GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NFL: TENNESSEE (3-1) at TAMPA BAY (3-2)

NFL: TENNESSEE (3-1) at TAMPA BAY (3-2)

<h3>Minus key running backs, Buccaneers host Titans</h3>

Tennessee (3-1) at Tampa Bay (3-2) 1:00 pm EDT


TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers keep losingrunning backs.


Now without their top three running backs from the last season,the Buccaneers will try to regroup for Sunday's game against theTennessee Titans.


Michael Pittman suffered a severe ankle sprain in last week's33-14 loss to the Indianapolis Colts and is expected to miss sixto eight weeks.


It marks the second time in as many weeks a Tampa Bay runningback went down with a serious injury. Last week, it was Carnell"Cadillac" Williams, who suffered a season-ending knee injury.

In training camp, the Buccaneers lost Mike Alstott to aseason-ending neck injury.


"It's tough," Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden said. "We've lost MikeAlstott, now Mike Pittman and Carnell Williams, the three guyswho were obviously the go-to-ball ball handlers the last coupleyears around here."


Tampa Bay is down to two healthy running backs in Earnest Grahamand rookie Kenneth Darby, who was promoted from the practicesquad last week. Combined, the two have only 88 career carries.

The Buccaneers rushed for just 17 yards against the Colts andhad a three-game winning streak snapped.


Tennessee's offense also was out of sync last week, committingfive turnovers. But the Titans escaped with a 20-13 win over theAtlanta Falcons, who could not score the tying touchdown inthe final minute despite a 1st-and-goal at the 1.


Tennessee is off to its best start sionce 2003, the last timethe Titans made the playoffs.


"It's been a while since I have been able to say that we are 3-1after the first quarter of the season," Tennessee coach JeffFisher said.


While the Titans are 24th in overall offense, they rank fourthin rushing with one of the league's top tandems in Chris Brown(274 yards) and Lendale White (212 yards).


Tennessee joins the Pittsburgh Steelers as the NFL's only teamsto have two runners who have each rushed for more than 200yards.

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">NFL
TENNESSEE 0
TAMPA BAY 0 15:00 LEFT, 1ST QTR

TAM BALL ON TAM 20 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">NFL
TENNESSEE 0
TAMPA BAY 0 11:10 LEFT, 1ST QTR

TEN BALL ON TEN 20 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">NFL
TENNESSEE 0
TAMPA BAY 0 8:23 LEFT, 1ST QTR

TAM BALL ON TAM 20 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">NFL
TENNESSEE 0
TAMPA BAY 0 6:03 LEFT, 1ST QTR

TEN BALL ON TEN 32 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">NFL
TENNESSEE 0
TAMPA BAY 0 2:32 LEFT, 1ST QTR

TAM BALL ON TAM 17 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">NFL END, 1ST QTR 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
TENNESSEE 0 0
TAMPA BAY 0 0 END, 1ST QTR</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">NFL TENNESSEE 0
TAMPA BAY 0 14:55 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">NFL
TENNESSEE 0
TAMPA BAY 0 13:41 LEFT, 2ND QTR

TEN BALL ON TEN 20 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">NFL
TENNESSEE 0
TAMPA BAY 0 10:27 LEFT, 2ND QTR

TAM BALL ON TAM 36 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">NFL FG TAM
MATT BRYANT 23 YD

TENNESSEE 0
TAMPA BAY 3 6:07 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">NFL
TENNESSEE 0
TAMPA BAY 3 5:58 LEFT, 2ND QTR

TEN BALL ON TEN 9 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">NFL TWO MINUTE WARNING, 1ST HALF

TENNESSEE 0
TAMPA BAY 3

TEN BALL ON TEN 45 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">NFL
TENNESSEE 0
TAMPA BAY 3 1:18 LEFT, 2ND QTR

TAM BALL ON TAM 4 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">NFL HALFTIME 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
TENNESSEE 0 0 0
TAMPA BAY 0 3 3 HALFTIME

