Buccaneers vs. New Orleans Saints 
LOSS - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21 New Orleans Saints 23
the Buccaneers looked as if they would be the victims of another blowout. They trailed 20-7 late in the third quarter and had been dominated completely by the Saints' suffocating defense, which sacked DeBerg three times and rattled his crows nest on nearly every throw. As the Buccaneers fourth game loss in a row with the victory moved the New Orleans Saints (6-2) into a first-place tie of the NFC West with San Francisco 49ers, while the Buccaneerss, fell to 3-5. "They're better than we are," said Sam Wyche. "Crud, I'm not stupid. But on this given day, as they say, our guys had a chance to win this ballgame. There were a couple of key plays in the game, that if the play had gone our way ".
The Buccaneers had been held to just 15 yards total offense in the first half, but were within three points thanks to a Broderick Thomas' interception return. The Buccaneers moved ahead in the second half until two late drives for a potential winning fieldgoal bottomed out around the New Orleans' 45-yard line.
GAMEDAY BRIEF
OFFICALS
- REFEREE: Gary Lane
- UMPIRE: Bob Boylston
- LINE JUDGE: Bruce Maurer
- SIDE JUDGE: Ron Spitler
- HEAD LINESMAN: Jerry Bergman
- BACK JUDGE: Bill Lovett
- FIELD JUDGE: Donnie Hampton
- REPLAY OFFICAL: Not Documented
SCORING
- SAINTS: 2:29-1Q Hilliard 8 pass from Hebert (Andersen kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 13:31-2Q Thomas 56 interception return (Willis kick)
- SAINTS: 0:06-2Q Andersen FG31
- SAINTS: 13:03-3Q Hilliard 17 run (Andersen kick)
- SAINTS: 7:52-3Q Andersen FG45
- BUCCANEERS: 1:33-3Q Drewrey 4 pass from DeBerg (Willis kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 13:03-4Q Cobb 4 run (Willis kick)
- SAINTS: 9:14-4Q Andersen FG50
STARTERS OFFENSE
- WR: #85 C. Hawkins
- LT: #748 P. Gruber
- LG: #66 B. Reimers
- C: #61 T. Mayberry
- RT: #70 C. McRae
- RT: #72 R. Taylor
- TE: #82 R. HAll
- WR: #87 W. Drewrey
- QB: #17 S. DeBerg
- FB: #37 A. McDowell
- RB: #33 R. Cobb
STARTERS DEFENSE
- LE: #98 R. Seals
- NT: #77 M. Wheelern
- UT: #71 S. Dotson
- RE: #52 K. McCants
- LLB: #54 J. Williams
- DB: #22 G. Lewis
- RLB: #51 B. Thomas
- LCB: #29 R. Reynolds
- RCB: #21 M. Mack
- SS: #23 M. Carter
- FS: #27 D. Fullington
SUBSTITUTIONS
- 1 Willis, 4 Stryzinski, 24 Jones, 28 Jennings, 31 Pollard, 40 Anderson, 41 King, 46 Ryan, 50 Junior, 53 Brady, 55 Brownlow, 56 Burnette, 57 Chamblee, 62 Beckles, 78 Mayfield, 81 Culpepper, 86 Armstrong
DID NOT PLAY
- 14 Testaverde, 67 Sullivan, 73 McHale, 80 Dawsey, 83 Parker, 88 Carrier
INACTIVE
- 7 Erickson, 58 Tiggle
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
- BUCCANEERS: Cobb 19-72, McDowell 1-5, DeBerg 2-4, Anderson 2-3.
- SAINTS: Hilliard 14-55, Heyward 7-33, Dunbar 8-25, Hebert 4-20, Barnhardt 1-12.
PASSING
- BUCCANEERS: DeBerg 25-13-94-1-1.
- SAINTS: Hebert 27-14-173-3-1.
RECIEVING
- BUCCANEERS: Hall 4-32, Drewrey 3-22, Anderson 2-16, Hawkins 2-11, McDowell 1-9, Cobb 1-4.
- SAINTS: Hilliard 5-60, Martin 3-20, Small 2-55, Heyward 1-15, Early 1-11, Dunbar 1-7, Carroll 1-5.
INTERCEPTIONS
- BUCCANEERS: Thomas 2-81, Carter 1-1.
- SAINTS: Buck 1-17.
KICK RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Hawkins 1-15, Chamblee 1-9.
- SAINTS: McAfee 3-49, Heyward 1-14.
PUNT RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Drewrey 2-12.
- SAINTS: Dowdell 3-9.
SACKS
- BUCCANEERS: Wheeler 1-9.
- SAINTS: Cook 1-10, Martin 1-8, Wilks 1-6.
