Buccaneers vs. New Orleans Saints

LOSS - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21 New Orleans Saints 24

Coming off their bye week, the Buccaneers were still looking for their first win of the season.

The Buccaneers traveled to the Louisiana Superdome for their third divisional match-up in a row - this time, against the New Orleans Saints. The Bucs scored first as rookie QB Bruce Gradkowski threw an 18-yard TD pass to WR Joey Galloway in the first quarter; the Saints responded with a 21-yard field goal from kicker John Carney. The Saints continued scoring, with a 24-yard TD run from RB Deuce McAllister in the second quarter, and a 9-yard TD pass to TE Ernie Conwell in the third quarter.

The Bucs finally responded with a 1-yard TD run from FB Mike Alstott, and took the lead in the fourth quarter with Gradkowski's 3-yard TD pass to TE Alex Smith. Unfortunately for the Bucs, a special teams breakdown led to Saints RB Reggie Bush getting his inaugural NFL touchdown on a 65-yard punt return, which sealed the win for the Saints.

Click here to view official GAMEBOOK & play-by-play highlights

GAMEDAY BRIEF

OFFICALS

• REFEREE: Gene Steratore
• UMPIRE: Carl Paganelli
• HEAD LINESMAN: Paul Weidner
• LINE JUDGE: Tom Barnes
• SIDE JUDGE: Tom Hill
• BACK JUDGE: Tony Steratore
• FIELD JUDGE: Doug Rosenbaum
• REPLAY OFFICAL: NOT DOCUMENTED
• VIDEO OPERATOR: NOT DOCUMENTED

SCORING

• BUCCANEERS: 10:49-1Q Galloway 18 pass from Gradkowski (Bryant kick)
• SAINTS: 5:04-1Q Carney FG21
• SAINTS: 1:44-2Q McAllister 24 run (Carney kick)
• SAINTS: 5:52-3Q Conwell 9 pass from Brees (Carney kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 2:50-3Q Alstott 1 run (Bryant kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 10:03-4Q Smith 3 pass from Gradkowski (Bryant kick)
• SAINTS: 4:17-4Q Bush 65 punt return (Carney kick)

STARTERS OFFENSE

• WR: #84 J. Galloway
• LT: #69 A. Davis
• LG: #72 D. Buenning
• C: #76 J. Wade
• RG: #79 S. Mahan
• RT: #65 J. Trueblood
• TE: #88 A. Beckt
• WR: #80 M. Clayton
• QB: #07 B. Gradkowski
• RB: #24 C. Williams
• FB: #40 M. Alstott

STARTERS DEFENSE

• LDE: #94 G. Spires
• NT: #95 C. Hovan
• DT: #92 A. McFarland
• RDE: #97 S. Rice
• SLB: #56 R. Nece
• MLB: #53 S. Quarles
• WLB: #55 D. Brooks
• LCB: #25 B. Kelly
• RCB: #20 R. Barber
• SS: #23 J. Phillips
• FS: #26 W. Allen

SUBSTITUTIONS

• 3 Bryant, 9 Bidwell, 19 Hilliard, 21 Bolden, 27 Cox, 32 Pittman, 34 Graham, 39 Pearson, 46 Adams, 48 Economos, 51 Ruud, 52 Cash, 54 Mallard, 74 Green, 75 Joseph, 81 Smith, 85 Stovall, 87 Jolley, 89 Jones, 90 White, 91 Jenkins, 98 Wyms

DID NOT PLAY

• 13 Rattay

INACTIVE

• 2 Simms, 29 Zemaitis, 33 Sowell, 50 Winborn, 70 Penn, 77 Terry, 82 Warren, 83 Moore

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

• BUCCANEERS: Williams 20-111, Clayton 1-27, Pittman 2-27, Gradkowski 6-19, Alstott 4-3.
• SAINTS: McAllister 15-123, Bush 9-23, Brees 1-(-3).

PASSING

• BUCCANEERS: Gradkowski 31-20-225-0-2.
• SAINTS: Brees 33-21-171-0-1.

RECIEVING

• BUCCANEERS: Smith 5-16, Galloway 4-110, Hilliard 4-34, Williams 3-14, Pittman 2-31, Becht 1-13, Clayton 1-7.
• SAINTS: Bush 11-63, Horn 4-48, Colston 3-38, Conwell 2-14, McAllister 1-8.

INTERCEPTIONS

• BUCCANEERS: none
• SAINTS: none

KICK RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Pittman 4-85.
• SAINTS: Copper 2-41, Stecker 1-17, Jones 1-13.

PUNT RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Jones 6-51.
• SAINTS: Bush 3-75, Moore 1-3.

SACKS

• BUCCANEERS: none
• SAINTS: Grant 1-5, Fujita 1-1.

Click here to view official GAMEBOOK & play-by-play highlights