With just 23 seconds left in the game, Chris Redman connected with Roddy White on a touchdown pass of 5 yards to give the Falcons a 20-17 win over Tampa Bay on Sunday after they had lost their offensive stars Michael Turner and Matt Ryan to injuries.

Atlanta (6-5) was in deep trouble following another missed field goal attempt by Jason Elam. This one came from 43 yards away, and Tampa Bay (1-10) drove into Falcons territory.

However, with 2:30 left to play Connor Barth narrowly missed a field goal attempt from 51 yards to give Atlanta another opportunity. After taking over for Ryan following the injury to his big right toe in the first series of the game, Redman led the Falcons on a drive of 59 yards that just might have saved Atlanta’s season.

On fourth down and goal from the five yard line, Redman connected with White over the middle on a slant play while Derrick Roberson, cornerback, futilely swiped at the ball.

Early third quarter Corey Lynch blocked a punt to set up an 8 yard pass from Josh Freeman to Carnell Williams for a touchdown to give Tampa Bay the lead 17-10.

Tampa Bay’s lead almost held up. During the third quarter Atlanta lost Turner. The top runner for the Falcons appeared to have suffered a reinjury of his right ankle, an injury that had prevented him from playing during last week’s game.

Redman, who was a starter for the Falcons in 2007 following the suspension of Michael Vick, had only played in a few plays during the two years since Ryan had arrived.

However with Ryan in street clothes watching the game from the sideline with his right foot in a special shoe, Redman led the Falcons to a comeback victory in a game that Atlanta had to absolutely have to keep their NFC playoff hopes alive after losing four out of five games.

Redman passed to Tony Gonzalez four times for 34 yards. Atlanta received a huge break when Roberson got called for a holding penalty on a pass that was incomplete to the opposite side on the field.

However, Tampa Bay only needed to make one stop to get their second victory after Redman had three incomplete passes in a row from the five yard line. On the last try, White hauled a pass in and was then mobbed by teammates Eric Weems and Gonzales.

On Tampa Bay’s sideline Raheem Morris, head coach, kneeled in disbelief. Earlier this week, the embattled rookie head coach had taken the defensive play calling duties over after he had demoted Jim Bates, the defensive coordinator. The move almost paid instant dividends. The Bucs, instead, suffered yet another crushing loss this season.

Redman, despite suffering five sacks, completed 23 of his 41 passes for a total of 243 yards. He flipped a quick pass over to Jerious Norwood. It was just slight longer than a hand off. However, the play ended up as a touchdown of 22 yards to give Atlanta an early lead of 10-0.

Atlanta fought to tie the game up before halftime. Tampa Bay quarterback Josh Freeman threw deep to Antonio Bryant on the left sideline. Bryant lept up to grab the ball from Tye Hill, Falcons cornerback, and then rolled over into the end zone after realizing he had not been touched to score a touchdown of 42 yards. Then Barth kicked a field goal of 39 yards with only 20 seconds left in the first half.

Coming off last week’s performance where he had four turnovers in the Buccaneers 31 point loss to the Saints, Freeman bounced back in the fourth start of his career. He went 20 out of 29 for a total of 50 yards, with no turnovers. He had one fumble but managed to recover the ball himself.

Through 10 games the Saints are perfect, but think that they are capable of playing even better.

Drew Brees, Saints quarterback said, I don’t think we have peaked yet. For this team the sky is the limit. On Sunday, Brees threw three touchdowns as New Orleans defeated struggling Tampa Bay 38-7.

It will only get harder. We cannot afford to sit back on the things we have been able to accomplish so far. Each team that we face wants to give us our first loss.

New Orleans (10-0) was able to shrug off a slow defensive start, shutting Tampa Bay down after they gave up a long drive for a touchdown at the start of the game. They took advantage offensively of the many mistakes made by Tampa Bay’s rookie quarterback Josh Freeman.

During the first half Robert Meacham caught 4 and 6 yard touchdown passes, and in the second half Mike Bell scored running touchdowns from 3 and 1 yard. The Saints gained 147 of their 183 rushing yards during the second half.

The ten game winning streak of the Saints is the longest in their franchise history.

Sean Payton, Saints coach said, I like where we are at. Our record is 10-0. We beat one of our division opponents playing on the road. I think today we got better.

Over the last month a rash of turnovers made the Saints appear to be more vulnerable. However Brees didn’t have an interception in the game, the first time that has happened in the last five games. It was also the first time that New Orleans didn’t allow any sacks since playing the Giants on October 18.

According to Brees the No. 1 offense in the NFL can become more efficient even.

Brees said, during our past four games, we have kind of gotten back into some of our old habits we didn’t want to get into, like negative plays and turnovers. We needed to have a game just like this, come out and just look sharp in every phase of the game.

On their first possession, Tampa Bay (1-9) had a touchdown drive of 95 yards. However, after his scoring pass of 18 yards to Michael Clayton, giving Tampa Bay a brief 7-0 lead, Freeman didn’t have much success.

Brees went 19 out of 29 passing for a total of 187 yards. Late fourth quarter he was replaced by Mark Brunell. Reggie Bush sat the game out due to an injured knee, but his replacement Pierre Thomas was able to gain 92 rushing yards in 11 carries. Bell had 75 yards rushing on 13 carries.

