Buccaneers vs. New Orleans Saints 
WON - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20 New Orleans Saints 10
The Buccaneers, 2-1 for just the third time this decade, sit alone in second place in the NFC Central Division behind Chicagoy.
Todays game was the seventh straight in which the Buccaneers were either tied or leading in the fourth quarter, the Buccaneers receivers were pleased to have Testaverde throwing their way instead of dumping the ball off to the running backs. Testaverde commented “The defense controls it. They dictate what you're going to do and they were giving us those passes,” Testaverde commented. “We were just playing smart and taking advantage of it.”
The Buccaneers took advantage of it in critical situations. Five times Testaverde connected with a wide receiver or tight end Ron Hall in third-and-long situations. Hall caught his first touchdown pass in more than a year when the Buccaneers were faced with a third-and-goal from the 11 in the second quarter. “It's only the third game but we haven't gone deep too much until today,” said Hall, who finished with four catches for 43 yards. “They were looking for us to go with the shorter slant passes and we went deep on them a few times.”
GAMEDAY BRIEF
OFFICALS
- REFEREE: Dale Hamer
- UMPIRE: Rex Stuart
- LINE JUDGE: Ron Blum
- SIDE JUDGE: Tom Fincken
- HEAD LINESMAN: Barnie Frantz
- BACK JUDGE: Dean Look
- FIELD JUDGE: Bobby Skelton
- REPLAY OFFICAL: Jack Fette
SCORING
- SAINTS: 6:35-1Q Hilliard 1 run (Andersen kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 13:52-2Q Hall 11 pass from Testaverde (Igwebuike kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 2:53-2Q Igwebuike FG34
- SAINTS: 0:08-2Q Andersen FG33
- BUCCANEERS: 7:43-3Q Tate 5 run (Igwebuike kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 12:31-4Q Igwebuike FG37
STARTERS OFFENSE
- WR: #89 M. Carrier
- LT: #88 P. Gruber
- LG: #73 T. McHale
- C: #60 R. Grimes
- RG: #69 J. Bruhin
- RT: #R. Tayloy
- TE: #82 R. Hall
- WR: #84 B. Hill
- QB: #14 V. Testaverde
- FB: #43 W. Howard
- RB: #34 L. Tate
STARTERS DEFENSE
- LE: #79 R. Davise
- NT: #95 C. Jarvis
- RE: #94 R. Goff
- LOLB: #59 K. Murphy
- LILB: #99 E. Marve
- RILB: #54 E. Randle
- ROLB: #57 W. Moss
- LC: #29 R. Reynolds
- RC: #22 R. Jones
- SS: #30 M. Robinson
- FS: #39 H. Hamilton
SUBSTITUTIONS
- 1 Igwebuike, 5 Mohr, 20 Harris, 32 Wilder, 36 Futrell, 38 Lawson, 40 Elder, 47 Smith, 51 Thomas, 53 Coleman, 55 Rolling, 56 Anno, 70 Swayne, 75 Bax, 77 Weston, 78 Cannon, 83 Peebles, 85 Walker, 86 Harris, 87 Drewrey, 97 Lee
DID NOT PLAY
- 12 Ferguson, 65 Graham
INACTIVE
- 62 Simmonds, 89 Gay
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
- BUCCANEERS: Howard 12-52, Tate 12-52, Smith 1-17, Testaverde 4-(-3).
- SAINTS: Hilliard 20-80, Hebert 2-18, Fourcade 2-9, Frazier 2-6, Heyward 1-1, Jordan 1-0.
PASSING
- BUCCANEERS: Testaverde 26-15-227-1-1.
- SAINTS: Hebert 23-15-169-1-0, Fourcade 12-5-72-1-0.
RECIEVING
- BUCCANEERS: Carrier 5-120, Hall 4-43, Howard 3-18, Hill 2-24, Peebles 1-22.
- SAINTS: Martin 7-96, Hilliard 5-42, Hill 2-32, Perriman 2-26, Turner 2-14, Brenner1-17, Jordan 1-14.
INTERCEPTIONS
- BUCCANEERS: Robinson 1-16, Hamilton 1-0.
- SAINTS: Massey 1-0.
KICK RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Elder 1-19, Futrell 1-15.
- SAINTS: Shepard 4-66.
PUNT RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Futrell 1-0.
- SAINTS: Mills 1-9.
SACKS
- BUCCANEERS: Murphy 2-22, Lee 1-8.
- SAINTS: none
