On the day that the Buccaneers inducted their first supposed franchise quarterback into the Ring of Honor, the latest candidate for the mantle took another step towards cementing his own reputation in Tampa. Jameis Winston led the Bucs on a late scoring drive that included a 20-yard scramble on 3rd & 19 and capped the drive off with a six-yard scoring pass to Mike Evans to give the Bucs victory and take their record to 6-6 on the season. Doug Williams watched on as the newest young leader of the franchise also ran for a score and handed off to Doug Martin and Charles Sims on a ground game that racked up 166 yards on the day. Lavonte David’s interception inside the final two minutes sealed the victory.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23 Atlanta Falcons 19 Sunday 6 December 2015 at Raymond James Stadium
SCORING TB 1:01-1Q Winston 6 run (Barth kick) ATL 9:36-2Q Graham FG28 ATL 1:01-2Q Graham FG47 ATL 0:00-2Q Graham FG52 ATL 8:35-3Q Graham FG29 TB 3:35-3Q Martin 1 run (pass failed) TB 1:21-3Q Barth FG23 ATL 10:41-4Q Williams 5 pass from Ryan (Graham kick) TB 1:39-4Q Evans 6 pass from Winston (Barth kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING BUCS: Martin 25-95, Sims 7-56, Winston 5-15. FALCONS: Freeman 14-47, Coleman 3-13, Ryan 1-4. PASSING BUCS: Winston 27-18-227-1-1. FALCONS: Ryan 45-30-269-1-1. RECEIVING BUCS: Evans 5-61, Jackson 3-87, Seferian-Jenkins 3-31, Sims 2-21, Brate 2-12, Humphries 1-6, Martin 1-5, Stocker 1-4. FALCONS: Freeman 10-56, Jones 8-93, White 3-33, Tamme 3- 26, Hardy 2-34, DiMarco 2-18, Williams 1-5, Coleman 1-4. INTERCEPTIONS BUCS: David 1-(-5). FALCONS: Trufant 1-0. KICK RETURNS BUCS: Rainey 2-39, Dye 1-18. FALCONS: Hester 2-47. PUNT RETURNS BUCS: Rainey 2-41. FALCONS: Hester 1-3. SACKS BUCS: Gholston 2-6, Alexander 1-8. FALCONS: Jarrett 1-5.
STARTERS OFFENSE DEFENSE LT 76 Smith LDE 92 Gholston LG 70 Mankins DT 90 Melton C 68 Hawley DT 97 Spence RG 74 Marpet RDE 95 Jones RT 69 Dotson MLB 58 Alexander TE 88 Stocker WLB 54 David TE 84 Brate SLB 51 Lansanah WR 13 Evans LCB 26 Moore WR 83 Jackson RCB 38 Adjei-Barimah QB 3 Winston SS 23 Conte RB 22 Martin FS 30 McDougald PLAYED 5 Schum, 10 Barth, 11 Humphries, 17 Dye, 21 Verner, 24 Jenkins, 27 Banks, 31 Wright, 34 Sims, 37 Tandy, 43 Rainey, 46 Lane, 48 DePaola, 52 George, 53 Glanton, 57 Keyes, 59 Brown, 64 Pamphile, 77 McDaniel, 87 Seferian-Jenkins, 89 Shepard, 91 Shirley. DID NOT PLAY 8 Glennon, 62 Smith INACTIVES 4 Griffin, 50 Carter, 56 Smith, 78 Cherilus, 82 Myers, 93 McCoy, 94 Johnson.
COMMENTARY CREW Dick Stockton and David Diehl
GAME REPORTS Roy Cummings reports on a memorable late victory for the Buccaneers Martin Fennelly watched “The Run” in amazement How Rick Stroud saw the game unfold Tom Jones wonders if the Bucs truly believe in their play-off chances The defense stepped up when it really needed to on Sunday Mike Evans redeemed himself by wanting the ball and getting it for the winning score Ira Kaufman’s “First and 10” column looking at the deeper stories from the game Notes and anecdotes from the winning locker room Half-time saw Doug Williams inducted into the Ring of Honor The official NFL gamebook Scott Smith’s detailed game report
GAME HIGHLIGHTS Click on the boxes below to view the clips Jameis Winston scrambles into the endzone for the opening score Winston’s amazing 20-yard run on 3rd and 19 to keep the winning drive alive Capped off by a six-yard scoring pass to Mike Evans in the right corner of the endzone