Tampa Bay Buccaneers 28 San Diego Chargers 21 Sunday 4 December 2016 at Qualcomm Stadium
SCORING SD 10:53-1Q Inman 35 pass from Rivers (Lambo kick) TB 1:08-1Q Martin 2 run (Aguayo kick) SD 10:04-2Q Gordon 2 run (Lambo kick) TB 8:25-3Q Aguayo FG27 TB 4:25-3Q David 15 interception return (Aguayo kick) SD 1:33-3Q Williams 40 pass from Rivers (Lambo kick) TB 13:03-4Q Aguayo FG35 TB 9:01-4Q Brate 12 pass from Winston (Evans pass from Winston)
And then it was four in a row and a 5-1 mark on the road. 20 years after Tony Dungy’s team recorded their signature turn-around win over the Chargers, Dirk Koetter’s 2016 Buccaneers announced to the rest of the NFL that they are for real. Trailing much of the game, interceptions by Lavonte David and Keith Tandy sparked the defense and Jameis Winston’s scoring strike to Cameron Brate put the Bucs ahead for good in the fourth quarter. David’s pick six came on a deflected pass by rookie Vernon Hargreaves whilst Tandy’s endzone pick stopped San Diego’s final drive and sent the Bucs back home to Florida with yet another road win.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING BUCS: Martin 17-45, Rodgers 7-29, Barber 2-6, Winston 4-1. CHARGERS: Gordon 17-84, Rivers 3-18, Farrow 4-15, Watt 1-2. PASSING BUCS: Winston 30-20-280-1-1. CHARGERS: Rivers 26-15-225-2-2. RECEIVING BUCS: Brate 6-86, Martino 4-56, Evans 3-38, Humphries 2-19, Martin 1-23, Rodgers 1-21, Shepard 1-15, Shorts 1-14, Cross 1-8. CHARGERS: Gordon 4-54, Gates 4-37, Inman 2-49, Williams 2-47, Benjamin 2-24, Henry 1-14. INTERCEPTIONS BUCS: David 1-15, Tandy 1-(-2). CHARGERS: Hayward 1-2. KICK RETURNS BUCS: none. CHARGERS: none. PUNT RETURNS BUCS: Hargreaves 2-14, Humphries 1-7. CHARGERS: Burse 1-12. SACKS BUCS: McCoy 1-7, Ayers 1-7. CHARGERS: Bosa 1-12.
STARTERS OFFENSE DEFENSE LT 76 Smith LDE 57 Spence 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 TE 84 Brate CB 21 Verner WR 10 Shorts LCB 28 Hargeaves WR 13 Evans RCB 24 Grimes QB 3 Winston SS 37 Tandy RB 22 Martin FS 30 McDougald PLAYED 9 Anger, 11 Humphries, 16 Martino, 19 Aguayo, 26 Robinson, 29 R Smith, 31 Wright, 32 Rodgers, 35 Elliott, 43 Barber, 45 Cross, 48 DePaola, 51 Smith, 52 Lynch, 53 Glanton, 70 Siliga, 77 Benenoch, 78 Cherilus, 82 Myers, 89 Shepard, 91 Ayers, 96 Russell, 97 Spence DID NOT PLAY 8 Glennon INACTIVES 4 Griffin, 23 Conte, 61 Allen, 62 E Smith, 66 Wester, 67 Hughes, 75 Lambert
COMMENTARY CREW Sam Rosen and David Diehl
GAME REPORTS Rick Stroud’s lead story on the game from The Tampa Bay Times Tom Jones reports on a splash play from the quiet man of the defense Game grades - just who are these guys and what have they done with the Bucs? Greg Auman’s notes column leads with Keith Tandy’s big interception Scott Smith’s detailed game report Click here for the gamebook and the play-by-play
GAME HIGHLIGHTS Click on the boxes below to view the clips Doug Martin scores the first Buccaneer touchdown on a great second-effort run Lavonte David’s pick six turned the tide of the game in the third quarter Keith Tandy’s endzone interception ended the final San Diego scoring threat