Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27 New England Patriots 7 Sunday 16 November 1997 at Houlihans Stadium CBS COMMENTARY CREW Charlie Jones and Bob Trumpy
Tampa Bay made it three straight wins with a dominating 27-7 dispatching of the former AFC Champion New England Patriots in a game that sold out prior to the season opener. In a game that was highlighted by a special performance by the Buccaneer defense, the Patriots’ vaunted high-powered offensive attack was grounded, managing under 100 total yards until a 75-yard drive in the game’s final two minutes.
STARTERS OFFENSE DEFENSE LT 74 Gruber LDE 72 Ahanotu LG 60 Pyne DT 77 Culpepper C 61 Mayberry DT 99 Sapp RG 64 Diaz RDE 91 Upshaw RT 70 Odom WLB 55 Brooks TE 80 Harris MLB 56 Nickerson WR 85 Anthony DB 31 Young WR 88 Copeland LCB 21 Abraham QB 12 Dilfer SS 47 Lynch TE 83 Moore FS 22 Mincy RB 40 Alstott RCB 27 Parker PLAYED 4 Walsh, 5 Husted, 7 Landeta, 23 Bouie, 25 Johnson, 28 Dunn, 29 Gant, 32 Rhett, 37 Ellison, 45 Legette, 50 Gooch, 51 Singleton, 53 Quarles, 59 Porter, 69 Pierson, 71 Wunsch, 73 Middleton, 84 Thomas, 85 Anthony, 87 Davis, 90 Maniecki, 94 White, 97 Jackson INACTIVES 13 Milanovich, 20 Barber, 24 Robinson, 52 Bellisari, 65 Dogins, 75 Curry, 78 Jones, 82 Hape
GAME SCORING TB 2:30-1Q Rhett 1 run (Husted kick) TB 0:05-1Q Husted FG44 TB 11:00-2Q Moore 7 pass from Dilfer (Husted kick) TB 0:04-2Q Alstott 1 run (Husted kick) TB 0:05-3Q Husted FG44 NE 6:44-4Q Purnell 6 pass from Zolak (Vinatieri kick)
GAME REPORTS Rick Stroud reports from Houlihan's Stadium All Bucs bask in glory of a perfect afternoon Defense puts the Pats in the pits Alstott's power game bruises bodies and spirits Click here for the gamebook and the play-by-play
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING BUCS: Alstott 16-91, Dunn 14-36, Rhett 8-15, Williams 1-5, Walsh 2-(-1). PATRIOTS: Cullors 4-41, Martin 8-26, Byars 2-5, Gash 1-4, Bledsoe 1-(-1). PASSING BUCS: Dilfer 29-21-209-0-1. PATRIOTS: Bledsoe 25-13-117-2-0, Zolak 6-3-34-0-1. RECEIVING BUCS: Dunn 4-20, Harris 3-51, Williams 3-36, Alstott 3-35, Anthony 3-24, Copeland 3-20, Moore 2-23. PATRIOTS: Brown 5-58, Martin 4-23, Coates 3-27, Jefferson 2-28, Jells 1- 9, Purnell 1-6. INTERCEPTIONS BUCS: Brooks 1-13, Abraham 1-0. PATRIOTS: none. KICK RETURNS BUCS: Dunn 1-10. PATRIOTS: Meggett 3-77, Cullors 1-9. PUNT RETURNS BUCS: Williams 3-37. PATRIOTS: Meggett 1-5. SACKS BUCS: Jackson 1-17, Upshaw 1-13,Sapp 1-11,Culpepper 1-10, Parker 1-7. PATRIOTS: Canty 1-7.
VIDEO CLIPS For the third straight week, Trent Dilfer and Dave Moore hooked up Anthony Parker had a sack on fourth down to end a scoring threat Derrick Brooks had a fourth quarter interception