Buccaneers vs. New Orleans Saints

WON - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23 New Orleans Saints 13

Looking to secure a playoff spot, the Buccaneers played at New Orleans.

Trailing 3–7 in the second quarter, the Buccaneers took the lead with Josh Freeman completing a 2-yard touchdown pass to Dezmon Briscoe. The Saints tied the game after Garrett Hartley's 45-yard field goal in the third quarter.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers re-took the lead after another field goal, then stretched their lead with Freeman's second touchdown pass of the day. The Saints tried to narrow the gap with Hartley making a 38-yard field goal, but the Buccaneers held on to win.

With the win, the Buccaneers finished with a 10–6 record, but the Green Bay Packers victory over the Chicago Bears later that day gave them the 6th seed due to a strength of victory tie-breaker and eliminated the Buccaneers from playoff contention. This was also tied with the Giants but were eliminated because of Green Bay's tie breaker with them and the Giants.

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GAMEDAY BRIEF

OFFICALS

• REFEREE: Gene Steratore
• UMPIRE: Butch Hannah
• HEAD LINESMAN: Jerry Bergman
• LINE JUDGE: Ron Marinucci
• SIDE JUDGE: Mike Weatherford
• BACK JUDGE: Dino Paganelli
• FIELD JUDGE: Bob Waggoner
• REPLAY OFFICAL: Paul Weldner
• VIDEO OPERATOR: NOT DOCUMENTED

SCORING

• BUCCANEERS: 9:58-1Q Barth FG43
• SAINTS: 4:41-1Q Graham 4 pass from Brees (Hartley kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 6:40-2Q Briscoe 2 pass from Freeman (Barth kick)
• SAINTS: 10:30-3Q Hartley FG45
• BUCCANEERS: 8:01-3Q Barth FG32
• BUCCANEERS: 2:09-3Q M.Williams 18 pass from Freeman (Barth kick)
• SAINTS: 11:17-4Q Hartley FG38
• BUCCANEERS: 4:01-4Q Barth FG48

STARTERS OFFENSE

• WR: #19 M. Williams
• LT: #70 D. Penn
• LG: #62 T. Larsen
• C: #76 J. Zuttah
• RG: #73 D. Hardman
• RT: #77 J. Lee
• TE: #82 K. Winslow
• WR: #85 M. Stovall
• QB: #05 J. Freeman
• TE: #88 J. Gilmore
• RB: #27 L. Blount

STARTERS DEFENSE

• LE: #96 T. Crowder
• DT: #98 F. Okam
• DT: #90 R. Miller
• RE: #71 M. Bennett
• SLB: #57 A. Hayward
• MLB: #51 B. Ruuds
• WLB: #54 G. Hayes
• LCB: #31 E. Biggers
• RCB: #20 R. Barber
• SS: #26 S. Jones
• FS: #41 C. Lynch

SUBSTITUTIONS

• 1 Malone, 10 Barth, 11 J Johnson, 21 Harris, 22 Asante, 23 Lewis, 24 Williams, 28 Lumpkin, 33 Mack, 44 Lorig, 48 Economos, 50 McKenzie, 53 Koutouvides, 56 Watson, 77 Lee, 80 Purvis, 81 Spurlock, 87 Parker, 89 Briscoe, 91 White, 95 Woods, 97 Magee

DID NOT PLAY

• 60 Carter

INACTIVE

• 12 Carpenter, 18 Stroughter, 29 Johnson, 34 Graham, 61 Barker, 67 Johnson, 79 Worthington, 84 Overbay

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

• BUCCANEERS: Blount 19-66, Freeman 4-11, C.Williams 1-7.
• SAINTS: Bush 9-70, Ivory 7-33, Jones 4-6, Daniel 1-0, Meacham 1-(-3).

PASSING

• BUCCANEERS: Freeman 26-21- 255-0-2, Spurlock 1-0-0-0-0.
• SAINTS: Brees 38-22-196-1-1, Daniel 3-2-16-0-0.

RECIEVING

• BUCCANEERS: C.Williams Briscoe 4-65, M.Williams 4-40, Winslow 3-28, Stovall 2-45, Parker 2-33, Blount 2-2, Lumpkin 1-12, Purvis 1-11, Lorig 1-10, Gilmore 1-9.
• SAINTS: Arrington 7-79, Moore 6-53, Bush 5-55, Graham 2-15, Jones 2-3, Meacham 1-5, Evans 1-2.

INTERCEPTIONS

• BUCCANEERS: Asante 1-4.
• SAINTS: none

KICK RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Spurlock 3-108.
• SAINTS: Henderson 6-142.

PUNT RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Spurlock 1-4.
• SAINTS: Bush 1-7.

SACKS

• BUCCANEERS: Miller 1-7, Magee 1-4, Hayes 1-2
• SAINTS: Charleston 1-10, Smith 1-9, Brown 1-3.

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