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST QUARTER: NONE
2ND QUARTER: TAM - FG, MATT BRYANT 23 YD, 8:53. Drive: 8
plays, 59 yards in 4:19. Key plays:
Garcia 14-yard pass to Askew to
midfield; Garcia 39-yard pass to
Clayton on 3rd-and-11 to Tennessee
12. TAMPA BAY 3-0</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">NFL HALFTIME 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
TENNESSEE 0 0 0
TAMPA BAY 0 3 3 HALFTIME

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST QUARTER:

NONE

2ND QUARTER:

8:53 TAM - FG, M Bryant 23 Yd.
Drive: 8 plays, 59 yards in 4:19.
Key plays: Garcia 14-yard pass to Askew to midfield; Garcia 39-yard
pass to Clayton on 3rd-and-11 to Tennessee 12. Tampa Bay 3-0.

Tennessee - Tampa Bay End 2nd Qtr Statistics

TEAM STATISTICS Tennessee Tampa Bay

FIRST DOWNS 9 7
Rushing 1 2
Passing 7 5
Penalty 1 0
THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 2-4-50% 3-7-43%
TOTAL NET YARDS 140 162
Total offensive plays 25 27
Average gain per play 5.6 6.0
NET YARDS RUSHING 51 21
Rushing attempts 14 10
Average gain per rush 3.6 2.1
NET YARDS PASSING 89 141
Times sacked: Number-Yards 1-4 0-0
Gross passing yards 93 141
PASS ATTEMPTS-COMPLETIONS-HAD INTERCEPTED 10-8-1 17-13-0
Avg gain per pass play 8.1 8.3
PUNTS: Number and Average 2-46.5 3-43.3
PENALTIES: Number-Yards 4-24 3-20
FUMBLES: Number-Lost 1-1 0-0
TOUCHDOWNS 0 0
Rushing 0 0
Passing 0 0
Interceptions 0 0
Other (blocked kicks, etc.) 0 0
EXTRA POINTS: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0
Kicking: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0
Passing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0
Rushing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0
FIELD GOALS: Made-Attempts 0-0 1-1
SAFETIES 0 0
TIME OF POSSESSION 14:22 15:38


INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Tennessee Tampa Bay

RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
C BROWN 5 26 5.2 9 0 E GRAHAM 10 21 2.1 10 0
L WHITE 7 21 3.0 4 0
V YOUNG 2 4 2.0 4 0

PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
V YOUNG 8-10- 93 1 0 23 J GARCIA 13-17-141 0 0 39

Sacked-Yards Lost: V YOUNG 1-4. Sacked-Yards Lost: None

RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
E MOULDS 4 37 9.3 12 0 E GRAHAM 5 14 2.8 6 0
J GAGE 2 28 14.0 23 0 M CLAYTON 2 53 26.5 39 0
B HARTSOCK 1 16 16.0 16 0 B ASKEW 2 31 15.5 17 0
R WILLIAMS 1 12 12.0 12 0 J GALLOWAY 2 14 7.0 8 0
A SMITH 1 15 15.0 15 0
I HILLIARD 1 14 14.0 14 0

KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA
---------------------------------- ----------------------------------
M BRYANT 0/0 1/1
Dist.: 23</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">NFL
TENNESSEE 0
TAMPA BAY 3 14:53 LEFT, 3RD QTR

TEN BALL ON TEN 25 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">NFL
TENNESSEE 3
TAMPA BAY 3 7:43 LEFT, 3RD QTR

TAM BALL ON TAM 39 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">NFL
TENNESSEE 3
TAMPA BAY 3 7:11 LEFT, 3RD QTR

TEN BALL ON TEN 25 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">NFL
TENNESSEE 3
TAMPA BAY 3 3:59 LEFT, 3RD QTR

TAM BALL ON TAM 20 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>