S Corey Lynch's first interception on Thursday turned a scoring threat by the Houston Texans into a 10-0 lead for the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  Lynch's second pick put the Buccaneers solidly in control.

Lynch's two takeaways – the only ones by either team in the first half at Reliant Stadium on Thursday evening – allowed the Buccaneers to take a 17-0 lead into halftime.  The third-year safety returned his first pick 91 yards for a touchdown, while his second set up a 16-yard touchdown drive near the end of the second quarter.

With Josh Freeman and Josh Johnson sitting the game out, second-year quarterback Rudy Carpenter got the start for Tampa Bay and produced a strong first-half showing.  His three-yard touchdown pass to rookie WR Arrelious Benn after Lynch's second pick finished a nine-for-13 half in which he threw for 101 yards, one score and no interceptions.  Carpenter's passer rating at the intermission was 117.8.

Each team started the game with almost exclusively reserves in the starting lineup, and Lynch's interceptions were clearly the biggest difference between the two teams.  Houston took a slight edge in yardage into the break, 159-152 and also recorded the only two sacks of the first half.  On the other hand, the Bucs' defense continued its bend-but-don't-break trend of the preseason, allowing no third-down conversions in four tries and keeping the Texans out of the end zone.  Through three-and-a-half summer games, the Bucs have allowed just three touchdowns and 44 total points.

The Bucs won the toss and started at their own 22 after a 19-yard kickoff return by Clifton Smith.  Two runs by Huggins put the Bucs into a third-and-five, but Carpenter moved the chains with a deep 19-yard out to WR Micheal Spurlock.  Rookie G Derek Hardman committed a false start before the next play but Carpenter threw another sharp out for a first down, this one hitting WR Reggie Brown for 16 yards.  A screen to Huggins worked to perfection for another 12 yards and a first down at the Houston 31.  A well-executed end-around by WR Arrelious Benn and a run up the middle by Huggins moved the sticks again, and a two-yard run by Huggins on first down got the ball inside the 20.  Two plays later, on third-and-eight, Carpenter tried to hit Brown on a fade pass near the goal line but the receiver couldn't pull it in.  The Bucs settled for Connor Barth's 38-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead six minutes in.

Orlovsky got the Texans' drive started off well, too, hitting WR David Anderson for a gain of 19 on the first play.  Houston gained another first down at their own 47 but lost a yard when CB Elbert Mack read a receiver screen perfectly and dropped WR Dorin Dickerson for a loss of one.  On third-and-nine, pressure from DE Stylez White forced Orlovsky to scramble and the run came up six yards short, forcing a punt that Smith fair caught at the Bucs' nine.

On the second play of the drive, Huggins found a huge hole over right guard and exploded through it for a gain of 25 yards.  The Bucs faced a third-and-10 moments later but Smith made a dumpoff over the middle work, cutting away from a group of tacklers to pick up a total of 13 yards to the Tampa Bay 49.  Smith was hit hard at the end of that play and had his helmet ripped off on the next play but he hopped up quickly both times.  Facing a third-and-five from the Houston 46, Carpenter tried to hit Spurlock on a crossing route but the play was well-covered and incomplete.  Rookie P Brent Bowden came on to punt on the first play of the second quarter and dropped it down at the Houston eight.

The Texans started their second drive as productively as their first, with a pair of play-action screen passes picking up 20 yards.  RB Jeremiah Johnson then popped through a hole on the right side to gain 15 yards to the Texans' 42.  A quick-hitting slant to TE Garrett Graham was good for 25 more yards, though LB Adam Hayward got nine of them back by shooting right into the backfield on a toss-sweep and dropping RB Chris Henry for a loss.  A third-down strike to TE James Casey put Houston into a fourth-and-one at the Bucs' 24 and Johnson powered over right guard to get the needed yardage.

Two plays later, however, Lynch turned in his big play to give the Bucs a 10-0 lead.  Orlovsky tried to hit Anderson over the middle with a hard pass but Lynch read it perfectly and caught it on a dead run.  He had to get around Orlovsky on the sideline near the Houston 40 but after that was home free, going nearly the length of the field for the score.

A hold on the ensuing kickoff return, pushed Houston back to its own 11.  Henry broke free for runs of five and 12 yards to get the drive going, and an Orlovsky scramble two snaps later was good for eight yards and a first down at the Houston 42.  Three plays later, rookie DE Erik Lorig pressured Orlovsky into a very quick throw and it dropped incomplete, leading to another Houston punt.

The Bucs started their first drive of the second quarter at their own 16 and got a first down two plays later when Brown came back towards a scrambling Orlovsky and caught a sideline pass for 24 yards.  Unfortunately, Carpenter was sacked two plays later for a loss of five by DT Earl Mitchell.  The Bucs tried RB Carlos Brown on a long third down and it was stopped well short of the first down.

Bowden's punt rolled to a stop at the Houston 17, and Henry's eight-yard run on first down brought on the two-minute warning.  After the break, the Bucs' defense swarmed Henry on his next carry, with DE Michael Bennett dropping him for a loss of five.  On the next play, Lynch snared his second interception, returning it 28 yards to the Houston 16.

Carpenter rolled out on third down and found Benn in traffic for a gain of nine, with Smith moving the chains on the next play with a  tough four-yard run up the middle.  The Bucs called a timeout, their second, with 32 seconds left in the half, but Carpenter's attempted slant to TE Ryan Purvis was knocked away at the goal line by S Troy Nolan.  On the next play, Benn fought off coverage by CB Sherrick McManus in the right corner of the end zone to haul in a three-yard touchdown pass.

A short kickoff by the Buccaneers and two quick passes in 15 seconds set the Texans up for a long field goal attempt on the last play of the half, but K Kris Brown's 56-yard attempt fell a few yards short.