Buccaneers vs. Detroit Lions 
LOSS - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16 Detroit Lions 23
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers racked up 422 yards of offense against Detroit, and quarterback Jeff Garcia passed for 316 yards, but two costly fumbles and one blocked punt allowed the Lions to take the victory.
In the first quarter, Tampa Bay and Detroit began what would be a physical game. Tampa Bay suffered injuries to Mark Jones (knee) and Michael Clayton (ankle), and neither returned. On the sixth play of the game, Detroit forced a fumble for a loss of 23 yards. However, an instant replay ruled the play an incomplete pass instead. Moments later, the Lions blocked a punt by Josh Bidwell, and the turnover led to a field goal. On the next drive, the Buccaneers drove 43 yards to the Lions 37-yard line, but a fumble between the exchange from Garcia to Earnest Grahamwas recovered by the Lions. Detroit moved quickly down the field and Kevin Jonesscored the first touchdown of the game.
Early in the second quarter, Garcia capped off an 81-yard drive with a touchdown pass to Ike Hilliard. Their next possession, a 16-play, 58-yard drive, covered over 9 minutes. It came up empty, as Matt Bryantmissed a field goal. Detroit moved quickly to score a field goal just before halftime.
Late in the third quarter, and early in the fourth quarter, Tampa Bay started another long drive. A 15-play, 73-yard drive of over 7 minutes took the Buccaneers to the Detroit 1-yard line. Tampa Bay had converted on two third downs, and one fourth down. But Garcia fumbled the handoff on a first and goal at the 1-yard line, and Detroit recovered. They drove 93 yards for their second touchdown. Trailing by 16, Tampa Bay drove 78 yards in 16 plays, and Maurice Stovall caught Garcia's second touchdown pass. A two-point conversion failed, but Bryant performed an onside kick, which Tampa Bay recovered.
The Buccaneers trimmed the deficit to 7, but a second onside kick failed, and Detroit took the victory.
GAMEDAY BRIEF
OFFICALS
- REFEREE: John Parry
- UMPIRE: Tony Michalek
- HEAD LINESMAN: Derick Bowers
- LINE JUDGE: John Hussey
- SIDE JUDGE: Laird Hayes
- FIELD JUDGE: Gary Cavaletto
- BACK JUDGE: Dino Paganelli
- REPLAY OFFICAL: Jim Blackwood & Mark Adams
- VIDEO OPERATOR: Ken Dollar
SCORING
- LIONS: 09:53-1Q Hanson FG34
- LIONS: 02:51-1Q Jones 1 run (Hanson kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 12:48-2Q Hilliard 5 pass from Garcia (Bryant kick)
- LIONS: 00:05-2Q Hanson FG42
- LIONS: 04:13-3Q Hanson FG32
- LIONS: 06:28-4Q Johnson 32 run (Hanson kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 02:03-4Q Stovall 4 pass from Garcia (pass failed)
- BUCCANEERS: 01:04-4Q Bryant FG48
STARTERS OFFENSE
- WR: #84 J. Galloway
- LT: #70 D. Penn
- LG: #78 A. Sears
- C: #76 J. Wade
- RG: #75 D. Joseph
- RT: #65 J. Trueblood
- TE: #88 A. Becht
- WR: #19 I. Hillard
- QB: #07 J. Garcia
- RB: #34 E. Graham
- FB: #35 B. Askew
STARTERS DEFENSE
- LE: #94 G. Spires
- DT: #95 C. Hovan
- DT: #71 J. Haye
- RE: #93 K. Carter
- SLB: #59 C. June
- MLB: #51 B. Ruud
- WLB: #55 D. Brooks
- LCB: #31 P. Buchanon
- RCB: #20 R. Barber
- SS: #23 J. Phillips
- FS: #28 T. Jackson
SUBSTITUTIONS
- 3 Bryant, 9 Bidwell, 11 Jones, 22 Davis, 26 Allen, 27 Cox, 29 Bennett, 30 Crockett, 39 Pearson, 48 Economos, 50 Trotter, 56 Nece, 58 Black, 68 Lehr, 69 Davis , 80 Clayton, 85 Stovall, 86 Stevens, 87 Heinrich, 90 Adams, 91 White, 96 Peterson
DID NOT PLAY
- 5 Gradkowski
INACTIVE
- 12 McCown, 25 Kelly, 32 Pittman, 54 Chukwurah, 57 Hayward, 72 Buenning, 81 Smith, 98 Sims
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
- BUCCANEERS: Graham 19-92, Bennett 3-22, Garcia 6-10, Crockett 1-0.
- LIONS: Jones 15-76, Johnson 1-32, Duckett 4-30, Kitna 4-9.
PASSING
- BUCCANEERS: Garcia 45-37-316-0-2.
- LIONS: Kitna 20-16-147-0-0.
RECIEVING
- BUCCANEERS: Graham 13-99, Hilliard 9-92, Galloway 5-46, Askew 4-36, Stevens 4-19, Clayton 1-20, Stovall 1-4.
- LIONS: Jones 6-34, Williams 3-23, Johnson 2-37, Furrey 2-24, McDonald 2-17, Fitzsimmons 1-12.
INTERCEPTIONS
- BUCCANEERS: none.
- LIONS: none.
KICK RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Jones 2-44, Cox 1-27.
- LIONS: Walters 2-45.
PUNT RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Buchanon 1-6, Hilliard 1-2.
- LIONS: none.
SACKS
- BUCCANEERS: Haye 1-3, White 1-9, Hovan 0.5-2, Carter 0-5-2.
- LIONS: White 3-18.
