The Bucs won their third straight season-opener and tied a franchise record for points scored as they pulled off a surprising victory over the Saints in the Superdome. Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 417 yards and four touchdowns as Tampa Bay pulled out big plays all over the field with both Mike Evans and Desean Jackson going for over 140 yards receiving. The defense forced their own big play touchdown in the second quarter.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING BUCS: Barber 19-69, Fitzpatrick 12-36, Wilson 1-6, Rodgers 2-1. SAINTS: Kamara 8-29, Gilleslee 3-9, Ginn 1-5, Williams 1-0. PASSING BUCS: Fitzpatrick 28-21-417-0-4. SAINTS: Brees 45-37-439-0-3. RECEIVING BUCS: Evans 7-147, Jackson 5-146, Godwin 3-41, Humphries 3-27, Howard 2-54, Rodgers 1-2. SAINTS: Thomas 16-180, Kamara 9-112, Ginn 5-68, Watson 4-44, Carr 2-20, Hill 1-15, INTERCEPTIONS BUCS: none. SAINTS: none. KICK RETURNS BUCS: WIlson 1-29, Humphries 1-4. SAINTS: Lewis 3-69. PUNT RETURNS BUCS: Humphries 2-17, Jackson 1-2. SAINTS: Lewis 1-0. SACKS BUCS: Curry 1-7. SAINTS: none.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48 New Orleans Saints 40 Sunday 9 September 2018 at the Mercedes Benz Superdome
SCORING NO 11:41-1Q Kamara 5 run (Lutz kick) TB 9:41-1Q Jackson 58 pass from Fitzpatrick (Catanzaro kick) NO 4:25-1Q Lutz FG36 TB 1:58-1Q Fitzpatrick 3 run (Catanzaro kick) NO 14:54-2Q Ginn 28 pass from Brees (Lutz kick) TB 11:12-2Q Catanzaro FG33 TB 4:42-2Q Godwin 9 pass from Fitzpatrick(Catanzaro kick) TB 4:27-2Q J.Evans 34 fumble return (Catanzaro kick) NO 0:55-2Q Thomas 6 pass from Brees (Lutz kick) TB 11:24-3Q Catanzaro FG36 TB 2:58-3Q Evans 50 pass from Fitzpatrick (Catanzaro kick) TB 12:19-4Q Jackson 36 pass from Fitzpatrick (Catanzaro kick) NO 8:54-4Q Kamara 1 run (Kamara run) NO 3:31-4Q Kamara 7 pass from Brees (Ginn pass from Brees)
GAME REPORTS Rick Stroud reports on a record-breaking season-opening win It was the old Fitzmagic - the Bucs’ back-up QB is the star of the show The first deep bomb to Desean Jackson set the tone for the day Tom Jones sees one big play after another for the Buccaneers Game notes and anecdotes from the Superdome Report card - grading the performance How Roy Cummings saw the game for Florida Football Insiders Scott Smith’s official game report Click here for the play-by-play and the NFL gamebook
STARTERS OFFENSE DEFENSE LT 76 Smith LDE 97 Curry LG 74 Marpet DT 93 McCoy C 66 Jensen DT 91 Allen RG 77 Benenoch RDE 90 Pierre-Paul RT 69 Dotson MLB 58 Alexander TE 80 Howard WLB 54 David WR 10 Humphries DB 29 Smith WR 13 Evans LCB 28 Hargeaves WR 11 Jackson RCB 33 Davis QB 14 Fitzpatrick SS 23 Conte RB 25 Barber FS 21 Evans PLAYED 7 Catanzaro, 9 Anger, 12 Godwin, 16 Martino, 31 Whitehead, 32 Rogers, 35 Elliott, 36 Stewart, 38 Wilson, 39 Johnson, 45 Cross, 48 Cichy, 52 Lynch, 53 Taylor, 56 Worthy, 57 Spence, 61 Wester, 62 Smith, 82 Auclair, 84 Brate, 89 Sanborn, 92 Gholston, 94 Nassib DID NOT PLAY 4 Griffin INACTIVES 17 Watson, 24 Grimes, 27 Jones, 50 Vea, 65 Cappa, 67 Liedtke, 72 Gettis
COMMENTARY CREW Chris Myers and Daryl Johnston
GAME HIGHLIGHTS Click on the boxes below to view the big plays Ryan Fitzpatrick and Desean Jackson hooked up for the first Buc TD of the season Then Ryan ran one in himself to put the Buccaneers ahead Justin Evans’ fumble return score was the one that ensured Tampa stayed in control