TE Ken Dilger would have made a very nice Home Team Challenge selection at tight end in Week Nine

In terms of the Buccaneers.com Guess the Score contest, a game between the Bucs and the Chiefs is a whole different animal than a game between the Bucs and Bears.

While one might expect a defensive struggle between the two former NFC Central mates (actual final score: 19-7, Bucs), the sky seemed the limit on the possible score between Tampa Bay and Kansas City.

And when you're trying to guess the exact final score of a game, a shootout obviously multiplies the possibilities. 42-28? 37-34? 31-28?

All of those potential scores were sent in by Guess the Score participants before Sunday's game at Raymond James Stadium. Unfortunately, no one guessed 34-31, Tampa Bay. Thus, when Dewayne White sacked Trent Green on fourth down and turned away Kansas City's last chance to roll the scoreboard, the final score was indeed 34-31 and the Guess the Score contest came up blank for the third straight week.

Of course, as we have reminded contestants and potential contestants of Guess the Score throughout the season, that's not really a bad thing. As the contest rules stipulate, any week with no winner simply means that week's prize rolls over to the next game. And, since there was no winner in Weeks Six or Seven, either, the 'skins' are starting to build up, as it were. This week, as you submit your entry in the Guess the Score contest for the Bucs-Falcons came, know that you could potentially win not one but four prizes. In addition to the Buccaneer polo shirt for Week Six, the autographed football for Week Seven and the 2005 Buccaneers Cheerleaders Calendar for Week Nine, the Falcons game will have an autographed team pennant on the line.

Now that's a nice bounty.

And it could be yours.

The Guess the Score contest on Buccaneers.com is simple to enter but not necessarily easy to win. You have to predict the exact final score for both teams to get the prize. If more than one entrant predicts the correct score, one winner is chosen at random from among those entries. Click here to enter and win!

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Home Team Challenge

Seth Jackson, tell us, did you have Michael Pittman on your team?

We're not privy to Jackson's Home Team Challenge roster for Week Nine, but since he had the highest score of any competitor playing through Buccaneers.com, we think there's a good chance Pittman was leading the way.

Jackson, an HTC competitor from our own neck of the woods, St. Petersburg, is the Week Nine winner of the Buccaneers.com fantasy game. That means he'll be enjoying two tickets to the Bucs' next home game, against San Francisco on November 21.

Jackson's team had an impressive winning score of 175 points, continuing the overall scoring resurgence after several weeks of low scores. His crew beat out the second-place finisher, New Port Richey's Evan Dunkley by 10 points, the largest winning margin of any week so far.

Pittman scored three touchdowns and racked up 158 combined rushing and receiving yards in the Bucs' win over Kansas City, making him one of the most productive fantasy football players of the week. Of course, a competitor could win without Pittman as long as he or she spent the allotted 300 roster units wisely. Ken Dilger, for instance, would have made a very cost-effective alternative at tight end this week, given his 47 yards and one touchdown.

Home Team Challenge is both exciting and simple to play. Using a base of 300 units and a pool of players with differing values, you must come up with a lineup each week that consists of one quarterback, two running backs, two receivers, one tight end, one kicker and one defense. You set a new lineup each week, using values that are adjusted as the season progress, and you can never go over 300 units.

Each week, the Buccaneers.com winner – the top scorer among players who signed up through the team's web site – is awarded a pair of tickets to Tampa Bay's next home game.* NFL.com also provides weekly prizes to overall Home Team Challenge winners, but only those who sign up through Buccaneers.com are eligible for Buc ticket prizes.

Mr. Jackson could also be in the running for the annual prize in the Buccaneers.com Home Team Challenge if he has scored well throughout the season. If so, he has a shot at two season tickets for the Bucs' 2005 campaign. The overall high-scorer at the end of the 2004 season will win that coveted set and the title of Buccaneer champ. He will also help all Buc fans in their combined competition against fans of the other 31 teams around the league.

To sign up for the Home Team Challenge, please click here. All it takes is one good week to end up at Raymond James Stadium.

( The winners of the Week 16 and Week 17 Challenges will receive Buccaneer merchandise rather than tickets, as there are no guaranteed home games after Week 16.)*

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Fan of the Week

A bear-tackling baby. A woman with 50 Buc hats. A small-town fan with a Buc-O-Lantern.

Who's the Fan of the Week on Buccaneers.com?

After a two-week hiatus prompted by the lazy bye week, Buccaneer rooters have come back in style to compete for the Buccaneers.com Fan of the Week title.

Already, we've identified some of the most rabid team supporters in and out of the Bay area. Click here to see the past weekly winners in all their Buccaneer-garbed glory. We'll continue to do so once a week until the end of the season, when we crown a Fan of the Year.

As always, Buccaneers.com is letting you make the call. Each of the Fans of the Week is chosen through the votes of their fellow vans; to choose among this week's contestants, please click here. Each weekly winner goes onto the display page linked above and, at the end of the year, a voting system will be enabled. You will then choose the Fan of the Year.

There is no prize for the Fan of the Week contest beyond the pride of being identified as the number-one Buc supporter in all the land. However, the Fan of the Year winner will be showered with a valuable gift bag of Buccaneer merchandise.

So help us with the voting for this week and, if you feel like you belong on that page of contestants next week, send in your entry. Click here to visit the entry submission page. Each entry must include an attached photo of the prescribed size and a description of your Fan of the Week qualifications in 100 words or less.