INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING BUCS: C.Williams 16-77, Johnson 8-45, Ward 1-2. PANTHERS: D.Williams 30-152, Stewart 17-110, Delhomme 1-5. PASSING BUCS: Johnson 17-11-147-1-0. PANTHERS: Delhomme 17-9-65-2-1. RECEIVING BUCS: Stroughter 3-65, Winslow 3-29, Bryant 2-37, Clayton 1-9, Ward 1-5, Graham 1-2. PANTHERS: Muhammad 3-27, D.Williams 2-20, King 2-8, Rosario 1-6, Smith 1-4. INTERCEPTIONS BUCS: Jackson 1-26, Ruud 1-2. PANTHERS: Davis 1-24. KICK RETURNS BUCS: Stroughter 3-142, Smith 1-25. PANTHERS: Moore 3-59. PUNT RETURNS BUCS: Smith 1-6. PANTHERS: Munnerlyn 1-34. SACKS BUCS: White 1-10. PANTHERS: Johnson 2-19, Peppers 2-7.
Once again the Tampa defense was run over by a pair of Carolina Panther running backs as DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart both went over the 100-yard mark bringing back memories of the Monday Night debacle the 2008 team had incurred the previous season. Special teams were a mixed bag as although Sammie Stroughter had the third kick return touchdown in franchise history, Clifton Smith was the victim of a terrible late hit on a punt return, one that would ultimately lead to the ending of his NFL career. "We either need to get better up front or we need to get better people," Raheem Morris said. "We've got to find a way to stop the run when it counts, and that last drive was one of the times it counted."
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21 Carolina Panthers 28 Sunday 18 October 2009 at Raymond James Stadium
SCORING TB 10:57-1Q C.Williams 20 run (Andrus kick) CAR 11:48-2Q D.Williams 20 run (Kasay kick) CAR 12:07-3Q King 1 pass from Delhomme (Kasay kick) CAR 2:33-3Q Stewart 26 run (Kasay kick) TB 2:17-3Q Stroughter 97 kickoff return (Andrus kick) TB 8:33-4Q Jackson 26 interception return (Andrus kick) CAR 0:29-4Q D.Williams 1 run (Kasay kick)
STARTERS OFFENSE DEFENSE LT 70 Penn LDE 97 Wilkerson LG 76 Zuttah UT 98 Sims C 52 Faine DT 95 Hovan RG 75 Joseph RDE 91 White RT 65 Trueblood WLB 54 Hayes WR 80 Clayton MLB 51 Ruud WR 89 Bryant SLB 58 Black TE 82 Winslow LCB 25 Talib TE 86 Stevens SS 21 Piscitelli RB 24 Williams FS 36 Jackson QB 11 J Johnson RCB 20 Barber SUBSTITUTIONS 3 Andrus, 8 D Johnson, 18 Stroughter, 22 Smith, 26 Allen, 27 Cox, 28 Ward, 33 Mack, 34 Graham, 41 Lynch, 48 Economos, 53 Koutouvides, 56 Wilson, 71 Bennett, 72 M Johnson, 79 Mahan, 85 Stovall, 87 Clark, 88 Gilmore, 93 Miller, 96 Crowder DID NOT PLAY 5 Freeman GAMEDAY INACTIVES 7 Leftwich, 16 Figurs, 29 Roberson, 35 Askew, 57 Hayward, 61 Compas, 69 Dotson, 92 D.Moore, 94 K.Moore
COMMENTARY CREW Dick Stockton and Charles Davis
GAME HIGHLIGHTS Click on the boxes below to watch the clip Cadillac Williams opens the scoring with a 20-yard run round the left side Sammie Stroughter has the third kick-off return touchdown in franchise history Tanard Jackson’s interception return that tied the score in the fourth quarter