Freeman went 17 for 33 for a total of 126 yards and also had three interceptions. He was sacked a total of three times and fumbled. The fumble led to a third quarter 11 yard touchdown throw by Brees over to David Thomas.

Freeman said, we know how potent the Saints offense is. We knew our best defense would be our offense having the ability to sustain our drives. What was tough is that our first drive was the only one.

Brees answered the touchdown pass of Freeman to Clayton with his own drive of 68 yards, capped by a 4 yard scoring catch by Meacham. On that possession, Brees went 4 for 4 passing for a total of 55 yards, including a completion of 37 yards over to Thomas, the longest play for New Orleans of the day.

An interception by Malcolm Jenkins followed by a return of 14 yards down to Tampa Bay’s 29 yard line set up a field goal of 38 yards by John Carney to give the Saints a 10-7 lead. Tampa Bay’s poor clock management late second quarter provided Brees with an opportunity for scoring another touchdown, making the score at halftime 17-7.

Chris Reis and Jonathan Vilma had interceptions for the Saints as well. The sack by Scott Fujita forced a fumble that was recovered by Anthony Hargrove on Tampa Bay’s 15 yard line. It set up the touchdown pass from Brees to Thomas, who caught four passes for a total of 66 yards.

After their opening drive, Tampa Bay only had 124 yards. Freeman said that on several of his throws he was just a hair off. However, he didn’t feel that he took a step backward in his third start as a pro in running the offense.

It was just an off day, the rookie said. I don’t think it will be a problem in the future.

Chad Henne, Dolphins quarterback, stood stewing on the sideline after throwing a costly interception and rooted for Tampa Bay to score so he could get the ball back.

The Buccaneers cooperated. With 1:14 left to play they took the lead. Then Henne led Miami on a drive of 77 yards. With 10 seconds left in the game Dan Carpenter hit a field goal from 25 yards to give the Dolphins a 25-23 victory over the Buccaneers on Sunday.

Henne said, we had one minute to go. It is time to get out there to make a comeback.

The heroics of Henne spoiled Tampa Bay’s comeback, which was led by rookie quarterback Josh Freeman, who helped to rally his team during the fourth quarter. It was the second time he has done that in his two career NFL starts. Freeman was able to shake off his dreadful first half to lead the Buccaneers to two late touchdowns.

A Henne ill advised pass was picked off and set up the go ahead touchdown for the Buccaneers. With Tampa Bay at Miami’s one yard line, Henne wanted the Buccaneers to score fast to give Miami more time to rally.

Henne said, it is really tough, especially after the interception that is your fault. But you can not let that bother you forever.

The Dolphins (4-5) won the game despite losing Ronnie Brown, running back, during the third quarter due to an injured right ankle. Tampa Bay (1-8) wasn’t able to build any momentum after defeating the Packers last week.

Miami fell behind in the game 23-22. They then started at their 16 yard line. Henne connected with Davone Bess on 16 and 25 yard plays, while Ricky Williams ran 27 yards down to the 7 yard line.

Then Carpenter came in and kicked the field goal, his fourth of the game, which more than made up for the blocked extra point attempt during the first quarter.

The second year pro Henne went 15 out of 31 for a total of 175 yards, improving his starting record to 4-2.

Jason Taylor said, after the game I told him in our locker room that today you grew up. It is a maturation process. He will make some mistakes. All of us make mistakes. After 13 years I still do. The key is bouncing back after you do. Today that is what he did.

A critical replay reversal helped Miami score ten points during the last 1:25 minutes in the first half, including a Kory Sperry touchdown catch. Sperry, after being signed on Saturday from Miami’s practice squad, was making his debut in the NFL.

Sperry said, when I am playing, I don’t think too much. When I saw the ball all I could think was don’t drop it.

Williams had 102 rushing yards for the Dolphins, while Brown ran for 8 yards and scored a touchdown before he was injured.

During the first half Miami’s defense stymied Freeman. He had a fumble which was recovered by the Dolphins, ending a Tampa Bay scoring threat. He also mishandled a snap from the shotgun, losing 13 yards which stalled another drive. When sacked Freeman fumbled twice, although Tampa Bay recovered both times.

Freeman then connected with Maurice Stovall on a touchdown pass of 33 yards on the fourth quarter’s first play to cut the Dolphins lead to 19-16. Quincy Black, linebacker, intercepted a Henne pass at Miami’s 26 yard line with 1:43 remaining in the game. It set up a one yard run for a touchdown by Carnell Williams, giving Tampa Bay a brief lead.

Freeman was 16 out of 28 for a total of 196 yards.

Taylor said, the kid will be good. For being a young quarterback he has a lot of poise and moved well. I have lots of respect for the young kid.

However, Freeman wasn’t able to find much comfort in the praise.

Right now I feel miserable because we lost, Freeman said. I hate losing. That is the only thing I am thinking about.

The replay review provided the Dolphins with a chance to build a halftime lead of 13 points. Late first half, Tampa Bay was on their 4 yard line. Michael Clayton bobbled the catch, then the ball was snatched by Taylor. Initially the throw was rule incomplete. However the replay review along with a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct to an irate Raheem Morris, gave Taylor the interception and Miami the ball on Tampa Bay’s 8 yard line.

