INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING BUCS: Martin 14-46, Sims 6-11. TEXANS: Blue 31-139, Prosch 3-24, Grmes 6-19, Polk 5-5, Mallett 1-(1). PASSING BUCS: Winston 36-17-261-1-1. TEXANS: Mallett 39-24-228-1-1. RECEIVING BUCS: Evans 7-101, Murphy 3-61, Myers 3-18, SIms 2-41, Jackson 2-40. TEXANS: Hopkins 8-101, Shorts 6-58, Washington 4-42, Grimes 4-19, Graham 1-9, Worthy 1-(-1). INTERCEPTIONS BUCS: Alexander 1-0. TEXANS: Demps 1-0. KICK RETURNS BUCS: Rainey 1-27. TEXANS: Demps 2-46. PUNT RETURNS BUCS: Rainey 5-48. TEXANS: Worthy 3-9, Shorts 2-8. SACKS BUCS: Melton 1-1. TEXANS: none.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9 Houston Texans 19 Sunday 27 September 2015 at Reliant Stadium
SCORING HOU 4:58-1Q Hopkins 5 pass from Mallett (Bullock kick) TB 11:15-2Q Brindza FG58 TB 3:51-2Q Sims 32 pass from Winston (kick failed) HOU 12:37-3Q Bullock FG39 HOU 9:14-4Q Blue 20 run (kick failed) HOU 1:12-4Q Bullock FG19
STARTERS OFFENSE DEFENSE LT 76 Smith LDE 94 Johnson LG 70 Mankins DT 93 McCoy C 68 Hawley DT 98 McDonald RG 74 Marpet RDE 56 Smith RT 78 Cherilus SLB 51 Lansanah TE 82 Myers MLB 58 Alexander WR 83 Jackson WLB 54 David WR 13 Evans LCB 28 Jennings QB 3 Winston RCB 27 Banks FB 46 Lane SS 23 Conte RB 22 Martin FS 30 McDougald PLAYED 2 Brindza, 5 Schum, 18 Murphy, 21 Verner, 24 Jenkins, 26 Moore, 34 Sims, 36 Swearinger, 37 Tandy, 43 Rainey, 48 DePaola, 50 Carter, 52 George, 59 Martin, 60 Warren, 64 Pamphile, 77 McDaniel, 84 Brate, 88 Stocker, 89 Shepard, 90 Melton, 92 Gholston, 96 Fatinikun DID NOT PLAY 8 Glennon INACTIVES 4 Griffin, 11 Humphries, 25 James, 31 Wright, 62 Smith, 65 Masifilo, 87 Seferian-Jenkins
COMMENTARY CREW Kenny Albert and Darryl Johnston
GAME HIGHLIGHTS Click on the boxes below to view the clips Kyle Brindza connects on the second-longest fieldgoal in Buccaneer history Charles Sims takes a screen pass for a touchdown with some tremendous moves Vincent Jackson’s apparent go-ahead touchdown was called back on review
The Buccaneers fell to 1-2 on account of an erratic kicking game and a defense that could not get the Texans off the field when they really needed a stop. Rookie kicker Kyle Brindza made a 58-yard fieldgoal in the first half but then missed two other FG attempts and an extra point. Alfred Blue rushed for 139 yards and the Texans had 186 on the ground in total and controlled the clock for 12 minutes more than the Buccaneers. Jameis Winston showed more nice touches in his third start and Mike Evans’ return to full fitness saw the second-year receiver surpass the 100-yard mark. But the story of this game was missed opportunities and missed kicks and the good feelings from the week before in New Orleans quickly were erased.
GAME REPORTS Roy Cummings reports on what a difference a week can make Martin Fennelly sees a bad team under Lovie Smith right now Rick Stroud offers his take on the loss in Reliant Stadium Tom Jones knows there is blame to go round but not for the quarterback Notes and anecdotes from the Buccaneer locker room Greg Auman has five things you may not have noticed from the game The offensive line handled JJ Watt better than expected Scott Smith’s detailed game report Click here for the gamebook and the play-by-play