Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31 Atlanta Falcons 24 Sunday 11 September 2016 at the Georgia Dome FOX COMMENTARY CREW Sam Rosen and David Diehl
GAME SCORING TB 9:52-1Q Aguayo FG43 ATL 7:08-1Q Bryant FG34 ATL 0:11-1Q Sanu 5 pass from Ryan (Bryant kick) TB 10:25-2Q Myers 4 pass from Winston (Aguayo kick) ATL 1:45-2Q Bryant FG34 TB 0:14-2Q Sims 23 pass from Winston (Aguayo kick) TB 12:54-3Q Seferian-Jenkins 30 pass from Winston (Aguayo kick) TB 5:12-3Q Evans 45 pass from Winston (Aguayo kick) ATL 1:35-3Q Jones pass from Ryan (Sanu pass from Ryan) ATL 4:55-4Q Bryant FG29
Dirk Koetter earned his first win as an NFL head coach as the Bucs exploded for four second and third quarter touchdowns to open out an 18-point lead on the road in Atlanta and then hung on to win when Matt Ryan’s fourth down pass was deflected by Gerald McCoy. Jameis Winston bounced back from an early interception to throw four scoring passes including a spectacular diving reception by Austin Seferian- Jenkins. The defense bent at times but three sacks at key moments and the game-sealing final stand sent the Bucs back home to Tampa at 1-0 on the season.
GAME REPORTS How the no-huddle offense jump-started Winston's 4 TD performance Bucs' feelings for Dirk Koetter flow in victorious locker room How Bucs defense made Mike Smith's Atlanta return triumphant Greg Auman’s game notes and anecdotes Scott Smith’s game report Click here for the gamebook and the play-by-play
STARTERS OFFENSE DEFENSE LT 76 Smith LDE 91 Ayers LG 64 Pamphile DT 93 McCoy C 68 Hawley DT 98 McDonald RG 74 Marpet RDE 92 Gholston RT 69 Dotson MLB 58 Alexander TE 88 Stocker WLB 54 David WR 11 Humphries CB 28 Hargeaves WR 13 Evans LCB 21 Verner WR 83 Jackson RCB 24 Grimes QB 3 Winston SS 23 Conte RB 22 Martin FS 30 McDougald PLAYED 9 Anger, 10 Shorts, 19 Aguayo, 26 Robinson, 27 Banks, 34 Sims, 37 Tandy, 38 Adjei-Barimeh, 43 Barber, 48 DePaola, 50 Keyes, 51 D Smith, 53 Glanton, 56 J Smith, 57 Spence, 82 Myers, 84 Brate, 87 Seferian-Jenkins, 89 Shepard, 95 Jones, 97 Spence DID NOT PLAY 8 Glennon, 62 E Smith, 78 Cherilus INACTIVES 4 Griffin, 29 R Smith, 59 Bond, 66 Wester, 71 Ward, 75 Lambert, 77 Benenoch
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING BUCS: Martin 18-62, Sims 4-9, Shepard 1-9, Humphries 1-7, Winston 4-3. FALCONS: Coleman 8-22, Freeman 11-20, Ryan 3-10. PASSING BUCS: Winston 33-23-281-1-4. FALCONS: Ryan 39-27-334-0-2. RECEIVING BUCS: Evans 5-99, Martin 5-34, Humphries 3-34, Sims 3-32, Brate 3-20, Jackson 2-18, Seferian-Jenkins 1-30, Myers 1-4. FALCONS: Tamme 6-51, Coleman 5-95, Sanu 5-80, Jones 4-66, Freeman 4-20, Hooper 1-14, DiMarco 1-8, Hardy 1-0. INTERCEPTIONS BUCS: none FALCONS: Trufant 1-9. KICK RETURNS BUCS: Humphries 1-12. FALCONS: Weems 3-85. PUNT RETURNS BUCS: Humphries 0-0. FALCONS: Weems 2-22. SACKS BUCS: McCoy 1-6, Ayers 1-4, Alexander 1-2. FALCONS: none.