The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made a plethora of big plays in the "Big Easy" during their 31-16 win over the New Orleans Saints. Tampa Bay scored 14 points off turnovers, racked up 381 net yards and gobbled up 33:51 minutes off a Saints' defense that entered the game ranked 11th overall in the NFL. QB Trent Dilfer, who started for the injured Eric Zeier, completed 15-of-20 passes for 227 yards and three touchdowns, including a 62-yard bomb to WR Jacquez Green in the first quarter. FB Mike Alstott joined the offensive fireworks, rumbling for 117 yards on 25 carries (4.6 avg.), including a 25-yard scamper in the fourth quarter. And defensively, the Bucs limited RB Ricky Williams to just 41 yards on 14 carries (2.9 avg.), a week after he raced for 179 yards against the Cleveland Browns.
"It's nice, we haven't done that in a while," Buccaneers head coach Tony Dungy said regarding Tampa Bay's 31-point effort. "I've said this many times, scoring points is totally a team effort and have you take advantage of your opportunities."
"We took advantage of some things on offense and we moved the ball, made some big plays, but we also got the turnovers and we were in good field position, which helped us score points."
Added Dilfer, who has been the Bucs' starter for 71 out of the last 72 games: "There were a lot of good things on the film that showed guys made the plays. And if we continue to make the plays, we can do a lot of good things on offense like we did yesterday."
BUCCANEERS INJURY REPORT The Buccaneers were relatively injury free after yesterday's game, with what Dungy deemed as only minor bumps and bruises. CB Ronde Barber (right shoulder sprain) and LG Jorge Diaz (right ankle sprain) should practice on Wednesday. Dungy said only S Eric Vance (right foot strain) could miss significant time after re-injuring his right foot in the second quarter. T Jason Odom (low back strain) and WRs Bert Emanuel (right hamstring strain) and Karl Williams (right foot sprain) did not play on Sunday.
