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Week 16 Game Recap: Tampa Bay Buccaneers 19, San Francisco 49ers 21
What you need to know
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
Jeff Garcia led two field goal scoring drives in the first quarter and connected with TE Jerramy Stevens on a scoring strike in the second period to give Tampa Bay a 13-7 halftime lead. Already having the divisional title clinched, the Buccaneers rested most of their starters for the second half, where Garcia was replaced by backup Luke McCown. McCown threw for 185 yards in the second half, but had a costly interception that San Francisco turned into a touchdown, as the Buccaneers were down 21-13. Tampa Bay's comeback attempt failed, following a McCown to Stevens touchdown, when WR Michael Clayton stepped on the end line on a two point conversion attempt that would have tied the ballgame.
RB Earnest Graham played for most of the first half, but finished with just nine carries for 21 yards on the ground, and two receptions for 11 yards in the passing game. Michael Pittman and Michael Bennett split the workload in the second half, with Pittman contributing 13 yards on seven rushes and seven receptions for 53 yards receiving.
Joey Galloway caught just one pass before heading to the sidelines to rest for the playoffs, and he watched TE Alex Smith and WR Michael Clayton reap the benefits of his targets in the passing game. Smith led the way with six receptions for 79 yards and Clayton added five receptions for 71 yards. TE Jerramy Stevens came up with both of Tampa Bay's big plays on offense, catching two touchdown passes from 24 yards out.
The Buccaneers defense played well, despite giving up 21 points. They didn't get much help from their offense, especially in the second half where Tampa Bay turned the ball over twice in their own territory, both leading to San Francisco touchdowns. For the game, they gave up just 213 total yards, with just 97 yards on the ground. They also forced the 49ers to four of 14 on third downs, intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble.
| San Francisco 49ers |
Shaun Hill didn't post huge numbers, but made plays when he had to, and did enough to lead his team to victory against Tampa Bay. Hill finished with just 123 yards, but threw three touchdown passes and showed some toughness, coming back to the game after leaving briefly with an apparent rib injury in the third quarter.
Frank Gore shouldered the load in the rushing attack for the 49ers, with 21 rushes for 89 yards and four receptions for 43 yards in the passing game, including a 23 yard touchdown reception.
San Francisco didn't have huge numbers in the passing game, but WR Darrell Jackson and TE Vernon Davis each added touchdown receptions.
The 49ers defense played inspired football, holding Tampa Bay to just 67 yards on the ground (at 2.8 yards per carry). Their pass defense, however, was another story. They were shredded for 367 yards through the air, including two passing touchdowns. The only real bright spots for the pass defense were their one interception, four sacks, and coming through with a stop on Tampa Bay's two point conversion attempt in the fourth quarter that would have tied the game. LB Patrick Willis was in a tackling zone, finishing with 12 solo tackles, eight assists, two sacks, and a forced fumble. DT Bryant Young totaled two tackles in the final home game of his career, and was carried off the field on his teammate's shoulders following the game.
What you ought to know
| QB Luke McCown, Pass: 18 - 32 - 185 - 1 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 2 - 17 - 0 |
McCown entered the game in the second half and finished the game out for the Buccaneers. He finished 18 of 32 for 185 yards and one touchdown, but had two costly turnovers that each led to San Francisco touchdowns. McCown showed some grit, shrugging off his mistakes and leading a fourth quarter scoring drive that almost tied up the ball game. He connected with TE Jerramy Stevens from 24 yards out to cut the lead to 21-19, but his connection with WR Michael Clayton on the conversion attempt failed when Clayton's feet came down out of bounds.
| QB Jeff Garcia, Pass: 12 - 20 - 196 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 1 - 0 - 0 |
Garcia played the first half for Tampa Bay, and totaled 196 yards and a score on 12 of 20 passing before heading to the sidelines for the second half. Garcia connected with TE Jerramy Stevens on a 24 yard touchdown pass and looked like his sharp, efficient self before leaving the game.
| RB Michael Pittman, Rush: 7 - 13 - 0, Rec: 7 - 54 - 0 (8 targets) |
Pittman was used throughout the game and finished with seven rushes for 13 yards on the ground, but made a big contribution in the passing game, where he totaled seven receptions for 54 yards on eight targets. Pittman proved to be a reliable target, as five of his looks came on third downs.
| RB Earnest Graham, Rush: 9 - 21 - 0, Rec: 2 - 11 - 0 (2 targets) |
Graham played in the first half, where he finished with nine rushes for 21 yards and two receptions for 11 yards. He watched the rest of the game from the sidelines with the rest of the starters.