Two plays later the Dolphins scored when Henne connected with Sperry for a touchdown from 5 yards.

Morris said, this loss is my fault. A head coach getting a personal foul is totally unacceptable. I take the points. We lost by that much. I take the blame. I used inappropriate language with the official.

Connor Barth of Tampa Bay tied the NFL record that is held with another three kickers by making three field goals that were at least 50 yards long. His field goals were 51, 50 and 54 yards long, and were the longest three field goals of his career.

Wearing a ghastly creamsicle jersey which serves as an ugly memory of the past of Tampa Bay, Josh Freeman, rookie quarterback, gave a struggling Buccaneers team lots of reasons for being more optimistic about their future.

Freeman, the third quarterback picked during the NFL draft this year, led the previously winless Tampa Bay team to their 38-28 win over Green Bay in the first start of his career on Sunday. The win ended Tampa Bay’s current league leading losing streak of 11 games.

Despite being inexperienced, Freeman played with a lot of poise, passing for a total of 205 yards along with three touchdowns. He connected with Sammie Stroughter on a 7 yard touchdown pass on fourth down and four yards to score the touchdown to give Tampa Bay the lead with less than five minutes left to play in the game.

Freeman, the 17th overall pick of this year’s draft and third quarterback chosen behind Mark Sanchez and Matthew Stafford said, I really felt relaxed.

The twenty one year old rookie said, I did not get too high and didn’t get too low. I really didn’t do anything that spectacular. All I did was play within myself. When we had an opportunity I took it.

Freeman is the youngest quarterback starting a game for Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers have had ten different starting quarterbacks in the seven seasons since they won the Super Bowl. He is the third different quarterback to start this season.

Raheem Morris, 33 year old rookie head coach said, that is a great way to start working how we would like to work and playing how we would like to play. Morris and Freeman have known each other since Morris was the defensive coordinator at Kansas State when Freeman was a freshman there.

Morris added, it is impressive no matter how you do it. At this point his age doesn’t really matter. He has to lead the team where we need to go.

Freeman went 14 for 31 passing and had an interception. A second interception by A.J. Hawk, which would have been critical, was over ruled by a penalty for illegal contact against Hawk on the drive that put Tampa Bay ahead.

Freeman threw a pass of 29 yards three plays later to Michael Clayton, setting up the second touchdown pass for him of the game.

Nick Barnett, Packers linebacker said, he was able to keep his composure and he made plays.

Tampa Bay (1-7) is the last NFL team to get a win this season. They ended a losing streak that was their longest since the years 1976-77. They set an NFL record when they lost 26 games in a row while wearing the same creamsicle uniforms that the team wore in the game versus the Packers.

Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers passed for a total of 266 yards along with throwing two touchdowns for the Packers (4-4). The number one rated passer in the league had three interceptions as well. One of them was returned for a touchdown during the final minute, putting the game completely out of reach.

Rodgers got sacked a total of six times, which raised the Packers total in eight games to 37, the worst in the NFL.

Rodgers said it is very frustrating. I think our special teams and offense make it tough for our defense.

Besides donning their retro uniforms, Tampa also named Lee Roy Selmon, Hall of Famer, as their first inductee of their Ring of Honor located in Raymond James Stadium. At halftime, Tampa Bay trailed 21-17, but Freeman would not let his team lose.

The rookie quarterback threw touchdown passes in the second half to Kellen Winslow as well as a wide open Stroughter, seventh round pick, in the end zone’s right hand corner with only 4:14 minutes left in the game.

A two point pass conversion play from Freeman to Clayton gave Tampa Bay the lead 31-28. The Buccaneers defense, which recorded all of their sacks in the second half, sealed the victory on Tanard Jackson’s interception of Rogers, who with less than a minute left to play weaved his way 35 yards down field to score the clinching touchdown instead of falling to the ground.

On the Packer’s second play from the line of scrimmage, Rodgers threw a touchdown pass of 74 yards to James Jones. He then led Green Bay on a 69 yard, 11 play march that was capped by Ryan Grant’s 3 yard run, making the score 14-7 late first quarter.

Elbert Mack, cornerback, who was badly beaten on the long touchdown by Jones, returned an interception 36 yards down to Green Bay’s 8 yard line to set up the first pro touchdown pass for Freeman, a 6 yard pass to Derrick Ward.

With Green Bay behind 14-7, Geno Hayes of Tampa Bay blocked the punt. Ronde Barber picked up the ball and ran it back 31 yards to record the 14th touchdown of his career. Just before halftime, Freeman led Tampa Bay on a 74 yard drive. The Buccaneers got a field goal to trim the lead to 21-17.

It looked like Rodgers was going to maybe put away the game on a 12 yard scramble on third down and goal which gave the Packers a lead of 28-17.

However, the ensuing kickoff was returned by Clifton Smith 83 yards, setting up a 7 yard touchdown pass from Freeman to Winslow, sparking the comeback.

It was the second loss in a row for Green Bay, after falling to Minnesota and Brett Favre last week.

Mike McCarthy, Packers coach said, it does not feel very good. This one really hurts. I am disappointed in how we played. There are some problems recurring that we have to be clean up.

