Norwood 2-28, Weems 2-10.

INTERCEPTIONS

• BUCCANEERS: none
• FALCONS: none

KICK RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Smith 2-43.
• FALCONS: Weems 4-76.

PUNT RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Smith 1-21.
• FALCONS: Weems 1-18.

SACKS

• BUCCANEERS: White 2.5-18.5, Crowder 1.5-10.5, Barber 1-6, Black 1-1.
• FALCONS: Babineaux 1-5.

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