| WR Michael Clayton, Rec: 5 - 71 - 0 (12 targets) |
Michael Clayton finished with five receptions for 71 yards, and was the most targeted Buccaneer receiver, getting a team high 12 looks. Clayton did drop a few passes, and more importantly, came down out of bounds on the potential game tying two point conversion attempt. While he made a few mistakes, he finally looked like something similar to the player he was as a rookie, and may have given the coaching staff a reason to have a little more confidence in him from here on out.
| WR Ike Hilliard, Rec: 3 - 50 - 0 (7 targets) |
Hilliard was targeted seven times and finished with three receptions for 50 yards. All three of his receptions came on third down, and resulted in Tampa Bay first downs.
| WR Joey Galloway, Rec: 1 - 29 - 0 (2 targets) |
Joey Galloway played just a half, and finished with one reception for 29 yards on just two targets.
| TE Alex Smith, Rec: 6 - 79 - 0 (11 targets) |
Alex Smith had a nice game for the Buccaneers, finishing with six receptions for 79 yards on 11 targets. Four of his six receptions resulted in Buccaneers first downs.
| TE Jerramy Stevens, Rec: 4 - 73 - 2 (5 targets) |
Stevens was targeted five times and made the most of his opportunities, scoring two touchdowns and coming down with two receptions that netted first downs. Stevens caught a touchdown from both Jeff Garcia and Luke McCown, both from 24 yards out.
| PK Matt Bryant 2 - 2 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 7 points |
Bryant connected on first quarter field goal attempts from 34 and 22 yards out and added an extra point to finish with seven points for the game.
| TB Rush Defense |
The Buccaneers were able to contain Frank Gore and the 49ers rushing attack, holding Gore to 89 yards on 21 attempts and the team to just 97 yards on 29 attempts.
LB Barrett Rudd led the way with six solo tackles and a fumble recovery.
| TB Pass Defense |
Tampa Bay gave up just 116 passing yards, held San Francisco to four of 14 on third downs, intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble and sacked Shaun Hill twice, but allowed three passing touchdowns that proved to be the difference in the game. Two of the scores came following turnovers by the Buccaneer offense in their own territory, and reserves played for much of the second half, but the reserves just could not live up to the standards set by the starting unit and let the game slip away.
DLs Ryan Sims and Jovan Haye each recorded sacks and DB Brian Kelly notched an interception to lead the way for the Tampa Bay defense. Most of the starters rested in the second half.
| QB Shaun Hill, Pass: 11 - 24 - 123 - 3 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 6 - -1 - 0 |
Hill did not post huge numbers with just 123 passing yards, but came up with three big plays in the passing game, where he connected with WR Darrell Jackson, TE Vernon Davis and RB Frank Gore for touchdown scores to help seal the deal for the 49ers. Hill did throw an interception and completed just 11 of 24 pass attempts, but did just enough to help his team to victory.
| RB Frank Gore, Rush: 21 - 89 - 0, Rec: 4 - 43 - 1 (6 targets) |
Gore ran the ball 21 times for 89 yards, but made his biggest contribution in the passing game, where he caught a 23 yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter that proved to be the difference in the game. Gore did run hard, but just struggled finding much room in the Tampa Bay front seven.
| WR Darrell Jackson, Rec: 2 - 27 - 1 (3 targets) |
Jackson was targeted just three times, but finished with two receptions for 27 yards that included a second quarter score from 21 yards out.
| WR Arnaz Battle (5 targets) |
Battle was targeted five times, but failed to record a reception.
| TE Vernon Davis, Rec: 3 - 30 - 1 (6 targets) |
Vernon Davis was targeted six times and finished with three receptions for 30 yards, including a five yard touchdown reception. On the negative side, Davis lost a fumble that Tampa Bay turned into a score in the ensuing drive.
| PK Joe Nedney 0 - 0 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 3 points |
Nedney did not attempt a field goal but made good on three extra points to finish with three points in the game.
| SF Rush Defense |
San Francisco's defense completely shut down the Tampa Bay rushing attack, holding the Buccaneers to 67 yards on 24 attempts, and allowing just one rushing first down for the game. They were able to keep Tampa Bay out of the end zone on the ground and gave up a long run of just 13 yards for the game.
LB Patrick Willis continued his strong play in his rookie year, totaling 12 solo tackles, eight assists, two sacks and a forced fumble to lead the defense.
| SF Pass Defense |
The 49ers pass defense was exposed by Tampa Bay as the Buccaneers threw for 367 yards, two touchdowns and had 18 passing first downs. Those numbers aside, San Francisco did just enough defensively to hold on for the win. They forced second half turnovers on both a sack and fumble recovery and an interception that each led to touchdowns by their offense, and proved to be game-changing plays.
DB Nate Clements intercepted a McCown pass and LB Tully Banta Cain added a sack to go along with the aforementioned contributions of LB Patrick Willis.