The New England Patriots and Tom Brady needed a cross Atlantic trip to finally get a road win this season. A change in scenery for Tampa Bay only produced another loss and the Buccaneers are still winless.

Tom Brady had three touchdown passes along with over 300 passing yards, as New England (5-2) defeated Tampa Bay 35-7 on Sunday in Wembley Stadium in the third NFL regular season game played in the London iconic venue.

Tampa Bay, who sacrificed one of their home games so that they could play in London, saw their record fall to 0-7 and also extended their overall losing streak to 11 games.

New England came into the game with a 59-0 victory where Brady has six touchdown passes against Tennessee. This time the Patriots were not as overpowering. Brady had two interceptions during the first half.

However, with safety Brandon Meriweather’s 39 yard interception return and score on the game’s fifth play, New England was able to keep control against the NFL’s 27th ranked defense.

Brady threw touchdown passes to Benjamin Watson, Sam Aiken and Wes Welker. He finished the game passing 23 for 32 for a total of 308 yards. Brian Hoyer replaced Brady at the end of the game. The scoring was completed by Laurence Maroney with 9:25 left to play on a 1 yard run.

Brady said, I am feeling really great. I kept rolling. That is two wins for us in a row. We went out and put up two touchdowns during the second half. There were lots of distractions for us coming over here. However everyone was very energized. To be able to get a victory and then fly home with a bye week really is great.

Quarterback Josh Johnson and the Tampa Bay offense were not able to muster too much. The only score for the Bucs was on a pass of 33 yards from Johnson over to Antonio Bryant during the final minutes of the second quarter. Johnson went 9 for 26 for a total of 156 yards and also had three interceptions. Mid fourth quarter Josh Freeman, a rookie, replaced Johnson.

The teams played in front of a sell crowd reported at 84,254 in England’s national stadium Wembley.

It is the third year in a row that the NFL has played a regular season game in London. Roger Goodell, NFL commissioner, last week said he envisions several regular season games being played in Britain in the coming years. There is also a possibility that London will have its own franchise.

The atmosphere on Sunday was festive and noisy, with the dry weather providing good playing conditions on Wembley field.

Brady said there was the feel of Super Bowl conditions to the game.

Before the kickoff flashbulbs were going off, said the two time MVP of the Super Bowl. They went off for around 10 minutes. You don’t see that happening in the States very often. It’s a privilege I think coming over here and getting to enjoy this kind of experience. For us probably it won’t ever happen again, so we will retire internationally at 1-0.

Even Bill Belichick, the understated coach of the Patriots, was happy about their international experience.

Belichick said, it’s a really great way for ending the week. The last couple of days here have been really enjoyable. I am glad we were able to end on such a positive note here.

For New England, it was the first road win for them this season, after losing in New York and Denver.

The Glazer family, owners of the Buccaneers, had a bad day. Not only did the Bucs lose but Manchester United, the powerhouse English soccer team that the Glazers also control, lost 2-0 to Liverpool earlier that day. The loss prevented them from regaining the Premier League’s top spot over Chelsea. Brothers Joel and Bryan Glazer watched the Bucs game at Wembley.

The losing streak of 11 games by Tampa Bay is the franchise’s longest since 1976-77. At that time they set an NFL record with their 0-26 losing streak.

Raheem Morris, rookie head coach for Tampa Bay said, our team could not stop Brady.

Brady is the guy who changed the game. You have to worry about him constantly. When your team has a great quarterback, that is what he can do for you.

The game’s tone was set during the first series. On the short slant play, Meriweather stepped right in front of Tampa Bay’s Sammie Stroughter and picked off the throw from Johnson, then ran all the way to the end zone untouched.

Meriweather said, I happened to get a good break for the ball. I think that their receiver and quarterback were on two separate pages. He happened to throw the ball at me. A big play helps to set the mood.

Brady connected with Welker on a touchdown pass of 14 yards after completing a 37 yard pass to Randy Moss. With just 2:16 remaining first quarter, Welker caught the quick pass from behind New England’s line of scrimmage. Then he weaved his way past Tampa Bay’s defenders to score.

Early second quarter, New England was on a drive to get their third score when Brady, whose first seven passes had been completed, scrambled away from the pocket and lobbed a pass to Moss in the end zone. Tanard Jackson intercepted the pass.

However, on the next series Brady was able to come back, ducking under the rush and dumping the ball across the middle over to Aiken, who eluded a tackle from Barrett Ruud, Tampa Bay linebacker, and ran up the sideline to score from 54 yards and make the score 21-0 with 11:18 remaining in the first half.

Brady threw his second interception in four passes on a deep throw to Brandon Tate over the middle. Aquib Talib picked off the pass.

Following an anemic first half passing performance by Tampa Bay, Bryant was able to beat Darius Butler, Patriots cornerback up the right sideline to haul in a scoring pass from Johnson.

Brady opened the second half by leading New England on a 10 play, 73 yard drive. He connected with his tight end Watson on a 35 yard pass that went over Geno Hayes, Tampa Bay linebacker. To make the score 28-7.

