Buccaneers vs. Minnesota Vikings 
WON - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 36 Minnesota Vikings 17
***HISTORIC MARKER*** Doug Martin's 214 total offensive yards is the 5th best single game total in Buccaneer history. Quarterback Josh Freeman had his third consecutive game with three touchdown passes, in which is a new franchise record. Doug Martin became the first player in Buccaneers history with 135 rushing yards and 75 receiving yards in the same game.
This win snapped a nine-game away losing streak for the Buccaneers dating back to last season. The Buccaneers last road win was against the Vikings in Minnesota in week 2 when the Bucs came back and won 24–20 after trailing 17–0 in the third quarter.
Doug Martin held the spotlight on this night. Martin ran the ball 29 times for 135 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. Martin scored two touchdowns on this night and he had 100 rushing yards before halftime. Adding to that, he caught three passes for 79 yards, in which he scored a 64-yard passing touchdown on a screen play. Freeman threw for 262 yards and has a streak of consecutive games with a touchdown pass with 10.
There were three takeaways in the game, all of them belonging to the Tampa Bay defense. Ronde Barber and Michael Bennett forced fumbles, with the Bucs recovering both of them in the second quarter. Those turnovers were converted into points. This provided the difference in the Bucs 20–10 halftime lead over the Vikings. Leonard Johnson also ended Minnesota's last drive with an interception. Negative plays tackles behind the line of scrimmage have become the Buccaneers’ strength this season. They entered Week 8 leading the NFL in that category. The hits kept coming Thursday night as Tampa Bay had seven more tackles for loss, including three sacks.
The Tampa Bay defense allowed Adrian Peterson and the Minnesota offense to rush for 141 total rushing yards.
The Vikings were the second team this season to rush over 100 yards as the Redskins were the first team to do so with Robert Griffen III. The buccaneers oline only allowed 1 sack to Jared Allen and the defense. The Bucs finished with 416 yards of total offense. They had 513 yards against New Orleans last Sunday and 463 yards against Kansas City the previous week before playing the Saints. That marks the first time in franchise history that the Bucs have had three straight games with over 400 yards of total offense. The Buccaneers won their sixth straight meeting against the Minnesota Vikings.
GAMEDAY BRIEF
OFFICALS
- REFEREE: Ron Winter
- UMPIRE: Carl Paganelli
- HEAD LINESMAN: Jim Howey
- LINE JUDGE: Gary Arthur
- SIDE JUDGE: Tom Hill
- FIELD JUDGE: Scott Steenson
- BACK JUDGE: Gregory Steed
- REPLAY OFFICIAL: Jim Lapetina
- VIDEO OPERATOR: not documented
SCORING
- BUCCANEERS: 09:48-1Q Barth FG28
- BUCCANEERS: 03:34-1Q Lorig 1 pass from Freeman (Barth kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 12:20-2Q Barth FG40
- VIKINGS: 09:39-2Q Harvin 18 pass from Ponder (Walsh kick
- BUCCANEERS: 04:30-2Q Williams 3 pass from Freeman (Barth kick)
- 01:40-2Q Walsh FG51: 0002
- BUCCANEERS: 13:39-3Q Martin 64 pass from Freeman (Barth kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 07:50-3Q Barth FG38
- VIKINGS: 0007:28-3Q Peterson 64 run (Walsh kick)2
- BUCCANEERS: 07:03-4Q Martin 1 run (pass failed)
STARTERS OFFENSE
- WR: #83 V. Jackson
- LT: #70 D. Penn
- LG: #77 C. Nicks
- C: #76 J. Zuttah
- RG: #79 J. Meredith
- RT: #69 D. Dotson
- TE: #88 L. Stocker
- WR: #19 M. Williams
- QB: #05 J. Freeman
- FB: #41 E. Lorig
- HB: #22 D. Martin
STARTERS DEFENSE
- LE: #71 M. Bennett
- DT: #93 G. McCoy
- DT: #90 R. Miller
- RE: #50 D. Te'o-Nesheim
- DB: #29 L. Johnson
- MLB: #59 M. Foster
- WLB: #54 L. David
- LCB: #31 E. Biggers
- RCB: #21 E. Wright
- SS: #24 M. Barron
- FS: #20 R. Barber
SUBSTITUTIONS
- 9 Koenen, 10 Barth, 11 Underwood, 12 Parrish, 17 Benn, 27 Blount, 28 Ware, 33 McDonald, 35 Grimm, 43 A Black, 44 Clark. 48 Economos, 51 Cutrera, 56 Watson, 57 Hayward, 58 Black, 62 Larsen, 65 Trueblood, 82 Byham, 91 Bowers, 95 Gibson, 96 Irvin, 97 Johnson
DID NOT PLAY
- 6 Orlovsky
INACTIVE
- 23 Lewis, 34 Smith, 37 Tandy, 53 Goode, 74 Wallace, 80 Owusu, 86 Noble
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
- BUCCANEERS: Martin 29-135, Blount 8-16, Benn 1-9, Freeman 3-(-1).
- VIKINGS: Peterson 15-123, Ponder 4-12, Gerhart 1-6, Harvin 1-(-1).
PASSING
- BUCCANEERS: Freeman 36-19-262-0-3.
- VIKINGS: Ponder 35-19-251-1-1.
RECIEVING
- BUCCANEERS: Williams 6-68, Martin 3-79, Clark 3-40, Underwood 3-27, Jackson 2-40, Ware 1-7, Lorig 1-1.
- VIKINGS: Harvin 7-90, Jenkins 4-78, Simpson 2-37, Gerhart 2-20, Rudolph 2-17, Ellison 1-5, Peterson 1-4.
INTERCEPTIONS
- BUCCANEERS: L.Johnson 1-0.
- VIKINGS: none.
KICK RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: none.
- VIKINGS: Harvin 1-43.
PUNT RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Parrish 3-1.
- VIKINGS: Sherels 3-21.
SACKS
- BUCCANEERS: Foster 1-10, Te'o-Nesheim 1-7, Bennett 1-5.
- VIKINGS: Allen 1-5.
