INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING BUCS: Williams 19-40, Freeman 3-(-2). FALCONS: Snelling 25-147, Norwood 9-27, Mughelli 2-6, Ryan 1-3. PASSING BUCS: Freeman 32-16-174-2-1. FALCONS: Ryan 35-23-223-2-2. RECEIVING BUCS: Winslow 5-56, Williams 4-35, Bryant 2-15, Stovall 1-27, Clayton 1-16, Stevens 1-14, Gilmore 1-9, Pressley 1-2. FALCONS: White 6-66, Jenkins 4-45, Norwood 4-23, Peelle 3-38, Gonzalez 3-30, Snelling 3-21. INTERCEPTIONS BUCS: Jackson 1-19 , Piscitelli 1-3. FALCONS: Owens 1-13, Grimes 1-0. KICK RETURNS BUCS: Spurlock 3-47. FALCONS: Weems 3-64. PUNT RETURNS BUCS: Spurlock 1-10. FALCONS: Weems 1-0. SACKS BUCS: Hayes 1-9. FALCONS: Davis 1-6.
Unfortunately the magic of the two previous weeks’ road victories eluded the Bucs back in their home confines and a disapppinting home loss to Atlanta brought an end to the 3-13 season under first-year head coach Raheem Morris. The Bucs were tied at 10-10 midway through the 4th quarter but Matt Ryan’s second touchdown pass of the game put the Falcons ahead and this time, rookie QB Josh Freeman had no magic left in his tank to bring his young team back from the brink once more. "To see how this team stuck together for what we've been through, it's enough for me, “ said Ronde Barber. “We knew he (Raheem Morris) went through some growing pains as a head coach, but we stuck together."
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10 Atlanta Falcons 20 Sunday 3 January 2010 at Raymond James Stadium
SCORING TB 13:27-1Q Barth FG48 ATL 4:09-2Q Bryant FG36 ATL 0:00-2Q Peelle 2 pass from Ryan (Bryant kick) TB 11:34-4Q Bryant 8 pass from Freeman (Barth kick) ATL 7:18-4Q White 12 pass from Ryan (Bryant kick) ATL 1:00-4Q Bryant FG36
STARTERS OFFENSE DEFENSE LT 70 Penn LDE 96 Crowder LG 76 Zuttah DT 98 Sims C 52 Faine DT 95 Hovan RG 75 Joseph RDE 91 White RT 65 Trueblood WLB 54 Hayes WR 89 Bryant MLB 51 Ruud WR 85 Stovall SLB 58 Black TE 82 Winslow LCB 25 Talib FB 45 Pressley SS 21 Piscitelli RB 24 Williams FS 36 Jackson QB 5 Freeman RCB 20 Barber SUBSTITUTIONS 2 Paulescu, 10 Barth, 18 Stroughter, 29 Roberson, 32 Huggins, 33 Mack, 41 Lynch, 48 Economos, 50 McCoy, 53 Koutouvides, 57 Hayward, 69 Dotson, 71 Bennett, 74 Murphy, 80 Clayton, 81 Spurlock, 86 Stevens, 87 Clark, 88 Gilmore, 92 D.Moore, 93 Miller, 94 K.Moore DID NOT PLAY 11 J Johnson, 61 Compas GAMEDAY INACTIVES 12 Carpenter, 16 Bradley, 19 Urrutia, 28 Ward, 43 Hall, 46 Purvis, 77 Lee, 83 Nunn
COMMENTARY CREW Dick Stockton and Charles Davis
GAME HIGHLIGHTS Click on the boxes below to watch the clip Tanard Jackson opens the game by forcing a fumble on the Falcons’ kick return Ronde Barber gets himself another interception as Matt Ryan tries to go deep Antonio Bryant scores the final Buccaneer touchdown of the 2009 season