Notes
There was a local flavor to the pregame festivities. Calvin Harris, Scottish rock singer, performed, while Katherine Jenkins, Welsh opera star, performed “God Save the Queen.” Toni Braxton, Grammy winner, sang “The Star Spangled Banner. Joe Calzaghe, ex middleweight boxing champion, was the honorary captain for Tampa Bay. On Sunday New England only had three active running backs. Fred Taylor and Sammy Morris were both out with injuries.

With the game completely on the line Jake Delhomme, Carolina’s quarterback, somehow was able to find a way to make up the costly mistakes his team had made that helped Tampa Bay tie the game.

Delhomme, who was struggling, handed the football to Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams over and over again.

After the defending champions of the NFC South were able to drive 80 yards during the closing minutes of the game on Sunday to defeat Tampa Bay 28-21 Williams said, I am sure that everyone inside the stadium knew exactly what we were doing.

At times they had nine guys in the box, Williams added. We still were able to get 7 to 8 yards.

The Panthers (2-3) just one week after their first win over Washington, had 267 rushing yards as well as three touchdowns, extending the worst start for Tampa Bay in 24 years.

It is the first time that Tampa Bay (0-6) has started the season losing six games in a row since 1985. They have lost ten games in a row dating back to a December lopsided defeat in Carolina. It is their longest losing streak since 1977 during a time when Tampa Bay was on their way to setting the NFL record of losing 26 games in a row.

Williams rushed for 152 yards in 30 carries, his season best, and also scored two times, including the winning touchdown with just 29 seconds to go in the game. The dive from one yard capped a drive of 16 plays that lasted over eight minutes.

John Fox, Panthers coach said, it takes tough guys to do that. We try breeding that.

Delhomme, who during the second half threw two interceptions, attempted only one pass during the winning drive. It was a four yard pass to Steve Smith, for Smith’s only catch in the game.

Williams, meanwhile, rushed for 33 yards in eight carries and Stewart had 43 yards in seven carries.

Raheem Morris, rookie head coach of Tampa Bay said, at the end we got overpowered. Really during the entire game.

Carolina (2-3) squandered their 21-7 lead, During the third quarter they gave up a kickoff return of 97 yards for a touchdown. Then Tampa Bay tied the game on an interception return of 26 yards by Tanard Jackson.

However once Carolina took the football from Delhomme, Stewart and Williams took over. During the final drive 11 out of 15 of the runs resulted in a gain of at least five yards and none resulted in a loss or no gain.

During the second quarter, Williams scored a touchdown on a run of 20 yards. Late third quarter, a 26 yard run for touchdown from Steward put the Panther ahead 21-7.

During the last meeting of the two rivals of the NFC South, both Stewart and Williams had big games when Carolina ran for 299 yards, their franchise record. Heading into Sunday’s game, the Panthers were only averaging 97.3 rushing yards per game, which put them in 23rd place in the NFL.

Delhomme went 9 for 17 for a total of 65 yards along with one touchdown. His two interceptions gave Tampa Bay an opportunity to get back into the game. During the second quarter a third turnover was forced by Tampa Bay when Jackson caused a fumble by Stewart at Tampa Bay’s 3 yard line.

In addition, the Panthers had to overcome the loss of safety Dante Wesley. Late first half Wesley was ejected after launching himself into Clifton Smith, Tampa Bay punt returner, who had given the fair catch signal.

The hit came with only ten seconds remaining in the first half that brought players off of the sidelines from both teams. It appeared that Wesley left his feet and struck the upper body of Smith using his left shoulder.

For a few minutes after the hit, Smith stayed on the ground. He was then helped up to his feet to walk off of the field. Smith missed the rest of the game due to a concussion.

Wesley claims he had just been trying to make the play. He said he had not tried to hurt Smith, who last season as a rookie was a Pro Bowler kick returner.

The pro of eight years said he hoped that the league wouldn’t fine him.

Wesley said, check my record if you want. I have never tried hurting anyone. I have never tried taking a cheap shot at anyone.

The 20 yard touchdown run by Cadillac Williams provided Tampa Bay with a 7-0 early lead. A long kickoff return by Sammie Stroughter cut the lead of Carolina down to 21-14. With 8:33 left to play, the touchdown by Jackson tied the game.

Josh Johnson, Tampa Bay’s quarterback, went 11 for 17 for a total of 147 yards along with one interception that was run back 24 yards by Thomas Davis, linebacker, setting up the one yard pass for a touchdown from Delhomme to Jeff King.

Tampa Bay’s Cadillac Williams had 77 rushing yards in 16 carries, while Johnson rushed for 45 yards. However, Johnson was also sacked four times. Charles Johnson and Julius Peppers each had two sacks for Carolina.

Donovan McNabb only needed two plays to prove he was not rusty and that his rib was just fine.

McNabb had 264 yards passing and threw three touchdown passes, while Jeremy Maclin, the rookie, caught two passes for touchdowns as the Eagles defeated the Buccaneers on Sunday 33-14.

McNabb said, I did feel pretty good. I thought it would be a slow process. Definitely I didn’t think I would get my first touchdown so fast.

Due to the lopsided score, Michael Vick was able to take some extra snaps during the fourth quarter. Vick had his first complete pass in the last 33 months and also ran for 11 yards on one play.

