Buccaneers vs. New Orleans Saints

LOSS - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13 New Orleans Saints 17

The New Orleans Saints defense, ranked first in the league the previous year, sacked Jack Thompson seven times and held James Wilder to 75 yards rushing, 37 of which came on a single carry.

Thompson nevertheless completed 15 of 22 passes for 175 yards, and led a 10-minute opening drive that ended in an 8-yard pass to Adger Armstrong. He also completed four consecutive passes at the end of the fourth quarter, leading the team downfield for a comeback attempt that failed when the Saints' defense rallied.

The Buccaneers led for most of the game, but the Saints came back following a 51-yard Hokie Gajan sideline run in the final two minutes. Several Buccaneer defenders missed opportunities to tackle him, as they expected him to try to run out of bounds to stop the clock. Gajan rushed the remaining 13 yards to the goal line in the next two plays to score the go-ahead touchdown. Obed Ariri was successful on his first two NFL field goal attempts.

Tampa Bay committed no turnovers, after the previous week's total of eight.

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GAMEDAY BRIEF

OFFICALS

• REFEREE: Gordon McCarter
• UMPIRE: Ron Botchan
• HEAD LINESMAN: Terry Gierke
• LINE JUDGE: Jack Fette
• SIDE JUDGE: Dean Look
• BACK JUDGE: JW Sanders
• FIELD JUDGE: Pat Mallette

SCORING

• BUCCANEERS: 1:31-1Q Armstrong 2 pass from Thompson (Ariri kick)
• SAINTS: 5:32-2Q Anthony 2 run (Andersen kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 0:50-2Q Ariri FG48
• BUCCANEERS: 11:44-3Q Ariri FG40
• SAINTS: :49-3Q Andersen FG23
• SAINTS: 1:53-4Q Gajan 8 run (Andersen kick)

STARTERS OFFENSE

• WR: #89 K. House
• LT: #74 G. Sanders
• LG: #65 N. Jackson
• C: #50 S. Wilson
• RG: #62 S. Farrell
• RT: #70 K. Thomas
• TE: #88 J. Giles
• WR: #87 G. Carter
• QB: #14 J. Thompson
• FB: #46 A. Armstrong
• TB: #32 J. Wilder

STARTERS DEFENSE

• LE: #78 J. Cannon
• NT: #776 D. Logan
• RE: #63 L. Selmon
• LOLB: #56 C. Johnson
• LILB: #58 J. Davis
• RILB: #52 S. Brantley
• ROLB: #53 H. Green
• LC: #23 J. Castille
• RC: #21 J. Holt
• LS: #43 B. Reece
• RS: #34 C. Brown

SUBSTITUTIONS

• 2 Ariri, 5 Garcia, 16 Kiel, 17 DeBerg, 20 Morton, 24 Harvey, 26 Owens, 27 Acorn, 28 Carver, 33 Cotney, 41 Thomas, 51 Washington, 54 Wood, 55 Spradlin, 57 Browner, 67 Morgan, 71 Braggs, 75 Manor, 79 Kaplan, 82 J Bell, 83 T Bell, 85 Witte, 86 Carroll

DID NOT PLAY

• 60 Grimes, 72 Courson, 73 Heller, 81 Tuttle

INACTIVE

• none

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

• BUCCANEERS: Wilder 21-75, Thompson 4-22, Carver 6-20, Armstrong 3-11, DeBerg 1-3, Owens 1-1, Morton 1-(-2).
• SAINTS: Rogers 18-56, Gajan 6-42, Anthony 2-21, Todd 3-11.

PASSING

• BUCCANEERS: Thompson 22-15-175-0-1.
• SAINTS: Todd 23-13-213-0-0.

RECIEVING

• BUCCANEERS: Armstrong 4-41, T.Bell 3-52, House 3-34, Giles 2-18, Wilder 2-17, Carter 1-13.
• SAINTS: Gajan 4-75, Groth 3-46, Scott 2-39, Young 2-36, Brenner 1-12, Duckett 1-5.

INTERCEPTIONS

• BUCCANEERS: none
• SAINTS: none

KICK RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Morton 2-54, Owens 1-33.
• SAINTS: Austin 2-33, Duckett 1-39.

PUNT RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: T.Bell 1-8.
• SAINTS: Fields 1-14.

SACKS

• BUCCANEERS: Green 1-10.
• SAINTS: Clark 3-16, Jackson 2-10, Geathers 1-10, Paul 1-5

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