Sunday December 28, 2014 - New Orleans Saints vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Gameday Report

LOSS - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20 New Orleans Saints 23

Tampa Bay Buccaneers took a 20-7 lead into halftime, but New Orleans rallied for the victory.

Drew Brees threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Marques Colston with 1:57 remaining. On the ensuing drive, the Saints defense sacked Josh McCown for a safety, and secured a 23-20 victory.

The Saints swept the Buccaneers for the third straight season, and won their seventh overall in the rivalry. The Buccaneers, finishing 2-14, clinched the first pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. The Bucs had also finished 0-8 at home.

Finishing winless at home for the first time since 1976 and lost their 9th straight home game.

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

GAMEDAY BRIEF

WEATHER: Cloudy - 79°F. - Humidity 74% - Wind S.W. 6 mph Wind Chill 82°F.

OFFICALS

REFEREE: Brad Allen
UMPIRE: Fred Bryan
HEAD LINESMAN: Jim Mellow
LINE JUDGE: Thomas Symonette
SIDE JUDGE: Tom Hill
BACK JUDGE: Jim Quirk
FIELD JUDGE: Doug Rosenbaum
REPLAY OFFICAL: Jim Lapetina
VIDEO OPERATOR: NOT DOCUMENTED

SCORING

BUCCANEERS: 6:03-1Q Murray FG39
BUCCANEERS: 11:25-2Q Evans 6 pass from McCown (Murray kick)
SAINTS: 5:45-2Q Robinson 1 run (Graham kick)
BUCCANEERS: 1:48-2Q Sims 8 run (Murray kick)
BUCCANEERS: 0:06-2Q Murray FG28
SAINTS: 14:02-4Q Ingram 1 run (Graham kick)
SAINTS: 1:57-4Q Colston 36 pass from Brees (Graham kick)
SAINTS: 1:05-4Q Safety - McCown sacked by Galette

STARTERS OFFENSE

WR: #83 V. Jackson
LT: #69 D. Dotson
LG: #70 L. Mankins
C: #62 E. Dietrich-Smith
RG: #66 P. Omameh
RT: #75 O. Cousins
TE: #82 B. Myers
WR: #13 B. Myers
QB: #12 J. McCown
RB: #22 D. Martin
TE: #88 L. Stocker

STARTERS DEFENSE

LE: #56 J. Smith
DT: #97 A. Spence
DT: #98 C. McDonald
RE: #90 M. Johnson
WLB: #54 L. David
MLB: #50 D. Fletcher
SLB: #45 O. Lemon
CB: #21 A. Verner
CB: #27 J. Banks
SS: #30 B. McDougald
FS: #38 D. Goldson

SUBSTITUTIONS

7 Murray, 9 Koenen, 15 King, 29 Johnson, 34 Sims, 37 Tandy, 39 Dixon, 41 Wilson, 43 Rainey, 48 DePaola, 51 Lansanah, 52 Williams, 57 English, 61 Allen, 64 Pamphile, 72 Gilkey, 77 Sidbury, 84 Brate, 86 Rodriguez, 89 Shepard, 91 Bowers, 92 Gholston, 96 Fatinikun

DID NOT PLAY

8 Glennon

INACTIVE

10 Herron, 11 Patton, 25 James, 32 Frey, 58 Uko, 59 Foster, 73 Collins

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

BUCCANEERS: Martin 19-108, Sims 18-69, McCown 2-6.
SAINTS: Ingram 14-57, Robinson 7-15, Brees 2-(-2).

PASSING

BUCCANEERS: McCown 23-14-115-1-1.
SAINTS: Brees 38-24-281-3-1.

RECIEVING

BUCCANEERS: Evans 5-54, Myers 4-21, King 2-13, Jackson 1-11, Shepard 1-10, Sims 1-6.
SAINTS: Graham 6-54, Stills 5-82, Colston 2-51, Robinson 2-22, Watson 2-18, Cadet 2-9, Ingram 2-4, Toon 1-24, Meachem 1-16, Brees 1-1.

INTERCEPTIONS

BUCCANEERS: Tandy 1-3, McDougald 1-0, L.Johnson 1-(-6).
SAINTS: Lewis 1-2.

KICK RETURNS

BUCCANEERS: Rainey 3-85.
SAINTS: Cadet 1-19.

PUNT RETURNS

BUCCANEERS: Rainey 3-34.
SAINTS: Saunders 1-3.

SACKS

BUCCANEERS: McDonald 1-8, Spence 1-5.
SAINTS: Jordan 1.5-9, Galette 1-6, Walker 0.5-3.