Philadelphia (3-1) improved their record to 11-0 following a bye week playing for head coach Andy Reid.

Tampa Bay (0-5) still has not won a game playing for Raheem Morris, their new head coach. Their losing streak has been extended to nine games now, which dates back to last December’s 0-4 record that prevented them from making the playoffs last year.

Morris said, it’s obvious that today we were outplayed by a much better football team. Across the board they outplayed us. They made bigger plays. I tried being more aggressive today since we were playing against a better team. There are strides we need to make. We need to evaluate what it is that we have done.

During the season opener in Carolina, McNabb got injured while running to score. The next two games he sat out as Kevin Kolb threw for 300 yards during the first two starts of his career, becoming the first quarterback to do so.

However, McNabb didn’t hesitate when it came to running. On his very first play from the line of scrimmage he scrambled for 13 yards. On his next play, he fired over a perfect touchdown pass of 51 yards to Maclin, giving Philadelphia a lead of 7-0.

After the Eagle’s first score, the Buccaneers were never really in the game.

McNabb said, I was successful being able to move around and was effective doing some different things and picked a few first downs up using my legs. I let the defense know that that can happen.

Tampa Bay’s quarterback Josh Johnson passed for 240 yards and connected with Kellen Winslow on two touchdown passes. He also had three interceptions.

Johnson said, right now I am blaming myself. I had three turnovers and two were while we were inside the red zone. They brought everyone. They brought more defenders than we had for protection. Every time they had extra guys. In our locker room the coaches were say how they hadn’t ever seen anything like it before.

After they lost a defensive touchdown to a reversal- on fourth down and one Johnson was ruled as down after a fumble before he was stripped of the ball by Akeem Jordan who ran back 76 yards- Philadelphia’s offense made it up.

McNabb connected with Brent Celek on a 38 yard pass, and then a 17 yard one with Maclin to set up the touchdown pass of 20 yards to Leonard Weaver, making the score 14-0.

However, Tampa Bay answered with their own 80 yard, five play drive. Johnson threw a 31 yard pass to Antonio Bryant on the very first play of the drive and then fired a touchdown pass of 9 yards over the middle to Winslow.

Philadelphia quickly extended their lead to 21-7. After scrambling for 17 yards, McNabb threw a touchdown pass of 40 yards to Maclin who was in heavy traffic.

Maclin was starting in place of Kevin Curtis due to injury. He finished the game with six receptions for a total of 14 yards, the third most yards by a Philadelphia Eagles rookie.

Maclin said, with the group of talented guys that we have, the big games will rotate between the different guys. I expected myself to make the plays.

The next score was set up by Asante Samuel on his second interception, followed by a 15 yard return down to Tampa Bay’s 27 yard line. Brian Westbrook caught the 20 yard touchdown pass at the seven yard line and ran the ball in from there.

McNabb went 16 for 21 and led the team with 30 yards rushing. His 157.2 QB rating was his second highest of his career.

Reid said, I saw him running the ball. I did not think it would be that much of his game, but he did a great job with it.

The game also saw the return of Jeremiah Trotter, middle linebacker, to Philadelphia. The four time Pro Bowler during his first two playing stints with Philadelphia, hadn’t played since 2007 in the NFL when he played for Tampa Bay. He was not announced as part of the starting lineup, but received a very loud ovation when he ran from the tunnel while performing the ax chop, his signature movement. During the first play of the game he was out on the field, and on many of the running downs did play.

Vick played both wide receiver and quarterback for six plays and a total of 7 yards before he came into the game near the end. He finished the game 1 for 3 for one yard and also ran the ball twice before he knelt down two times.

Vick said, we had the lead. It was good for me to get out there to play a little quarterback and get to throw the football around some. It is part of getting back into my football playing shape, either playing at quarterback or doing the wildcat.

Less than two minutes into the game Washington had already surrendered two sacks and given up a fumble.

In addition they had allowed a quarterback who was making his first start in the NFL to throw a touchdown on just his first pass in the game. By the time halftime rolled around they were down by ten points to a team without any wins, while Jason Campbell, their quarterback, had already thrown two interceptions.

Never mind all the talk over whether or not Jim Zorn was going to last the entire season. You had to wonder there for a while whether or not the booing fans were going to allow the coach, quarterback and rest of Redskins team back on the field to start the second half of the game.

Energized by DeAngelo Hall’s interception, the Redskins were able to find some momentum, life and energy that all season had been missing. Sunday during the third quarter they rallied and score on three possessions in a row to defeat Tampa Bay 16-13.

Campbell said, at halftime I said if we do not pull this game out, on Monday I have no idea what I am going to do. Might as well just hibernate.

The win was another narrow one over a bad team. It was very similar to the ugly 9-7 win over the Rams two weeks ago that felt more like it was a loss. However the Redskins (2-2) do have a .500 record. It doesn’t look too bad in print, particularly after losing last week to Detroit.

Phillip Daniels, Redskins defensive end said, it is a very good feeling due to all we went through this week, hearing about how we lost to Detroit and all of that kind of stuff. It feels great just to be at 2-2.

Their loss left Tampa Bay’s rookie head coach Raheem Morris seeking his first win in the NFL still. However the Buccaneers (0-4) did have their chances after suffering double digit losses three weeks in a row to start off their season.

