Buccaneers vs. St. Louis Cardinals

LOSS - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17 St. Louis Cardinals 21

St. Louis Cardinals Pro Bowl rookie Vai Sikahema tied an NFL record by returning two punts for touchdowns as the Buccaneers clinched the NFL's worst record for the second consecutive year.

Frank Garcia, playing with a back injury, had a third punt blocked for a net gain of 1 yard. The Buccaneers scored first, on a 1-yard Bobby Howard (BuccaneersFan advisory team member) run, but the Cardinals' 21 unanswered points gave them the lead for good before halftime. A 33-yard touchdown pass from Steve Young to Phil Freeman brought the Buccaneers to within 4 points in the third quarter.

The game not only ended a futile season for the Buccaneers, but also concluded the Cardinals' worst season since moving to St. Louis 27 years earlier.

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GAMEDAY BRIEF

OFFICALS

• REFEREE: Jerry Seeman
• UMPIRE: Rex Stuart
• HEAD LINESMAN: Leo Miles
• LINE JUDGE: Bama Glass
• BACK JUDGE: Tom Sifferman
• FIELD JUDGE: Jack Vaughan
• SIDE JUDGE: Bob Rice

SCORING

• BUCCANEERS: 4:58-1Q Howard Howard 1 run (Igwebuike kick)
• CARDINALS: 12:31-2Q Sikahema 71 punt return (Schubert kick)
• CARDINALS: 3:27-2Q Sikahema 60 punt return (Schubert kick)
• CARDINALS: 0:39-2Q Lomax 2 run (Schubert kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 12:38-3Q Igwebuike FG36
• BUCCANEERS: 3:31-3Q Freeman 33 pass from Young (Igwebuike kick)

STARTERS OFFENSE

• WR: #89 K. House
• LT: #72 R. Taylor
• LG: #66 G. Yarno
• C: #60 R. Grimes
• RG: #62 S. Farrell
• RT: #73 R. Heller
• TE: #86 C. Magee
• WR: #87 G. Carter
• QB: #08 S. Young
• FB: #20 R. Springs
• RB: #25 Bobby Howard

STARTERS DEFENSE

• LE: #71 B. Nelson
• NT: #76 D. Logan
• RE: #90 R. Holmes
• LOLB: #56 J. Walker
• LILB: #58 J. Davis
• RILB: #52 S. Brantley
• ROLB: #51 C. Washington
• LC: #21 V. McKeever
• RC: #22 R. Jones
• SS: #41 C. Swoope
• FS: #31 C. Curry

SUBSTITUTIONS

• 1 Igwebuike, 5 Garcia, 17 DeBerg, 23 Castille, 26 Easmon, 28 Allen, 35 Franklin, 36 Futrell, 37 K Walker, 38 Bligen, 44 Sully, 54 Randle, 57 Browner, 59 Murphy, 64 Robinson, 68 Mallory, 75 Kellin, 77 Maarleveld, 78 Cannon, 80 Williams, 81 Freeman, 85 Dunn

DID NOT PLAY

• 83 Gillespie

INACTIVE

• none

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

• BUCCANEERS: #25 Bobby Howard 15-37, Springs 9-37, Franklin 7-7, Allen 1-3, Young 1-2.
• CARDINALS: Ferrell 9-71, Lomax 7-30, Sikahema 7-21, Wolfley 1-4, Mitchell 2-3.

PASSING

• BUCCANEERS: Young 34-13-157-2-1.
• CARDINALS: Lomax 31-19-144-2-0.

RECIEVING

• BUCCANEERS: Magee 4-24, Heflin 2-27, Dunn 1-38, Freeman 1-33, Howard 1-11, Mallory 1-9, Carter 1-8, Springs 1-5, Franklin 1-2.
• CARDINALS: Smith 5-66, Green 3-28, Mitchell 3-15, Sikahema 3-14, Marsh 2-13, Ferrell 2-4, Wolfley 1-4.

INTERCEPTIONS

• BUCCANEERS: McKeever 1-10, Jones 1-0.
• CARDINALS: Mack 2-42.

KICK RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Walker 2-27, Freeman 1-13, Dunn 1-0.
• CARDINALS: Sikahema 2-42, Swanson 1-9.

PUNT RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Walker 2-10.
• CARDINALS: Sikahema 4-145.

SACKS

• BUCCANEERS: Kellin 1-2, Randle 0.5-3, Washingon 0.5-3.
• CARDINALS: none

Click here to view official GAMEBOOK & play-by-play highlights