The Bucs won for the second-time ever in the Mile High City thanks to a dominating pressure defense and three TD passes from Tom Brady. A blocked punt by Patrick O’Connor set up the first score and the Bucs were never in real danger from then on. The defense forced five sacks, two interceptions and a safety. This was the first game in 2020 Tampa Bay played in front of fans as just over 5,000 were allowed in by Denver authorities to watch the victory.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING BUCS: Jones 13-53, Fournette 7-15, Brady 5-0. BRONCOS: Gordon 8-26, Driskell 3-14, Freeman 2-4, Hamler 1-(-2). PASSING BUCS: Brady 38-25-297-0-3. BRONCOS: Driskel 30-17-176-1-1, Rypien 9-8-53-1-0. RECEIVING BUCS: Gronkowski 6-48, Godwin 5-64, Miller 2-83, Howard 3-49, McCoy 2-24, Jones 2-20, Fournette 2-7, Evans 2-2. BRONCOS: Jeudy 5-55, Fant 5-46, Patrick 4-43, Gordon 4-12, Hamler 3-30, Freeman 2-31, Spencer 1-7, Butt 1-5. INTERCEPTIONS BUCS: Edwards 1-30, David 1-(-5). BRONCOS: none. KICK RETURNS BUCS: Mickens 1-17. BRONCOS: none. PUNT RETURNS BUCS: Mickens 3-21. BRONCOS: Spencer 0-0. SACKS BUCS: Barrett 2-17, Whitehead 1-10, Vea 1-10, Winfield 1-8. BRONCOS: Harris 2-12.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 28 Denver Broncos 10 Sunday 27 September 2020 at Empower Field
SCORING TB 9:58-1Q Godwin 10 pass from Brady (Succop kick) TB 0:15-1Q Succop FG43 DEN 11:33-2Q McManus FG56 TB 6:35-2Q Evans 1 pass from Brady (Succop kick) TB 2:19-2Q Evans 1 pass from Brady (kick blocked) DEN 0:14-2Q Patrick 7 pass from Driskel (McManus kick) TB 11:44-3Q Safety - Driskel sacked by Barrett TB 0:00-3Q Succop FG35
GAME REPORTS Rick Stroud reports on the icing on the cake for the Buccaneers The defense blitzed, blitzed again and then blitzed once more for luck Rob Gronkowski proved he is there for more than just blocking Scott Smith’s official game report Click here for the play-by-play and the NFL gamebook
STARTERS OFFENSE DEFENSE LT 76 Smith DE 93 Suh LG 74 Marpet DT 50 Vea C 66 Jensen LOLB 90 Pierre-Paul RG 65 Cappa LILB 45 White RT 78 Wirfs RILB 54 David TE 87 Gronkowski ROLB 58 Barrett TE 80 Howard DB 35 Dean WR 13 Evans LCB 24 Davis WR 14 Godwin RCB 23 Murphy-Bunting QB 12 Brady SS 31 Winfield RB 27 Jones FS 33 Whitehead PLAYED 3 Succop, 8 Pinion, 10 Miller, 18 Johnson, 25 McCoy, 26 Adams, 28 Fournette, 29 Smith, 32 Edwards, 39 Motley, 44 Barner, 48 Cichy, 51 Minter, 56 Nunez-Roches, 57 Bell, 72 Wells, 79 O’Connor, 84 Brate, 85 Mickens, 88 Hudson, 92 Gholston, 97 Triner, 98 Nelson DID NOT PLAY 11 Gabbert, 62 Shipley, 73 Haeg INACTIVES 4 Griffin, 17 Watson, 30 Vaughn, 49 Gill, 64 Stinnie, 94 Davis
COMMENTARY CREW Alex Amin and Mark Schlereth
GAME HIGHLIGHTS Click on the boxes below to view the big plays Patrick O’Connor blocked a punt on the first Bronco drive leading to a short field to score Shaq Barrett marked his return to Denver with a pair of sacks including a safety Mike Edwards capped a great team defensive performance with his first career interception