In the first half Mike Nugent missed on two field goals and for the season was 0 for 4 until making a field goal from 37 yards to end the first half. The three interceptions by Aqib Talib lost some of their luster when he was beaten on a pass of 59 yards down the right hand sideline from Campbell over to Santana Moss, giving Washington the lead in the game for good.

Morris said, I bet he would give back the other three just for that one.

Campbell went 12 out of 22 for a total of 170 yards and had three interceptions and two touchdown passes. He said that it was the very first time he had ever had three interceptions in a football game, including Pee Wee football.

Zorn said, it was very frustrating for all of us. I looked at our game plan and wondered what else would go wrong. Offensively, it was like two entirely different halves.

Josh Johnson, the second year, nimble quarterback, was 13 out of 22 for a total of 106 passing yards and had one interception and one touchdown for the Buccaneers. He ran the ball seven times as well for a total of 41 yards.

Carnell Williams said, for being such a hostile environment the young kid did not do too bad a job. Williams rushed for 77 yards in 16 attempts. We can only go up from where we are here. We are 0-4. We have to look at thing that way.

Just two minutes into the game, Johnson connected on a touchdown pass of 8 yards over to Antonio Bryant. However it ended up being the only touchdown scored by Tampa Bay. Entering into the game, the Redskins were the worst third down defensive team in the league, but on Sunday only allowed Tampa Bay to convert 2 out of 13.

Greg Blache, defensive coordinator who on Saturday night gave the players an usually emotional speech said, it was one thing after another. We are at a point this season where we have got to stand up. We have to change and draw a line down in the dirt.

Blache in public had promised a maverick and riverboat gambler approach this week to their defense. However, he did do any extra blitzes or take more chances than normal.

Blache said, sometimes you just need to make them think that. You put on the clothes and then look the part.

Eli Manning and Company have been unbeatable, but they still have lots of room for improvement.

On Sunday the major priorities were stopping the run on defense and reviving their dominating rushing attack on offense. The Giants were able to both in their 24-0 defeat over winless Tampa Bay.

Just a week after they surrendered 251 rushing yards and needed a field goal with time expiring to defeat the Cowboys, the defending champions of the NFC (3-0) were able to push around the struggling Buccaneers (0-3) from the start all the way to the end of the game.

Manning had two touchdown passes and Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs led their revived and powerful ground game that during the previous two weeks had been absent.

Tom Coughlin, Giants coach said, coming in we had a few objectives. We had one game where we did not play very good against the run. We knew they would test us and that we would need to rise up to do a much better job. We knew also that we would need to run the ball much better. We did a fairly good job doing that.

The Buccaneers have lost seven games in a row, dating back to an 0-4 record last December that cost them a spot in the playoffs. The Giants out gained them 397 to 86 yards. It was late third quarter before they got a first down.

It was the first shutout for the Giants since October 2005 when they defeated Washington at home 36-0, and was their first road shutout since November 1983 when they beat Philadelphia 23-0.

Raheem Morris, rookie head coach of Tampa Bay who is still looking to get his first win said, they were able to beat us down.

Today we got beat by a team of grown men. One day we would like to be that kind of a team, said the youngest head coach in the NFL. They came in and really took it right to us. They out gunned us, out manned us. It was not even close.

Manning went 14 for 24 for a total of 161 yards. He followed up on last week’s impressive performance in New York’s dramatic 33-31 win in Dallas. During the closing minutes he led the Giants on their game winning drive that helped to produce the field goal of 37 yards by Lawrence Tynes as the game time expired.

Early fourth quarter Manning left the game after a touchdown pass of 18 yards to Sinorice Moss gave the Giants a 24-0 lead. David Carr, backup quarterback, and a defense depleted with injuries finished the game. The Giants were able to preserve their shutout when they stopped Tampa Bay on downs with five minutes to play at the Giants five yard line.

Jacobs said, our defense was very impressive. I knew that they would come out to play with chips on their shoulders.

During the second quarter Manning threw a touchdown pass of four yards to Steve Smith, and Jacobs scored on a 6 yard running touchdown on an 80 yard drive which was New York first possession in the game. The Giants had scoring drives of 64, 66 and 72 yards as well, and dominated time of possession, holding the ball 43 minutes and 38 seconds to Tampa Bay’s 16 minutes and 22 seconds.
The Giants ran the football 226 yards, following two 200 yard games against the Redskins and Cowboys. Bradshaw had 104 yards in 14 carries, while Jacobs ran for 92 yards in 26 carries.

Meanwhile, the Giants held the Buccaneers to only 28 rushing yards in ten attempts. Derrick Ward had only 2 yards in five carries against his former team after rushing last season for 1,025 yards while playing with the Giants.

Michael Clayton, Tampa Bay receiver said, it was embarrassing and disappointing. We need to play a lot better.

For the third week in a row, Tampa Bay fell behind and got taken away from their game plan of running the football to wear their opponents down, especially on humid, hot home games.

New York was able to flip the script around by running forty plays during the first half while Tampa Bay ran only 14. They also out gained the Buccaneers 215 yards to only 19 as well as a 14-0 advantage in first downs, averaging almost six rushing yards per carry.

