Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24 Atlanta Falcons 45 Sunday 1 January 2012 at the Georgia Dome

SCORING ATL 8:12-1Q Rodgers 1 run (Bryant kick) ATL 3:30-1Q Jones 17 pass from Ryan (Bryant kick) ATL 3:04-1Q Jones 48 pass from Ryan (Bryant kick) ATL 11:40-2Q Turner 1 run (Bryant kick) ATL 10:43-2Q Lofton 26 interception return (Bryant kick) ATL 6:49-2Q Turner 81 run (Bryant kick) TB 2:04-2Q Briscoe 2 pass from Freeman (Barth kick) TB 4:19-3Q Barth FG41 TB 3:32-3Q Mack 40 interception return (Winslow pass from Freeman) TB 11:13-4Q Briscoe 5 pass from Freeman (run failed) ATL 3:59-4Q Bryant FG20

The 2011 season mercifully came to an end with a 10th straight loss and the end of Raheem Morris as head coach of the Buccaneers. This one was 42-0 before half-time and could easily have become one of the biggest scorelines in NFL history had the Falcons not taken their foot off the gas in the second half. Michael Turner went for 172 yards and two scores and Julio Jones had a pair of first quarter scoring plays. From a season that promised so much midway through October, it ended on such a sour and depressing note.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING BUCS: Freeman 3-14, Blount 6-12, Johnson 1-5, Madu 2-4, Lumpkin 2-0. FALCONS: Turner 17-172, Snelling 9-50, Rodgers 8-24, Jones 1- 9, Redman 3-(-4). PASSING BUCS: Freeman 45-31-274-3-2. FALCONS: Ryan 9-6-106-0-2, Redman 12-7-71-1-0. RECEIVING BUCS: Briscoe 8-53, Winslow 7-56, Lumpkin 5-27, Parker 4-74, Madu 3-19, Blount 3-14, Williams 1-31. FALCONS: Jones 4-76, White 4-69, Gonzalez 1-8, Weems 1-8, Palmer 1-7, Rodgers 1-5, Snelling 1-4. INTERCEPTIONS BUCS: Mack 1-40. FALCONS: Lofton 1-26, Walls 1-23, Franks 1-0. KICK RETURNS BUCS: Parker 2-41, Spurlock 1-12. FALCONS: none. PUNT RETURNS BUCS: Spurlock 2-15. FALCONS: Weems 1-9. SACKS BUCS: none. FALCONS: Abraham 1-6, Moore 0.5-4.5, Biermann 0.5-4.5.

STARTERS OFFENSE DEFENSE LT 70 Penn DE 91 Bowers LG 76 Zuttah DT 90 MIller C 52 Faine DT 98 Okam RG 75 Joseph DE 94 Clayborn RT 77 Lee SLB 58 Black TE 69 Dotson MLB 59 Foster TE 82 Winslow WLB 54 Hayes WR 19 Williams LCB 31 Biggers WR 89 Briscoe RCB 20 Barber RB 27 Blount SS 26 Jones QB 5 Freeman FS 36 Jackson PLAYED 9 Koenen, 10 Barth, 11 Johnson, 22 Asante, 23 Lewis, 28 Lumpkin, 32 Madu, 33 Mack, 41 Lynch, 43 Black, 44 Lorig, 48 Economos, 53 Reed , 56 Watson, 57 Hayward, 62 Larsen, 71 Bennett, 72 Haye, 80 Pianalto, 81 Spurlock, 87 Parker, 88 Stocker, 92 Price, 95 Haynesworth INACTIVE 12 Carpenter, 17 Benn, 18 Stroughter, 24 Gaitor, 50 Te'o- Nesheim, 65 Trueblood, 73 Hardman

COMMENTARY CREW Dick Stockton and John Lynch

GAME REPORTS Roy Cummings reports on a season-ending humiliating loss Martin Fennelly sees Bucs reach new depths How Rick Stroud saw the game unfold Gary Shelton weighs in with his opinions Was this Ronde Barber's last game? Game notes and anecdotes Scott Smith's game report The official gamebook including the play-by-play