Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21 Atlanta Falcons 24
Monday 18 December 2017 at Raymond James Stadium
SCORING
ATL
6:54-1Q
Hardy 6 pass from Ryan (Bryant kick)
TB
1:52-1Q
Howard 30 pass from Winston (Murray kick)
ATL
12:56-2Q
Toilolo fumble recovery in endzone (Bryant kick)
ATL
3:12-2Q
Bryant FG57
TB
8:31-3Q
Evans 42 pass from Winston (Murray kick)
ATL
7:58-4Q
Freeman 32 run (Bryant kick)
TB
4:07-4Q
Humphries 16 pass from Winston (Murray kick)
On Monday Night Football against a playoff-bound Falcon team, with the distraction of Jon Gruden’s induction
into the Ring of Honor, the out-manned and out-gunned Buccaneers came within a whisker of an upset.
Jameis had his best game of the season but the breaks did not go Tampa’s way as three fumbles all went the
way of the Falcons and Patrick Murray’s game-tying 54-yard fieldgoal attempt sailed just wide as time expired.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
BUCS: Barber 13-53, Winston 3-18, Jackson 1-7, Humphries 1-6.
FALCONS: Freeman 22-126, Ward 8-40, Ryan 3-29, Gabriel 1-3,
Sanu 1-3.
PASSING
BUCS: Winston 35-27-299-0-3.
FALCONS: Ryan 31-17-212-0-1.
RECEIVING
BUCS: Evans 5-79, Humphries 5-43, Brate 4-49, Sims 4-6, Barber
3-15, Howard 1-30, Cross 1-23, Godwin 1-18, Auclair 1-14,
Jackson 1-11, Martino 1-11.
FALCONS: Freeman 5-68, Jones 3-54, Hardy 2-33, Sanu 2-23,
Gabriel 2-16, Hooper 2-12, Ward 1-6.
INTERCEPTIONS
BUCS: none.
FALCONS: none.
KICK RETURNS
BUCS: Rodgers 2-62.
FALCONS: Roberts 4-108.
PUNT RETURNS
BUCS: Humphries 2-30.
FALCONS: Roberts 2-17.
SACKS
BUCS: McDonald 1-3.
FALCONS: .Jarrett 0.5-1.5, Clayborn 0.5-1.5.
STARTERS
OFFENSE
DEFENSE
LT
76 Smith
LDE
91 Ayers
LG
64 Pamphile
DT
98 McDonald
C
62 Smith
DT
90 Baker
RG
73 Sweezy
RDE
92 Gholston
RT
77 Benenoch
MLB
58 Alexander
TE
80 Howard
WLB
53 Glanton
TE
45 Cross
SLB
51 Beckwith
WR
11 Jackson
LCB
24 Grimes
WR
13 Evans
RCB
29 Smith
QB
3 Winston
SS
23 Conte
RB
25 Barber
FS
21 Evans
PLAYED
7 Murray, 9 Anger, 10 Humphries, 12 Godwin, 16 Martino, 26
Robinson, 32 Rodgers, 34 Sims, 35 Elliott, 36 McClain, 37
Tandy, 43 Ward, 49 Bullough, 59 Bond, 65 Sanborn, 66 Wester,
68 Hawley, 79 O’Connor, 82 Auclair, 84 Brate, 94 Clarke, 95
Russell, 96 Siliga.
DID NOT PLAY
14 Fitzpatrick.
INACTIVES
4 Griffin, 22 Martin, 28 Hargreaves, 54 David, 67 Liedtke, 85
Wilson, 93 McCoy.
COMMENTARY CREW
Sean McDonough and Jon Gruden
GAME REPORTS
How Rick Stroud saw the game unfold
The injuries for the Buccaneers kept piling up
Martin Fennelly offers his game grades
How Roy Cummings saw the game for Florida Football Insiders
Doug Martin was declared inactive for breaching team rules
Jon Gruden’s induction into the Ring of Honor was a half-time treat
Scott Smith’s official game report
The NFL Gamebook and play-by-play
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
Click on the boxes below to view the big plays
OJ Howard scored his sixth touchdown of the season but was injured on making the play
Mike Evans finally found himself the receipient of a long touchdown reception
Jameis bought himself some time and threw his third touchdown pass of the night to Adam Humphries.