Justin Tuck of the Giants played despite having suffered an injury to his left shoulder the week before when he was tripped up by Flozell Adams of the Dallas Cowboys. It could be argued that the defense of the Giants didn’t need him really.

Mathias Kiwanuka, Tuck’s replacement, hit Byron Leftwich just as he was releasing a pass. Terrell Thomas, starting for Aaron Ross, injured cornerback, intercepted the first quarter pass.

During the fourth quarter Leftwich was replaced after going only 7 for 16 for a total of 22 yards passing with one interception. Josh Johnson, backup quarterback, led Tampa Bay on a promising drive. However, the Buccaneers were not able to avoid getting shut out. The last time Tampa Bay failed to score was the season opener to the 2006 season when Baltimore defeated them 27-0.

Tampa Bay had only five first downs, tying the fewest they have ever had in franchise history.

Morris said, we don’t have any choice. We have to get better than our performance today. We had only five first downs. On third down we went 0-9 and had only 86 yards on offense. It was a complete disaster.

It appeared for a moment that Terrell Owens was going to be a non-factor during his game playing for the Buffalo Bills. Then in the next minute, fans were spilling their popcorn as they celebrated throughout Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Just when the offense of the Bills needed a spark, Owens provided it with his touchdown of 43 yards with five minutes gone in the fourth quarter, as the Bills beat the Buccaneers 33-20 on Sunday.

With help from their opportunistic defense led by their safety Donte White, Buffalo was able to put their lingering frustrations from last week aside, where they squandered a lead of 11 points during the final 2:06 of the game and lost to New England 25-24 in the season opener.

After the game Owens didn’t hang around to talk about things. Apparently he is unhappy with the way some of the media questioned him for refusing to talk after the Patriots game.

Teammates of T.O. Were very excited to see the deep threat presence of Owens pay off finally. The touchdown came after he had been limited to just two catches and 9 yards receiving, and coming after Buffalo had almost blown a 17-0 lead versus Tampa Bay.

Trent Edwards, Bills quarterback said, we were both excited. I don’t really remember what we said. I just hope honestly that it continues to happen. That is why we got him.

Edwards showed his faith in Owens when he hit him while in stride right at the goal line, where he was one step ahead of Aqib Talib, Buccaneers cornerback.

It was also a sign for Edwards that he is starting to shed the “Captain Checkdown” label he earned during the preseason. He showed once again the he isn’t afraid going deep when he connected on a touchdown pass of 32 yards with Lee Evans to open the scoring up. Edwards went 21 for 31 for a total of 230 yards with an interception and two touchdowns.

Evans said, it all comes down to having opportunities. Trent was not afraid of taking chances. You need to always have the deep play as a threat. I think today that we put it out there on the table that we would do that.

The win for Buffalo ended their five game losing streak at home, and also occurred during the first home game for Owens since he signed a one year deal in March with the Bills.

The Bills being able to capitalize against the once highly respected Tampa Bay defense certainly helped, as the Buccaneers continued giving up long passes after their season opener 34-21 loss last week to Dallas.

In the Bills two games under Raheem Morris, their new rookie head coach, Tampa Bay has allowed 900 offensive yards including Buffalo’s 438.

Ronde Barber, veteran cornerback for Tampa Bay said, they were able to dial some things up against us that we really should have been able to stop, but we didn’t. Refusing to speculate over what was going wrong, Barber replied that you should ask the coaches. I am not going to make any kind of statement on that.

In addition to the two long passes for touchdowns that they gave up, Barber was unhappy as well with missed tackles on Fred Jackson, Bills running back, which enabled him to gain 163 yards rushing.

Barber said, it is totally unacceptable. Good defenses are all good tackling defenses.

Coach Morris tried to keep an even keel, although he clearly was unhappy with the defense and Tampa Bay’s lack of discipline. The Buccaneers had 13 penalties for a total of 112 yards.

Morris said, I am not really worried in terms of their confidence. But they have to play better.

On a more positive note, the offense for the Bucs does continue to be productive. Byron Leftwich was 26 for 50, passing for a total of 296 yards and had three touchdowns as well as two interceptions. One of the interceptions bounced off receiver Sammie Stroughter’s hands.

Kellen Winslow had a total of 90 receiving yards and scored a touchdown. Jerramy Stevens and Carnell Williams scored as well.

It appeared that Buffalo was about to break the game open with their 17-0 lead even before the first quarter ended. Except for the touchdown by Evans, Whitner was perfectly positioned to intercept the pass from Leftwich that sailed over Williams’ head.

Late first half Tampa Bay regained some momentum when Jackson fumbled the football inside Tampa Bay’s 14 yard line, and Sabby Piscitelli, safety, returned the ball 72 yards. Leftwich connected with Williams one play later for a touchdown of 8 yards to cut the Bills lead down to 20-14.

However, Whitner helped the Bills shut the door early third quarter with his burst into Tampa Bay’s backfield and tackle of Derrick Ward on fourth down and one for a loss of one yard.

For Whitner it was a complete emotion turnaround, after the loss last week which left him in tears.

Edwards said, last week we learned a lesson. It was a valuable lesson that we will need for the entire season. We need to finish games. We did that today.