Buccaneers vs. Atlanta Falcons 
LOSS - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21 Atlanta Falcons 27
Michael Turner rushed for 107 yards and two touchdowns, as the Falcons held off the Buccaneers 27–21 in an NFC South division rivalry game. The Falcons took an early 14–0 lead after Turner's two touchdown runs of 2 and 10 yards. Micheal Spurlock took the next kickoff return 66 yards to the Atlanta 32-yard line, which set up Tampa Bay's first score. Josh Freeman completed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Arrelious Benn to make the score 14–7. Atlanta drove to the Tampa Bay 13, and Matt Bryant made a 31-yard field goal to increase the lead to 17–7. With two minutes remaining in the half, Freeman found Mike Williams for a 58-yard touchdown pass, and a 17–14 halftime score.
On the first drive of the third quarter, Freeman was intercepted by Jonathan Babineaux at the Tampa Bay 30-yard line. Matt Ryan threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Michael Palmer. After another field goal Atlanta led 27–14. On the ensuing kickoff, Maurice Stovall bobbled the ball, and Micheal Spurlock scooped it up at the 11-yard line. Spurlock avoided tackles, and tightroped down the sideline for an 89-yard kickoff return touchdown.
Trailing 27–21 with 2:44 remaining, Freeman had driven the Buccaneers 89 yards in 12 plays to the Atlanta 2-yard line. Facing 4th down & 1 at the Atlanta 2, LeGarrette Blount was tackled for no gain, and held at the line of scrimmage, which turned the ball over on downs. Atlanta remained undefeated at home, winning 27–21.
GAMEDAY BRIEF
OFFICALS
- REFEREE: Terry McAulay
- UMPIRE: Paul King
- HEAD LINESMAN: Greg Bradley
- LINE JUDGE: Mark Steinkerchner
- SIDE JUDGE: Michael Banks
- BACK JUDGE: Gregory Steed
- FIELD JUDGE: Terry Brown
- REPLAY OFFICAL: Earnie Frantz
- VIDEO OPERATOR: Not Documented
SCORING
- FALCONS: 8:06-1Q Turner 2 run (Bryant kick)
- FALCONS: 13:39-2Q Turner 10 run (Bryant kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 12:10-2Q Benn 14 pass from Freeman (Barth kick)
- FALCONS: 5:27-2Q Bryant FG31
- BUCCANEERS: 2:06-2Q M.Williams 58 pass from Freeman (Barth kick)
- FALCONS: 10:31-3Q Palmer 5 pass from Ryan (Bryant kick)
- FALCONS: 0:46-3Q Bryant FG41
- BUCCANEERS: 0:30-4Q Spurlock 89 kick return (Barth kick)
STARTERS OFFENSE
- WR: #19 M. Williams
- LT: #70 D. Penn
- LG: #62 T. Larsen
- C: #76 J. Zuttah
- RG: #75 D. Joseph
- RT: #77 J. Lee
- TE: #82 K. Winslow
- WR: #17 A. Benn
- QB: #05 J. Freeman
- RB: #24 C. Williams
- TE: #88 J. Gilmore
STARTERS DEFENSE
- LE: #94 K. Moore
- DT: #93 G. McCoy
- DT: #90 R. Miller
- 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: #26 S. Jones
- FS: #35 C. Grimm
SUBSTITUTIONS
- 1 Malone, 10 Barth, 21 Piscitelli, 27 Blount, 28 Lumpkin, 31 Biggers, 33 Mack, 41 Lynch, 44 Lorig, 48 Economos, 53 Koutouvides, 56 Watson, 57 Hayward, 61 Barker, 71 Bennett, 73 Hardman, 80 Purvis, 81 Spurlock, 85 Stovall, 87 Parker, 95 Woods, 96 Crowder,
DID NOT PLAY
- 11 J Johnson
INACTIVE
- 12 Carpenter, 18 Stroughter, 23 Lewis, 34 Graham, 52 Faine, 65 Trueblood, 97 Magee, 98 Sims
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
- BUCCANEERS: Blount 13-46, Freeman 4-26, C.Williams 8-13, Parker 1-7, Benn 1-4.
- FALCONS: Turner 24-107, Snelling 5-15, Ryan 3-5, White 1-3.
PASSING
- BUCCANEERS: Freeman 22-11-189-2-2.
- FALCONS: Ryan 36-24-235-0-1.
RECIEVING
- BUCCANEERS: M.Williams 4-89, Winslow 3-31, Spurlock 2-46, Benn 1-14, C.Williams 1-9.
- FALCONS: Gonzalez 8-72, Snelling 5-24, White 4-49, Finneran 3-24, Jenkins 2-55, Palmer 2-11.
INTERCEPTIONS
- BUCCANEERS: none
- FALCONS: Grimes 1-4, Babineaux 1-0.
KICK RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Spurlock 4-209, Parker 1-12.
- FALCONS: Weems 3-70.
PUNT RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Spurlock 0-0.
- FALCONS: Weems 0-0.
SACKS
- BUCCANEERS: none
- FALCONS: Peterson 1-7.
