Buccaneers vs. Green Bay Packers 
WON - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 38 Green Bay Packers 28
Coming off their bye week, the Buccaneers went home, donned their throwback uniforms, and played a Week 9 duel with the Green Bay Packers. This game would be the first career start for rookie quarterback Josh Freeman.
Tampa Bay would trail early in the first quarter as Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers completed a 74-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver James Jones. The Buccaneers would get on the board with Freeman finding running back Derrick Ward on a 6-yard touchdown pass, but Green Bay answered with running back Ryan Grant getting a 2-yard touchdown run. In the second quarter, Tampa Bay fired back as cornerback Ronde Barber returned a blocked punt 31 yards for a touchdown, but the Packers replied with Rodgers hooking up with wide receiver Donald Driver on a 32-yad touchdown pass. The Buccaneers would close out the half with kicker Connor Barth booting a 38-yard field goal.
After a scoreless third quarter, Green Bay would strike again in the fourth quarter as Rodgers got a 12-yard touchdown run. Afterwards, Tampa Bay took the lead as Freeman completed a pair of 7-yard touchdown pass to tight end Kellen Winslow (with a failed two-point conversion) and rookie wide receiver Sammie Stroughter (with a successful two-point conversion pass to wide receiver Michael Clayton). The Packers tried to get a comeback, yet safety Tanard Jackson came through with a 35-yard interception return from a touchdown.
With the win, the Buccaneers improved to 1–7.
GAMEDAY BRIEF
OFFICALS
- REFEREE: Peter Morelli
- UMPIRE: Richard Hall
- HEAD LINESMAN: Derick Bowers
- LINE JUDGE: Darryll Lewis
- SIDE JUDGE: Laird Hayes
- FIELD JUDGE: Rob Vernatchi
- BACK JUDGE: Bill Schmitz
- REPLAY OFFICIAL: Jim Lapetina
- VIDEO OPERATOR: not documented
SCORING
- PACKERS: 12:15-1Q Jones 74 pass from Rodgers (Crosby kick
- BUCCANEERS: 08:45-1Q Ward 6 pass from Freeman (Barth kick)
- PACKERS: 02:39-1Q Grant 2 run (Crosby kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 11:59-2Q Barber 31 blocked punt return (Barth kick)
- PACKERS: 07:38-2Q Driver 32 pass from Rodgers (Crosby kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 00:06-2Q Barth FG38
- PACKERS: 12:54-4Q Rodgers 12 run (Crosby kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 11:34-4Q Winslow 7 pass from Freeman (pass failed)
- BUCCANEERS: 04:14-4Q Stroughter 7 pass from Freeman (Clayton pass from Freeman)
- BUCCANEERS: 00:35-4Q Jackson 35 interception return (Barth 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
- WR: #85 M. Stovall
- QB: #05 J. Freeman
- RB: #24 C. Williams
- FB: #34 E. Graham
STARTERS DEFENSE
- LE: #97 J. Wilkerson
- DT: #98 R. Sims
- DT: #95 C. Hovan
- RE: #91 S. White
- MLB: #51 B. Ruud
- WLB: #54 G. Hayes
- LCB: #25 A. Talib
- RCB: #20 R. Barber
- DB: #33 E. Mack
- SS: #21 S. Piscitelli
- FS: #36 T. Jackson
SUBSTITUTIONS
- 8 D Johnson, 10 Barth, 18 Stroughter, 22 Smith, 26 Allen, 27 Cox, 28 Ward, 41 Lynch, 48 Economos, 53 Koutouvides, 56 Wilson, 57 Hayward, 58 Black, 69 Dotson, 71 Bennett, 86 Stevens, 87 Clark, 88 Gilmore, 93 Miller, 94 K.Moore, 96 Crowders
DID NOT PLAY
- 11 J Johnson, 61 Compas
INACTIVE
- 7 Leftwich, 16 Figurs, 30 Mickens, 45 Pressley, 74 Murphy, 77 Lee, 89 Bryant, 92 D.Moore
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
- BUCCANEERS: Williams 16-56, Freeman 4-20, Ward 4-5, Smith 1-0.
- PACKERS: Grant 21-96, A.Green 6-45, Rodgers 3-26, Kuhn 1-3, Jackson 1-0.
PASSING
- BUCCANEERS: Freeman 31-14-205-1-3.
- PACKERS: Rodgers 35-17-266-3-2.
RECIEVING
- BUCCANEERS: Winslow 4-61, Ward 3-54, Stovall 3-46, Stroughter 3-19, Clayton 1-29.
- PACKERS: Jennings 5-61, Jones 4-103, Driver 4-71, Green 1-10, Jackson 1-9, Kuhn 1-7, Lee 1-5.
INTERCEPTIONS
- BUCCANEERS: Mack 1-36, Jackson 1-35, Talib 1-15.
- PACKERS: Collins 1-13.
KICK RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Smith 2-107.
- PACKERS: Green 2-55, Havner 2-26, Williams 1-2.
PUNT RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Smith 4-54.
- PACKERS: Williams 4-18.
SACKS
- BUCCANEERS: White 1.5-11.5, Sims 1-7, Miller 1-6, Bennett 1-5, Crowder 1-0, Hovan 0.5-2.5.
- PACKERS: Hawk 1-7..
