Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21 New Orleans Saints 24 Sunday 8 October 2006 at the Superdome
SCORING TB 10:49-1Q Galloway 18 pass from Gradkowski (Bryant kick) NO 5:04-1Q Carney FG21 NO 1:44-2Q McAllister 24 run (Carney kick) NO 5:52-3Q Conwell 9 pass from Brees (Carney kick) TB 2:50-3Q Alstott 1 run (Bryant kick) TB 10:03-4Q Smith 3 pass from Gradkowski (Bryant kick) NO 4:17-4Q Bush 65 punt return (Carney kick)
Rookie Bruce Gradkowski made his first NFL start and led the offense to a decent performance but came up on short thanks to another rookie, Reggie Bush’s punt return touchdown inside the final five minutes. "I don't think we could have asked any more out of him," said Joey Galloway, who caught four of Gradkowski's passes, including one for a touchdown. "He handled the huddle well, handled the snap well and made some big plays."
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING BUCS: 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 BUCS: Gradkowski 31-20-225-0-2. SAINTS: Brees 33-21-171-0-1. RECEIVING BUCS: 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 BUCS: none. SAINTS: none. KICK RETURNS BUCS: Pittman 4-85. SAINTS: Copper 2-41, Stecker 1-17, Jones 1-13. PUNT RETURNS BUCS: Jones 6-51. SAINTS: Bush 3-75, Moore 1-3. SACKS BUCS: none. SAINTS: Grant 1-5, Fujita 1-1.
STARTERS OFFENSE DEFENSE LT 69 Davis DE 94 Spires LG 72 Buenning DT 95 Hovan C 76 Wade DT 92 McFarland RG 79 Mahan DE 97 Rice RT 65 Trueblood LLB 56 Nece TE 88 Becht MLB 53 Quarles WR 80 Clayton RLB 55 Brooks WR 84 Galloway LCB 25 Kelly RB 40 Alstott RCB 20 Barber RB 24 Williams SS 23 Phillips QB 7 Gradkowski FS 37 Allen PLAYED 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 INACTIVES 2 Simms, 29 Zemaitis, 33 Sowell, 50 Winborn, 70 Penn, 77 Terry, 82 Warren, 83 Moore
COMMENTARY CREW Matt Vasgerian and JC Pearson
GAME REPORTS Roy Cummings of The Tampa Tribune reports from New Orleans Rick Stroud of the St.Petersburg Times offers his viewpoint Gary Shelton's Monday morning column Reggie Bush finally scores his first NFL TD at the Bucs' expense Jon Gruden challenges his defense to step up The Cadillac finally gets untracked with a 100-yard game Jeremy Trueblood becomes another rookie starter for the Bucs Game notes and anecdotes The game report from the Superdome The gamebook and the play-by-play from the game